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Reflecting on My 40-Year Racing Career · Kenny Wallace Media

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  He is racing royalty in the Saint Louis area.
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  He competed in 905 races in NASCAR's top three divisions.
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  What a career for Kenny Wallace, and it'll be punctuated very
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  shortly by going into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
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  He joins us now. Kenny, first of all,
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  congratulations. How did you get the news and
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  what does this one mean to you? Well, hello, my friend.
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  First of all, thanks for having me on your show.
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  Yeah, I got. I got the phone call from the
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  hall and it was it was so strange because you know, I I've
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  always been the third brother, you know, my my great brother
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  Rusty Wallace, my brother Mike. And I'm the youngest and I've
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  always, you know, had a little fun chip on my shoulder.
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  I'm the third child, you know I'm not supposed to be going
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  into the hall, but. We did a lot and they called me
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  up and it was very emotional. Got some goosebumps, shed a
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  tear. It's really weird, Frank, when
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  when something like that happened, you overcome with
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  emotionally and you're like, why am I so emotion, you know?
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  But yeah, that's the way it happened.
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  So if if I remember correctly, even though you're in this
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  incredible racing family, you spent a lot of your time as a
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  mechanic early in your life on your father's race cars, and
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  then you didn't really start competing until you're about 22.
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  Is that correct? 100% correct.
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  You got it right. So you know, I grew up in in the
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  Missouri area right here, basically born and raised in the
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  city of Saint Louis, went to Rolla MO for a little bit, came
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  back and my dad, Russ race. For a hobby.
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  But he won all the time. And you know it just got to be
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  where us boys, you know, my brother Rusty, my brother Mike,
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  my uncle Gary, my mom, we we enjoyed racing around the local
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  area. Well, we started winning a lot
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  and Rusty said, hey, let's go NASCAR.
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  And yeah, so I spent a lot of time helping my family.
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  And that's why I started racing so late, because I spent so much
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  time helping my family. What about the dynamic with you
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  and Rusty? I'm sure you're extremely proud
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  of your older brother, who had a magnificent career also, but was
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  there a rivalry? Was there?
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  What was going on, the dynamics of the Wallace family with the
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  two of you in particular? Yeah, really good question for a
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  lot of reasons, because I get asked that question every once
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  in a while. I absolutely.
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  And I know it sounds a little corny, but it's just the way it
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  is, man. I worship my brothers, my Big
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  Brother Rusty, my brother Mike. They were always good to me when
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  I grew up in Arnold, MO. They are always looking out for
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  me. And when it came time for me to
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  race a little bit, you know, they were there for me.
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  But way before that, man. I mean, I was all in with my
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  dad. I was all in, you know, with my
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  brother. Rusty, my brother Mike.
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  I mean, it got to the point where, you know, if if something
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  happened to Rusty on the track and he wasn't going good, I mean
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  I'd cry. I'm like, Oh my God, you know, I
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  mean, I think that's how bad we wanted it.
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  You know, there's an old saying Father John taught me.
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  Be careful, young man. Competition will kill you.
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  Well, we were a we were very competitive.
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  You know, we if we lost, it was horrible.
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  So. I was always all rusty, all my
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  and I think because I started racing later, you know, I should
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  have been racing at like 12, but I didn't start racing until 22.
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  The only reason I got started really and made it to NASCAR is
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  because of Rusty. Rusty started me a team, he
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  rolled out the red carpet. My brother Rusty spent a couple
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  $1,000,000 on me and but. I started my own racing back
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  here in Saint Louis and and Rusty saw how much effort I was
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  putting into my own career and and he said to me he goes, you
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  know why I'm helping you. And I said no brother, why are
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  you doing all this for me? He said because you helped me.
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  So yes, I love Rusty. There's no civilian rivalry, and
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  I've been all rusty all the time.
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  All right? And here you are at about 6
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  decades of life and you're still getting into the car.
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  Why? Why?
