Catchfence

GAFFNEY, S.C. (November 8, 2011) – Mike Wallace and the No. 01 Chevrolet team of JD Motorsports hopes they’ve finished up their bad luck for the 2011 season as the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway.

This weekend, Wallace will once again carry the IHateStevenSinger.com colors and logo on the team’s car. And, after the day of mini-disasters during last week’s race in Texas, the entire team is looking forward to the one-mile oval of PIR.

However, while Wallace does have 15 prior starts at the desert track, he and everyone else are starting out with a fairly new sheet of paper in drawing their set ups. Since the series was last there in the Spring the track has been repaved all around and reconfigured in some areas.

This will definitely keep crew chiefs and engineers up at night trying to figure out what will work best. That’s why the two practice sessions on Thursday and the final one on Friday are going to be paramount for the team’s success.

Mike Wallace Info:

· This will be his 33rd NNS start of 2011 and 415th of his career.

· He’s completed 5,464 of 5,997 laps contested this year.

· He’s led five races for a total of 12 laps

· His one top five came at Road America and his top-10 finish was at Dover

· TheSt. Louis native has 15 prior starts at Phoenix

· His best green flag was eighth in 2006 and his best finish of ninth was in 2008

· Through those previous starts, he’s completed 97.2 percent (2,918 of 3011) laps contested and led three laps

· Seven of the 15 starts have been top-20 finishes

· The last time the NNS was in Phoenix, Wallace started 21st and finished 24th.

· I Hate Steven Singer will be on the No. 01 Chevrolet this weekend and for the season finale at Homestead.

· The four-time NNS winner is currently 13th in the Driver’s Points.

Mike Wallace Quotes: “First, I wanted to thank everyone who came to my Dad’s celebration of life on Monday night in Concord, and then everyone who came out on Monday in St. Louis when we laid him to rest. The outpouring of condolences and everything has meant the world to myself and our families.”

“This weekend, we go back to doing what we know best – racing. I’m not sure what lies ahead for the new pavement and configuration of Phoenix, but I know we’re going to find out real fast when we get on that track Thursday afternoon.”

“When the Cup cars had that test session, I talked to a lot of them and they said the grip and smoothness are pretty good. But, we’ll have to see how our cars do compared to theirs. I like the fact they took the time and expense to improve their track, now we’ll just do our part to see if we can have a good race on there, too.”

- JD Motorsports Press Release