07/09/2016

Top-Five Finish for Wallace in Kentucky

Top-Five Finish for Wallace in Kentucky 

SPARTA, Ky. (July 8, 2016) – Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Ford Mustang, improved four positions on the final restart of Friday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series event at Kentucky Speedway to earn a fifth-place finish, his third top-five finish of the 2016 season. 

“It’s a good night for us,” said Wallace after the race. “We finished fifth, so that was a good rebound from when we showed up here at Kentucky. My guys did a great job tonight with this Ford EcoBoost Mustang. Our pit stops were on point and we were mistake free. So we’ll take this and move on to New Hampshire next weekend where we can go fight for a win.”

Wallace began the scheduled 200-lap event from the 11th position and wasted little time working his way into the top-10. The competition caution came out on Lap 25 and the Ford EcoBoost crew added fuel, four fresh tires and cranked a few rounds in the rear to free up the car. 

On the ensuing restart Wallace drifted back a few spots, but not long after when the sun went down, Wallace radioed to the team, “I can feel my car starting to free up.” After that comment, Wallace started charging through the pack and worked his way up to sixth. 

Wallace maintained his track position throughout much of the middle portion of the race, but the handling started to fade away on the Ford EcoBoost Mustang in the final laps.

In the closing stages Wallace was scored in the ninth position when the caution flag waved with three laps to go. Crew chief Seth Barbour utilized this caution to bring Wallace to pit road for four fresh tires and another chassis adjustment in the rear to free his car up more. On the final restart, Wallace pushed his car to the limit and passed four cars in the final two laps. Wallace crossed the line in the fifth position.

Next up for the NASCAR XFINITY Series is New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 16 at 4:00pm EST.