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  You know, I will not be long winded, but I'm going to go
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  somewhere where you you won't. A lot of people won't
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  understand. My grandma.
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  My grandpa died of heart attacks, you know, high
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  cholesterol my dad died of. High cholesterol eating sticks
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  of butter back in the day. Born in the 30s, man.
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  I watched my family members die and I said I'm going to do
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  everything I can do. So I'm in really, really good
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  shape. Now listen, I'm not a football
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  athlete, but I live on, you know, good food.
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  I eat good food and I'm in great shape and I'm sixty and I feel
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  like I'm 45. You know, and I I had great
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  advice from great athletes and their their advice to me was man
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  be careful with that big R word. Be careful return.
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  And you know what the reason I'm racing right now is because I'm
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  super competitive. I win.
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  I'm the oldest driver out there. But I mean, I literally kick
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  their ass and I take pride in it.
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  And. I mean, I really do, You know, I
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  mean it it I have people come up to me all the time and they go,
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  man, I want to do as good as you at your age.
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  And I go fast right away. And the real reason I'm doing
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  it, Frank, is because it gives me something to do.
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  You know, the other guys, you know Ozzy Smith, he's golfing.
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  That's fine, Let Ozzy golf. You know I'm going to race.
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  All those, all those, you know, you know what I'm talking about.
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  Your your guys, they all golf. That's all they do.
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  Yeah. So I'm just going to race.
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  I'm I'm going to race, you know, that's that's the deal.
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  You know, Mike Schmidt, the Hall of Fame third baseman, used to
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  say that when he went to the plate, he was really analytical
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  and mechanical and really just analyze things and when he get
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  in the slums, it would just kill him.
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  And then in the field, though, it was completely opposite.
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  It was all instinctual. Just let it happen.
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  And I'm wondering if I could draw a similarity with you as a
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  racer. You know, you are really
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  organized and you, you think out the process and you know exactly
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  what to do. You got a game plan and then you
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  oppose that. Or you contrast that with your
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  broadcasting career and you just let it hang.
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  And it's all instinctual. And I'm not saying it came easy,
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  but it seems like when you're on the air, it came easy for the
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  people don't know it. You had a tremendous career.
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  Fox National doing races. That was all natural.
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  You just let it all hang out, right?
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  Yes, 100%. I I had a there was a really
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  good racer. He's still alive.
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  The great Ned Jarrett. I gave a speech and he said how
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  are you able to do that? You know, he said.
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  I went to Dale Carnegie class and I.
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  I said, man, I was just born like that.
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  You know, I if I walk in a room and it's real quiet, I can't
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  take that. You know, I got a there's got to
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  be happiness involved. Hey, how you doing?
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  And then when when Fox Sports, you know Eric Shanks, the
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  president of Fox out in LA, you know, he, he hired Joe Buck and
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  you know Troy Aikman, he said, you know why we're asking you to
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  come to work for Fox Sports? And I said, I have no idea.
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  And he told me it was funny. He goes.
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  Because you have a lot to say in, in other words, I'm the
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  mouth of the South, you know, I do a lot of talking.
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  But you know, I love the sport that I'm in and it's very easy
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  to talk about the sport that you love because in a in a weird
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  way, Frank and it's kind of like, you know I'm a big fan of
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  yours. I mean, Frank, you know
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  everything. It's and it's not.
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  It's just because you do. You live, eat and breathe all
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  sports. Whether it's Mizzou right now or
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  the Cardinals or, you know, the Blues are local high school, you
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  just know everything. And that's the way I am, man.
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  I know everything about racing and I don't even got to try
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  because I live, eat and breathe it.
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  Yeah, I don't even got to study. So yes, because I live, eat and
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  breathe the sport, it, it becomes second nature to me.
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  I was born hyperactive, you know, they had me on Ritland.
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  They took me off Ritland. So I, you know, I just kind of
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  go hard all the time, you know, And I and I see you the same
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  way. There's no wearing you out.
