It’s a good news, bad news situation for one of the more promising young NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers.
Bubba Wallace has turned some heads with his NASCAR XFINITY Series performances this year, even as his Roush Fenway Racing team has struggled with funding. Richard Petty Motorsports is looking for more help as Aric Almirola continues to recover from injury. And it looks like these two issues might have a common solution.
RPM announced Monday that Wallace is taking over as the driver of the #43 Ford for the time being, making his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at Pocono Raceway this weekend. Almirola is expected to miss several more months after suffering a broken bone in his back after a dangerous, fiery collision with Joey Logano and Danica Patrick at Kansas.
In a related announcement, Roush Fenway said it was suspending operations on the #6 XFINITY Series team, effective after Pocono. The team will “continue to evaluate additional potential opportunities for Wallace to run in NXS races” over the remainder of the season, undoubtedly with sponsorship playing a part.
It’s an interesting situation for Wallace, who no doubt welcomes the chance to move up to Cup Series competition but could find himself with no ride at that level if Almirola returns to full-time competition this season. At the same time, with drivers only able to run for points in one series, there’s most likely no way Wallace will be able to run for the XFINITY championship even though he currently sits fourth in points and was well on his way to qualifying for the playoffs.
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On the other hand, the 23-year-old driver might be able to convince other teams to give him a shot if he can improve the 43’s fortunes. Regan Smith has driven the RPM Ford the last two weeks and has managed to average just a 29th place finish. No one realistically expects it to run up front, but even some solid top-15 or 20 races in an iconic car could be a big boon.
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