Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The 2013 season is Darrell Wallace Jr.’s first full year in one of NASCAR’s top series after racing his way up. Upon making his sixth start of the year, Wallace got his opportunity to showcase his championship potential.
As Wallace’s time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports continues, he certainly has shown that he has what it takes to be on the track. In his first full year in the truck series, the 2013 rookie of the year candidate has been racing his way to the top and making improvements along the way as well.
In a season that has featured several young new drivers, Wallace has made sure that he stands out from the rest. As a member of the 2012 class of the NASCAR Next 9, capturing great results and making history is the right way to start the next phase of Wallace’s career.
With six races now in the books, Wallace has worked his way up to contender status. The year started off with a top-15 finish at Daytona and since then, Wallace has improved as the season continued, suffered just two setbacks with two DNFs at Rockingham and Charlotte.
Wallace has been in the mix within the leaders in several occasions, but it was a track that he has found previous success ins that gave him one of his best performances in the Trucks Series.
During the race weekend at Dover, Wallace went on to continue his success at the track. He made his way to victory lane in the K&N Series in 2010 and won the pole in the 2012 Fall Nationwide race. He made NASCAR history in both of those series just as he did once more at Dover, but this time in a truck.
At the race at Dover, he became the youngest pole winner in the series at 19 years, seven months and 24 days old, a record previously held by Cole Whitt at 19 years, eight months and 18 days old. Not only did he make history for winning the pole, but along with Chase Elliott, both drivers made up the youngest front row for a trucks race, as Wallace at 19 and Elliott is 16.
Wallace dominated for about half of the race at Dover and maintained himself among the leaders for the entire race. He managed to pass many drivers but fell short of the win and left with a 10th-place finish.
With six races completed, Wallace sits in eighth in the point standings, just 65 points behind the leader. He’s captured one top-five and three top 10 finishes. Wallace has averaged a start of 9.167 and a finish of 14.667. His best starting positions have been the pole win at Dover and second at Martinsville, which has also been his best finish up to date with a fifth place finish.
The young rookie is off to an amazing start in his first full season in the Trucks Series. Not only is he making his case to be considered a serious contender on the track and possible championship hopeful, but he’s making a serious case for rookie of the year honors.
It might be early in the season but in one of NASCAR’s most competitive fields, Wallace is one driver to keep an eye on week after week.
Christy Valdez is a NASCAR writer for Rant Sports. Follow her on Twitter @Knowursports and on Facebook at On The Sidelines With Christy
