Tag: Richard Petty Motorsports

Bubba Wallace confirms he’s leaving Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of the NASCAR season

“This was not an easy decision,” Bubba Wallace said about looking for a new team for the 2021 NASCAR season.

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. will officially be behind the wheel of a new ride with a new team for NASCAR’s 2021 season, but we still don’t know which one yet.

However, Wallace said Thursday on Twitter he told Richard Petty Motorsports, his current team, that he will not be returning to the No. 43 Chevrolet.

Wallace — the only Black driver in the premier Cup Series — could become a free agent at the end of the 2020 season in November, and he had an offer to return to Richard Petty Motorsports, which included partial ownership of the team. However, the 26-year-old driver has also previously said he has an offer from Chip Ganassi Racing to pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet, which Matt Kenseth is currently driving after taking over mid-season for fired driver Kyle Larson.

Confirming the news of his departure after three full-time seasons with the team — news that The Athletic first reported Thursday — Wallace wrote:

“This was not an easy decision as I have nothing but the utmost respect for Richard Petty and his family, but I believe it’s time for someone else to take over the reins of the No. 43. Thank you to the King and everyone at Richard Petty Motorsports for giving me the opportunity to start my Cup Series career. I’ve grown so much as a driver and as a person since joining them. We’ve got nine more races together, and I hope we can finish the 2020 season on a high note.”

Particularly this season, Wallace has emerged as a leader in the NASCAR industry and was integral in successfully getting the governing body to ban the Confederate flag from all events. He’s also been vocal about racism in and out of the sport and police brutality disproportionately impacting Black people.

In June on the same day NASCAR officially banned the Confederate flag, Wallace and Richard Petty Motorsports ran a Black Lives Matter paint scheme.

Wallace has been with Richard Petty Motorsports for his entire Cup career. After being a substitute driver in the No. 43 car for four races in 2017, he took over the full-time ride. But he’s still looking for his first career Cup Series win.

He’s had just one top-5 finish in each of the last three seasons so far, two of which have been at Daytona International Speedway. In the 2020 regular-season finale nearly two weeks ago at Daytona, Wallace finished fifth in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and in the 2018 Daytona 500, he came in second, which was the highest finish in the race by a full-time rookie.

In 2020, Wallace’s average finish is about 20th, but this season has been an overall improvement for the No. 43 team with five top-10 finishes at this point, compared with one in 2019 and three in 2018.

In a statement via FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, Richard Petty Motorsports also confirmed Wallace will be leaving the team:

As far as his future goes, Wallace recently told FrontStretch.com he’s looking for a family atmosphere with a team, and on that level, Richard Petty Motorsports has “half the puzzle there.” But he’s also looking for a team capable of actually winning races, and “we just have to get our cars better and more competitive to seal that deal.”

In addition to Ganassi’s No. 42 ride, another option for Wallace in 2021 could be the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson retiring from full-time racing at the end of the season.

NASCAR has nine races remaining in the 2020 season, starting with Saturday’s race at Richmond Raceway, where Wallace will start 30th.

[vertical-gallery id=946366]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393221]

Bubba Wallace teases ‘big deal on the line’ ahead of potential free agency

Bubba Wallace could potentially become a free agent at the end of the 2020 NASCAR season.

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. had a solid first race of the NASCAR Cup Series’ doubleheader weekend at Michigan International Speedway. The No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet driver earned his fourth top-10 finish of the season and second in about a month, coming in ninth in Saturday’s FireKeepers Casino 400.

And when the 26-year-old driver — who could potentially become a free agent at the end of the 2020 season — was asked about a quick turnaround for Sunday’s race at Michigan, the Consumers Energy 400, he teased “a big deal on the line right now” for him.

After his ninth-place finish in the FireKeepers Casino 400 — which Kevin Harvick won — Wallace told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider:

“Say a prayer for us. Everybody say a prayer for us. There’s a big deal on the line right now, and this could only help so much. I have yet to check my phone to see the status of it, but this will send us over the top if we can get it done.

“So it’s been a lot of hard work off the race track for my team and everybody involved, to make things better. And that’s what we’re trying to do. So putting solid runs together and having awesome restarts all night, this is only going to help the effort. So I’m definitely smiling. So it’s a good deal.”

Earlier this month, Richard Petty Motorsports co-owner Andrew Murstein said the team is in contract extension talks with Wallace, and the terms include a rare team ownership stake. However, it’s unclear if that’s what Wallace spoke aboutSaturday or if he was referring to something else.

Wallace is in his third full-time Cup Series season, and he’s only competed for Richard Petty Motorsports. He has yet to win a race and only earned two top-5 finishes overall, but his four top-10s in 2020 are the most he’s had in a single season.

Prior to Saturday’s race, Wallace told FrontStretch.com he’s looking for a family atmosphere with a team, and on that level, Richard Petty Motorsports has “half the puzzle there.” But he’s also looking for a team capable of actually winning races, and “we just have to get our cars better and more competitive to seal that deal.”

In his brief post-race interview with NBC Sports after the first Michigan race, Wallace spoke more about his potential free agency, or what’s known in NASCAR as the “silly season,” saying:

“We’re in the middle of ‘silly season’ right now, so my mind is there, it’s here. So to come out with a solid top-10 finish for us is positive. We’ve got a lot of work to do. I was not happy with the car, but I think that’s the racer mentality. I don’t know if (Kevin) Harvick’s happy about his car either. We always strive to be better, but all in all, a solid day.”

Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway is at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

[jwplayer MpGGUyps-q2aasYxh]

[vertical-gallery id=938083]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393221]

Bubba Wallace offered rare team ownership stake in extension talks with Richard Petty Motorsports

Bubba Wallace could become a free agent at the end of the 2020 season.

