Roush Fenway Racing’s Bubba Wallace earned his career-best finish in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, crossing the finish line fifth in his No. 6 Cheez-It Ford Mustang. With the finish, Wallace also qualifies for the $100,000 “Dash 4 Cash” prize next weekend at Dover International Speedway.
“It was a good run,” said Wallace. “It was a top-five run for us, our first one of the year. I’m just proud to have Cheez-It on board of our Ford Mustang. That’s the first time I finished a top series race here, so that’s something to be proud of. We’ll build off of this. It’s a good top-five, a good momentum boost for our team.”
Wallace earned his best qualifying position of the 2015 season Saturday morning, lining his Cheez-It Mustang up in second for the start of the 200-Lap, 300-Mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
From the first lap, Wallace settled into third, running in that position for the opening run of the race. When the Rookie of the Year contender entered pit road for the first time of the day on Lap 50, crew chief Chad Norris called for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to try and give his driver more front turn.
On the following run, Wallace’s Cheez-It Mustang was still a bit too tight for his liking. Wallace settled into third, until visiting pit road under green flag conditions on Lap 99 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.
After a brief return to the track on fresh tires, the caution flag waved. Norris opted to bring Wallace down pit road for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment on Lap 111.
Upon exiting pit road, Wallace lined up fifth for the restart on Lap 117. He would battle inside the top-five for the remainder of the race, ultimately crossing the finish line in fifth.
With the fifth-place result, Wallace remains fourth in the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings, two points out of third. The series returns to action on Saturday at Dover International Speedway.
RFR PR
