GAFFNEY, S.C. (March 20, 2012) – Mike Wallace and the unsponsored No. 01 JD Motorsports Chevrolet team are heading West to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Cali. in search of the best in their NASCAR Nationwide Series race this weekend.
They’re looking for the best practice, the best qualifying lap and the best finish of their still-young 2012 NNS season.
The team already feels they have their best car as they’ll be utilizing the same Chevrolet they drove to a 17th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two races ago. Now, the Newt Moore-led team just needs to look for a little more from themselves to earn new best marks for their team.
A two-mile oval like ACS demands a lot from a motor with the high speeds achieved on the straightaways. In turn, the crew must set up the car to get as much out of the corner to regain that straightaway speed for track position.
Between the driver in Wallace, the crew chief in Moore and the team put together by owner Johnny Davis – they know their goals are achievable. It will take 150 laps to do just that on Saturday afternoon.
Mike Wallace Info • This will be the St. Louis native’s 421st NNS career start and fifth of the 2012 season • To date this year, the four-time NNS winner has completed 93.7 percent of laps (768 of 820) contested • He currently ranks 15th in points and is 15 markers out of the top-10 ranks • The team’s best finish was 17th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this month • Wallace has made 16 previous starts at ACS in his NNS career • His best start was 15th and finish was 12th; both occurring Spring 2010 • He’s completed 97.9 percent (2,354 of 2,404) laps contested at ACS and led five circuits • Of those 16 starts, eight have been top-20 finishes with six of them taking place in the last eight races
Tune in for the Win: There will be only one practice for the NNS teams; which will take place from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on SPEED TV. Qualifying takes place Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2 with race action starting at 5 p.m. on ESPN TV, MRN Radio and Sirius NASCAR Radio Ch. 90
Mike Wallace Quotes: “If you’re a fan of high-speed action, then Auto Club Speedway is the race for you to watch. I have enjoyed some good days of racing here and know how important it is to have a strong motor under the hood of our No. 01 Chevrolet. If we can get ourselves dialed in during practice, then we’re off to a good start.
“Having only that one practice does kind of hurt us; we all want as much track time as possible. But, the good part is we’re having it pretty much during the time we’re going to be racing; so that will be helpful.
“This team has been working so hard to get better, and it’s starting to show up. We’ve moved up in points, we’ve had consistent finishes within only a few positions of each other and we’re working together real well.
“As far as this weekend goes, I’m looking for a top-15 finish – or better – from this team. I know we can do it, we’ve been working too hard not to have a good finish.”
After this race, NNS teams will have a two-week break before returning to action on Friday, April 14 at Texas Motor Speedway
