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| Xfinity Series driver Bubba Wallace will make his Cup Series debut this weekend at Pocono Raceway (Google Images) |
NASCAR veteran and 2011 Southern 500 winner Regan Smith drove in place of Almirola during the Monster Energy All-Star race, Coca-Cola 600, and this past weekend's AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover.
But in an effort to shake things up, RPM, Roush Fenway Racing, and Ford Racing have teamed up to put Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr in the famous No. 43 car ahead of this weekend's Axalta presents the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway.
The 23-year old Mobile, Alabama native will be the first African-American driver to start a Monster Energy Cup Series race since Bill Lester made two starts in the series for Bill Davis Racing in 2006.
"Driving the famed 43 car is an unbelievable opportunity for any race car driver," said Wallace. "With all that Richard Petty has contributed to the sport, I'm honored to start my first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event with this team. I'm incredibly grateful that Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports, and Smithfield have the confidence in me to help fill the seat until Aric fully recovers, which is the most important piece of this.
"Moving up to the Monster Energy Series is a tremendous challenge, but I am ready to represent this organization, help the 43 team get the best results possible and prove that I belong at this level."
Despite not getting a break at NASCAR's top level until this weekend, Wallace has already had success in the sport's two lower tier divisions. In two full-time seasons driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series, he totaled 5 wins, 14 top fives, 26 top tens, and three pole awards. Wallace moved up to the Xfinity Series in 2015 and since then he has six top fives, 34 top tens, and two more poles to his resume. Wallace is also a graduate of the inaugural NASCAR Next program.
Six of those Xfinity Series top tens have come in the first 11 races of this season.
"We're excited to have Bubba in the #43 car and to give him his first Monster Energy Series start," said Brian Moffitt, CEO Richard Petty Motorsports. "He has shown success in NASCAR's national series and we look forward to him continuing to display his abilities in our car. We're fortunate to have someone with Bubba's potential in the Ford Performance family who can step in for us until Aric is healed."
Ford Performance seemed to be a key player in making this move happen. RPM has had a technical partnership with the Roush Fenway team since 2010 and the sport has seen an influx of young drivers over the last several years.
Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez have made it through the Toyota pipeline, while Matt Tifft and Christopher Bell are doing well for the manufacturer in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series respectively. Chevrolet stablemates Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have young guns Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott driving for their respective MENCS teams, while RCR has Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones and HMS has Alex Bowman and William Byron driving in Xfinity and waiting to be called up. But save for Ryan Blaney, the Ford camp has not had many stand-out drivers aside from Wallace and his RFR teammate Ryan Reed.
"We are excited for Bubba to get this opportunity to drive the iconic No. 43 Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports," said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. "We couldn't be happier with the progress of Aric Almirola's recovery and can't wait to get him back. In the meantime, this is a great opportunity for Bubba to show what he can do at the top level of the sport, and we are committed to helping RPM win races. We are proud of the collaboration between RPM, Roush Fenway, and Ford to make this driver transition happen, and it's a great example of the One Ford mentality we have in order to make the overall Ford NASCAR program better."
Roush has scaled back this season from three full-time Cup Series cars to two with Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Trevor Bayne and RPM shuttered it's No. 44 team following Brian Scott's retirement at the end of the 2016 campaign. So that doesn't leave a whole lot of room at the inn for Wallace and Reed, especially since securing the necessary funding to start a new full-time team has proven difficult for both organizations.
So while the circumstances are less than ideal given that Almirola is nursing a broken back, this is an excellent opportunity for Wallace to prove what he can do in NASCAR's version of the big leagues.
