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.
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