Gecko to Joyride with Mike Wallace in Talladega NCTS Race

Talladega, Ala. (October 2, 2006) – Widely regarded as one of the top restrictor plate racers in all of NASCAR, Mike Wallace will roll into Talladega Superspeedway with GEICO’s Gecko on the hood of his #15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevrolet.  GEICO, a former NASCAR Busch Series sponsor of Wallace, has agreed to sponsor him for the Saturday, October 7th , NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at the legendary superspeedway. 

Wallace will also compete on Sunday in the #09 Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts Dodge for Phoenix Racing in the Nextel Cup Series race. 

A restrictor plate specialist, Wallace will wheel around the famed 2.66-mile tri-oval in hopes of duplicating previous efforts at Daytona International Speedway, the other restrictor plate track where Wallace has experienced considerable success.  In February 2003, Wallace recorded three Top 10’s in three days in three different Series and with three different manufacturers: 6th place in the Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, 4th place in the GEICO Pontiac in the NASCAR Busch Series race and 9th place in the Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts Dodge in the Nextel Cup Series race. 

Luck is on Wallace’s side when it comes to ‘inaugural’ races, as Wallace recorded a win at the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway.  Wallace went on to record two more wins at Daytona International Speedway, including an ARCA win. 

More notably, on July 2, 2004, Wallace went from fifth to first on the final lap in the Winn-Dixie 250 and passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jason Leffler coming out of Turn Four to hand GEICO their first NASCAR Busch Series victory at the historic 2.5-mile superspeedway. 

A former Talladega ARCA winner, Wallace is looking forward to being part of the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Talladega. 

“I am excited that GEICO has stepped up to support this effort.  We’ve always had a great relationship and it is nice having them on the truck for the race in Talladega,” Wallace said.  “I have traditionally had great success on restrictor plate tracks and it is a fact that I can win this race, so I am going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.  I am looking forward to giving both GEICO and Billy Ballew Motorsports a great finish.”

GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is the fourth-largest private passenger auto insurer in the United States.  It provides auto insurance coverage for more than 7 million policyholders and insures more than 11 million vehicles.  GEICO is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies.  GEICO provides consumers with sales, service and claims capabilities on its geico.com web site.  For more information, please visit www.geico.com.