Bubba Wallace’s Dega plan: Stay out of trouble, focus on future

Credit: Kathryn Gaskill for Skirts and Scuffs

by Courtney Horn

Bubba Wallace doesn’t just want to stay out of trouble this weekend at Talladega Super Speedway; he needs to. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver does not have a backup car if he wrecks in either of the two Saturday practices.

“Out of all the speedway races we’ve had we’ve ran okay, but then the cars were totaled at the end. That’s a part of it. We’re gonna go out and do our own deal til the race starts.” Wallace said, “That was new news to me going into this weekend.”

Wallace’s best finish at the 2.66-mile track came in 2014, when he finished ninth in the Camping World Truck Series event.

Credit: Debbie Ross for Skirts and Scuffs

The Alabama native is excited to be back at his hometown track and hopes to repeat what he did earlier this year in the Daytona 500, “I know that was awhile ago, but we still relive those moments. Those little highlights of success, I still relive and think about constantly.”

Wallace looks for a smooth final few races before starting over in February with a new rules package. The Rookie of the Year contender voiced concerns over it earlier this year.

“If it’s not the right way they can scrap it and go to something else.”

Wallace and his No. 43 Chevrolet still need sponsorship for the 2019 season.

“We’ve had a number of great partners throughout the year to get us where we’re at, but we still need more. We’re greedy and we want more funding to help our speed, to help in all resources that go into making a race team successful.”

Wallace is 27th in the standings, 120 points behind William Byron, who is 22nd.