NASCAR Cup

Michigan: Mike Wallace race report

Wallace charges back to finish 23rd in Michigan BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 15, 2003) - Mike Wallace put on a late charge in the closing laps to finish 23rd in Sunday's Sirius 400 here at Michigan International Speedway. Wallace, driving the No. 01 ...

Published: Jun 16, 2003, 9:44 PM

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Wallace charges back to finish 23rd in Michigan

BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 15, 2003) - Mike Wallace put on a late charge in the closing laps to finish 23rd in Sunday's Sirius 400 here at Michigan International Speedway.

Wallace, driving the No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac for the injured Jerry Nadeau, picked up seven positions during the final six laps of the 200-lap, 400-mile race.

With eight laps remaining, the yellow flag came out while Wallace was running in 28th place. Crew chief Ryan Pemberton made the decision to call Wallace into the pits to take on four new tires for the final dash. The pit stop did cost Wallace two positions when he returned to the track, but the decision paid off in the end.

"Give the credit to Ryan - he made a great call to come in and get fresh tires," said Wallace. "I questioned the call and that goes to show you why I'm not a crew chief. That was a nice way to finish the race. We're still not pleased with our overall performance, but we hung in there and ended on a positive note."

Wallace, who started 34th, encountered a problem early in the race when he was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 27 due to a tire problem.

"The tire was going flat and it finally blew out going down into (turn) three," explained Wallace. "We lost a lap, but we were also thankful the incident didn't cause an accident."

Wallace got his lap back, but struggled during the middle part of the race by not having the right balance with his No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac.

"It was loose, tight, back to loose and back to tight," said Wallace. "We never found the happy balance until later in the race. But when we did, the car started to pick up steam. We're leaving here upbeat and know that we can get better."

Next week's race will be the first road course event of the year and it will take place at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Boris Said, a road racing specialist, will drive the U.S. Army car for this event.

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