MOBILE NATIVE DARRELL WALLACE WINS AGAIN!
Carrying a special paint scheme and the No. 34 in honor of 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Wendell Scott, Darrell Wallace Jr. wrestled the lead away from Johnny Sauter with 13 laps to go and held on to win Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at sun-splashed Martinsville Speedway. Wallace, who also wore a throwback fire suit as a tribute to Scott, scored his fourth career truck win at the same track where he notched his first career victory in this race one year ago.
With that victory last October, Wallace — whose nickname is “Bubba” — became the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national touring series race since Scott won at Jacksonville Speedway on Dec. 1, 1963. With Scott’s whole family in attendance on Saturday, 21-year-old Wallace celebrated an emotional triumph at the .526-mile short track located about a half hour away from the late driver’s hometown of Danville, Va.
The NASCAR pioneer (Wendell Scott) will be posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January. (Some taken from www.foxsports.com and www.dailyprogress.com)
TALLADEGA 4-WIDE NOTES (Weekend – October 25-26)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
• Non-Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed his first victory at Martinsville Sunday in the initial race of the Eliminator Round for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, beating runner-up and teammate – Jeff Gordon.
• Ryan Newman came in third, followed by Tony Stewart in fourth and Joey Logano in fifth.
• Gordon led 130 laps, taking the top spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. The top five are separated by only seven points (Newman, Logano, Matt Kenseth & Denny Hamlin). Carl Edwards trails by 20 points followed by Talladega Superspeedway’s GEICO 500 winner Brad Keselowski (-31) and Kevin Harvick (-33).
• Only two races remain in the Eliminator Round for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. It continues Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. The top eight drivers in the Chase field will be trimmed to four after the final race of the Eliminator Round at Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 9).
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:
• Darrell Wallace, Jr., from Mobile, AL, won at Martinsville Saturday, his second triumph at the .526-mile track.
• Timothy Peters was runner-up followed by Matt Crafton, Erik Jones, and Ryan Blaney.
• Crafton leads in the Truck standings over Blaney by 18 points with Wallace, Jr., third (-22).
NASCAR Nationwide Series:
• Chase Elliot remains the leader in the Nationwide standings over Regan Smith by 42 points. Only three races are left in the 2014 season.
The next events for NASCAR’s top three series will be held at Texas Motor Speedway – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunday, November 2nd at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN; the NASCAR Nationwide Series Saturday, November 1st on ESPN2 at 6:30 p.m. CT; and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Friday, October 31st on FOX Sports 1 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
NASCAR returns back for the traditional May weekend in 2015, May 1-3. NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track (record 88 lead changes in 188 laps), with the circuit’s steepest banking (33 degrees) and longest distance (2.66 miles), is also the most fun and fan-friendly, offering up hundreds of acres of free camping, amazing kids ticket prices and special offers for military members and college students. Talladega Superspeedway is NASCAR’s “Party Capital” thanks to the track’s infamous infield and world renowned Talladega Blvd. The historic venue has always worked hard to enhance the fan experience in every way and now features the most comfortable seats in motorsports, large video viewing boards (a new initiative planned for future implementation at all ISC tracks) lining the frontstretch and endless activities for fans throughout its event weekends. Log on to www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or call 877-Go2-DEGA for more information. This is more than a race, this is Talladega!
