As one of NASCAR’s best restrictor-plate racers heads to the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway, he will be accompanied by one of high school football’s best coaching staffs…. and biggest television stars. Mike Wallace will head to Talladega this weekend in hopes of repeating his success at Daytona, but he will do it with the Hoover High School football coaching staff in tow. Head coach, Rush Propst, wide receivers coach, Shawn Sutton, along with defensive coaches, Chris Davis, Kevin Sherrer, and Tony Pugh will be on hand to cheer Wallace on for both the NASCAR Busch Series race on Saturday in the #7 GEICO Chevrolet and the Nextel Cup race on Sunday in the #09 Miccosukee Chevrolet, all fielded by Phoenix Racing. The coaches will be introduced at the Busch Series driver meeting on Saturday morning. The two would seem to be a perfect pair, as Wallace participates in the largest spectator sport in America, while Hoover High School’s reality show on MTV, ‘Two-A-Days’, was seen by 64 million viewers in its first season alone.
Las Vegas catapulted Mike Wallace into the Top 10 in points, landing him in the 9th position after he turned in a 13th place finish in the NASCAR Busch Series’ Sam’s Town 300. Apparently, Wallace is comfortable there because he and the Phoenix Racing team refuse to leave.
Wallace’s veteran experience would help him maneuver Atlanta Motor Speedway and methodically move forward from his 40th starting position. A combination of patience on the race track by Wallace and speed by the Phoenix Racing team during pit stops would help move the #7 GEICO Chevrolet to the front of the field. Wallace would run as high as 3rd, while also leading a lap for the 4th time in 5 races, resulting in 20 bonus points this season. When the checkered flag waved at the 1.54-mile quad-oval, Wallace would finish on the Lead Lap in the 17th position, a substantial improvement over his 40th place starting spot. In 2007, Wallace has been nothing less than consistent, as his finish in Atlanta would move him up to 8th position in driver points. He sits just 35 points removed from the Top 5, after being 54 points removed just a week ago.
“I thought we had a good weekend considering we got off to a tough start in practice and qualifying,” Wallace said. “We worked really hard today to make sure we ran well and finished the race and we were able to pick up 23 spots and finish 17th. I appreciate all the hard work this Phoenix Racing team has put into this car, but we need to get better and we will. We have a great team and we never quit as you saw today, so we will continue to get better and run up front.” He continued, “I’m really happy for our sponsors GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport because it’s been a fun year so far and we’ve been able to lead some laps and get great media exposure for these guys.”
This week, Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team head to the World’s Fastest Half-Mile in Bristol, TN, for the Sharpie MINI 300 on Saturday, March 24th. The 0.533-mile concrete oval is always tough to tame, but Wallace has traditionally experienced great success there and looks forward to returning.
The top 14 finishers in the Busch Race on Saturday in Atlanta were Nextel Cup regulars or Buschwackers. I'm throwing them out. Who won the BUSCH race? Sam Hornish Jr.,.
Wait. He is an Indy Racing League (IRL) regular. Does that make him a Buschwacker?
Let's see, who's blog is this? Mine damn it! I am making the rules here.
HORNISH WINS!
"HAMPTON, Ga. (March 17, 2007) – Sam Hornish Jr. came from one lap down in his Penske Truck Rental Dodge Charger to post his first-ever top-15 finish in the Busch Series in Saturday's Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hornish, who ran in the top 15 for most of the 195-lap event, lost a lap on lap 128 when he received a pass-through penalty for speeding into his pit during a green-flag stop. That dropped him outside the top 20, but he remained in the top 25.
"That’s really my first green-flag pit stop in these cars and it takes some getting used to," said Hornish, who qualified fifth for his fifth Busch Series race. "It’s more difficult than what we have with Indy Cars. Of course, we drive Indy Cars in there a lot harder and they slow down quicker, but you have the pit speed limiter. It was real close, but I knew there might be an opportunity to get black-flagged there.""
Wallace’s veteran experience helped him "methodically move forward from his 40th starting position. A combination of patience on the race track by Wallace and speed by the Phoenix Racing team during pit stops would help move the #7 GEICO Chevrolet to the front of the field. Wallace would run as high as 3rd, while also leading a lap for the 4th time in 5 races, resulting in 20 bonus points this season. When the checkered flag waved at the 1.54-mile quad-oval, Wallace would finish on the Lead Lap in the 17th position, a substantial improvement over his 40th place starting spot. In 2007, Wallace has been nothing less than consistent, as his finish in Atlanta moved him up to 8th position in driver points. He sits just 35 points removed from the Top 5, after being 54 points removed just a week ago.
Fresh off of a top-10 finish at Las Vegas, Shane Huffman finished 19th "at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the NASCAR Busch Series Nicorette 300."
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