Lack of sponsorship has Darrell Wallace Jr. in career limbo

A year ago Darrell Wallace Jr. became the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national touring division race in nearly 50 years. That victory came during Wallace’s rookie season in the Camping World Truck Series and he followed that with four wins in 2014.

With five career wins in just two seasons, the future of the 21-year-old charismatic driver from Mobile, Ala.. should be bright. Ideally, Wallace would return to the Truck Series to pursue a championship or continue his climb up the NASCAR ladder by moving to the rebranded Xfinity Series (formerly Nationwide Series) full-time.

Neither of those scenarios, however, is likely to occur. Wallace, instead, finds himself in limbo due to a lack of sponsorship; an all-too-familiar predicament facing many young drivers.

Wallace’s current team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, doesn’t have the funding needed to run him full-time in trucks. And Joe Gibbs Racing, who Wallace is contracted to, doesn’t have the sponsorship needed to have him compete in every Xfinity race.

Team owner Joe Gibbs has stated he’s building a “big program” for Wallace next season. Although not official, the plan in 2015 is for Wallace to run select Xfinity events with JGR, with the possibility of additional Truck Series races.

Considering the promise he’s shown, running a partial schedule would seem to be a step back in Wallace’s growth. But the economic reality being what it is, without sponsorship Wallace is just the latest young driver to experience the quandary of having the required talent just without the necessary funds.

Despite the uncertain future, Wallace isn’t dejected. His plan is to take advantage of whatever opportunity does come his way and capitalize -- be it a full-time ride or something partial.

“It’s getting people looking, and that’s what we have to do,” Wallace said. “We have to get people knowing who I am and wanting to be a part of this organization. I don’t spend too much time thinking about that.

“In this day and age it’s so hard to get the right sponsorship and to get full-time stuff. As racers we just want to race, no matter what it is. I’ll take what I can get. I can only go out there and continue to run up front, lead laps and win races.”

Wallace’s plight is shared by close friend Ryan Blaney, another young talent who’s proved deserving of something more permanent, but is likely to run a piecemeal of races in 2015.

Blaney finished runner-up in the 2014 Truck Series championship driving for Brad Keselowski Racing. Additionally, Blaney impressed in limited Nationwide appearances, placing in the top 10 in 13-of-14 starts, including winning the August race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

But like Wallace, Blaney’s 2015 schedule is still not completely finalized. The only thing certain is Blaney, 20, will run a minimum of 12 Sprint Cup races with Wood Brothers Racing and likely one-third of the Xfinity schedule for Team Penske. Beyond that, it’s a question mark.

“I’m going to be racing a lot next year and fortunate to be in great cars, so I can’t worry about it too much,” Blaney said.

The long-term growth of any sport is dependent on the continued development and ascension of new stars. And any list of the NASCAR’s rising up-and-comers would certainly include Wallace and Blaney. So what can be done to assure young talent is properly cycled toward the upper levels of NASCAR?

There are no clear-cut, definitive solutions. Strong proponents of providing chances for young drivers, Keselowski and Busch have done just that by fielding multiple Truck Series entries despite incurring great expense. (Keselowski said his team lost $1 million in 2014 in a Motor Racing Network interview Tuesday.)

Unfortunately, the business model of being a team owner in either the Xfinity or Truck Series appears irreparable with costs continuing to soar and revenue streams not matching the expenditures. And that’s even when drivers such as Wallace and Blaney deliver high-level results pointing toward future stardom.

“If he’s not the most marketable driver in the Truck Series, then I don’t know who else would be,” said Busch of Wallace. “He’s fun. He’s engaging. He’s witty.

“He loves to do anything you want him to do -- he’s a PR dream. We were unsuccessful at selling the guy. His agency was unsuccessful in selling him. JGR has been unsuccessful in selling him. We have three or four sales forces trying to sell Darrell Wallace and we can’t. I don’t know if it is because of the series or what, but we struck out and I feel really bad for that.”

Which means Wallace -- and to a lesser degree, Blaney -- will continue to reside in limbo for the foreseeable future despite proving worthy of greater opportunities.