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  I mean you walk a mile a minute, you're digging all the time.
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  And I'm kind of the, I'm kind of cut the same cloth you are.
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  You know, you don't ever give up.
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  And I noticed you don't ever slow down.
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  I'm getting a text from one of my friends who went to Fox High
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  School right about the time you went to Fox High School.
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  And he says he he didn't remember seeing you a lot at Fox
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  High School. So I graduated.
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  I graduated in 1981. I am in the, you know, the Fox
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  High School Hall of Fame. So are a lot of other great
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  athletes. You know, out of Fox came, you
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  know, Chicago Bears players, you know, a lot of great, you know,
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  Olympics. It is shocking, I mean, and I'm
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  sure it's that way all over the city of Saint Louis, but it is
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  amazing. To go to the Fox High School
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  Hall of Fame and and looking at me, there's torches in there
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  from the Olympics. It's like, whoa, you know?
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  But Fox was a part of my path. Listen, I didn't need to go to
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  high school. They made me go okay, because,
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  you know what I mean, Frank? I knew.
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  I knew what I was going to do when I was 12 years old, you
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  know? I mean, you know, they say, they
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  say that. One of the biggest issues in
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  life is a man. A man is 32 years old and he
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  still doesn't know what he wanted to do.
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  Hell, I knew what I was going to do at 9.
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  I'm like, I'm going to be a race car driver.
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  So Fox High School, I'd love it and I do a lot with him.
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  But you know, I could have. I could have.
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  Go to quit school early and then just fine and it was in my way
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  and but I do love everybody at Fox.
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  I helped them financially to this day.
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  But I love Fox and it was it was a good part of my life.
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  All right, you went on your Twitter and by the way, your
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  Twitter is just unbelievable. You give you show you in food
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  contest, all auto racing related, just everything is
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  great and you have 365,365 thousand followers.
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  And the other day you had a really great post about a young
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  man that I met in your garage about six months ago who's got
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  some health concerns. And you have raised a blank ton
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  of money for him to tell our listeners what's going on here.
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  Yeah, Frankie Rollins out of. Farmington, MO.
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  You know, down that way. His nickname is Jughead.
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  Just, you know, we all get nicknames.
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  So Frankie came down with chronic pancreatitis and started
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  losing the enormous amount of weight out of nowhere and really
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  concerned us. So Frankie has been to every
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  chronic pancreatitis. Doctor in the city of Saint
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  Louis, he's been to Saint Louis University, he's been to
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  Missouri Baptist, he's been to Doctor Lang.
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  And we are having one hell of a time.
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  So Doctor, Doctor Lang is well known if you Google top chronic
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  pancreatitis doctors. And if Doctor Lang is listen or
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  anybody knows him, we're begging for help.
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  I mean, we're on. He's on his deathbed.
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  And so Doctor Lang said we cannot do anything for you.
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  We're going to refer you to the Mayo Clinic.
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  Well, Frank Frankie's poor Okay, and that's sad to say, but I
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  help him out all I can and we're we are doing everything we can
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  to get him to the Mayo Clinic and we raised right around 150
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  grand. We can raise way more.
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  I told Frankie, I said, Frankie, we can raise you 1/4 of
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  $1,000,000 right now. But damn.
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  But we got to we got to get you fixed.
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  So. You know, I'm.
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  I'm begging all the doctors right now in the city of Saint
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  Louis. You know, be a hero.
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  Be a hero If you're that damn smart.
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  Help my friend. But right now, Doctor Lang, and
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  you know, they've all given up on Frankie.
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  We don't know what's wrong with you.
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  We got to refer you to the Mayo Clinic and you know, I'm
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  hyperactive and it's going on 2 weeks.
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  My friend's dying. I mean, and he's barely he's
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  going to the race tracks with me to keep him alive.
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  The racing community is awesome. You know they're doing
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  fundraisers. But man, I I need Saint Louis
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  University. I need Barnes Jewish Hospital.
