Mike Wallace 8th in Dover; Heading to Music City

Player Management International Media Release

Dover, DE (May 31, 2008) – Coming off of two rough weeks where top finishes were pulled out from under Mike Wallace when he was wrecked on the final laps at both Darlington and Charlotte, he was looking forward to getting to Dover and putting the bad memories behind him.
 
Wallace started his race week off by visiting GEICO’s corporate office, which is located just 100-miles from Dover, on Thursday afternoon.  He met with GEICO’s top executives and presented them with his driver helmet from the 2007 season and thanked them, as well as GEICO’s 20,000 employees, for their support over the years. After all, Wallace and the Gecko have shared a lot together, including a trip to Victory Lane at Daytona in 2004.
 
Wallace must have enjoyed his visit to GEICO’s office and whatever they said he must have liked because when he arrived in Dover he wanted to go fast. And he did.  
 
Wallace opened up the race weekend by resting in the 5th position when the initial practice session ended.  Wallace wheeled his #7 GEICO Camry around the 1-mile oval in 23.592 seconds, at a rate of speed of 152.594 MPH.  The final practice session would also go well, as Wallace and the Gecko sat 11th on the final speed charts.  
 
Qualifying would find Wallace touring the Monster Mile in 23.758 seconds at a speed of 151.528 MPH, which would place him 17th on the starting grid.  
 
While the day started out beautiful, the heavy rain would quickly set in and pour significant amounts of water on the speedway. Consequently, NASCAR’s #2 series would be sidelined for nearly 3 hours before racing would get underway at Dover International Speedway.
 
When the green flag was finally displayed on Saturday evening, Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry wasted no time moving forward.  Within a few laps he would find himself in the Top 15 and then proceed on a relentless pursuit of the front of the field.
 
Lap 75 would find Wallace and the Gecko sitting in the 9th position with an eye on the Top 5.  The GEICO team would provide quick support during the pit stops and Wallace would spend the remainder of his day running solidly in the Top 10. When the checkered flag waved in Dover, Wallace and the GEICO team would be scored in the 8th position, allowing them to record their 4th Top 10 finish of the season.  
 
“We had a good run today and we’re glad to bounce back after having two tough races where the GEICO Camry was taken out on the final laps at Darlington and Charlotte,” Wallace said.  “We had a consistent weekend and ran well in the practice sessions and the race.  The driver probably got a little bit conservative in qualifying, but when the green flag waved we showed how good the GEICO Camry was.  I’m happy to record another Top 10 for GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport.”

He continued, “This Germain Racing team did a great job and we’re looking forward to getting to Nashville next week.  We’ve got a good run going and Nashville is going to give us the opportunity to make up ground in the points chase.”  
 
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Nashville, Tennessee, where Mike Wallace and the GEICO team will attempt to pick up ground in the point standings, where they currently reside in the 9th position.  
 
Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry will hit the track at Nashville Superspeedway for their opening practice session on Friday, June 6th, at 6:00 PM (ET), with the final practice session being held at 7:45 PM (ET).  Qualifying will be held on Saturday afternoon at 3:35 PM (ET).
 
The Federated Auto Parts 300 presented by Dollar General is on Saturday, June 7th, 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