Kenny Wallace Has Seen The NASCAR Game From All Angles

NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Kenny Wallace began his climb in stock car racing by working as a mechanic for his older brothers. Since those formative days touring Midwestern short tracks with Rusty and Mike, Wallace has carved his niche in the NASCAR game from all angles.

Through youth movements, mergers, team swaps and rule changes, Wallace has kept turning laps and winning over fans.
In the Sept. 11 Nationwide race at Richmond International Raceway, the St. Louis native is scheduled to make his 800th NASCAR start.  That stat serves as testimony to the popularity and versatility of the man known as “Herman.”

“We’ve been racing for a long while,” said Wallace, in a phone interview.  “I’ve been blessed to have some good rides, and I’ve had a lot of fun. To have 800 starts as a driver…that’s exciting. We’re going to put a logo on my car to thank all the teams that helped me reach this point.”

Wallace hopes to continue his fun run in Friday’s Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Wallace won the 1994 Food City 250 at BMS in a Ford owned by Filbert Martocci. He also holds the track record for top-10 finishes with 18.

“We kind of covered the gamut at Bristol, and it’s been one of my most successful tracks,” Wallace said.  “I really enjoy the place.”

Though many new fans associate the charismatic Wallace through his work as an on-air personality with the Speed channel, Wallace is one of the most experienced drivers in the entire sport. His resume includes 344 Sprint Cup, 440 Nationwide and 11 Camping World race starts along with one race each in the Camping World East and West series.
And Wallace, 45, said he remains as hungry as ever. Despite battling against drivers with much larger budgets, Wallace recently earned two straight top-10 finishes in the No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet and currently ranks 12thh in Nationwide points.

“When a racecar driver reaches 40, everybody tells you that you are getting too old and you eventually start to believe it,”  Wallace said. “When someone works at McDonald’s, age is never an issue. But in our sport, being 40 it’s almost like a sin.
“You do have to wear bifocals and everyone is always reminding of how old you are, but it’s just a number to me. “

Wallace points to Mark Martin and his brother, Rusty, as an examples of drivers who overcame ageism. Martin, 50, is 12th in Sprint Cup points with four wins.

“And Rusty was still ranked among the top seven in points when he raced at 48,” Wallace said. “Some teams embrace age, but some don’t.” 

The Jay Robinson team is among a shrinking group of independent Nationwide teams that face long odds against operations that are affiliated with Sprint Cup teams. Twelve full-time Sprint Cup drivers are included among the 52 entrants for the Food City 250. That list includes Nationwide points leader Kyle Busch and 2007 series champion Carl Edwards.

“Our team is known as underfunded, but we overachieve and do everything for less,”  said Wallace, who drives for Jay Robinson Racing. “Our guys drive to races and sit in the middle seats when they fly, but we’re still competitive.”

The travails of the NASCAR underdogs fall far under the radar of the Sprint Cup mega teams, yet their daily struggles are full of drama. Some owners are forced to adjust their budgets by buying smaller allotments of tires and relying on limited pit crews.

“Jay [Robinson] has been around for a long time, and he knows what it takes to go racing at this level,” Wallace said. “It would be nice to have a $6 million sponsor, but we do what we can. I’m proud that we’re still around.”

As for his status as a television personality with the Speed channel, Wallace stressed that his primary focus is in on racing.

“The TV deal is something that’s misunderstood about me,” Wallace said.  “People are always asking me how I manage to balance my work with racing, but I only work in television for three days a week.
“Doing the shows are real fun, but I’m at the track to race. That’s my priority.”

For Wallace, Bristol is both a welcome diversion and a throwback to the days when the Wallace family competed on short tracks.

“Drivers are so tired of all these mile-and-half tracks that are all about the motor and the car,” Wallace said. “When you go to Bristol, you just have to worry about getting the car to handle right. You don’t have to be perfect.”

Fan reaction to the smoother version of BMS remains mixed, but Wallace enjoys the opportunity to race on multiple grooves. The infamous bump in Turn 2 is even gone.

“The new surface was so smooth that it kind of caught me off guard first time we went there,” Wallace said. “You can run on the high side and on the bottom. I know the fans want more wrecks, but I really enjoy the way Bristol is now.’‘

Wallace has logged many miles since making his NASCAR debut in 1988 at Martinsville Speedway for Dale Earnhardt.  But Bristol holds a special place in his mental portfolio.

“Everybody knows that Bristol is the No. 1 ticket in the sport,” Wallace said. “It’s bigger than Daytona or the Brickyard. It’s really a throwback to the early days of the sport, and we always look forward to going back.”

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What: Food City 250 NASCAR Nationwide Race

Where: Bristol Motor Speedway

When: Friday, Aug. 21

Time: 8 p.m.

Fast Facts: The list of entries includes Abingdon’s Eric McClure, Coeburn’s Danny O’Quinn and Knoxville’s Trevor Bayne, who drives for the Michael Waltrip Racing team.