Player Management International Media Release
Madison, IL (July 19, 2008) – Mike Wallace’s race week did not kick off in typical fashion when he returned home to St. Louis this week for the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. Rather than making his first appearance of the weekend at the race track, Wallace was instead tossing out the first pitch at the St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres baseball game at Busch Stadium.
While Wallace did not trade his driver gloves for a baseball glove, he did fare well with the first pitch of his baseball career. In front of a packed house, Wallace managed to toss the ball to the catcher on the fly and not bounce it in. His good fortune would follow him throughout the race weekend.
During the first practice session, Wallace settled in quite well and had the #7 GEICO Camry sitting 3rd when the session closed. The final practice of the weekend also proved fruitful and Wallace would rest 9th atop the speed charts when the red flag waved.
Qualifying would find Wallace touring the 1.25-mile oval in sweltering heat, however he would persevere. Wallace would wheel around the paperclip-shaped facility in 34.183 seconds, which would be good enough to find him 13th on the grid, starting just in front of Sprint Cup regular David Reutimann.
Prior to the start of the race, a power outage set in, but it would not stop NASCAR’s #2 series, despite the absence of caution lights. NASCAR would start the race under dim lighting and for safety’s sake they scheduled a ‘competition caution’ on Lap 22. Eventually the lights came back on and the racing heated up.
Wallace ran solidly in the Top 15 and narrowly avoided a massive crash on Lap 117 that would result in a red flag that halted the action for almost 25-minutes. At the end of the evening, Wallace would flirt with the Top 10, but not quite make it, as he recorded an 11th place finish in front of his hometown crowd.
Just 300 miles down the road, Wallace’s daughter, Chrissy was behind the wheel at Kentucky Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Piloting Germain Racing’s #03 GEICO Toyota Tundra, she was running well in the 13th position when Jack Sprague ended her evening. Sprague sent Wallace into the wall causing heavy damage to the GEICO Tundra.
After climbing from the #7 GEICO Camry following the race, Wallace was satisfied with the 11th place finish, but he was more happy about the way Chrissy performed in the Truck Series race in Kentucky.
“We had a solid run here this evening and got an 11th place finish which helps us in the points,” Wallace said. “It was fun tonight having GEICO on both my car here at Gateway and Chrissy’s truck in Kentucky. I feel real bad for her because she was doing a great job and running well before she got wrecked. It’s all part of racing, but I find the parent in me coming out in those situations.”
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Indianapolis, Indiana, where Mike Wallace recorded a win in 1994.
Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry will hit the track at O’Reilly Raceway Park for their opening practice session on Saturday, July 26th, at 9:00 AM (ET), with the final practice session being held at 10:45 AM (ET). Qualifying will be held on Saturday afternoon at 4:35 PM (ET).
The Kroger 200 is on Saturday night, July 26th, and it will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 7:30 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
Visit GEICO Racing’s innovative, interactive 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.