By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
After more than four years away, Darrell Wallace Jr. is back in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway.
And what a track to be back at. In Wallace’s five prior Truck starts at the Virginian half-mile, he scored two poles, five top-five starts and finishes including two race wins.
And for the first time of 2019, Wallace, 25, will run double duty, filling the Tim Self-owned AM Racing No. 22 Chevrolet on Saturday and his usual seat for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race for Richard Petty Motorsports on Sunday.
With a plethora of added experience since his last Martinsville Truck race, Wallace knows experience is the name of the game at this place.
“You walk in with a ton of confidence, knowing you have what it takes,” Wallace told Kicking’ The Tires. “But having the mileage here, having the experience here, it goes a long way. I know the feel I want here and Eddie [Troconis, crew chief] knows how to tune on the truck.”
Though a one-off race, Wallace has prior experience with crew chief Troconis.
“I got my engineer from when we won in 2014 as a crew chief,” he said of Troconis. “We have the relationship there, we’ve remained close friends off the track so that definitely helps out a lot.
“We’re not jumping into it new, that’s the biggest thing.”
Running 19th and 21st quickest in Friday’s practices, Wallace hopes to improve for Saturday’s 250-lapper and is overall enjoying the different environment the Truck Series brings.
“This is the first time back in a truck for me in five years here at Martinsville,” he said. “We’re doing a big swing, throwing the whole kitchen sink. It’s just good to be back in a truck, a little change of pace from the Sunday routine.”
With seat time on his side this weekend, Wallace knows what intricate changes can make a big difference throughout both series.
“Track temperate plays a big factor here,” he said. “If it’s cold, it doesn’t really take rubber. It seems we have a good mix of the sun being out but also cool temps to have some speed in the track while laying rubber down.
“It will definitely help for Sunday. Seat time is the most important thing in a racecar.”
Sitting 30th in points with a best finish of 22nd in the opening five Cup races in the RPM No. 43, Wallace feels an upward path is soon to come. And extra experience will only help on the Cup side.
“We’re doing a lot with a little,” he said of RPM. “We just have to keep our heads up and keep pushing hard. Knowing we’ll go through these milestones and these troubled spots for a reason, we’ll come out on top one day.”