Sam’s Town 300 - Mike Wallace Notes

MIKE WALLACE / GEICO RACING PRE-RACE NOTES – LAS VEGAS

EVENT INFORMATION - Event: NASCAR Busch Series Sam’s Town 300 (NASCAR Busch Series race No. 3 of 34); Time and Date: 4:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, March 6; Site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Live Coverage: FX (television) at 3:30 p.m. and PRN (radio) at 3:30 p.m. ET; Qualifying: Broadcast live on the SPEED Channel at 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 5th.

LAST RACE (Goody’s Headache Powder 300): When the green flag dropped on Saturday afternoon’s running of the Goody’s Headache Powder 200 from North Carolina Speedway, Mike Wallace found himself battling for position among the top-twenty. Citing a tight condition just six laps into the event, Wallace went down one lap to the leader on lap 51 but benefited from NASCAR’s new rule on lap 54 when the caution flew. NASCAR returned Wallace to the lead lap. Crew chief Tony Lambert called the No. 4 GEICO machine to pit road on lap 56 changing four tires and adding fuel while making a track bar adjustment to attack the tight condition. On lap 82 Wallace came to the attention of his crew for a second time. He steered the No. 4 GEICO Ford down pit road for four tires, and fuel returning to the track in 23rd. Wallace used the races 197 laps to work his way into the top-fifteen before settling for 17th. “Our car, we just didn’t have the right setup,” said Wallace following the race. “We think we just put the wrong shocks on the car for the tire wear. We had some other shocks yesterday that we should have left on the car because it was better on the long runs and our stuff wore out pretty quick and slid the front end. We got an average finish and it’s nothing great. It’s about as best as we deserved to finish.”

WALLACE ON LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “Las Vegas is the town of excitement or the “Sin Bin” as they call it, but Las Vegas Motor Speedway is just a really nice race track. It’s always good for racing,” said Wallace. “We did not go to the pre-season winter test they had out there, but a lot of the guys that I know who have tested there say that tire wear is a major factor. It was a race track where you could run lap after lap after lap on the same tires, but they claim the tires slowed down two seconds in 30 laps which is just a phenomenal amount. I think the whole first part of the season the story is going to be about tire wear and chassis setups more than anything, other than at the superspeedways.”

WALLACE ON THE NEW SEASON: “Again, like everywhere else we go, we’ve got our new Ford’s and our new sponsorship from GEICO and Sport Clips, and our new motor program with Ilmor,” continued Wallace. “It’s all exciting. The whole start of this season is exciting right now. I look forward to going out to Las Vegas and winning the big one; rolling three sevens.”

CHARITY APPEARANCE: Mike & Rusty Wallace, Kyle Petty, Brendan Gaughan, Kyle Busch, Jason Keller, David Green, Paul Wolfe and Stacy Compton will participate in the Speedway Children’s Charities NASCAR Driver Auction at Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 4th. (Admission is $35)

BIAGI BROS. RACING 2004 SEASON SUMMARY: 2 start; winnings, $59,470.

MIKE WALLACE’S NASCAR BUSCH SERIES CAREER SUMMARY: 193 Starts; 3 wins; 16 top-5 finishes; 43 top-10 finishes.

Fast Facts

What: Sam’s Town 300 (Race No. 3 of 34 in the NASCAR Busch Series).

Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV.

When: Saturday, Mar. 6th, 4:00 p.m. ET.

Track layout: 1.5-mile oval.

Race length: 200 laps/300 miles.

TV: FX, 3:30 p.m. ET.

Radio: PRN and XM Satellite.

2002 winner: Jeff Burton.

Top 10 in points: 1. Kevin Harvick, 335. 2. Johnny Sauter, 330. 3. David Green, 294. 4. Robby Gordon, 291. 5. Ron Hornaday, 285. 6. Michael Waltrip, 276. 7. Bobby Hamilton Jr., 266. 8. Jason Keller, 265. 9. Martin Truex, Jr., 264. 10. Kenny Wallace, 242.

Pre-race schedule (all times local): Friday - Practice, 9:00 a.m. – 11:15; Qualifying, 1:30 p.m.; Final practice following Nextel Cup qualifying.