Smiles have been few and far
between lately for NASCAR driver Darrell Wallace, Jr.
With a
season-best finish of 17th and only one Top-10 showing in his last 41 starts,
the Alabama native has recently had to contend with rumors that his Richard
Petty Motorsports team might fold in the near future, after being unable to attract
badly needed sponsorship.
Saturday night at Charlotte
Motor Speedway, the smile returned to Bubba’s face.
Wallace and his underdog RPM
team contended strongly for the win the opening stage of Saturday’s
Monster Energy Open, only to lose a fender-banging sprint to the finish by inches
to William Byron.
After
a few R-rated exclamations on his in-car radio, Wallace bounced back in Stage
Two of the Open, nipping Daniel Suarez on the final lap in a virtually carbon-copy
finish, banging wheels as Suarez spun, giving Wallace a starting spot in his
first-ever All-Star Race and unleashing a torrent of cheers from the Charlotte grandstands
that rivaled anything heard for the remainder of the evening.
“Ever
since I was a kid, they said I drive better when I’m pissed off,” said Wallace,
in the midst of an emotional, teary embrace with fellow driver and best friend
Ryan Blaney. “I was pissed off. I thought that was it (for our chances). Then
the caution came out (in the second stage) and gave us the same scenario.
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| Wallace made his All-Star debut memorable. |
“I thought, ‘I’m not giving it up this time.’ You’ve
got to do what you’ve got do.”
Simply qualifying for the All-Star Race would
have been enough to boost the morale at RPM. But Wallace was far from finished.
He ran
toward the back of the 19-car main event in the opening two stages, but surged
forward in the penultimate third segment, finishing sixth. A pit stop dropped
him outside the Top-10 for the start of the final 15-lap stage, but Wallace
wasted little time moving forward once the green flag flew.
He
cracked the Top-10 almost immediately, then gained a handful of positions by
remaining on-track while others pitted with just 12 laps remaining. He climbed as
high as fourth following the final restart, but was overtaken by Joey Logano with
just four laps to go.
A spirited
battle with former RPM driver Aric Almirola saw Wallace take the checkered flag
in fifth place; an astounding performance for a driver and team who have been
hanging on by their figurative fingernails in recent weeks.
“I
honestly haven’t had this much fun in a long time,” said an
emotional Wallace afterward.
He
acknowledged that competitive and personal challenges have made life difficult
recently. But on this night, at least, the smiles were easy to come by.
“I had tons of fun tonight,” he
said. “I honestly haven’t had this much fun in a long time. I guess since back
to the race at Bristol last spring. It’s been a struggle for us. I held it wide
open on the last restart and those (top four) guys drove away from me. I just
said ‘Bye, bye’ and held on for fifth.
“The first thing my mom said
to me after the Open was ‘You know who that was? That was God. He’s not giving
up on you yet.’
“As many dark moments that
I’ve had and telling myself to give up, it’s been really tough. It’s been tough
to keep coming in and keep going. Tonight just shows that I’ll be back next week.
“I’m
showing teeth in my smile,” Wallace said. “So that says a lot.”
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