BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Darrell Wallace Jr.
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| Darrell Wallace Jr. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wallace Jr. (right) at Richmond in 2011
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| Born | October 8, 1993 Mobile, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||
| Awards | 2010 K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year | ||||||
| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| 18 races run over 3 years | |||||||
| Car no., team | No. 6 (Roush Fenway Racing) | ||||||
| 2014position | 94th | ||||||
| Best finish | 36th (2012) | ||||||
| First race | 2012 Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 (Iowa) | ||||||
| Last race | 2015 Great Clips 250 (Michigan) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
| 43 races run over 2 years | |||||||
| 2014position | 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) | ||||||
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| Statistics current as of May 30, 2015. | |||||||
Darrell Wallace Jr. (born October 8, 1993 in Mobile, Alabama), also known as Bubba Wallace, is an American stock car racing driver. He is currently driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for Roush Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.[1] Previously Wallace was signed as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing where Wallace competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 54 Toyota 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[edit]
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 forJoe 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
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 black driver to win in one of NASCAR's national series since 1963, winning theCamping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.[19][20] The only previous win by an black driver was byWendell 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 Jr. 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
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
| [show]NASCAR Xfinity Series results |
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Camping World Truck Series
| [show]NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results |
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* Season in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
1 Ineligible for series points
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