Last year I had the opportunity to speak with a young driver, still in high school but had been making a name for himself in the K&N Pro Series and as a participant in NASCAR’s Drive For Diversity program driving for Revolution Racing and under contract with JGR . They signed him when he was just 15 years old and now at 18 years of age he finds himself in the amazing position as a developmental driver in the Joe Gibbs NASCAR stable.
I was quite impressed with this young driver, not just with his accomplishments in racing but with his attitude, his sincerity and his determination to be a truly successful and important part of NASCAR. In case you aren’t familiar with this young powerhouse racer, Darrell Wallace, Jr is African-American and hoping to be the first African-American to land the kind of sponsorship to be competitive, drive for Joe Gibbs Racing and compete against NASCAR’s finest.
In May, Darrell made his Nationwide Series debut at Iowa starting 8th in the JGR #20 Dollar General Toyota and finished an amazing 9th! Recently I spoke with him to get his take on how this whole Nationwide, JGR experience is going and when we can expect to see his 2nd crack at the Nationwide schedule.
“We were definitely looking forward to May 20th, ” he began. “It was a big day for me, my first Nationwide start. Everything went as planned, the whole weekend. I talked with the crew chief, Adam Stevens, a couple of days before flying out and he was just telling me that we aren’t going out there to set the world on fire. We’re going out there to learn and to bring home a good finish. The most important thing he said, that anybody has told me was you only get to make your debut once. So I put that in to perspective and really kind of sheltered myself and brought the car home in one piece just like he said. He said people that aren’t there can’t see the race. All they see is the running order and if they see me 35th 30 laps down then that’s not good. But if they see where we finished, 9th, then that’s 10 times better. I took that and ran with it, tried to be fast at the same time and focus on the big picture and make the team and the sponsors proud.”
“We practiced well. It took me 3 or 4 rounds to get used to the car and when I got out I went and talked to Michael McDowell and asked where he was driving on the track, where he was in the points and just picked up on what he said and went out the next round and definitely improved a lot. That was definitely a big help from him. He’s a good friend and teammate. Then we went out to qualify later that day. When we qualified 8th I was surprised. That was awesome. That was big for our debut so we were all pumped up about that.”
“After that we had to wait a day to race on Sunday. We had the East race Saturday night and that didn’t go as planned. We blew a right front and that took a toll on me there with a hard hit, but going in to Sunday I was cool. I wasn’t working myself up over it but the media was crazy. It was fun though. I enjoyed it. Afterwards me and the Crew Chief were in the trailer watching the interviews and something else and I ended up falling asleep about 30 minutes before we were supposed to go out there (to the track). I ended up getting a little catnap and we were all good and ready to go.”
“So the crew chief and I were walking to the car and he told me again to make the best of it and to go out there and have fun. We were standing there on the grid with the National Anthem and the Invocation and Kevin Liles the CEO of Def Jam Recordings was there and jumped on board with us. He flew out from New York to watch and he said ‘Hey Darrell, Nelly’s on the phone and he wants to talk to you.’. So he called Nelly the rapper who wanted to talk to me so that was pretty big. That really pumped me up. I used that for motivation so I jumped in the car and off we went.”
“In the East, you have to save your stuff (car) but I realized there’s no real ‘riding’ in the Nationwide Series. That was the hardest thing (to get used to). So on the final restart with like 30 to go I really got after it. I was somewhere around 12th I think. Then with a couple of laps to go the 33 car got in to the wall then we were 10th or 11th. And then Hornish got in to the wall on the white flag and Brad Sweet was in front of me. Going into (turn) 3 and I was able to get under him but he ended up running me all the way down on the apron down the back stretch on the flat. He just wanted to keep that spot but I was already up to his door so we touched and I went on to finish 9th. He didn’t do anything wrong. It was a fun race. That was pretty big for us but we definitely have to bring it next time, as well. There’s no relaxing like I said. They go hard from lap 1 to 250. That’s one thing I didn’t know so going in to this next race I’ll just stay with it and I think we’ll have an even better finish. And it’s great to have teammates like Michael McDowell and Brian Scott. It’s good to have that kind of friendships and to be able to trust your competition.”
