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.
As last Sunday's race South of the border in Mexico City, Mexico began to wind down, Mike Wallace found himself outside of the Top 10, but still at the front of the field in the #7 GEICO Camry. On the final laps, Wallace and the Gecko would withstand a series of taps to the rear bumper by Max Papis’s heavily battered race car and go on to record a 12th place finish in the first of three road course races of the season.
“We were able to go out and run really well today and get a decent finish down here,” Wallace said. “It was a fun race and it was nice to be able to have the #7 GEICO Camry running up front and competing with the best road course racers in the business. Max Papis and I battled hard during the final laps and I appreciate him not turning me around when he probably could have.”
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Talladega, Alabama, for their second restrictor plate race of the 2008 season. Mike Wallace is well known as a restrictor plate specialist and he looks forward to arriving at the 2.66-mile high-banked race track.
“I’ve always experienced great success at restrictor plate tracks and I look forward to getting to Talladega and putting the #7 GEICO Camry up front all weekend,” Wallace said. “We’ve worked really hard on our cars and I am sure it will pay off and we’ll have a good chance of putting GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport in Victory Lane. Talladega is always a fun atmosphere, so we’re going with the notion of having fun and running up front.”
The Aaron’s 312 is on Saturday, April 26th, and it will be televised live on ABC beginning at 2:30 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
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