Darrell Wallace, Jr.

For the Canadian Football League player, see Darrell Wallace.
Darrell Wallace, Jr.

Wallace, Jr. at Road America in 2015
Born (1993-10-08) October 8, 1993
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Awards 2010 K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
39 races run over 3 years
Car no., team No. 6 (Roush Fenway Racing)
2015 position 7th
Best finish 7th (2015)
First race 2012 Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 (Iowa)
Last race 2015 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 17 2
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
43 races run over 2 years
2014 position 3rd
Best finish 3rd (2014)
First race 2013 NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Daytona)
Last race 2014 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
First win 2013 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Last win 2014 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
5 26 3
Statistics current as of November 21, 2015.

Darrell Wallace, Jr. (born October 8, 1993), also known as Bubba Wallace, is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for Roush Fenway Racing.[1] Previously Wallace was signed as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing where Wallace competed in the Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 54 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Early career

The son of a white father and black mother,[2][3] Wallace was born in Mobile, Alabama but grew up in Concord, North Carolina. He started racing in the Bandolero and Legends car racing series, as well as local late model events, at the age of nine.[2] In 2005, he won 35 of the Bandolero Series' 48 races held that year;[2] in 2008 he became the youngest driver to win at Franklin County Speedway in Virginia.[4]

K&N Pro Series/Drive for Diversity

In 2010, Wallace began competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, a regional and developmental series. Wallace drove for Rev Racing as part of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program,[5][6] and was signed as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing.[7] He won his very first race in the series, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, becoming the youngest driver ever to win at the track, as well as the first black driver to win there;[5] he was also the youngest and first African-American driver to win in the history of the series, which began as the Busch North Series in 1987.[8] He also won later in the year at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire,[9] on his way to finishing third in series points and winning the series' Rookie of the Year award.[7] He was the first African-American to win the Rookie of the Year award in a NASCAR series.[10] Wallace's 2011 season would see him winning three times, at Richmond International Raceway, Columbus Motor Speedway, and Dover International Speedway, and he finished second in points to Max Gresham.[5]

Wallace moved to race directly for Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2012 season.[2] Racing the entire K&N East Series season along with four to six selected races in the Nationwide Series,[11] Wallace won the second East event of the year at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, his first win with JGR.[12]

NASCAR

2012

Wallace made his national series debut in the Xfinity Series in late May, driving the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota for JGR at Iowa Speedway;[13] he ran in the top ten for most of the event, finishing 9th.[14] After posting further top ten finishes in his next two starts in the series, Wallace won his first career Nationwide Series pole at Dover International Speedway in late September.[15]

2013

Wallace's 2013 truck

In February 2013, it was announced that Wallace would run a full season in the Camping World Truck Series in the No. 54 Toyota owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports.[16]

At Rockingham Speedway in April Wallace, following accidental contact with Ron Hornaday, Jr., was turned by Hornaday under a caution flag, his truck hitting the outside wall. Hornaday was penalized for the contact by being sent to the rear of the field; after the race Hornaday was penalized 25 championship points and assessed a $25,000 fine, in addition to being placed on probation for the remainder of the season.[17] The situation was compared to an incident in 2011 where Kyle Busch deliberately wrecked Hornaday at Texas Motor Speedway.[18]

On October 26, 2013, Wallace became the first African-American driver to win in one of NASCAR's national series since 1963, winning the Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.[19][20] The only previous win by an African-American driver was by Wendell Scott in the Grand National Division, now the Sprint Cup Series, on December 1, 1963.[19] Wallace finished 8th in points in his rookie season.[21]

2014

In 2014, Wallace returned to the Camping World Truck Series full-time in the No. 54; he also returned to the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 20, starting in May at Talladega Superspeedway.[22] He ran only one more Nationwide race that year, at Daytona in July with Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign sponsoring.

In June, Wallace won the Drivin' for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park. Three weeks later, he battled Kyle Larson and Ron Hornaday, Jr. for the win at Eldora Speedway. Wallace held off a hard charging Larson, who wrecked his car trying to catch him, and beat Hornaday by a 5.489-second margin to win the second annual Mudsummer Classic.[23] Wallace switched to the No. 34 for the Kroger 200 at Martinsville in tribute to Wendell Scott,[24] and led the most laps en route to his second straight victory in the race. Wallace won his final race with KBM, the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway, beating Larson again to earn his first non-short track victory.[25] Wallace's four wins along with nine top fives and 14 top tens led to a third place finish in points.[21]

2015

Wallace (right) with the Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015
Wallace's #6 at Road America.

