JOLIET, Ill. – Darrell Wallace Jr. was a winner on Saturday night in the Furious 7 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Well, at least in his mind he was.
Despite finishing 18 seconds behind race winner Kyle Busch, the Roush Fenway Racing driver gambled on the decision to stay out during the race’s final caution and stretched his fuel tank a whopping 67 laps to claim a career-best third.
The Mobile, Alabama native was also the highest finisher among the XFINITY Series regulars, ahead of championship contender Ty Dillon who finished fifth.
“This is a great night for us. It is really a win for us,” said Wallace. “If I look at it, Matt (Kenseth) and Kyle (Busch) really didn’t count so we actually won tonight. We played it close on fuel. They said we were good with seven to go but I wasn’t pushing it too hard and they started hounding on me the last few laps and I am glad that I listened because we ran out in the middle of three and four. Hats off to the whole team there for that.”
Wallace was fourth with three laps remaining, but when HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi driver Kyle Larson ran out of fuel in the winding laps, Wallace took advantage of his misfortune to post his second top-five in the last four races.
Make no mistake about it, the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth were in a league of their own, but the performance from the No. 6 team gave a much-needed boost to the XFINITY Series rookie.
The effort on Saturday probably couldn’t have come at a better time for the NASCAR Next alum. With Kentucky Speedway, Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on the horizon, the 21-year-old said he is looking forward to the homestretch of races on the tour.
“I am excited about Kentucky,” Wallace added. “I am excited about the rest of the season really.”
Well, OK. Maybe, all expect one.
“I think our only struggle point will be Phoenix,” the five-time truck series winner said. “As a whole we weren’t good there in the spring and personally I am not good there. I definitely need work on that track. The rest of the season, I think we can take this momentum and finish off strong.
“We need to just keep our heads up and keep digging. We can use this as momentum and it is really good to come out of here with a third place finish. I love to come here to Chicago. I am looking for a strong season from here.”
In two weeks, Wallace will return to Dover’s Monster Mile where he’ll seek redemption after colliding with teammate and championship leader Chris Buescher late in the race. The contact saw his opportunity to win the race from the pole vaporize while Buescher went on to collect his second win of the season.
“Dover is redemption for sure,” offered Wallace. “We always run good there.”
Wallace’s 14th top-10 finish of the season leaped him to seventh in the XFINITY Series standings, but also allowed him to make a small dent in the race for the Rookie of the Year, where he trails Joe Gibbs Racing driver Daniel Suarez for the top-spot.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
