Mike Wallace (No. 7 GEICO Toyota) has completed more laps this season than any other driver in series competition with 1,912 —failing to finish only six total laps thus far.
David Reutimann (No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota) is one of only two drivers among the top 10 to have not led a single lap this season.
Watch for two series-only regulars to run up front – Jason Leffler (No. 32 Great Clips Toyota) and Kenny Wallace (No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet). Leffler has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two Darlington races and has scored a Driver Rating of 104.8 and Average Running Position of 10.2 during that span. Kenny Wallace knows his way around Darlington as well. He’s scored a pole (1990) and eight top ten finishes in the Nationwide Series, with a career best runner-up finish in 2005.
Due to Morgan Shepherds "oh so excellent" and most popular 13th place finish at Talladega - and all of the support streaming in from within the NASCAR community and racing communities in general - TheHotLap.com has decided to start a "Sticker Tires For Faith" fund with the goal of donating a set of tires for Sat May 24th's NASCAR Nationwide CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Mike Wallace moved into the Top 5 and ran in the 4th position on just Lap 9. As the race wore on, the caution flag would wave and allow the GEICO Racing pit crew to shine, when they completed a tremendous pit stop on Lap 64 and returned the #7 GEICO Camry to the race track in the 4th position. Wallace and the Gecko would narrowly avoid a major crash on Lap 71. While he took a slight hit as he slivered through the colossal crash, it would not be enough to slow the #7 GEICO Camry. Wallace would run in the Top 5 for the majority of the afternoon, and even lead briefly when he overtook Dale Earnhardt, Jr. late in the race.
“I felt I was a car to beat", said Wallace. "(Greg) Biffle helped me dramatically -- he got us to where I almost had (Tony) Stewart cleared and I was just half a car length from clearing him. I didn’t want to force the issue."
Following a late-race caution flag that would provide the fans with an exciting green/white/checkers finish, Wallace restarted the race in the 5th position. Wallace jumped out of line with the #7 GEICO Camry in an effort to win the race, however a commitment made from a fellow driver would not be honored and, consequently, Wallace was ‘hung out to dry’.
"On the final restart the 38 (Jason Leffler) said they would work with us and we had a run and we went. I should have been smarter than that, I’ve been through this rodeo before."
Falling back as far as 17th position on the final lap, Wallace would hustle back to the front and record a 10th place finish.
"We were fortunate to hang onto a top-10. We had a good car, it drove really good -- we had no problems all day long.A Top 10 finish is great, but we had a car to win the race and we put ourselves in position to win, but unfortunately we got hung out to dry there on the final lap,” Wallace said. “We picked up some ground in the point standings and we also got great coverage for GEICO and Sport Clips. It was a fun race and we were lucky enough to barely miss the big crash.”
He continued, “This week will be special because we head to Richmond which sits only about 90 miles from GEICO’s corporate office. We always have a lot of GEICO guests in Richmond, so we’re hoping to take them to Victory Lane with us.”
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Richmond, Virginia, for a Friday night short track battle. Richmond International Raceway provides the Gecko a chance to visit home, as the ¾-mile race track sits less than a hundred miles removed from GEICO’s corporate office. The Lipton Tea 250 is on Friday, May 2nd, 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.
I arrived at the track just before qualifying was to begin at 3:30 p.m.,. Shopping is usually my first routine. I noticed that Mike Wallace was going to sign autographs at his souvenier trailer at 4:00. Around 3:30, the sounds of racing engines and the announcer called me in to watch qualifying.
Bobby went out fairly early and put it on the provisional pole. But now I had a dilemma. What if Bobby was going to sign autographs? I hadn't found his trailer. Should I continue watching qualifying or go find his trailer? My mind told me to go find that trailer.
I noticed Kenny Wallace had a tent set up and was going to be signing souveniers. This was St. Louis after all and the Wallaces are local royalty.
As it turned out Bobby didn't have a trailer. Neither was any of his merchandise for sale in what may have qualified as the "Busch" souvenier trailer. The souvenier trailers were dominated by merchandise for the Nextel Cup elite.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. stuff was going cheap though. There will be no use carrying that Bud 8 stuff over to next year. Nope, that won't sell. Best dump it now, the souvie trailer salesmen are thinking.
I went back in to finish watching the qualifying. Bobby's provisional pole didn't hold. But it was fun hoping it would stay in the top 10 and give him a good start. In the end, he just missed the top 10.
McDonald’s NASCAR Busch Series driver Bobby Hamilton, Jr. continued his march through the summer racing season on Saturday Night. The Gateway International Raceway was the site of race number 21 of the 2007 season. Known for its long, tight straightaways and flat turns, Gateway is a challenge for even the most experienced of drivers. On this night, Hamilton would start from the 11th position in the field of 43 cars.
It seemed from the start that Hamilton had a top 15 or top 20 car. He slipped back early. Then he got lapped.
However, he continued to fight valiantly and the pit crew made good adjustments and had good stops. Bobby was later awarded with a lucky dog. He went on to make the most of it.
Saturday night’s race found Hamilton contending for a top-ten finish at the end of the night. The McDonald’s Team worked long and hard to improve the handling on Hamilton’s car over the 200 lap race. In the end, Hamilton dashed under the checkered flag for a 13th place finish. Hamilton remained in 7th place in the point’s championship, just 88 points out of fourth, 74 out of fifth and 69 behind sixth.
“We wanted to finish better here tonight and gain a few more points on some of these guys,” Hamilton said. “We are really looking forward to next Saturday night in Indianapolis. We need to leave there with a top five or top ten finish and head into the two road course races with some momentum.”
Watching the race live Bobby just didn't seem to have top ten equipment. It was evident he was racing hard. It appeared he drove an excellent race. The pit crew was excellent. Therefore, I am led to conclude that the Team Rensi equipment just isn't up to standard.
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