Q&A: Mike Wallace

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mike Wallace prefers that he wasn't known as one of the most competent fill-in drivers in NASCAR, but it's a role that the St. Louis native has thrived in for years in the Winston Cup Series.

	Mike Wallace

Wallace, 44, was pressed into his most recent assignment, driving the No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac for MB2 Motorsports, when its regular driver, Jerry Nadeau, was critically injured in a crash during practice at Richmond International Raceway.

As Nadeau continues to show progress in his recovery from maladies that include a moderate to severe head injury, a fractured scapula and lung and rib injuries, Wallace made his first start in the MB2 Grand Prix last Saturday in the Winston Open at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

On the eve of Thursday's Bud Pole Qualifying session for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's, Wallace sat down to talk about what he expects from his time in the 01 car, which could include the balance of this season, team chemistry and his prospects for NASCAR's longest race.

After one start together, how would you characterize your transition to working with MB2 Motorsports?

To be honest, the transition as far as me working with the race team and getting into the car has been relatively easy. Make no mistake; this is a difficult situation for everybody involved with the U.S. Army team -- the crewmembers, families, the front office, sponsors and fans.

You never want to get a job because one of your fellow drivers got hurt. But racing is what it is. It parallels the military in that somebody gets hurt and someone else goes in to continue on. This is Jerry's car and our thoughts will always be with him. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to drive for this team.

It's only been two weeks since you were announced as Jerry's replacement. Have you established a good rapport with crew chief Ryan Pemberton and the team?

In this situation the chemistry has to happen instantaneously and we're all thankful that it has. The team knew something about me and I knew something about them. These guys are professionals and I feel the same about myself. We can relate quickly to each other.

	Mike Wallace will drive the No. 01 Pontiac in the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend.

This is what you have to do -- there is no time for a learning curve. Ryan and I talk frequently. You have to have open communications and we do have that. This is not like starting a rookie race team -- we have a seasoned crew chief, seasoned crewmembers and a seasoned driver. We all have something to prove to everybody.

What are your realistic goals while being the substitute driver?

I put enough pressure on myself. I don't want to hear that this is a new deal and I'm just filling in. We don't want to just finish a race -- we want to run competitively. They put my seat in, made it fit so it's time for me to produce and they're ready to produce.

We want Jerry to recover and get healthy again. But in the meantime we're going to produce for him. When he comes back, hopefully the car will be up there in the points. We're all on the same page and we know what that page is. We want to be fast in practice, fast in qualifying and competitive in the race. Once again, I have no desire, nor does this organization, to just finish a race.

How do you feel going into this weekend's Coca-Cola 600?

The car we had last Saturday at the Winston Open was a fast car and drove well, but the car for the 600 is a new in-house built chassis. They tested it and said it's the fastest car they have. Everybody is positive and looking to perform better than we did last week.

The ultimate goal is to run competitively and be towards the front near the end of the race. The speed has been in the U.S. Army car most of the time -- they just had weird finishes, just like what happened to us last week -- getting hit on the first lap. You don't want to count on luck, but this team has had more than their share of bad luck this year.

Since this 600-mile race is the longest of the year, is there any certain strategy the team plans on applying?

There is nothing different in terms of strategy for this race. The day of what was called strategy has come and gone. You simply run these cars as hard as you can from the time the green flag drops to the time the checkered drops.

The strategy part comes during the race and the calls are made by the crew chiefs -- is it two tires, four tires, fuel only, etc. Winston Cup racing for drivers is you race as hard as you can from start to finish. A few years back you didn't do that -- you took the green flag kind of cautiously, didn't stay aggressive every lap because you were worried about pieces or parts breaking and all of that. But things have changed.

What was your assessment of your first weekend with MB2 Motorsports?

MIKE WALLACE  •  Driver Page

No question, it was a tough start. We practiced well and qualified well (fourth). But in the race we got turned around on the first lap and that kind of took us away from racing. I guess if this were going to happen it was just as well it happened in a non-points event than at this week's 600 or any other point race. All in all, it went well last week and it was a very good way to get ready for this weekend.

You'll also race your GEICO Chevrolet in the Busch Series at Lowe's. How do you feel about double duty weekends?

I personally love to race and I could run three races in a weekend. In fact, I did that at Daytona this year. It was a good weekend -- I had top-10s in all three races: Ninth in the Daytona 500, fourth in the Koolerz 300 and sixth in the Dodge Dealers 250.

I feel it's a positive to do both Winston Cup and Busch. I will try to utilize the Busch car as a tool to assist the 01 car and the same goes for helping the No. 4 Busch car. We can transfer information back and forth the entire weekend. It doesn't hurt at all to have this kind of input.