Concord, NC (February 6, 2008) – Two weeks after a Daytona test left Mike Wallace and Germain Racing scratching their heads, they headed to Las Vegas to test at the 1.5-mile superspeedway in the desert. They were determined to redeem themselves from a test in Daytona that did not go as well as expected.
The Germain Racing team would spend their first test day shaking down the #7 GEICO Camry and gathering data that would help them find the right set up. When the sun set on Las Vegas Motor Speedway on January 30th, Wallace and the Gecko would find themselves sitting 23rd on the speed charts. While 23rd is not the desired result, Wallace and crew chief Bruce Cook felt good about the day they had and the information they were able to record about the race car.
When the 2nd day of testing began at LVMS, Wallace and Cook had reason to feel good because they immediately hit the top of the speed chart, shooting straight to 4th. After an 8-hour day of testing, Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry rested comfortably in the 8th position, picking up 15 spots from the previous day of testing.
Now, just a week from debuting the #7 GEICO Camry at Daytona, Wallace feels more confident than ever heading into the 2008 season.
“Las Vegas went really well for us and I am proud of Bruce (Cook) and the entire Germain team for working so hard to get the car right. Obviously, it paid off,” Wallace said. “We are excited to get to Daytona next week. The Daytona test was just that, a test. It was not the Daytona race. The race is on February 16th and we’re going there to win. We got a lot of great data that has helped the GEICO team get the car right for Daytona. We’re not going there to show up, we’re going to win and put the #7 GEICO Camry in Victory Lane.”
Daytona is one of Wallace’s favorite tracks and he is one of the best in the business when it comes to restrictor-plate racing. On July 2, 2004, he passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr, and Jason Leffler coming out of Turn 4 to win the Winn-Dixie 250 NASCAR Busch Series race and hand GEICO and Sport Clips their first NASCAR wins. Most recently, a year ago in the Daytona 500, Wallace recorded a 4th place finish while driving the #09 Miccosukee Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing.
For more information about the GEICO racing program, please visit: www.geicoracing7.com.
For more information about the Sport Clips racing program, please visit: www.SportClips.com .