Following the 2014 season, it was expected that Wallace would move up to the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing in a full-time ride, with owner Joe Gibbs claiming they would have "a big program" for the young driver.[26] After the team struggled to find sponsorship for more than 15 races, on December 8, 2014, Wallace announced he had been granted his request to leave JGR and seek other opportunities.[21] Later, it was reported he had signed a deal to compete in the Xfinity Series for Roush Fenway Racing for 2015 with Chad Norris as his crew chief. On December 18, 2014, RFR officially announced that they had signed Wallace to compete full-time in the No. 6 Ford Mustang in 2015, with sponsors and crew members to be announced at a later date. On January 28, at NASCAR Media Day, it was announced that Wallace would drive the No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Mustang.[27]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. ↑ http://www.motorsport.com/nascar-ns/news/breaking-darrell-wallace-jr-headed-to-fourth-roush-xfinity-car-for-2015/
  2. 1 2 3 4 Owens, Shannon J. (February 20, 2012). "Young driver aims to make NASCAR history". Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, FL. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  3. ↑ "Young Concord Driver Blazes His Own Trail". Cabarrus News (Charlotte, NC: The Charlotte Observer). October 21, 2009. p. 6J. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  4. ↑ Graves, Gary (March 28, 2010). "Barriers fall as Darrell Wallace Jr. wins in NASCAR's East tour". USA Today. McLean, VA. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  5. 1 2 3 Demmons, Doug (March 16, 2012). "Darrell Wallace Jr. set to make his debut with Gibbs Racing at Bristol". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, AL. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  6. ↑ "Drive for Diversity names 10 finalists". ESPN. October 20, 2009. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  7. 1 2 Tuttle, Tim (January 20, 2011). "Wallace, Harraka two to watch at Toyota All-Star Showdown". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  8. ↑ "Wallace makes historic debut in NASCAR Pro Series". Fox Sports. March 30, 2010. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  9. ↑ "Local teen wins K&N Pro Series East race". Cabarrus News. Charlotte, NC: The Charlotte Observer. August 11, 2010. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  10. ↑ Fernandez, Frank (February 18, 2011). "Driver, 17, garners diversity award". The Daytona Beach News-Journal (Daytona Beach, FL). p. 10A. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  11. ↑ Graves, Gary (October 31, 2011). "Darrell Wallace Jr., 18, set for opportunity with Gibbs". USA Today. McLean, VA. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  12. ↑ Demmons, Doug (April 1, 2012). "Darrell Wallace Jr. wins NASCAR race at Greenville Pickens Speedway". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, AL. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  13. ↑ Hembree, Mike (May 8, 2012). "Darrell Wallace Set For Iowa Debut". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  14. ↑ Emmert, Mark (May 20, 2012). "Wallace Jr., Pastrana learn on the fly at Iowa Speedway". USA Today. McLean, VA. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  15. ↑ "Wallace Jr. wins first Nationwide pole at Dover". The Herald. Rock Hill, SC. September 29, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  16. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (February 9, 2013). "NASCAR diversity: Darrell Wallace Jr. hoping to become role model for black drivers after landing full-time ride". Sporting News. Retrieved 2013-02-09.
  17. ↑ "Hornaday Jr. penalized for intentional wreck at Rockingham". Fox Sports. April 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
  18. ↑ Newton, David (April 15, 2013). "Hornaday should not be suspended". ESPN. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  19. 1 2 Ryan, Nate (October 26, 2013). "Darrell Wallace Jr. makes NASCAR history with victory". USA Today. McLean, VA. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  20. ↑ "Darrell Wallace Jr. takes historic NASCAR Trucks win at Martinsville". NBC Sports. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  21. 1 2 3 Pockrass, Bob (December 8, 2014). "Darrell Wallace Jr. granted release from Joe Gibbs Racing". Sporting News. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  22. ↑ Turner, Jared (April 23, 2014). "Darrell Wallace Jr. to make first NNS start of 2014 at Talladega". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  23. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (July 24, 2014). "Darrell Wallace Jr. wins at Eldora as Kyle Larson bangs the wall". Sporting News. Rossburg, Ohio: Sporting News. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  24. ↑ Richter, Josh (September 17, 2014). "David Ragan, 'Bubba' Wallace to honor HOF inductee Wendell Scott". Foxsports.com. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
  25. ↑ Spencer, Reid (November 14, 2014). "DARRELL WALLACE JR. WINS HOMESTEAD-MIAMI TRUCK RACE". nascar.com. Homestead, Florida: NASCAR. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  26. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (November 24, 2014). "Darrell Wallace Jr., Ryan Blaney among young stars still looking for 2015 sponsors". Sporting News. Sporting News. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  27. ↑ "Darrell Wallace Jr. heads to Roush Fenway Racing". December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Darrell Wallace Jr. – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  29. ↑ "Darrell Wallace Jr. – 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  30. ↑ "Darrell Wallace Jr. – 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  31. ↑ "Darrell Wallace Jr. – 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2014-10-18.

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