No. 01 G&K Services Chevrolet
No. 4 Tradebank Chevrolet
Mike Wallace and team look to add momentum in Atlanta this Saturday
Danny Efland returns to No. 4 Tradebank Chevrolet
GAFFNEY, S.C. (August 28, 2012) – The No. 01 G&K Services Chevrolet team heads to the high-banked, fast track of Atlanta Motor Speedway looking to add to their recent momentum in Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race.
Mike Wallace will be wheeling the No. 01 entry for JD Motorsports w/Gary Keller, as he has all season. Joining him as a teammate will be Danny Efland, back in the No. 4 Tradebank Chevrolet.
With six of their last finishes in the top-20, and one in the top-10, through the last seven races; the No. 01 team has utilized those finishes to move into 12th in Driver’s Points and improve their laps completed stats, as well.
When crew chief Newt Moore and team roll the No. 01 G&K Services Chevrolet off the hauler this weekend, they’ll have only one practice to get their ride right for Wallace. And for Wallace, he’ll also reflect back 20 years ago when he was in one of the most-historic NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races ever run.
Mike Wallace Notes
· This will be the St. Louis native’s 440th career NNS start
· The four-time race winner is making his 24th start of the 2012 season
· During that span, he’s led four races and completed 3,798 of 3,983 laps (93.8 percent) contested
· During the last seven races, the team has six top-10 finishes with one of them a top-10 (Montreal)
· He’s currently 12th in Driver’s Points, trailing the 10th and 11th drivers by 20 markers
· This will be his 15th NNS start at AMS
· During that time, he’s had five top-20 finishes in the last seven starts
· His best start was third in 1994 and eighth in 1993
· The last visit by Wallace to AMS in 2011 produced a 16th-place finish
· During those 14 prior stars, he’s completed 2,490 of 2,774 laps contested (89.7 percent) and led two races
Danny Efland Notes
· This will be NNS career start No. 50 for the Irmo, S.C. native
· During the first 10 starts for him this year, he’s completed 1,169 of 1,620 laps contested
· His best finish was 13th, which took place in both Daytona races this season
· This will be his first start at AMS
Tune in for the Win
There will be only one practice on Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET with qualifying taking place later in the day at 3:30 p.m., which is on SPEED TV. Tune into ESPN at 7 p.m. for the 195-lap race, or listen to PRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90
Mike Wallace Quotes
“This track produces some of the fastest racing we have during the year. The banking is high and turns are long. You seem to spend more time turning than you do going straight when it comes to racing Atlanta.
“But, we have to practice in the morning, qualify in the afternoon and then race at night. So, we’ll have to do the best we can to get a good starting spot and go for another commendable finish. We’ve had some pretty good runs there and we’ve been doing well lately holding our own in the finishes this year, as well.
“I know this is the 20-year anniversary of the race where Jeff Gordon made his first start, Richard Petty his last and Bill Elliott, Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki were battling for the championship that day.
“That was my fifth Sprint Cup Series start and I just wanted to make the race (38th) and finish (20th) without getting in any one’s way with those guys racing for a championship. It’s still one of the most-talked about races in NASCAR history because of what happened that day; and with some of those names since. It was a special race to be part of, for a lot of reasons.”
