By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Sunday’s Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway was a slightly improved version of Darrell Wallace Jr.’s 2019 campaign to date.
Starting back in 28th, the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet ran just outside the top 20 most of the day, finishing 19th and 22nd in the race’s two stages and running 21st on average (his second-highest of the year).
Finishing 20th, the result was only his second top-20 finish through eight races, both coming in the last three races.
It was all about gains following Friday qualifying, where the VHT traction compound showed its strength on the half-mile’s bottom lanes.
“For qualifying, it was definitely where you wanted to be,” Wallace said of the VHT. “We went down there, and the No. 43 drove good for a lap. We kind of built toward the tight side. Tomorrow is a different animal.”
Being nabbed for too fast entering the pits on lap 41, Wallace endured the same penalty later in the event on lap 379. With both occurring under caution, a few positions and crucial track position was lost.
“We just don’t have the fire-off speed,” he said. “We still have to work on some things to get there.”
The 20th-place result, however mediocre, advanced the No. 43 two spots in the points from 28th to 26th, respectively. And with both of Wallace’s top 20s this year coming on short tracks, a return to the short track of Richmond Raceway this weekend may be well-timed for the 25-year-old.
“Our Richard Petty Motorsports team did a good job at pretty much shooting in the dark — to guess what the car was going to do,” he said. “We’ve got to get some logevity out of it.”
Catch up on Mid-Pack with Zach HERE
List of 20th-Place Finishers in 2019
Daytona: Clint Bowyer
Atlanta: Daniel Hemric
Las Vegas: Austin Dillon
ISM: Matt Tifft
Auto Club: Paul Menard
Martinsville: Matt DiBenedetto
Texas: Chris Buescher
Bristol: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Mid-Pack with Zach: Darrell Wallace Jr., Richard Petty Motorsports
By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Sunday’s Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway was a slightly improved version of Darrell Wallace Jr.’s 2019 campaign to date.
Starting back in 28th, the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet ran just outside the top 20 most of the day, finishing 19th and 22nd in the race’s two stages and running 21st on average (his second-highest of the year).
Finishing 20th, the result was only his second top-20 finish through eight races, both coming in the last three races.
It was all about gains following Friday qualifying, where the VHT traction compound showed its strength on the half-mile’s bottom lanes.
“For qualifying, it was definitely where you wanted to be,” Wallace said of the VHT. “We went down there, and the No. 43 drove good for a lap. We kind of built toward the tight side. Tomorrow is a different animal.”
Being nabbed for too fast entering the pits on lap 41, Wallace endured the same penalty later in the event on lap 379. With both occurring under caution, a few positions and crucial track position was lost.
“We just don’t have the fire-off speed,” he said. “We still have to work on some things to get there.”
The 20th-place result, however mediocre, advanced the No. 43 two spots in the points from 28th to 26th, respectively. And with both of Wallace’s top 20s this year coming on short tracks, a return to the short track of Richmond Raceway this weekend may be well-timed for the 25-year-old.
“Our Richard Petty Motorsports team did a good job at pretty much shooting in the dark — to guess what the car was going to do,” he said. “We’ve got to get some logevity out of it.”
Catch up on Mid-Pack with Zach HERE
List of 20th-Place Finishers in 2019
Daytona: Clint Bowyer
Atlanta: Daniel Hemric
Las Vegas: Austin Dillon
ISM: Matt Tifft
Auto Club: Paul Menard
Martinsville: Matt DiBenedetto
Texas: Chris Buescher
Bristol: Darrell Wallace Jr.