Mike Wallace 15th in Steamy Daytona; Preparing to Blow Into the Windy City

Player Management International Media Release

Daytona Beach, FL (July 7, 2007) – While the NASCAR Busch Series planned to race on Friday night, Mother Nature would have other plans as she dumped rain on Daytona International Speedway until NASCAR was finally forced to call it off.  NASCAR would reschedule the race for Saturday morning which would provide a challenging environment for all of the teams because rather than racing in cooler temperatures at night for which their cars were set up, they would be racing in the sun and heat. 

On Friday afternoon, Wallace would qualify the #7 GEICO Chevrolet 30th, however NASCAR would force him to the back of the field for the race, as the Phoenix Racing team would need to make an adjustment to the car after an oil problem in qualifying.  At Daytona this is of little consequence because Wallace is known as a restrictor plate specialist and can easily recover from the setback. 

If there is an award for passing the most cars, Mike Wallace and the Gecko will win it.  When the green flag waved on 7/7/07, Wallace and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet would start the race from the 40th position and spend almost half of the race in the rear of the field with Carl Edwards and other NASCAR notables as they waited for the ‘real’ race to begin when the race approached the halfway point. 

Just after the midway point of the race, Wallace would charge to the front of the field and quickly find himself in the 4th position before moving up to the 2nd position soon thereafter.  The Phoenix Racing pit crew would crank out great pit stops all day, but they would top themselves with 25 laps to go when Wallace pitted under caution and they sent him out 12 positions better than when he entered the pits. 

Wallace would battle up front and after picking up 25 positions, he would finish the race 15th.  This would be good enough to bump him up one spot in the points to the 13th position and leave just a narrow margin of 26 points to reach the Top 10.  While a few weeks ago he sat over 100 points removed from the Top 10, Wallace has closed the gap and eyes it closely. 

“We had a good car today and the Phoenix Racing team worked hard to get it ready for the race,” Wallace said.  “It was incredible how well the #7 GEICO Chevrolet ran on its own out of the draft.  We battled hard and ran up front and as the draft would have it we finished 15th, but we were actually much better than that.  Daytona is a funny place and it can quickly hurt you, but we had a good run today and we moved up one spot in the points.”

Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet will return to action on July 14, 2007, when they travel to Chicago, Illinois, for the USG Durock 300. 

Mike Wallace and his #7 GEICO Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will hit the track at Chicagoland Speedway when practice starts at 2:10 PM (ET) on Friday, July 13th.  Final practice is at 5:45 PM (ET), followed by qualifying on Saturday morning at 11:05 AM (ET). 

The USG Durock 300 NASCAR Busch Series race will be televised live on ABC beginning at 2:30 PM (ET) on Saturday, July 14, 2007, with green flag action coming at 3:00 PM (ET).  Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast. 

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.