Mike Wallace perseveres and overcomes to finish 22nd at Michigan

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In: Xfinity Series News

Mike Wallace and his No. 01 Cowboys & Aliens Chevrolet of JD Motorsports took an interesting path to the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.

After posting the 25th and 28th positions, respectively, in the two practice sessions on Friday, Wallace backed that up by qualifying 27th for the race on Saturday. Once the green flag waved over the two mile oval of MIS, it wasn’t long before the St. Louis native broke into the top-25 positions.

Within five laps he was up to 23rd and looking to break into the top-20 positions as soon as possible. However, just as he was poised to do just that, a front tire on Wallace’s No. 01 Chevrolet started to give out under the high speeds typical of a race at MIS.

The tire corded, which means enough rubber had come off the tire to show the steel cords under the compound. This forced Wallace down pit road to change the tire before it totally shredded.

The timing of their stop also prevented the tire from shredding and tearing up the front fender, which in turn would have affected the car’s aerodynamics. When cars are doing the speeds as fast as being recorded at MIS, having all the fenders on the car is paramount for success.

With the Cowboys & Aliens car now good to go, Wallace returned to action looking to get back on the lead lap. After a spirited battle with the No. 87 of Joe Nemechek for much of the mid-portion of the race to get the Lucky Dog, Wallace never got the break he needed.

There were only three cautions during the entire race, with only one taking place past the halfway point. By then, Wallace was left to battle for points and positions with other cars looking to get back on the lead lap via the Lucky Dog rule.

Still running in the 20s on the scoring pylon, he would use perseverance and a capable car to work his way into the top 25. And, when the checkered flag finally did wave on lap 125, Wallace and his No. 01 Cowboys & Aliens Chevrolet fought their way back to earn a 22nd place finish.

As a result, he remains 15th in the Driver’s Points standing and the JD Motorsports No. 01 Chevrolet is 22nd in the Owner’s Points ranks. Next week, Wallace will take on the twists and turns of Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc.

Mike Wallace Quotes: “We sure took the long way to our 22nd place finish at Michigan this weekend. We had a pretty good car and we backed up what we did in practice for qualifying. When it came time to race, we started out pretty good and kept that pace for much of the race.

“I thought all was going to be lost when that tire started to come apart like it did, but we managed to make it to pit road just in time to save our Cowboys & Aliens Chevy. From there, we had to battle back to where we started and I really wanted to get back on the lead lap to gain more positions because we were running so well.

“The ongoing battle with Joe Nemechek there to get the Lucky Dog was fun, I like racing with Joe. But, we both ended up not having it happen because of the lack of cautions. Once the field gets strung out at Michigan, it’s tough to make it back up. But, we came out of there with a decent enough finish to move on to Road America next week.”

JD Motorsports PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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