I mentioned to Darrell that I had read a statement by Joe where he said he had had Darrell in boardrooms of potential sponsors and that Darrell just didn’t get nervous. I told him I felt, from what I took away from our interviews, that the word I would use to describe his demeanor regarding racing and everything that goes with it as “focused.” Was that a fair assessment?
“Yeah, I mean I didn’t get nervous all weekend but my Mom was really freaking out before qualifying. It was really weird. She didn’t say it but I could tell. All weekend I was calm and I went in to it with a positive attitude and brought home a positive result. It was a good weekend.”
On August 4th Darrell returns to the Nationwide Series with a return to Iowa Speedway. “I’ve been there a lot and I love that track. We have the same game plan team wise but for me I know what to do to help me bring home a better car. Our game plan was a good one from Friday when we got there to Sunday when we left so we will go in to it with the same attitude.
This young man amazes me. While describing his first Nationwide race, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and all the media attention he was excited, extremely grateful and enthusiastic but nervousness simply wasn’t present. He is absolutely incredible and has an amazing grasp of the way things “work” in racing. So where does he get this?
“My parents have stressed to me to listen, to think positively about everything because that brings positive results. It all falls in our hands. Anything else will take down our focus level.”
I recently read about Darrell winning a Legends race at Charlotte. He won the heat race and the main event crossing the finish line about 4 inches ahead of the competition running 4 wide to the finish. After receiving the trophy and after encouragement from his father to do so, Darrell went into the grandstands and gave his trophy to a young fan. Talk about how to show appreciation to the fans!
So what about the fans at Iowa? How did they receive him for his first Nationwide event? “The fans make this sport go round and round for me. The fans at Iowa were crazy. Walking from the pits out on to pitroad there were fans on each side and they were calling my name and asking for my autograph. It was great to interact with the fans. This was like hundreds of people all fighting to get over that little gate there so it was cool. It was really cool.”
“My following on Twitter is kind of low for the Nationwide guys but it’s definitely one of the top for the East side drivers so it’s coming along and Twitter is a good way to interact with the fans. So I’m on there everyday checking it and replying back to fans and reading some of the crazy comments that people have so it’s definitely a god time on there. Every morning I wake up, grab my phone and go on Twitter. We have fun.”
He is running a very limited schedule this year with only 4 planned races. “Everyone says they are working hard to get that sponsorship and I believe them. I can’t wait for someone to jump on board. I just have to be patient about it. Someone will jump on board sooner or later hopefully.”
I asked him to speak to potential sponsors. “Anything would be great but if somebody would ask me what a good sponsor would be I would probably say Best Buy. I’ve got a Best Buy a few seconds from my house and I think I am their most frequent customer. I’m in there pretty much everyday buying things for video games, cameras, camera accessories. It would be cool to have them as a sponsor and get some discounts (chuckling).”
Personally, I think they would get a great deal out of that alliance too, Darrell!
This young driver has it all, the good looks, intelligence, obvious talent, excellent communication skills and the highest caliber of the Nationwide owners ready to put him in top quality, immediate winning capable cars. With this young gun comes the opportunity for a quality sponsor to do what no other sponsor has ever done. This would be an incredible attention grabbing, newsworthy headline making move on the part of any corporation. This would be the biggest racing news event of this year and years to come. Ticket sales are lagging. That is obvious by the number of visible empty grandstand seats on any raceday, including the Sprint Cup events. An appropriate Sponsor or combination of several could and would help remedy that situation. And given the opportunity this young man will move on to the Cup Series where he will achieve even more success and exposure for himself, his team and obviously any committed sponsor. It simply makes great financial sense for any sponsor.
If you want to get to know this young driver you can follow him on Twitter. Just look up Darrell Wallace, Jr and you will definitely enjoy every minute of it. And be sure to check out his website at www.darrellwallacejr.com and also look for up to date news at http://joegibbsracing.com
Good luck Darrell. We will be watching, but then you know that!.
