Bubba Wallace has joined the already extensive list of NASCAR Cup drivers who will compete in the Truck Series race on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Spencer Davis Motorsports announced Thursday that the team will field a truck for Wallace in collaboration with Hattori Racing Enterprises. Wallace has six wins 49 starts in the Truck series most notably a win on the dirt at Eldora in 2014.
“I’m pumped to get to Bristol and run on the dirt in the No. 11 Tundra,” said Wallace. “This is a race I’ve had circled on my calendar for the Cup race, so to be able to add the Truck race and have Columbia come on board just adds to the excitement for that week.
“I have the one win in the Truck Series at Eldora and it was a lot of fun. I may need to pull some notes from that race to prepare, but I’m just really looking forward to getting back in a Tundra and starting the Bristol weekend with a win.”
Columbia Sportswear which sponsors Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota in the NASCAR Cup series with 23XI Racing will be on the No. 11 Tundra.
“We’re looking forward to having Bubba in our No. 11 Toyota Tundra at Bristol and to work with Columbia Sportswear,” Davis said. “Any time you can get a driver with as much experience as Bubba in your truck, it’s a major boost.
“He’s proven what he can do on dirt as a past winner at Eldora, so we’re definitely optimistic about running well at Bristol, and hopefully giving him some experience to take into the Cup race on Sunday.”
Wallace joins Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Newman in next Saturday’s truck race which comes a day prior to the Cup series return to dirt for the first time since 1970.
Other drivers, including Chase Elliott, Corey LaJoie, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Larson and Joey Logano are all racing in this week’s Bristol Dirt Nationals.
Elliott said Thursday he tried to put a deal together for the Truck race but wasn’t able to.
“I would have liked to; it just didn’t pan out,” Elliott said. He added that his super late model car he will racing this weekend won’t drive similar to the Cup car.
“But just to see the racetrack and be able to just get some hands-on experience with it before we show up next week, I think will be helpful.”
And while he might not gain experience via the late models, he had hoped to enter the truck race.
“I do think the trucks will drive way more like the Cup cars next week, when it comes to the actual driving capability of them,” he said.
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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