GAFFNEY, S.C. (August 21, 201) – Mike Wallace and the No. 01 Chevrolet team of JD Motorsports w/Gary Keller is hoping to take their top-10 finish momentum from last week’s Montreal event to race the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway this Friday night.
Yes, the two tracks are totally different with one being a road course and the other a half-mile oval, but momentum and the good feelings from last week’s seventh-place finish knows no size or width. The team just knows they have what it takes to race near the front and get good finishes.
And, that’s exactly what their goal is for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on the Virginia/Tennessee border this weekend. Fans and drivers alike will be looking to see how the newly-configured track holds up and what kind of racing action it will produce.
Brad Teague will be Wallace’s teammate in the No. 4 Chevrolet. The one-time NNS race winner brings years of experience to the track where he has 2.5-dozen starts.
Mike Wallace Notes
· This will be his 439th career NNS start, in which he’s achieved four trips to Victory Lane
· For the 2012 season, the St. Louis native has made 22 previous starts and currently ranks 12th in points. He trails 11th by just 12 markers
· During those 22 races, Wallace has completed 3,491 of 3,733 (93.5 percent) laps contested
· He and the team have achieved one top-10 and five top-20 finishes in the last six starts, they’ve also led four races
· For Bristol Motor Speedway action, Wallace has made 28 prior NNS starts
· Completing 6,234 of 7,135 laps, he’s also earned one top-five, five top-10s and led 65 laps at BMS
· His best start was third in the fall of 1996 and finish of fourth in the fall of 1993
Brad Teague Notes
· Will be making his 236th career NNS start
· He has one career win (Martinsville 1987), 11 top-five and 43 top-10 finishes
· He has made 30 previous Bristol starts earning two top-five and four top-10 finishes
· He’s completed 4,973 of 7,104 laps contested and led 25 laps
Tune in for the Win
This is a one-and-done day on Friday for the NNS with the only practice from 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. Then, qualifying starts at 3:30 p.m. and they can both be seen on SPEED TV. Race action begins at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN and can be heard on PRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 for all 250 laps.
Mike Wallace Quotes: “What can you say to hype this anymore? This is one of our biggest races of the year, it’s under the lights, it’s on a Friday night and it’s at Bristol – I think that answers everything.
“We are feeling pretty good coming off our seventh-place finish at Montreal last week. Yes, we do realize they are two different types of track – Bristol and Montreal – and they aren’t even close to what they’re like in shape and size.
“But, this JD Motorsports w/Gary Keller Chevrolet team has been working so hard to get things right and better. Last week showed that hard work does pay off and make it worthwhile.
“This week, we go to Bristol with a newly configured track waiting for us. That could prove to be a real test for us, or we end up hitting on the set-up right away and end up being good off the truck.
“Newt (Moore, crew chief) and the guy’s will give it our all to get another great finish – I can guarantee that much. The fans love the place and we’re going to put the No. 01 Chevrolet right out there for them to watch us have a great run. It’s Bristol.”
