BRISTOL, Tenn. – The pairing of seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Richard Petty with Cup rookie Darrell Wallace Jr. seems straight out of a Disney motion picture.
Homespun and personable, the 80-year-old Petty from rural Level Cross, North Carolina is known simply as “The King.”
The aggressive and dynamic 24-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, knows plenty about NASCAR history. He’s the first African-American to race full-time at the Cup level since Wendell Scott in 1971.
The first chapter of “The King and The Apprentice” saga has offered some compelling theatre.
Entering Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Wallace has earned a pair of top-10 finishes for the Richard Petty Motorsports team. The Petty No. 43 is the winningest car in the sport.
Wallace has also clicked with his country cool car owner off the track, spending a week at Petty’s home near the Teton Mountains in Wyoming.
“[Petty] has been great,” said Wallace in a phone interview on Tuesday. “You hear everything he has gone through and you try to put that to use in your own career.”
Wallace’s debut in the 2018 Daytona 500 could not have gone much better. Wallace recorded a runner-up finish and then showed raw emotion in the post-race press conference after the sudden appearance of his mother, Desiree.
“Pull it together bud, pull it together,” Wallace said to himself in the Daytona media center. “I just try so hard to be successful in everything I do and my family pushes me each and every day. They might not even know it, but I just want to make them proud.”
Wallace is also eager to make his personal Yoda proud with a strong performance at one of the toughest tracks on the circuit this weekend at BMS.
“[Petty] has been our biggest supporter and biggest critic,” Wallace said. “He wants us to avoid mistakes and get the car back in Victory Lane. At the same time, we know we’re working with limited resources.”
The spotlight will again be on Wallace and his iconic ride Sunday at Bristol. He actually helped design the car which features the 1970s era STP paint scheme along with some modern touches created by Wallace.
As usual, Petty will be roaming the pits with his trademark cowboy hat.
“Richard is always at the race track to brighten up our mood,” Wallace said. “He wants to make sure we focus and do our jobs, but that we also have fun at the end of the day.”
Wallace admitted that he’s gradually adjusted to his hectic appearance schedule that has included multiple national television features and various promotional stops such as a March 20 outing at Magna Vista High School near Martinsville Speedway where Wallace answered a range of questions and even played drums with the school band.
The popularity of Wallace has also been spread through uses of social media where he has offered insight into his busy lifestyle through the use of videos.
On Tuesday, Wallace shared a story about his jump from the Xfinity Series with Roush Fenway Racing to his breakthrough with Petty.
A downcast Wallace was dining at the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant in Johnson City last May and conversing with fans via Twitter.
“At that point of the season, we knew that the end of the season wasn’t there at all,” Wallace said. “We were trying to get a win to get locked in to the playoffs and try to force the team to run the rest of the season.”
In retrospect, Wallace said he was hoping for a vision. NASCAR’S version of Yoda was just out of the picture at that stage.
“It was a tough point that no driver wants to see, especially since we had come off a really good season in the points,” Wallace said. “It was a kick in the teeth, so we did everything we could to get races together.”
Just two days later, Wallace made an impressive statement by winning the Super Late Model portion of Short Track U.S. Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“Those cars are fast and fun,” Wallace said. “Bristol has always been one of my favorite tracks. I had been racing late models at Bristol since 2008 and I wanted to win there.”
With speeds in the 130-mph range, the Cars Super Late Model Tour machines are actually faster than the Cup cars at BMS.
“I was just trying to stay busy and race like I had for the past 15 years,” Wallace said. “To be able to go and win the Short Track race, it really meant a lot. A win at Bristol meant a lot, but it was still what’s next after that.”
That next step came just two weeks later when Wallace was tabbed to replace the injured Aric Almirola for four weeks in the Petty No. 43 ride.
In addition to driving steady and posting an average finish of 17.8 in the Xfinity Series, Wallace pulled off his sixth career truck series victory on Aug. 12 while driving for MDM Motorsports at Michigan.
A short time later, the star of the NASCAR Next and Driver for Diversity programs was rolling with “The King.”
Wallace finished eighth last week at Texas after running in the No. 3 spot with 22 laps to go.
“It’s been one heck of a ride,” Wallace said.
The next leg of that historic ride is set for Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.