As the 2008 season wears on, Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team just keep getting better. Sitting in the middle of a series of good runs over the last few weeks, the GEICO team looked to improve upon past finishes and chase their first win of the season as they descended upon Nashville Superspeedway. A steamy, hot Tennessee afternoon was the setting for the Federated Auto Parts 300. As temperatures hovered around the 100-degree mark and the afternoon sun beat down on pit road, Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team prepared to get busy with recording yet another top finish. Early in the race Wallace and the Gecko arrived in the Top 5 where they rested before finding themselves in the lead.
The GEICO pit crew would provide superior support during pit stops and assist in keeping the #7 GEICO Camry up front. Wallace recorded his best finish in two years, winding up 6th in Music City. The finish was his 5th Top 10 of the 2008 season.
“We had a great weekend and the results show the progress that we’re making as a race team,” Wallace said. “Everyone’s real positive and we’re all working hard and it’s showing each week. 4th and 5th in practice, qualified 9th and finished 6th. It’s a nice weekend for GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport. It’s also a nice weekend for the Germain Racing team because we’re all seeing the hard work payoff. Bruce Cook (crew chief) and the guys are doing a great job and I feel confident that we’ll be back up front in Kentucky next week.”
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Sparta, Kentucky, which is located just south of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mike Wallace and the GEICO team are coming off of two consecutive Top 10’s and they hope to add a win to their resume when they arrive in the Bluegrass State.
The Meijer 300 is on Saturday, June 14th, and it will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 8:00 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
“We had a good run today and we’re glad to bounce back after having two tough races where the GEICO Camry was taken out on the final laps at Darlington and Charlotte,” Wallace said. “We had a consistent weekend and ran well in the practice sessions and the race. The driver probably got a little bit conservative in qualifying, but when the green flag waved we showed how good the GEICO Camry was. I’m happy to record another Top 10 for GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport.”
He continued, “This Germain Racing team did a great job and we’re looking forward to getting to Nashville next week. We’ve got a good run going and Nashville is going to give us the opportunity to make up ground in the points chase.”
Wallace started his race week off by visiting GEICO’s corporate office, which is located just 100-miles from Dover, on Thursday afternoon. He met with GEICO’s top executives and presented them with his driver helmet from the 2007 season and thanked them, as well as GEICO’s 20,000 employees, for their support over the years. After all, Wallace and the Gecko have shared a lot together, including a trip to Victory Lane at Daytona in 2004.
Wallace must have enjoyed his visit to GEICO’s office and whatever they said he must have liked because when he arrived in Dover he wanted to go fast. And he did.
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Nashville, Tennessee, where Mike Wallace and the GEICO team will attempt to pick up ground in the point standings, where they currently reside in the 9th position.
Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry will hit the track at Nashville Superspeedway for their opening practice session on Friday, June 6th, at 6:00 PM (ET), with the final practice session being held at 7:45 PM (ET). Qualifying will be held on Saturday afternoon at 3:35 PM (ET).
The Federated Auto Parts 300 presented by Dollar General is on Saturday, June 7th, and it will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 7:00 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
Ken Schrader drove the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge Ram to a top-five finish in the rain-delayed Power Stroke Diesel 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park, Indianapolis, Ind., last Friday night, July 27. Next up in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing: a 200-mile race at Nashville Superspeedway, in Lebanon, Tenn., on Saturday, August 11, 2007.
Schrader did it in style too. He started 18th and moved up steadily through the field all night on a track where the winner has always started in the top five. Not bad for an old man. He ended the night picking up two spots on the last lap. There was also this tidbit.
TruckSeries.com Report
Fifth-finishing Ken Schrader drove the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge to its first lead lap posting since May’s race in Mansfield where he took third – the veteran’s best of the season.
My favorite Craftsman Truck Series Driver is Bobby Hamilton. But I like Ken Schrader too. So it is with mixed emotions that I read this today. On one hand it looks like Bobby will not be driving next year. This is not surprising given he is a cancer survivor.
Being from Tennessee it was natural to pull for Bobby after becoming aware of him during the filming of Days of Thunder. He had to actually qualify the Mountain Dew car for the movie before NASCAR would let the producers put the car on the track to get film footage. Things have changed a lot since then with NASCAR now tripping all over itself to accommodate the movie industry to get a cut of the (all of a sudden Hollywood wakes up and realizes family movies can deliver a) profit.
On the other hand I lived in Valley Park, Missouri, in a subdivision right above Schrader's Uncle Dennis's automotive shop. I caught smallmouth bass while wading the creek right behind the shop (while on their property probably). I used to walk around the old Lake Hills Speedway just across the creek where Kenny ran many a race against the Wallaces back in the day. The people that ran Schrader's modified operation went to school where my kids went and my wife taught. (I was talking racing in a line at the school one night with this dude with Federated Auto Parts Kenny Schrader apparel on when all of a sudden the dude says "I was talking to Kenny last night.") So, while I hate to hear (between the lines apparently) that Bobby will not be racing this year, I am thrilled for Kenny who may need to fall back on this if his Nextel Cup opportunities come to an end.
And oh, by the way, if the Nashville based Little Debbies sponsorship eventually followed Kenny over to the Nashville (Lebanon) based Bobby Hamilton Racing (BHR), that would be "one sweet ride".
From: That'sRacin.com,
Schrader to Drive a Hamilton Dodge in Some Truck Races
By DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
Ken Schrader will drive the No. 18 Dodge trucks for Bobby Hamilton racing in 2007. A driver to be named will take over when Schrader’s Nextel Cup responsibilities with the Wood Brothers prevent him from competing in Truck events.
From: bobbyhamiltonracing.com
Schrader Set to Pilot the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge Orlando, FL | 12-07-2006 Four-Time Cup Winner Partners with BHR and Fastenal for Majority of 2007 NCTS Campagin - NASCAR fan favorite Ken Schrader has been tabbed to drive the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge for Bobby Hamilton Racing during the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Schrader and 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton have been both friends and competitors throughout their NASCAR careers and now they have joined forces to help re-establish BHR as a championship caliber NCTS team. “I am thrilled to get the opportunity to drive the Fastenal Dodge,” Schrader said. “Bobby Hamilton and I have been friends for a long time so to get the chance to work with him is just an ideal situation for me."
BHR has always had some of the most competitive equipment in the series and I look forward to climbing into the seat and racing hard. Fastenal is a great company, I don't think there is a race team out there that doesn't use most of their products in some form or fashion and I can't wait to represent them proudly next year."
From: truckseries.com
12-07-2006
Schrader Set to Pilot the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge
Four-Time Cup Winner Partners with BHR and Fastenal for Majority of 2007 NCTS Campagin
The Fastenal Company, is a Minnesota based industrial and construction supply company with more than 1,800 stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Singapore and the Netherlands.
"We re really happy to be able to get a driver the caliber of Ken Schrader for the Fastenal Dodge," Hamilton said. 'We looked at a number of different drivers as a possibility for this job but Kenny was just a perfect fit for both BHR and Fastenal. He is a proven winner both on the track and off and he will provide us with great feedback that will help us win races and compete for championships in the future."
Schrader has four NASCAR Nextel Cup wins, two NASCAR Busch Series wins and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win to his credit. He has logged an amazing 283,398 miles in NASCAR Cup, Busch and Truck series events, that is equal to racing around the world 12 times or from New York to Los Angeles 94 times. In other words, Schrader has raced enough miles to go the moon and is now almost a fourth of the way back.
In 2007 the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will run 25 races on 22 separate racetracks across the United States. All of the NCTS events will be broadcast live nationally on the Speed Channel.
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