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.
Well, Bobby Hamilton Jr. is not running in Mexico, which results in him not being a Nationwide Series regular, in my opinion. I have known this for a month and had been hoping Bobby would get another ride. But it hasn't happened.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 19, 2008) -- Team Rensi Motorsports announced today the signing of Boris Said to pilot the No. 25 No Fear Energy / Smithfield Foods Ford Fusion for the two NASCAR Nationwide Series international races -- in Mexico City (April 20) and Montreal (Aug. 2).
So it is time to change horses.
This week, the Germain Racing team heads south of the border to Mexico City, Mexico, for NASCAR’S first road course race of the 2008 season. Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry will hit the track at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for their first practice on Friday, April 19th, at 2:00 PM (ET). Final practice is also on Friday at 4:05 PM (ET), followed by qualifying on Saturday afternoon at 11:35 AM (ET). The Corona 200 is on Sunday, April 20th, and it will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 1:30 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
With the Nationwide Series drivers not allowed on track for nearly 48 hours prior to the race, all the advantages were in place for the Sprint Cup Series drivers to dominate the event, and they did. The pace set by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick was tough for most to follow. The order of the day was simply follow the leaders and hope for the best.
“This was a tough race for us, staying off the track for nearly 48 hours really hurt us, we were left to make an educated guess on the chassis setup,” Nationwide regular Bobby Hamilton Jr. said.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has defended his friend and FIA president Max Mosley over allegations he participated in a BLEEP-style sex orgy. The claims were made by a Sunday newspaper, which published a video apparently showing Mr Mosley giving orders in German as he lashes girls wearing mock death camp uniforms and is himself whipped until he bleeds.
How come NASCAR never gets the good scandals?
Mosley is Bobby Hamilton Jr.'s new hero. "What's the problem here? What are we talking about?" Hamilton asks.
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