HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Report by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images North America photo —
Darrell Wallace Jr. has received his requested release from Joe Gibbs Racing and is free to pursue other opportunities, a team spokesman confirmed on Monday morning.
Wallace won four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races in 2014 (Gateway, Eldora, Martinsville and Hoemstead) with JGR feeder team Kyle Busch Motorsports and was expected to compete in as many as 10 NASCAR XFINITY Series events in 2015 for JGR, likely driving the team’s No. 20 Toyota.
The moves frees Wallace to explore other options and potentially sign with another organization for 2015, in hopes of landing in a full-time seat. His career has been on the fast track since the fall of 2013, when he became the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race since Wendell Scott and first such to ever win a Camping World Truck race when he scored the checkered flag at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Multiple sources, including the Charlotte Observer, have reported that Wallace’s likely destination is Roush Fenway Racing. The 21-year-old would join fulltime drivers Elliott Sadler, Ryan Reed and Chris Buescher at RFR if he lands there for next season.