CONCORD, N.C. – Though he set the fastest time in qualifying and finished third in his return to the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout on Tuesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bubba Wallace was far from satisfied with his results.

Wallace spent the day soaking in as much knowledge as he could during his first Legend car appearance at the 10-race summer series since 2012, a pursuit that was aided by the support of his longtime grassroots owner Chris Rogers, who the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series star returned to drive for.

The 25-year-old piloted a No. 76 dressed up in similar colors to one of the cars he drove for Rogers before at the Summer Shootout, progressively gaining on the setup and his skillset as the night went on.

“For me, it was a matter of learning all night,” noted Wallace. “All those little quirks and tricks that you could use to manipulate the car, I’ve kind of forgotten about, so it’s about getting those back and getting to a place where we can go out and win some races, because that’s what we’re here for.

“We weren’t the best tonight; we were really tight in (turns) one and two and just could not get the drive off (the corner) that we needed,” Wallace added. “In turns three and four, I thought we were OK, but it was just too late to make anything happen. It was great to come back out here, though.”

Wallace redrew the eighth starting position after qualifying on the pole, cracking the top five in just two laps and snagging third for good on the fifth revolution, taking advantage of the race’s lone restart after a caution for the stalled car of Ashton Higgins in turn four.

From there, Wallace stayed consistent but couldn’t stay with eventual winner Joey Padgett and runner-up Carson Ferguson, fading to four seconds adrift by the time the twin checkers waved over the field.

“I didn’t know if (Ryan) Mackintosh was going to take the top on that one choose (restart), and he did, but if he hadn’t then I would have and at least tried to make it a race up there,” Wallace said. “We settled in for third, though, and all in all … the car’s in one piece, so that’s a good day.

“Of course, I would have liked to have won, but for showing up with no practice and to sit on the pole (with the fastest time in qualifying) … that’s a good day,” he added. “My redraw skills just need to be a little bit better. This was a good time, but I forgot how long and drawn out these things are. I’m a little older and getting a little tired, but it’s a lot of fun to be back out here, for sure.”

Though he now races wheel-to-wheel with the best in American stock-car racing on a weekly basis, Wallace said there were a few pre-race jitters before he hit the track for Tuesday night’s 25-lap feature.

“I was actually nervous,” Wallace admitted. “I don’t get nervous on Sundays, but I was nervous sitting on the grid. The butterflies were going, for sure, but it ended up working out.”

Much like several of his Cup Series contemporaries who have returned to their short-track heritage in recent years, Wallace was drawn back to the Summer Shootout by a passion for the sport and the “fun factor” of driving a Legend car on the quarter-mile frontstretch oval at CMS.

“This is what racing is all about,” Wallace said. “You’ve seen it a lot lately, with (Kyle) Larson going back to his roots and running sprint cars … and other Cup guys, as well, going to more short tracks. It’s cool to see. The sport has changed so much, and the car counts have decreased from where it was for a long time here at the Summer Shootout, but hopefully my being here helps to spark some interest and maybe get some kids back in Bandoleros and Legend cars again. I had a blast.

“These things are so much fun to drive. Dirt guys will always put sprint cars on top of their ‘fun list’, but I’ll always say Legend cars are number one,” he added.

Ever the competitor, Wallace isn’t resting on his podium result. He’s focused on trophy hunting and intends to add to his 12 career Summer Shootout victories before the end of the season in July.

“We’ll just keep plugging away,” Wallace pointed out. “I know Chris and I aren’t happy with how we ran, so we might be bringing a new car next week. We’ll see.”