NASCAR Cup
Pocono II: Mike Wallace preview
LONG POND, Pa. (July 23, 2003) - There's no secret formula or mechanical wizardry. It just comes down to the pure basics. "It's pretty simple," offered U.S. Army Pontiac driver Mike Wallace, "you have to face it head on and get over it. You don't ...
Published: Jul 23, 2003, 8:39 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
LONG POND, Pa. (July 23, 2003) - There's no secret formula or mechanical wizardry. It just comes down to the pure basics.
"It's pretty simple," offered U.S. Army Pontiac driver Mike Wallace, "you have to face it head on and get over it. You don't sit back and pout."
Wallace is referring to the frustrating circumstances that have plagued him at the last three NASCAR Winston Cup races when he was collected twice in multi-car accidents -- at Daytona and Chicago -- and then was turned around and stuffed into the wall at last week's New England 300 in Loudon, N.H.
Wallace and the No. 01 U.S. Army team are looking to break the jinx this weekend at the Pennsylvania 500 here at Pocono Raceway.
"For me, this is an aberration," said Wallace. "I am not the type of driver who tears up a lot of equipment. I look back at each situation and there was nothing that could be done. We were simply in the wrong place."
Wallace, who finished 31st in the first Pocono race of the season last month, will have a new in-house built car to attack the odd-shaped 2.5-mile oval.
"Everything I have been given with this team has been top notch," said the 44-year-old Wallace. "This is a very good team and everyone deserves better results. Our intention is to have those results and we won't get discouraged - we'll keep battling though this unusual adversity."
One could say that "unusual adversity" started on the first lap of the first race when Wallace took over as the substitute driver for Jerry Nadeau, who is recovering from a May 2 accident in Richmond.
It was at the 20-lap Winston Open shootout at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte where Wallace got tagged on the opening lap. Though he avoided making contact with the wall, the incident did take him out of contention.
"Was that an omen or what?" asked Wallace. "At the time, I just thought it was a bad break. The hit was unintentional and the driver who clipped me apologized after the race."
Omen or no omen, Wallace and the Army of One crew will put everything behind them as they approach the Pocono race weekend.
"We've gotten into some awkward situations the last three weeks," said Wallace. "We're just going to race the way we know how and not be overly cautious about what might happen. You can't race that way."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Pocono II: Dodge this - Spencer press conference
Next article No. 9 Pit Crew finishes first at Loudon
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Mike Wallace
Landscaping company responds to alleged assault of NASCAR driver
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Landscaping company responds to alleged assault of NASCAR driver
Three men arrested in beating of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace and his daughter
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Three men arrested in beating of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace and his daughter
Another Wallace arrives on the NASCAR scene
NASCAR O'Reilly
NASCAR O'Reilly
Loudon
Another Wallace arrives on the NASCAR scene
Latest news
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC WEC 37 min
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
The 10 key moments that defined Sergio Perez's F1 career
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
The 10 key moments that defined Sergio Perez's F1 career
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Cadillac 'honoured' to have Sergio Perez as special 300th race celebration planned for Mexico GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
3 h
Cadillac 'honoured' to have Sergio Perez as special 300th race celebration planned for Mexico GP
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe