GAFFNEY, S.C. (July 15, 2012) – The old saying that nothing replaces hard word was very true for Mike Wallace and the No. 01 Team Fox Charity Chevrolet team of JD Motorsports with Gary Keller.
Team Fox is a charity headed up actor Michael J. Fox bringing awareness to Parkinson’s disease. The team contacted them, through long-time racing participant Sonny Whelen of Whelen Industries, and said they would bring awareness by donating the space on their No. 01 Chevrolet to help them out.
When the 200-lap NASCAR Nationwide Series race started on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Wallace was lined up 27th in his Chevrolet and teammate, Danny Efland was lined up 36th in his for the initial green flag. From the start, Wallace and crew chief Newt Moore stuck to their plan to settle in, see how the car and track conditions changed and adapt as the race continued.
Going a lap down early on the flat track didn’t bode well for Wallace. However, their hard work was benefitted by some luck when the caution waved on lap 42 with him as the first car one lap down.
Via the Lucky Dog rule, Wallace and team were back on the lead lap for the restart four circuits later. From there, the team utilized their pit stops to bolt on four new tires, take on fuel and make adjustments to improve their Chevrolet’s handling. The adjustments started to pay off as the race went on with the team picking up positions and holding their own.
While he was doing his best to run in the top-20, Efland was trying to get as many positions as possible in the TradeBank Chevrolet, as well. However, on lap 122, he and the No. 88 car of Cole Whitt got together in Turn 2.
The damage was enough to end the night for Efland and team giving him an undeserved 29th-place finish. He is now 24th in Driver’s Points, running a limited schedule.
Wallace continued on and remained on the lead lap picking up more spots on the scoring pylon. When the checkered flag waved on lap 200, he and the team were rewarded with a very commendable 15th place. This equals his season’s best finish, which was achieved at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.
He remains 15th in points, but now trails 14th by only four markers and 13th by 12 points. Next up on the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule is Chicagoland Speedway for a special Sunday afternoon race, with the Cup Series being off.
Mike Wallace Quotes: “First, I would like to thank Team Fox for working with us to come on the car at the last minute. We were glad to help them out and hope fans saw their decals on our car and will help them out, in turn.
“As far as the race goes, we had an average day going there and were very fortunate to take advantage of the Lucky Dog there on lap 42. From there, Newt and the team did a good job on pit road with stops and making adjustments.
“We just kept to our strategy and made it work for us as the race continued. With the type of track New Hampshire is in layout, it was fun to be on the lead lap battling for positions.
“For us to have a top-15 finish on this type of track, for this team, shows our hard work is starting to pay off. This was good for us in many ways, and we just need to keep building on these things for the future.”