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. became one of the most recognizable people in NASCAR, a predominantly white, male sport, when, in June, he called out racism and police brutality, got the sport to ban the Confederate Flag, supported the Black Lives Matter movement and ran a BLM paint scheme. He received support from those in the NASCAR industry, as well as the sports world in general, and became one of the few drivers to successfully transcend the sport.

Wallace, the only Black driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, could potentially become a free agent at the end of the 2020 NASCAR season. But he has an offer on the table from his current team, Richard Petty Motorsports, which includes partial ownership of the No. 43 Chevrolet team, Forbes SportsMoney contributor David Smith reported Sunday.

Wallace’s contract with RPM is up at the end of the season, but team co-owner Andrew Murstein spoke to Forbes about its efforts to re-sign the 26-year-old, three-year Cup Series veteran because: “There’s a plethora of drivers. There is only one Bubba.”

More via Forbes SportsMoney:

“We’re in discussions with him about an extension that includes ownership in the team,” said Murstein, who expects an agreement to be finalized “within the next couple of weeks.”

Although details of NASCAR drivers’ contracts are seldom public — a stark contrast to other professional sports in the United States — a partial ownership offer is rare, particularly for a young driver without a Cup Series win yet. As Forbes SportsMoney noted, other drivers who had ownership stakes built into their contracts while still actively racing include Jeff Gordon with Hendrick Motorsports and Tony Stewart in what’s now Stewart-Haas Racing.

According to Smith’s Motorsports Analytics, Wallace’s estimated production value is $1.496 million, marking a 454 percent increase compared with the preseason and ranking him 13th among potential future free agents.

However, Wallace reportedly has options for his future beyond returning for a fourth full-time season (or more) with Richard Petty Motorsports.

As the Sports Business Journal‘s Adam Stern reported Friday, another possibility for Wallace could be taking over the No. 42 Chevrolet with Chip Ganassi Racing because he and the team both currently have sponsorship deals with McDonald’s.

The 2020 season started with Kyle Larson behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chevrolet, and he was expected to be the most coveted free agent this year. However, on a livestream during an iRacing event in April, Larson said the N-word and was promptly fired by Chip Ganassi Racing when his sponsors bailed.

Matt Kenseth came out of his soft retirement to take over the No. 42 car this year, but it’s unknown if the 2003 NASCAR champ will continue racing after the season ends.

Going into Sunday’s Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Wallace is 20th in the driver standings, which is four spots removed from the 16-driver cutoff for the 10-race playoffs starting in September.

[jwplayer turmNX2D-q2aasYxh]

[vertical-gallery id=935845]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393221]

Richard Petty ‘enraged’ by noose found in his NASCAR team’s Talladega garage

Richard Petty reacted to a noose being found in his team’s garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway.

NASCAR team owner Richard Petty responded to a noose being found in the garage stall of his No. 43 Chevrolet team Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway — news NASCAR broke Sunday night.

In a statement released by the team on Twitter Monday midday, the almost-83-year-old seven-time NASCAR champion described the incident as a “filthy act” committed by a “sick person” and called for them to be identified and “swiftly and immediately expelled from NASCAR.”

Although Petty has not been at a NASCAR race since its return during the coronavirus pandemic, he plans to attend Monday’s rain-delayed GEICO 500 to support Wallace, the only Black driver in the Cup Series, and his team, FOX Sports and ESPN reported.

In the statement, Petty said:

“I’m enraged by the act of someone placing a noose in the garage stall of my race team. There is absolutely no place in our sport or our society for racism. This filthy act serves as a reminder of how far we still have to go to eradicate racial prejudice and it galvanizes my resolve to use the resources of Richard Petty Motorsports to create change. The sick person who perpetrated this act must be found, exposed, and swiftly and immediately expelled from NASCAR. I believe in my heart that this despicable act is not representative of the competitors I see each day in the NASCAR garage area. I stand shoulder to shoulder with Bubba, yesterday, today, tomorrow and every day forward.”

Wallace’s No. 43 Chevrolet ran a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme — which Petty helped design — at Martinsville Speedway on June 10, the same day NASCAR banned the Confederate flag. Wallace has also worn a “I Can’t Breathe/Black Lives Matter” t-shirt on pit road before races.

However, in 2017 in response to the continued debate about NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem to peacefully protest racial injustice and police brutality, Petty told USA TODAY Sports in 2017:

“Anybody that don’t stand up for that ought to be out of the country. Period.”

RPM co-owner Andrew Murstein also released a statement, via FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass:

In NASCAR’s statement Sunday night, it said it opened an investigation into who committed such a hateful and racist act, which the U.S. Attorney’s office, the FBI and the Department of Justice are currently reviewing.

“We are angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act,” NASCAR said, in part, in its statement. “We have launched an immediate investigation, and will do everything we can to identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport.”

Wallace reacted publicly to the news minutes after NASCAR broke it Sunday night. The 26-year-old driver’s statement was similar to Petty’s, reflecting on what this act of racism means on a broader scale than just NASCAR. But the driver also said “nothing is more important” than forcing real, cultural change.

In part, Wallace said:

“As my mother told me today, ‘They are just trying to scare you.’ This will not break me, I will not give in nor will I back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in.”

Several NASCAR drivers and executives have expressed their support on Twitter for Wallace, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney and NASCAR executives Steve O’Donnell and Eric Nyquist. He’s received praise and support outside of racing as well, with LeBron James and Billie Jean King among the other athletes who have spoken out.

NASCAR’s Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega was postponed to Monday because of rain. It will begin at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

[jwplayer D7EoygAN-q2aasYxh]

[vertical-gallery id=925852]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393221]