Darrell Wallace Jr. at Dover, improve on season-best finish

Darrell Wallace Jr. set some lofty goals prior to the start of his first full-time NASCAR XFINITY Series season.

“Chase Elliott set the bar high,” said Wallace in February. “Before coming into a new series (a goal) would be like, ‘finish top five in the points, get a win.’ (Now it’s) a championship. That’s the only thing on the agenda is get a championship. I have full confidence that we can get that done.”

Eleven races into the XFINITY Series season, Wallace sits fourth in the standings, 30 points out of the first-place spot held by his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Chris Buescher.

This place is my favorite track to race at.

Darrell Wallace Jr.

The NASCAR Drive for Diversity and NASCAR Next alumn has come on strong in the last two weeks following a sixth-place finish at Iowa Speedway with a career-best showing of fifth at Charlotte.

He looks to continue his momentum in Saturday’s Buckle Up 200 presented by Click It or Ticket at Dover International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX), his preferred track.

“I’m really excited to get to Dover this season, Wallace said. “This place is my favorite track to race at. It’s the only place I’ve raced where you have to give respect to get respect. We’ve always ran well there.”

In his lone XFINITY Series start at the “Monster Mile” in 2012, Wallace earned the Coors Light Pole and finished 12th. A year later, he won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole at Dover leading 119-of-200 laps before finishing 10th. As an even younger driver competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, the now-21-year-old Wallace earned one victory, two poles and a second-place finish in three Dover starts.

The chance to win $100,000

In addition to the opportunity to further climb the standings, Wallace also has the chance to win $100,000 on Saturday and give himself the opportunity to win $1 million later this season through the XFINITY Series’ Dash 4 Cash program. He qualified for the Dash 4 Cash as one of the top four drivers registered for XFINITY Series points at Charlotte last weekend. Ty Dillon, Regan Smith and Daniel Suarez were the others.

To earn the $100,000, Wallace has to finish highest among the four at Dover. He can win up to $1 million throughout the season depending on his finishes in the remaining Dash 4 Cash races (Indianapolis, Bristol and Darlington).

“I’m glad to be one of the four (in the Dash 4 Cash),” said Wallace following Charlotte. “We just have to keep playing smart and put ourselves in that position next week to come out on top.”

NASCAR Wire Service - Staff Report