Player Management International Media Release
Las Vegas, NV (March 10, 2007) – After a strong run in Mexico City last week, Mike Wallace and the Phoenix Racing team packed up the #7 GEICO Dodge and headed West to the city that never sleeps. They arrived in Las Vegas tied for 12th in the point standings with Jason Leffler, finding themselves just 9 points out of the Top 10.
When Wallace and the #7 GEICO Dodge rolled into Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first practice session on Friday morning, they were hoping to get Vegas off to a good start in practice. Unfortunately, the racing gods would have other plans. While it would appear that the NASCAR Busch Series practices were one collective crash, as many drivers would find themselves bouncing off of the walls of the newly re-paved 1.5-mile speedway, Wallace would survive the first practice before falling victim to the new racing surface and harder tire compound during the final practice session and hitting wall hard coming out of Turn 4.
The Phoenix Racing team would be forced to pull out the back up car and they now found themselves in Las Vegas gambling with a car that they new little about. To point, when the sun set on Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday evening and qualifying was completed, Wallace would find himself relegated to the back of the field in the 33rd starting position.
An hour prior to the race on Saturday, team owner James Finch told Wallace, “The race starts in two hours.” Wallace replied, “No, James, it starts at noon, which is in one hour.” But Finch reassured him, “No, in two hours.”
Finch’s words rang true as the first half of the race in front of 105,000 fans in Las Vegas became a survival of the fittest as cars, one after the other, found themselves slamming hard against the walls of the temperamental speedway. Wallace was able to steer clear of all the crashes and, combined with the excellent work of the Phoenix Racing pit crew, he was able to move to the front of the field, running as high as 5th, while also leading a lap and collecting five bonus points.
The #7 GEICO racing team would encounter a setback when, during
a green flag pit stop on lap 109, Wallace would be caught speeding
down pit road and be assessed a a drive-through penalty which
would put him a lap down and send him towards the back of the
field. He would ultimately receive the Lucky Dog Award,
allowing him to return to the Lead Lap, following a late race
crash which drew the event’s 12th caution flag.
Wallace and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet would take the checkered
flag in the 13th position, salvaging what could have been a disappointing
afternoon. When Wallace prepared to celebrate his birthday
Saturday night at a Rascal Flatts concert in Las Vegas, he was
sitting in the 9th position in the driver standings; a position
that is new to GEICO, as this is their first trip into the Top
10 during their 7 year involvement in NASCAR.
“We had a great day today and I felt like we had a Top 5 car,” Wallace said. “We were able to run up front and lead a lap and get the five bonus points, which is critical in the point standings. And we did it in a back up car. I really appreciate all the hard work and effort that the Phoenix Racing team put into getting that back up car prepared to race.” He continued, “Unfortunately, pit road kind of snuck up on me as I was coming in for that green flag stop and I received the speeding penalty, which set us back quite a bit. The nice thing is that we had a good car and we were able to battle back and have a respectable finish for GEICO and our associate sponsors Sport Clips and Smith Transport.”
This week, Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team head to Atlanta, GA,, for the Nicorette 300 on Saturday, March 17th, which will honor NASCAR legend Benny Parsons, who recently succumbed to cancer.
“The race in Atlanta this week will have special meaning to my family and I because Benny and Terri Parsons have always been very close to our family,” Wallace said. “Nothing would mean more to me than to be able to go out and win this race.”
Wallace and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will hit the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway for their first practice on Friday, March 16th, at 10:40 AM (ET), with final practice at 2:15 PM (ET). Qualifying is set for Saturday at 11:05 AM (ET).
On Saturday, the Nicorette 300 NASCAR Busch Series race will be televised live on ABC with coverage beginning at 2:30 PM (ET) with green flag action coming at 3:00 PM (ET). Performance Racing Network (PRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.GEICOracing7.com.