FORT WORTH, Tex. –It was a whirlwind week for Darrell Wallace Jr. after the 20-year-old collected his first career victory in Saturday’s Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
Wallace, the second African-American driver to win a race in one of NASCAR’s top three touring series, spent his days away from the track doing media and entertainment appearances. One of the highlights was Skyping with Arsenio Hall on the television show “Arsenio.”
Wallace, however, wasn’t exactly star-struck. He wasn’t sure who Arsenio Hall is, until he saw the TV host on the other end of the video conversation. “I’m horrible with faces and names, and they’re like, ‘Arsenio Hall — that’s huge,'” Wallace said Friday at Texas. “I’m like, ‘Sure, whoever that is.’ Then the minute I saw him I was like, ‘Oh, OK, now I know who he is.’ That was pretty cool.
“(But) I’d say the coolest thing that happened was (supermodel) Tyra Banks followed me on Twitter.”
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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