NASCAR: What can we expect out of Darrell Wallace Jr. in his first full-time Cup Series season?

Wallace Jr.’s past experiences

Darrell Wallace Jr.’s talent has been on display since entering NASCAR, as he has posted 12 wins and 86 top 10 finishes in 171 races spanning from the K&N Pro East Series all the way up to the Cup Series. Driving ability has never been a concern for Bubba.

If you take the four races that Wallace Jr. attempted with RPM that netted him an average finish of 17.75 and compare them to Chase Elliott’s first five starts back in 2015 with Hendrick Motorsports before he joined them full-time when he posted an average finish of 26th place, you start to see a significant difference in how ready Wallace Jr. was for the Cup Series compared to Elliott.

There are some factors that need to be taken into consideration, though, like which tracks were raced on and the fact that Elliott was driving with a start-up team provided by Hendrick while Wallace Jr. was driving with a car that was competing full-time, but it’s still an interesting measuring stick to judge how Wallace Jr. compares to a current rising star in the Cup Series.

That being said, racing is a double-sided coin. You can have the best driver in the world and plenty of sponsors, but if you have them racing in terrible equipment, their talent will be overshadowed by the team’s struggles.