#88 M&M’S® HALLOWEEN FORD HAS TOP-20 FINISH AT TALLADEGA

TALLADEGA, AL (October 7, 2007) – Mike Wallace and the #88 M&M’S® Halloween Ford finished 19th Sunday in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Wallace was chosen by Robert Yates to drive the #88 at Talladega in place of Ricky Rudd who continues to recover from his separated shoulder injury he sustained in his 900th career start at California Speedway. Wallace is known for his prowess at superspeedways and Sunday’s race was an opportunity for Wallace to showcase his talent at the longest track on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series circuit. Sunday also marked the debut of the Car of Tomorrow at a superspeedway.

The UAW-Ford 500 began at 1:22pm as Michael Waltrip and Dave Blaney led the field to green flag from the first and second starting positions. Waltrip lost the lead to Blaney during the opening lap of the race. The lead changed a total of six times in the first six laps of the race as drivers began to find drafting partners. Wallace and the #88 M&M’S Halloween Ford dropped to the rear of the field during the first lap as both Robert Yates Racing cars planned to form a drafting line with all five of the Roush Fenway Racing Fords. Talladega is a speedway where teams try to find a partner to help in the draft, and the Fords of Roush Fenway Racing and Robert Yates Racing determined before the race, that all seven of their cars in a line would help throttle the group around the track.

The first caution of the afternoon came during lap 17 as the #49 car cut a tire and ricocheted off the wall. During the yellow-flagged caution laps, Wallace called in over team radio communications to Crew Chief Cully Barraclough that the #88 M&M’S Halloween Ford felt very good and handled well on the track. Barraclough called for four fresh tires and fuel without any adjustments to the car’s set-up in the first pit stop of the afternoon on lap 19.

Wallace rejoined the seven car Ford pack and restarted on lap 23 in 34th place while his Robert Yates Racing teammate, David Gilliland, restarted in 31st. The Roush Fenway Racing and Robert Yates Racing draft line continued for another 34 laps before the first round of green flag pit stops began. On lap 57, the #88 took only right side tires and fuel before returning to the field. The second caution of the day came on lap 63 as Greg Biffle and Gilliland collided in turn four. Biffle spun and only suffered minor damage to his car, but Gilliland and his #38 M&M’S Halloween Ford sustained considerable damage to the front of the car.

Wallace and the #88 made a pit stop on lap 65 as the pit crew filled up the car with fuel and put on new left side tires. Wallace restarted 21st on lap 68 as Gilliland and the #38 Ford sat on pit road for repairs. The field continued under green flag racing for another 25 laps as Wallace attempted to run both the high and low lines on the track in an effort to move up through the pack. During lap 93, the field fell under caution as the #31 of Jeff Burton blew an engine and dropped oil on the track surface. Barraclough called Wallace onto pit road as the #88 M&M’s Halloween Ford took four fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel.

Tony Stewart took the lead for the first time on lap 99 following the restart on 97. Wallace had restarted from 32nd and by lap 110 the #88 M&M’S Halloween Ford was 11th on the leader board. Martin Truex, Jr. was the second car of the day to fall victim to a blown engine when on lap 113 and his #1 car spilled oil on the track and brought out the fourth caution of the day. Once again the #88 team made no adjustments to the car and took only right side tires and fuel. Wallace restarted 16th on lap 117 while Gilliland restarted his #38 in 40th following more repairs from the collision with Biffle earlier in the race.

The field continued to race under green while Wallace methodically worked his way around the track trying to find the fastest line for the #88 to run on. Talladega is a grueling race track for teams and their engines and during lap 136, the speedway claimed another victim as Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s #8 was the third car to blow an engine. Teams came to pit road as track safety workers continued to clean up oil on the track and Wallace received four tires and fuel during his pit stop on lap 138.

During lap 145 Talladega Superspeedway showed what the track is synonymous for; “The Big One.” Eleven cars were involved in the crash at turn four after the #43 got loose and bounced off the wall which caused the chain reaction near the middle of the field. Wallace and the #88 M&M’s Halloween Ford only sustained scratches as Wallace managed to avoid the collision. The #88 came to pit road for a routine stop during the resulting caution and took four tires and fuel while the pit crew inspected the car for any other possible damage.

The field restarted on lap 151 and Wallace was in 16th as the green flag waved overhead. The #88 M&M’s Halloween Ford jumped up to sixth on lap 152. The remaining 36 laps of the race had three more cautions, but Wallace remained up at the front of the field in sixth until Clint Bowyer bumped into the #88 on lap 181 which resulted in the #88 slightly bouncing off the wall as Wallace held on to control the car from spinning out. As a result, Wallace lost his place in the draft and dropped back to finish 19th for the UAW-Ford 500. Robert Yates Racing teammate, Gilliland finished 27th in his #38 M&M’S Halloween Ford Fusion.

“The #88 M&M’s Halloween Ford was great today,” commented Wallace following the race. “I was committed to the top line and it’s disappointing about the #07. He was below us and I was committed to the outside and he basically ran into us and got us into the fence. It’s frustrating for Robert Yates Racing and M&M’S because I truly think that it would have been a good top-10 finish for us today. The #88 pit crew did everything they were supposed to all day long and I really had a great time this weekend and I feel very thankful to the team for asking me to step into the driver’s seat this weekend at Talladega.”

Jeff Gordon won Sunday’s UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Gordon only led for one lap Sunday afternoon, and that came on the final lap of the race as he passed teammate Jimmie Johnson for the win. Dave Blaney finished third in the UAW-Ford 500 and was the only Toyota to finish in the top-20 after he began the race from second. Denny Hamlin finished fourth after he had led a total of 40 laps, the most of any other driver Sunday afternoon, while Ryan Newman completed the top-five finishers at Talladega.

Following Sunday’s UAW-Ford 500, the fourth race of The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup, Jeff Gordon reclaimed the lead in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver point standings over fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson. Gordon leads Johnson by a mere nine points following his victory at Talladega Sunday afternoon. Clint Bowyer stays in third place and is followed by Tony Stewart who also remains unchanged in fourth. Kevin Harvick rounds out the top-five drivers in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver point standings following the UAW-Ford 500. Wallace is 55th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver point standings, while Gilliland remains unchanged at 29th following the UAW-Ford 500.

Next weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the Bank of America 500 and the fifth race of The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. Pre-race television coverage begins on Saturday, October 13th at 7:00 p.m. EST on ABC. Radio coverage will be provided by the Performance Racing Network (PRN).