BRISTOL, Tenn. – Make no mistake about it, Darrell Wallace Jr. put the financial stress of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) team Richard Petty Motorsports front and center Friday afternoon at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
It’s been no secret that RPM, one of the longest running teams in NASCAR’s pinnacle series has struggled to find the sponsorship or support to put the team in a premier status, but a time where Wallace is trying to find his footing in his career, he’s not willing to hide behind the scenes anymore.
“We are kind of behind,” Wallace said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I think the biggest thing is dollar signs and over the years we have kind of tip-toed around that, but that’s enough of that. We are kind of behind on money. It’s all about being up front and being blunt.”
The financial pressure bit RPM early in 2019 when crew chief Drew Blickensderfer left the organization for Front Row Motorsports. While the longtime crew chief wasn’t released from the team – he was given free rein to pursue other opportunities that would compensate him based on his experience.
With engineer Derek Stamets given the nod to replace Blickensderfer – the team was hopeful for a Daytona 500 repeat where Wallace Jr. earned a career-high second-place finish in the 2018 edition of the Great American Race.
The season-opening race, however, didn’t turn out as planned. After earning a strong 13th place starting position, Wallace ran into trouble early into the race and never recovered, finishing 38th.
Since then – the famed blue No. 43 Chevrolet has failed to recover on a consistent basis. While the team’s lead lap 17th place effort at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway two weeks ago was noteworthy, the team couldn’t ride the momentum of strong practice sessions and a 10th place qualifying effort at Texas Motor Speedway to offer some light at the end of the tunnel.
Instead, Wallace slipped back and finished 23rd, two laps in the arrears. After seven races, the Mobile, Ala. native is mired 28th in Cup points and has six finishes of 22nd or worst with just one DNF (did not finish).
Wallace knows his team can’t keep heading down the same path if they want to continue to race on Sundays.
“It’s coming down to a crucial time,” added Wallace. “I mean we just have to start running better. I have asked why would new companies want to come in and sponsor the No. 43? You can play the race card all you want. You will get a lot of attention, sure.
“But, for me, I’m competitive and look at results and new companies don’t understand that. The more money you spend, the better you do. It is hard to get their heads wrapped around that.”
Wallace said he is grateful for the partners they have at RPM – including World Wide Technology and the United States Air Force – but in order to attract new partners, they can’t afford to keep running near the back of the pack.
“We look at practice speeds, and we are bottom half of the 20’s. It doesn’t look good at all for sure. It drives me up a wall. But we have to look at who we are around, and we are around the cars we are racing with in the points.”
When it comes to speed, the old saying goes, money equals speed. But in a couple weeks, the Cup Series will return to superspeedway racing at Talladega and because of the dynamics that type of racing brings – Wallace knows it doesn’t take a big baller budget for them to be in competition with the Cup powerhouses.
“Will we ever have the speed of the big teams? Yes, when we go to Talladega and Daytona where we are all equal. Other than that, we just have to keep doing what we can. We are all working hard. I’ll keep working hard.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