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  You know, if you all are that damn good fix my friend, you
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  know? But unfortunately, it's sad to
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  say, you know, we all know what this is all about anymore.
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  Hospitals. All they do is refer you to, you
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  know, Sweet 2A over here, some specialist.
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  And I'm pissed off. I really am because the health
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  industry is so specialized now and I I need help and I need to
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  save my friend's life. It's extremely hard to watch my
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  friend die and he's dying. And the Mayo, you know, they got
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  thousands of people in line. There's thousands of people, you
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  know, everybody's slashing $1,000,000.
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  Hell, I'm talking to the Mayo Clinic.
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  I might dude, I got 100 grand cash right now.
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  You know, it's sad as all get out, but if there's anybody in
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  Saint Louis, you know, Doctor Lane says I can't do no more.
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  And he's super famous just Googling.
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  So I hate to do this, but you know, you started it.
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  And I appreciate you doing that for me, Frank, but my buddy's
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  dying. He feels like he's got six
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  months left to live. Oh boy.
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  Super hard. Super hard for me to watch him
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  go dying. Well we wish you luck with that
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  and anybody wants more information go to Kenny
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  Wallace's Twitter at Kenny under score Wallace.
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  One more thought before we let you go NASCAR this week.
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  They go to Texas for the they go to the Texas Motor Speedway.
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  Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin have been the
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  winners. How do you break down this race
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  on Sunday, which will broadcast on Channel 5?
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  Yeah, awesome. Yeah, NBC doing a great job.
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  You know, Dale Junior and they got a great group there, you
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  know. So I'll be going down there.
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  I'm going to be leaving tomorrow.
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  My plane leaves at 5:00. We'll be doing our prerace show
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  on the front, straight away in front of all the fans.
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  You know what's exciting, Frank? There's 12 people left in the
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  playoffs. Every three races we get rid of
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  four and all this comes to an end, you know, right around
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  early November. So it's exciting because there's
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  so many great races and race car drivers that there's not a
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  favorite. We just had a big shocking blow.
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  We just kicked out, you know, Kevin Harvick, our champion, and
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  of course Joey Legano, our two time champion because they have
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  some bad luck. So my point is this.
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  They're all really good. The 12 that are left are all
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  winners and they're all really good.
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  And then it's going to come down to the finale in Phoenix.
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  And you just got to watch. And you know, we, I do a YouTube
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  show. I follow up.
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  I let everybody know what's up. But I think right now, Denny
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  Hamlin, to answer your question, he's on a hot streak.
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  Denny Hamlin is hot. He's the guy to watch out for.
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  All right, I lied. I got one last one.
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  Somebody love it. Somebody asked me to ask you
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  about this, and I'm glad they did.
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  You are still madly in love with your bride, Kim.
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  We got a lot of husbands out there listening to this.
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  Tell me the secret to your success and why you love her in
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  60 seconds. Well, I'm 60 years old.
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  The key my success is I go do my deal.
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  She goes and does her deal. And we meet in bed at night and
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  we truly love each other. You got to you got to stay away
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  from each other a little bit so you can love each other more.
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  The key, the key to marriage and the key to loving each other is
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  you cannot stay glued to each other.
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  You got to give each other a little space so you don't get on
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  each other's nerves all the time.
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  That that whole that whole deal of being glued to each other,
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  that's that's a false narrative. I I love my wife right now more
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  than I did. When I met her in 1980 at Fox
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  High School. That is awesome.
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  Boy, I got to tell this to Monique because she she's all
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  over me like a cheap suit 24 hours a day.
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  Yeah, well, you know, dinner should be exciting.
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  You know. She does her deal.
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  I do my deal. Hey, honey, I want to go to
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  dinner. I haven't seen you all day.
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  Yep. You are the best.
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  Congratulations on the Hall of Fame.
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  That's great stuff. Well deserved.
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  We'll talk soon, Sir. Thank you so much.
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  Thank you, Frank. All right, Kenny Wallace.