MORE: Full NXS race results
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Darrell Wallace Jr. climbed out of his bright purple Selfeo Ford and took a moment to collect himself on pit road after a sixth place finish in the XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway.
It was the best restrictor plate XFINITY finish ever for Wallace. And his No. 6 Selfeo Ford ran as high as third place, one lap from the checkered flag.
“I’m getting emotional just to finish one of these deals,” Wallace said, smiling widely.
Short of victory, it was a welcome ending for the second-year XFINITY driver who has struggled a bit on the big tracks. It was certainly a happy ending for a weekend that began with his primary car hitting the wall only 11 laps into Friday’s first practice session of the year.
His Roush Fenway Racing team immediately pulled out a backup Ford Mustang on Friday and as he promised then, Wallace never looked back.
“We continued to work hard on this car,” Wallace said. “The speed came to us on the long runs. It was a good day. And I can’t thank Selfeo enough for making this deal happen.”
The effort puts the 22-year old Wallace second in the championship standings, three points behind Saturday’s fourth-place finisher Elliott Sadler.
Wallace’s team owner Jack Roush sought him out on pit road and there were a lot of smiles, “atta boys” and pats on the back during their brief conversation after the race.
“He hasn’t had a lot of luck finishing these, so today he finished and it feels like he won something,” Roush said. “He did a real nice job with what he had today.”
A consensus championship contender, Wallace was still smiling as pit road began to clear.
“I’m just a kid lucky enough to drive a race car and trying to make the most of it,” Wallace said with a big smile. “This is a win for us today.”