Player Management International Media Release
Lincoln, AL (April 26, 2008) – Mike Wallace is widely regarded as one of the best restrictor plate racers in NASCAR, which is why he looked forward to getting to Talladega. Wallace sent GEICO to Victory Lane at Daytona in 2004, and he was hoping Saturday would find the Gecko once again making the trip to the coveted Winner’s Circle.
Wallace would also be joined by his arch-nemesis, Lauren Wallace, who would ultimately bring out the best in Wallace during Saturday’s Aaron’s 312.
At the end of the opening practice session on Thursday, Wallace would sit 31st on the speed charts. Final practice would pick up quite a bit for the GEICO Racing team, as they made significant improvement from the first practice and rested in the 5th position when the red flag closed the session.
When qualifying concluded Friday afternoon, Wallace and the Gecko would find themselves starting from the 20th position, sandwiched between Scott Wimmer and David Ragan.
When the green flag waved at Talladega Superspeedway, Wallace wasted little time in moving forward, as he picked up 4 spots in just a lap and a half. His assault on the field would only intensify when Wallace moved into the Top 5 and ran in the 4th position on just Lap 9. As the race wore on, the caution flag would wave and allow the GEICO Racing pit crew to shine, when they completed a tremendous pit stop on Lap 64 and returned the #7 GEICO Camry to the race track in the 4th position.
Wallace and the Gecko would narrowly avoid a major crash on Lap 71. While he took a slight hit as he slivered through the colossal crash, it would not be enough to slow the #7 GEICO Camry. Wallace would run in the Top 5 for the majority of the afternoon, and even lead briefly when he overtook Dale Earnhardt, Jr. late in the race.
Following a late-race caution flag that would provide the fans with an exciting green/white/checkers finish, Wallace restarted the race in the 5th position. Wallace jumped out of line with the #7 GEICO Camry in an effort to win the race, however a commitment made from a fellow driver would not be honored and, consequently, Wallace was ‘hung out to dry’. Falling back as far as 17th position on the final lap, Wallace would hustle back to the front and record a 10th place finish.
“A Top 10 finish is great, but we had a car to win the race and we put ourselves in position to win, but unfortunately we got hung out to dry there on the final lap,” Wallace said. “We picked up some ground in the point standings and we also got great coverage for GEICO and Sport Clips. It was a fun race and we were lucky enough to barely miss the big crash.”
He continued, “This week will be special because we head to Richmond which sits only about 90 miles from GEICO’s corporate office. We always have a lot of GEICO guests in Richmond, so we’re hoping to take them to Victory Lane with us.”
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Richmond, Virginia, for a Friday night short track battle. Richmond International Raceway provides the Gecko a chance to visit home, as the ¾-mile race track sits less than a hundred miles removed from GEICO’s corporate office.
Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry will hit the track at Richmond International Raceway for their sole practice session on Friday, May 2nd, at 8:45 AM (ET), while qualifying will follow at 4:05 PM (ET)
The Lipton Tea 250 is on Friday, May 2nd, and it will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 7:00 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
Visit the new innovative, interactive GEICO Racing web site at: www.geicogarage.com .
To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.GEICOracing7.com .
To learn more about the Sport Clips Racing program, please visit: www.SportClips.com.