[Editor's note: It's the weekend, and we're hanging. But reader Carol isn't; here's her take on one of the most famous drivers who never was ... ]
"When it comes to Mike Wallace, the story ends with me putting him in the wall." -Lauren Wallace
I decided to have a look into the career of one of Geico's most memorable faces. Young Lauren Wallace, second cousin to Mike, obviously has the killer instinct and will soon be wowing us in the big leagues, right?
Not so fast, ladies and gentlemen. It turns out that the intrepid Lauren is actually just a creation of the Martin Agency for Geico, played by 14-year-old actor Eddie Heffernan. It seems that when the casting call went out, Heffernan was the only kid with the sense to play it tough and cool instead of cute.
Despite having asked his parents for a go-kart every year for Christmas until he finally got one (and drove the wheels off it!), young Eddie hadn't really been exposed to Nascar until he began doing the commercials. So, in a rather ironic turn of events, after having worked extensively with Mike Wallace on the commercials, Eddie's become a big fan of ... Mike Wallace.
Dangit. I was really looking forward to seeing this kid grow up in racing. I wanted to post a few links to the commercials to ease the pain, but it seems that with Nationwide sponsoring the, um, Nationwide series, and Geico moving sponsorship to Sprint Cup, that most of the Mike Wallace commercials are suddenly hard to find. Will he do as well with Max Papis as his foil? I leave it to you to decide.
What a character [Lynchburg News & Advance]
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