Wallace says sponsor GEICO has decided its 2010 plans

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Sam Greenwood
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SPARTA, Ky. – Mike Wallace said Friday at Kentucky Speedway that sponsor GEICO has indicated what it wants to do after next season, and it appears it won’t be sponsoring Wallace.

GEICO, an insurance company, is not allowed in the Nationwide Series in 2010 as part of a non-competing sponsor agreement with the series sponsor. Nationwide began sponsoring NASCAR’s No. 2 series this year.

Wallace drives the No. 7 Toyota for Germain Racing.

“We have an indication of what they’re going to do,” Wallace said of NASCAR. “Who really knows? I’ll just leave it at that.”

GEICO has been one of the most visible sponsors in the series, with its popular commercials featuring fictional Wallace relative Lauren Wallace.

NASCAR has told GEICO it could remain as a team sponsor in the Sprint Cup or Craftsman Truck series, but Wallace indicated that didn’t seem likely.

“In my case, for me to continue to race in years to come, I’ve got to go find another sponsor,” Wallace said.

Wallace said he has had many discussions with NASCAR officials about the GEICO sponsorship, saying “we’ve all come to a compromise that we agree to disagree.”

“It’s a shame because they really do a good job,” Wallace said of his sponsor. “And the title sponsor of this series is doing a good job. They’re trying to do greater things.

“It’s just a shame because you’re trying to take a supporter of this particular series – they found a niche where they like to be – and go,
‘Look, you’ve got to go away. We don’t want you around any more.’”