July 3, 2005
Oh my gosh........can't believe I met Kenny Wallace.... I have heard he is quite a character and boy ...
he lives up to his reputation...He is so nice.... when I got to the pit area he was parked right next to the Kinder and the Team #22 hauler......Kenny was over by the fence signing autographs and talking with the fans......... when he came back over by the boys I asked him if he would give me an interview.... He has such a happy go lucky attitude and is always smiling... he told me he sure would........... he walked away and I thought he had just given me the brush off.........
He went inside his hauler and then looked back at me and said....."hey, come in here.... I ain't standing in that sun"..He promptly got me a chair and we sit down and started talking... Dennis Waggle also came inside and I took a picture of the two of them together.. In between the interview and just talking with him I had so much fun.......super super nice guy...
Kenny Wallace as everyone knows is a Nascar driver but now has a modifed #36 called : "THE HERMANATOR"......... the chassis is an Impressive built by Donnie Jumper...a close friend of Kenny's......and the motor is a Buzzard Racing Engine..
Kenny is 41 yrs old, born August 23, 1963 and lives in St. Louis, Missouri
Kenny told me that he had started racing when he was 22 years old in the ASA..
He went to Nascar when he was 26 years old in the Busch Series...(around 1989)..
I asked Kenny what had inspired him to start racing and he told me it was his dad Russ Wallace....... He is very proud of his dad... Told me that his dad won the track championship at every track he raced..... He said he just won everything.. Said his dad quit racing around 1979/80... His dad is his INSPIRATION..
I asked him what he thought it took to be a good driver and was very interested in seeing what he would say.... He told me that it took "THE WILL TO WANT"...
When I asked him what his long term goal was he gave me the best answer that I have ever got..............He told me that his goal was to be known as a great dad...a great husband .. and to be known as a good driver... good sportsmanship..
He told me he would rather be remembered for those things then for the races he would win....
I asked Kenny who his toughest competitor was and he told me that it was anyone he was racing for a position...
I was interested to see what Kenny would say when I asked him if there was anything in racing that needed to be changed.... He agrees with almost all the drivers that I have talked with... He said the cost needs to go down and especially for the dirt track drivers.... It is causing a lot of drivers to have to give the sport up because it is getting so out of hand pricewise... DIRT CARS ARE WAY TOO EXPENSIVE!!!!!! He said that this new series that they have came up with....the "FAST TRAK SERIES"...is really a great start
When I asked if there was anything in his career that stood out for him he told me having 9 Nascar Busch wins,,,,,,,have 10 poles.... and being named MOST POPULAR two times......................*****talking with him I don't know how he doesn't get that every year...****
His Crew Chief in Nascar is Wes Ward and in Dirt it is his good friend Donnie Jumper......... He told me that everyone that works on the Hermanator is a Team Member and there are too many to name... he didn't want to leave anyone off the list....
He told me he would like to say thanks to everyone who has ever helped him out...
Kenny.... thankyou so much for the interview.... It was a very thrilling experience... I sit on the plane going on my cruise with a lady named Debbie Strunk who goes on your yearly cruise.....She told me lots of little stories about you that I won't share on here
.. she told me how nice you were......Well Debbie you sure were right......!!!!
cj