Mike Wallace Takes the Gecko for a Wild Ride in Mexico; Ready to Play to Win in Las Vegas

Player Management International Release

Mexico City, Mexico (March 5, 2007) – Last week in Fontana, CA, Mike Wallace missed two crashes late in the race, overcame a dead battery and even recovered from a late-race spin after Paul Menard’s #15 car spilled oil on the track in front of him, to remarkably finish on the Lead Lap and salvage a respectable 24th place finish.  Wallace must be living right because he would provide an encore performance in Mexico City during his first visit to the City of Hope. 

Sunday in Mexico City, Wallace would work more of his magic as he narrowly avoided multiple crashes, including a late-race crash with 4 laps remaining. 

Starting the race in the 28th position, Wallace would methodically work his way to the front of the field, running as high as 12th.  While a late-race crash would send him into the grass to avoid getting caught up in the melee, Wallace would recover and hustle to a 19th place finish in the first of three road course races of the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season. 

“I feel like we had a good trip to Mexico City,” Wallace said.  “I got the track figured out pretty quick after the first practice and I was able to lean on my past road racing experience and get comfortable with the course.  I was glad that we had a good run for GEICO and for our associate sponsors Sport Clips and Smith Transport.”

As Wallace leaves Mexico City and heads for Las Vegas, he finds himself tied with Jason Leffler for 12th position in the championship standings.  More notably, he sits just 9 points out of the Top 10 and 44 points out of the Top 5. 

This week, Mike Wallace and the Phoenix Racing team head to Las Vegas, NV, for the Sam’s Town 300 on Saturday, March 10th.   

“Las Vegas is always a fun race for the obvious reasons, but we’re looking forward to getting on the track and continuing to compete for a championship,” Wallace said.  “Our goal is to finish races and at the same time improve our finishes each week.  We’ve done that so far and it is important that we continue making forward progress.”  He continued, “We are just outside of the Top 10 and not far from the Top 5, so right now we’re in a good position and it’s important that we remain competitive week in and week out.” 

Wallace and the #7 GEICO Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will hit the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for their first practice on Friday, March 9th, at 11:30 AM (ET).  Final practice is at 1:20 PM (ET), followed by qualifying at 8:05 PM (ET). 

On Saturday, the Sam’s Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race will be televised live on ABC with coverage beginning at 2:30 PM (ET) and green flag action coming at 3:00 PM (ET).  Performance Racing Network (PRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.    

To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.GEICOracing7.com.