Kroger 200 - Mike Wallace Notes

Mike Wallace/Miller High Life Light Fast Facts
Kroger 200, Indianapolis Raceway Park

Race Information – Event: Kroger 200; Race: Saturday, August 6, 2005 at 8:30 p.m. EST on TNT; Track: Indianapolis Raceway Park; Qualifying: August 6, 2005 at 6:05 p.m. EST on SPEED; Track Length: .686-mile oval

One Wallace Out, Another One In – Last weekend the Wallace Brothers competed together for the first and last time at Gateway International Raceway, and after all was said and done, Mike Wallace came out with the best finish of all three brothers; with a second place run in front of his hometown fans. The middle Wallace brother will drive his older brothers No. 64 Miller High Life Light Dodge this weekend at IRP for the first time this year. Wallace won this event in 1994 and has three top-10 finishes in nine starts here.

Keeping it in the Family – On Wednesday of this week, Stephen, son of NBS car owner Rusty Wallace, will head to the Irish hills of Michigan International Speedway to test an ARCA RE/MAX series car for Penske Racing. He’ll make his big-track ARCA RE/MAX debut on August 19th in a Penske sponsored car. The youngest Wallace, who turns 18 on August 18th, has been spending his time behind the wheel of his Hooters Cup car and will possibly make his NBS debut at Memphis Motorsports Park later this year.

“Two Lap Lucy” – Blake Bainbridge and his MHLL team will take Chassis No. 12 to the track this weekend at IRP. But this car has a special nickname attached to her deck lid; the team refers to her as “Two Lap Lucy.” This was the car that McMurray was supposed to race at Charlotte in May, but on the first day of the test, after making only two laps on the track, McMurray went sailing into the outside wall and destroyed the car. So crew chief Blake Bainbridge says if this car wins this weekend in Indy, she’ll be renamed “202 Lap Lucy.” Lucy is a brand new car; she’ll hit the track for the first time this Saturday at 10 a.m.

Where’s Mayfield? – Jeremy Mayfield hasn’t raced in the NBS since his 39th place finish (accident; blown tire) at Chicago on July 9th. The NEXTEL Cup Series veteran will return to the seat of the No. 64 Miller High Life Light Dodge on August 20th at Michigan International Speedway.

Quotes:

Blake Bainbridge on having Mike Wallace behind the wheel this weekend at IRP…
“After Mike’s second place finish last weekend in Gateway, we’re excited to have Mike drive the car this weekend at IRP. He’s been in the shop all day today getting fitted in the seat and talking about the set-up with me. He’s won this event in the past and he always runs well here. I’m looking forward to working with him and bringing home a top-five finish after our bad luck last weekend.”

Bainbridge on juggling driver’s week after week…
“It definitely creates a challenge to work with this many different drivers in a year. I’ll just get used to having Jamie or Jeremy in the car and then we’ll switch to somebody else. But you know, this team has really come together and I think we’re learning a lot this year. I think week after week things keep getting better for this team and I think Mike will bring home a good finish for us this weekend at IRP.”