Darrell Wallace Jr. has found a lot of success on the race track in his relatively short career. However, none of that success has come while driving in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
The reason? It’s pretty simple. He’s never competed in the series.
Wallace appeared in four races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series last season, becoming the first African-American to a win pole in the series. In three of those races he had top-10 finishes, his best a seventh-place finish at Iowa. His worst finish in the series, twelfth.
Not bad.
In only 36 career starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, Wallace captured six wins and 25 top-10 finishes. In 2010, he became the youngest winner in series history.
That same year, as a member of Rev Racing and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, Wallace won rookie of the year honors in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
Not bad, either.
However, when Wallace finds himself at the wheel of the No. 54 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota for Friday’s NextEra Energy Resources 250, he’ll be in unfamiliar waters. But, based on his success up to this point, no one can or should count Wallace out.
“I can’t wait to get started,” Wallace said. “I appreciate everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports for working this out and providing me the opportunity to compete for rookie of the year and the championship in the truck series.”
Although the 2013 season will be filled with learning opportunities for Wallace as he navigates the different nuances of the series, don’t be surprised if somewhere along the way he happens to find his way to Victory Lane.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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