Wallace Finishes 12th at Richmond International Raceway

Roush Fenway Racing’s Bubba Wallace and the No. 6 Bleacher Report team battled a tight Ford Mustang in Friday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway, ultimately finishing 12th.

“My Mustang was okay,” said Wallace.  “We got it the best on the last run, but I think it was too late.  With the way my guys worked on it all day it made me proud.  We will go to Talladega where we know we are fast.”

The NASCAR XFINITY Series traveled to Richmond International Raceway for the second consecutive short track race.  After a two hour practice session in the morning, and qualifying later Friday afternoon, Wallace lined up 11th for the 250 lap race under the lights.

At the drop of the green, Wallace gained four positions, moving up to seventh by the completion of Lap 1.  As the opening green flag of the run of the race progressed, Wallace’s Mustang was too free on entry dropping the No. 6 back to 10th by the time Wallace visited pit road for the first time of the day on Lap 51.

Crew chief Chad Norris called for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.  The No. 6 Bleacher Report Ford lined up ninth for the Lap 55 restart.  Two laps after the restart, Wallace had advanced to sixth, radioing to the team that he was happy with how his car fired off after the adjustments.

As the run progressed, Wallace again battled a Mustang that was loose on entry and tight in the center.  The driver of the No. 6 Ford Mustang visited pit road for the second time of the day on Lap 112 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.

Wallace lined up sixth for the restart on Lap 120, and settled into eighth on the following run.  When the caution came out 24 laps later, Norris did not call his driver down pit road, as he did not want to lose another set of tires too quickly.

The team hoped for a caution in the closing laps to bring Wallace down pit road for a fresh set of tires.  The caution never materialized, forcing a green flag stop with 25 laps left.  Wallace closed out the day in 12th.

With the result, Wallace is fourth in the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings as the series travels to Talladega Superspeedway.

RFR PR