Sunday, December 7, 2014

Darrell Wallace Jr. receives release from his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing

   Darrell Wallace Jr., who won four races this season in the NASCAR Truck Series and finished third in the series standings, has been released from his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing, the team confirmed to the Observer. 

   Although Wallace, 21, has experienced substantial success in the Truck series with Kyle Busch Motorsports the past two seasons, JGR - with whom he is under contract - had been unable to secure sponsorship for Wallace to run fulltime in any NASCAR national series in 2015.

   The move will allow Wallace, whose victory at Martinsville, Va., last season made him just the second African-American to win a national series race in NASCAR history, to join another organization that can provide him a fulltime ride.

   A spokesman for JGR on Monday confirmed the organization has released Wallace from his contract but declined to comment on Wallace's destination.

   The most likely destination for Wallace appears to be Roush Fenway Racing, sources said. RFR already plans to field Nationwide teams for drivers Elliott Sadler, Chris Buescher and Ryan Reed in 2015. 

   A request for comment was not immediately returned by RFR. 

   Wallace was expected to run up to a 10 races next season with JGR in what will become the Xfinity Series on Jan. 1. JGR owner Joe Gibbs had said he expected to have a "big program" for the driver who was born in Mobile, Ala., but grew up in the Charlotte area. 

   In interviews before the end of the season, Wallace said he was not worried about the lack of a fulltime ride. “I'll take what I can get,” he said. “I can only go out there and continue to run up front, lead laps, and win races."
 

Friday, December 5, 2014

Qualifying results for Sunday's 47th annual Snowball Derby

Qualifying results for 47th annual Snowball Derby, scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
 
Position, car number, driver, time

118Hunter Robbins16.212
221Johanna Long16.228
38John Hunter Nemechek16.232
4112Augie Grill16.239
583Scotty Ellis16.262
63Ross Kenseth16.264
795Derrick Griffin16.272
898Daniel Hemric16.274
91Mike Garvey16.291
1051Erik Jones16.292
1143Derek Thorn16.300
129Chase Elliott16.301
1342Chad Finley16.304
1429Jeff Choquette16.319
1526Bubba Pollard16.320
1641TJ Reaid16.323
172Donnie Wilson16.330
1831Kyle Grissom16.334
1926Preston Peltier16.339
2051Stephen Nasse16.343
2137Brian Hoar16.343
222DJ Vanderley16.355
2307Corey LaJoie16.367
2411Logan Boyett16.374
255Dalton Sargent16.391
2699Casey Smith16.403
279Mark Kraus16.417
2842Dennis Prunty16.422
2990Grant Enfinger16.433
3010Steve Dorer16.436
3129Anderson Bowen16.439
3201Travis Braden16.442
3311David Rogers16.443
3457Cole Timm16.446
3588Garrett Jones16.455
3667Clay Jones16.456
37147Daniel Webster16.460
3845Dwayne Buggay16.465
3916Jacob Gomes16.472
4057Austin Theriault16.473
4112Harrison Burton16.480
4258Gus Dean16.485
4322Jeremy Pate16.495
4491Ty Majeski16.501
4571Johnny VanDoorn16.511
467Paul Shafer Jr.16.530
47129Spencer Davis16.530
484Kyle Plott16.539
4905Bayley Currey16.552
5098Mason Mingus16.567
5179Kyle Bryant16.581
5299JJ Haley16.584
5343Dennis Schoenfeld16.589
542Clay Rogers16.596
555Jerry Artuso16.626
5622Josh Bragg16.679
5788Roger Reuse16.679
585Will Gallaher16.751
591Tim Martin16.767
6012Garrett Campbell16.804
6147Chris Fontaine16.863
6247Jordan Sims16.874