When Darrell Wallace Jr. climbed out of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports car after finishing a career-best 11th Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, the 23-year-old driver experienced mix emotions.
Darrell Wallace Jr.’s stint as Aric Almirola’s substitute likely coming to an end
Aric Almirola is likely to return from a back injury this week and resume driving the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports car.
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Understandably, Wallace was enthused with the result. However, it came with the realization that he may not get the opportunity to better it.
Wallace’s tenure as substitute driver will likely come to an end when Aric Almirola returns to the car in Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Almirola, who suffered a compression fracture of his back in an accident May 13 at Kansas Speedway, will test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday and, if he feels comfortable, will return to competition this weekend.
“I don’t know what is next,” Wallace said. “I might get a call, I might not. If not, best of luck to Aric and the 43 team.”
Wallace drove in four of the seven races Almirola missed and in each race showed improved performance. He finished 26th at Pocono Raceway, 19th at Michigan International Speedway, 15th at Daytona International Speedway, and 11th Saturday night at Kentucky, and completed 795 of a possible 797 laps.
When Wallace joined RPM he understood the situation wasn’t permanent and that Almirola would return sometime during the summer. But wanting an opportunity to race in NASCAR’s top division and with his team in the second-tier Xfinity Series soon closing due to a lack of sponsorship, Wallace saw it as a chance to showcase his ability.
“We kept improving,” Wallace said. “Each and every time on the racetrack, each and every race, we kept improving. I kept improving. I am getting more and more comfortable with these cars.”
Wallace was the first African-American driver to race in Cup since Bill Lester in 2006. His 11th-place effort was the best for an African-American driver since 1971 when Wendell Scott finished 11th at Islip (N.Y.) Speedway.
“I will be on some phone calls trying to get something,” Wallace said. “I won’t be gone too long, at least I hope not. It is a bittersweet moment.”
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