NASCAR: Bubba Wallace won’t return to Richard Petty Motorsports
By Asher Fair
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season will by Bubba Wallace’s third and final season competing for Richard Petty Motorsports, he confirmed on Thursday.
Following several months of speculation regarding his NASCAR Cup Series future, Bubba Wallace officially ruled out one destination for the 2021 season on Thursday.
That destination is his current team, Richard Petty Motorsports.
The 26-year-old Mobile, Alabama native has driven the #43 Chevrolet for the team since taking over full-time ahead of the 2018 season after Aric Almirola moved to Stewart-Haas Racing behind the wheel of the #10 Ford to replace Danica Patrick. He had made four starts behind the wheel of the #43 car in 2017 when Almirola was injured.
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) September 10, 2020
More from NASCAR Cup Series
- NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
- NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
- NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
- NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
- NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500
Wallace has competed in 99 races for the team since becoming a full-time driver in 2018 and 103 overall. He has recorded three top five finishes, including one in each of the last three seasons, and nine top 10 results, including a career-high five through the first 27 races of this year.
He finished in a career-high second place in his first start as a full-time driver in the 2018 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Last season, he finished in third at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he finished in fifth two weekends ago at Daytona International Speedway.
In a season that has seen the team take a step forward in terms of their overall performance after Wallace finished in 28th place in the championship standing sin his first two years, he sits in 23rd in the standings with nine races left on the schedule.
Wallace has landed several personal sponsorship deals over the last few months, so finding a new ride likely won’t be too much of a problem. It is really only a question of when, not if, he signs with a new team — and, of course, with which team he’ll sign.
He has been most heavily linked to a seat at Chip Ganassi Racing, as the #42 Chevrolet is currently without a driver under contract for next season. Other possibilities include but are not limited to the #48 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports and the #37 Chevrolet at JTG Daugherty Racing.
Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark
A replacement for Wallace behind the wheel of the #43 car has not yet been announced, but Richard Petty Motorsports have indicated that a confirmation is slated to be made in the near future.