Kenny Wallace has never held himself back. And, it’s that his smile and his many exploits on the race track make him the iconic racer fans remember. Here, we have him on the tracks again at the Dome, where he competing in Gateway Dirt Nationals. One might say he is racing more now post-retirement, and they won’t be wrong. He has since logged tens of thousands of miles driving from track to track.

Maybe it’s this fact alone that has made him somewhat of a folk hero when it comes to NASCAR. But, someone recently put aspersion on his record, and Wallace, true to his reputation, has not held back.

Kenny Wallace: Is he only an asphalt racer?

Once a NASCAR racer, always a NASCAR racer. The bug to have a go at the stock-cars, even if it’s not in the Cup Series remains for many drivers. Perhaps no one embodies this spirit better than Kenny Wallace. The King of one-liners is once again in his #36, on a mission in racing and quipping, of course. Now, Wallace has fans all over the world who feel that he wasn’t blessed with as much talent as his older brother, Rusty Wallace, was. However, it might be hard to debate that Wallace has improved the level of competition in NASCAR with his presence. In a long and eventful career, he has 904 starts in all three Championship series.

But, there is a box someone is attempting to fit him into. Recently, Bobby Pierce said that Wallace is “just an asphalt racer.” And, when a reporter on the tracks asked him about it, he gave it to him straight, “Bobby Pierce is a great friend of mine, a good race car driver. But he’s just devastated that he is not dominating tonight. I say, Bobby, let me have a talk with you. You are really good. I pushed in qualifying, and he said, you turned the corner wrong. And, I said, I am not a dirt racer. I am an old asphalt racer.“

What Wallace referred to was the contrasting performances both drivers had in the Modifieds category. The #36 of Wallace qualified in 3rd position with a time of 00:13.131. Pierce, on the other hand, had a worse time in the Late Model main event. His #32 car finished in 6th place.

On the website kennywallaceraces.com, it says he does 30 races a year on the dirt tracks. He is 60 years old and still competing in dirt races and winning them. His victories include the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, Summit Racing Equipment America Modified Series, and the Gateway Dirt Nationals. Additionally, by 2015, he had completed 450 dirt races.

Wallace is a dedicated hardcore dirt-racing enthusiast. From doing lives for races to continuing to race his Modifieds at local dirt tracks all across the country each year, he is doing it all. And he does it for passion. Last year, Wallace told Bristol Motor Speedway, “Everyone knows how much I love dirt.” Just last year, in December, when he got out of his#36 dirt model to address the home crowd at the Gateway Dirt Nationals, he looked more like a rockstar than a race car driver.

The atmosphere was electric, resembling that of a rock concert, as the enthusiastic crowd roared for their local champion. Wallace expressed his excitement to a reporter from Floracing about performing for his supporters back home. The St. Louis native shared his pride in racing in front of such a dedicated audience. He rounded out the interview with, “Well, it’s St. Louis, but you know. Nelly put our little town on the map here and had some great rap songs, so yeah, you can find me in St. Louis. So we have fun with it.”

How good was Wallace on the asphalt

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Wallace rounded off the interview with, “I thank all of you for coming out to the dome, I see you all. I see you drinking those big old beers. You are not even buying the little beers. You are drinking big stuff. I like it, and the song of the night is by Nelly. 

The man has never won a Cup race but has three runner-up finishes and six top-five showings in 344 starts. He has done better in the Xfinity Series with nine wins and 66 top-five finishes. Between 2015 and 2021, he has done 75 to 100 races each year, as per the NASCAR website. If this is not passion, what is? Plus, he loves people, and people love him back. Just a few hours back, when he was being questioned on the track, and he was answering back Pierce, he didn’t forget to thank the people who had come to the Dome.

However, Kenny Wallace’s success in NASCAR was a shadow of what his brother Rusty achieved. Fired from his job for Uncle Gary, Rusty Wallace committed himself to excellence in NASCAR. During his years racing, he racked up 55 Cup Series wins and the 1989 Cup Series Championship. Regardless, the brothers will forever be immortalised in the NASCAR history.

Are you excited about watching Kenny Wallace race at the Gateway Dirt Nationals Modified Feature?