Player Management International, Inc.
Darlington, SC (May 9, 2008) – The ‘Track Too Tough To Tame’ entertained Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team over the weekend. The historic Darlington Raceway received a makeover during the off-season and while the racing surface was significantly faster, Wallace and the Gecko would adapt quickly and take the #7 GEICO Camry to the front of the field.
NASCAR’s #2 series was afforded three practice sessions in Darlington, which worked well for Wallace until he found the wall during the final session. After sitting 9th on the opening charts, Wallace would ultimately find himself in the garage with damage to the #7 GEICO Camry.
The Germain Racing team worked feverishly to repair the race car and prepare the GEICO Camry for qualifying. Their work paid dividends, as Wallace would qualify the #7 GEICO Camry in the 25th position after circulating the 1.366-mile race track in 28.661 seconds.
Starting just ahead of nephew Steven Wallace, the Gecko would move forward quickly when the green flag waved under perfect South Carolina skies on Friday night. In the opening laps, Wallace would move from 25th to 20th and then continue his trek to the front of the field.
By Lap 94, Wallace and the GEICO Camry were riding solidly in the 3rd position with their eyes on the leader. After a caution with 40 laps to go, Wallace would restart the race in the 14th position and then approach the Top 10 with 20 laps remaining. As the caution flags continued to wave, Wallace would move forward as the race began to wind down. With 13 laps to go, Wallace and the GEICO Camry were in position to record their first Top 5 of the season when he restarted the race in the 8th position.
Lap 144 would end Wallace’s great run when Mark Martin ran out of gas on the restart with three laps to go and caused cars, one after the other, to crash into each other. Wallace would be left with nowhere to go when he made contact with Mike Bliss and found himself heading for the inside retaining wall. What was going to be a great evening for the GEICO Racing team resulted in only frustration as they watched their Top 5 run end with a crashed race car.
When the checkered flag waved, Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry were scored in the 25th position. Even with the misfortune, Wallace and the Gecko remain in the 9th position in the point standings.
A composed Wallace reflected on what was one of the team’s better runs of the 2008 season.
“It’s just unfortunate because this whole GEICO team worked really hard to get this car ready to race and I worked hard on the race track to put us in position to be there at the end,” Wallace said. “We kept the car clean and we were in position to have a great points night and get a Top 5 for GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport. Instead, we end up 25th.”
This week, the Germain Racing team will enjoy a weekend off before traveling just a few miles down the road to Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC, for the May 24th race under the lights.
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.