Driving a renumbered No. 34 truck this week to honor Danville, Virginia native and recently elected NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott, Darrell Wallace, Jr. took the pole for the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway with a lap speed of 96.224 mph. Last fall, Wallace became the first African-American driver since Scott to win a NASCAR National Touring series race when he won the fall event at Martinsville.
“It’s Special. It’s near and dear to my heart to carry down the legacy that Wendell Scott had handed over,” said Wallace after qualifying. “Today is something you get pumped up about…we’re hitting all the right notes so far and our Wendell Scott No. 34 Toyota is ready to go for the race.”
Timothy Peters, point leader Matt Crafton, Cole Custer and Ryan Blaney round out the top on the grid for Saturday’s race. Gray Gaulding, Johnny Sauter, German Quiroga, Jeb Burton and Tyler Reddick complete the top 10.
For the rest of the starting lineup, click below!
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.