Mike Wallace and team stay focused heading to Phoenix

Mike Wallace and the No. 01 G&K Services Chevrolet team of JD Motorsports aren’t letting their early-ending race knockout at Daytona International Speedway last week deter their spirits heading to Phoenix International Speedway this weekend.

Wallace and crew chief Newt Moore know they had a great car, which was proved by their top-five and top-10 runs throughout the day, and are bringing that same determination and focus out West for their NASCAR Nationwide Series race at PIR on Saturday.

The one-mile oval is a far cry from the high banks of Daytona, but it still rewards the same amount of points. With the positive “can do” attitude this JD Motorsports team has going on right now, they’ll be looking for every one of those rewarding points they can earn.

Mike Wallace Notes for Phoenix

  • This will be his 418th NNS start and second of the season.
  • The St. Louis native heads to PIR 17th in the Driver’s Standings
  • In his 16 previous starts at PIR, the four-time NNS race winner has earned one top-10 and eight top-20 finishes
  • He’s finished 3,117 of 3,201 laps for a 97.4% completion rate leading three circuits
  • Wallace has an average finish of 21.5 at the one-mile oval
  • The last time the NNS visited PIR in November of last year, Wallace left with a 16th place finish to his credit

Mike Wallace Quotes: “Well, the good news is this team’s enthusiasm hasn’t been dampened or slowed one bit because of how we ended up finishing last Saturday at Daytona. They put a lot of work into that car, and did just as much work on this one for Phoenix.

“Phoenix is one of those tracks where you have to be really good coming off the corners to get all the straightway speed you can get because it’s so flat. They did a great job when they redid the track and the improvements really made for better racing.

“Our success is going to come through remaining on the lead lap and getting good pit stops throughout the race. If we can do better than we did last we were here, then we’re heading in the right direction.”

JD Motorsports PR