LONG POND PA (7-29-08) - Twenty-year-old Germain Racing driver Chrissy Wallace will make her ARCA RE/MAX Series debut this weekend at Pocono Raceway driving in the Hattori Racing Enterprises no. 01 Germain Toyota Camry.
Wallace, a graduate of late model stock car racing, has run three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races this season.
"When we tested Pocono Raceway in the spring, it was my first trip to that track," said Wallace. "I definitely think the tunnel turn is the trickiest part of the track. If you go in there too fast, you're completely sideways all the way through it and if you go too slow, you'll get passed. I thought it was a fun track to drive."
Wallace is the daughter of NASCAR veteran Mike Wallace, who had much success at Pocono Raceway in ARCA RE/MAX Series competition back in the mid-90s. Wallace won three consecutive ARCA RE/MAX Series events at Pocono (95-96) and earned two SIM Factory Pole awards on the storied 2.5-mile triangular-shaped superspeedway.
Chrissy Wallace debuted in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in March at Martinsville Speedway and has since raced at The Milwaukee Mile and Kentucky Speedway. Germain Racing General Manager Mike Hillman Sr. decided that Pocono Raceway would be a good track to build into Wallace's schedule this year.
"We took Chrissy to Pocono to test in a Tundra and she did well there," said Hillman. "The track offers three unique corners that challenge a driver to develop their technique. With the performances that the HRE no. 01 Camry has had, we're confident that Chrissy will have a great race car. The ARCA race at Pocono should be a good opportunity for Chrissy to learn a lot. We're running Chrissy at tracks where she has a chance to learn the most to prepare her for 2009. We would like to see her compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year in a fully-sponsored Tundra next season."
For Wallace, this will be her first race without teammates at the track.
"In our test, I ran over 190 laps. I really felt like, after I sat with Todd Bodine and A.J. Allmendinger at lunch break and talked about the track and the Tundra, that it helped me in my learning curve with Pocono. It will be different not having teammates on track with me at Pocono, but Mike Abner will be calling the shots so I will have a familiar voice on the radio," said Wallace.
Abner has worked with the Hattori Racing Enterprises no. 01 Camry for four ARCA RE/MAX series races this year in addition to serving as crew chief for Chrissy Wallace in the no. 03 Germain Toyota Tundra.
"Mike Abner has been able to lead laps with this HRE Camry program in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and he's led the team to a second-place finish and a SIM Factory Pole award. I know the Germain Toyota Camry will be strong. I'm looking forward to racing in the Pennsylvania 200 on Saturday," added Wallace.
Germain Racing has won two or more races each year for a total of 14 wins. Along with the victories, the team has earned 5 pole awards, 59 top-five and 88 top-ten finishes and led 1402 laps in 180 Truck Series races. For more information on how Germain Racing can put your name in victory lane, visit http://www.germainracing.com/.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series, which shares the track at Pocono with the NASCAR SPRINT Cup Series, is scheduled to practice from 10:15 AM to 11:55 PM Friday, August 1st with SIM Factory Pole Award Qualifying slated for 1:45. The Pennsylvania 200 goes off Saturday afternoon, August 2nd at 1:00.
Catch all the Pocono ARCA RE/MAX Series action at arcaracing.com offering LIVE Timing & Scoring of all on-track activities as well as LIVE flag-to-flag streaming audio coverage of the race through the ARCA Racing Network exclusively on arcanation.com presented by Team Glock.
Tickets for the ARCA RE/MAX Series Pennsylvania 200 and the SPRINT Cup Series event at Pocono are available by contacting the Pocono Raceway Ticket Office at 1-800-RACEWAY (1-800-722-3929), or through http://www.poconoraceway.com/.
Lori Smith
Media Relations Manager
Germain Racing
704-799-4300 Phone
704-799-7742 Fax
704-799-4301 Direct
lsmith@germain.com
http://www.germainracing.com/
218 Raceway Drive
Mooresville, NC 28117
