NASCAR: Darrell Wallace Jr. signs two-year extension with Richard Petty Motorsports

Darrell Wallace Jr. has signed a two-year contact extension to remain with Richard Petty Motorsports through at least the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Darrell Wallace Jr. is in his first season as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver. Last season, he made his first four career Cup Series starts as one of the replacements for the injured Aric Almirola behind wheel of the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.

The 24-year-old Mobile, Alabama native now drives the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet full-time, and he is set to continue to do so for at least the next two seasons, as he signed a two-year contract extension to remain with Richard Petty Motorsports through at least the 2020 season.

Here is what Wallace Jr. had to say about the matter, according to Sports Illustrated.

"“This lets me kind of relax a little bit and really digest and focus on the race cars. There’s no need to go out and search. It’s just a matter of making this team better.“For us to go out and finish second [in the Daytona 500], yeah, it was a great day, but we knew going into (the next race), there was no way we were going to run second. We had already scaled it back but the fans and I think some of the media had really pushed it out as, ‘Oh, the next best thing. He just finished second, watch out.’ Then we finish 20th and it’s like, OK.”"

Here is what Richard Petty Motorsports team owner Richard Petty had to say about the matter, according to Sports Illustrated.

"“We like a little bit of what he’s doing so I think we’re going to hire him again for next year.”"

Last season, Wallace Jr. recorded an average finish of 17.75 and a top finish of 11th place in his four starts as Almirola’s replacement. So far this season, his average finish is 22.0 through the seasons’ first 20 races.

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Wallace Jr. recorded a career-high seventh place start and a career-high second place finish in this year’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway back in mid-February. He has one other top 10 finish this season and in his Cup Series career so far, as he finished in eighth in the race at Texas Motor Speedway in early April.

Wallace Jr. currently sits in a 24th place tie in the championship standings with JTG Daugherty Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger. They are both in a 24th place tie in the playoff standings as well. Both drivers are currently 138 points behind Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, who sits in the 16th and final playoff spot above the cut line.

This means that in order for Wallace Jr. to qualify for the playoffs in his rookie Cup Series season, he will likely need to win one of the remaining six races on the 2018 regular season schedule.

How will Darrell Wallace Jr. perform behind the wheel of the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet throughout the rest of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season and then in the 2019 and 2020 seasons? Will he improve to the point where he qualified for the playoffs for the first time in his Cup Series career before the 2020 season comes to a close?