Stock car racing has always been a family affair, and these ties in NASCAR have played an integral part in helping the sport maintain consistent continuity over seven long decades. While sons have followed their fathers in other sports, none compares to the nepotism in NASCAR. Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt, Chase Elliott, and Brad Keselowski all followed their fathers into the sport and eventually won championships. After all, the sanctioning body has been under the grips of one infamous family since its inception by Bill France Sr in 1948.

However, a rapidly evolving field has spilled a lot of water on the ageless ‘nepotism debate,’ considering the visually reduced number of drivers with familial ties to the sport in recent times. But outspoken Kenny Wallace has stirred the pot yet again, thanks in part to the father-son duo of Randy & Corey LaJoie.

As per Kenny Wallace, his declarations earlier of Mr. Popular ending his career potentially as the last driver hailing from a ‘great NASCAR bloodline’ did not sit right with his former Busch Series rival.

Is Chase Elliott NASCAR’s last royalty? Kenny Wallace certainly thinks so

Jeb Burton, Chase Elliott, Ty and Austin Dillon, and Ryan Blaney represent the newest group of next-generation drivers. And when none of them were old enough to buy beer, all three of them already had significant victories to their name. Now imagine the influence of racing on their households and bloodlines. Elliott, son of legendary driver Bill Elliott, won the ARCA Racing Series race at the age of 17 and became the youngest winner in that series’ 60-year history, back in the day.

His son Chase fondly remembers the time when he was a young boy standing on the sidelines of the racetracks and celebrating his father’s success. During an interview on the Happy Hour podcast, Chase Elliot recalled these wonderful memories and said, “I would say the most memorable moment of my childhood was when my father raced for Evernham Motorsports in the early 2000s. I was just old enough to remember a bit of it, and I started to realize how amazing it was. NASCAR was at its peak, and it was incredible to see my father as a star in the sport.” 

However, emulating the championship pedigree of racing families like the Earnhardts, the Wallaces, or the Elliotts has often posed a daunting task for lesser-known generations of speed such as the Gillilands or the Lajoies. Nevertheless, their presence has been equally integral to contributing to the various developments warranted by the world’s premier stock car racing experience.

In recent clarifications on his YouTube channel, Kenny Wallace outlined the interactions in question: “He (Randy) said: ‘You said that Chase Elliott was the last of the great Bloodlines.’ I said ‘Yep.’ I said, ‘Okay so you think Corey is another one of the great Bloodlines?’ Now, Randy didn’t hate me but his feelings were hurt.”

But from a realistic point of view, only three father-son duos have been able to claim multiple championships in NASCAR. The first family to place themselves in this esteemed group bears the iconic Petty name, with Hall of Famers Lee & his son Richard boasting 10 Bill France Cups combined in a dominant display. Ned & Dale Jarrett are only the second ‘lineage duo’ on the list, with three championships shared over thirty years.

The most recent family name added to this group was consequently ‘Elliott,’ after Chase continued on his father’s ‘Million Dollar’ Bill’s 1988 Winston Cup win by becoming the third youngest champion in Cup Series history in 2020. Wallace further took a moment to explain his thoughts better while highlighting some resonating flaws in his former rival’s resume and comparing it with his own ‘not-so-impressive’ records.

The 60-year-old driver added, “So I just want to say this. I’ve already said it, I’m repeating myself. Randy LaJoie is a great race car driver. He’s one of the 75 greatest race car drivers. He’s a two-time champion in the NASCAR Xfinity Series but my point is this. I was an okay Cup driver okay? I’m going to put the dagger in my back… I was an okay Cup driver. I ran 350-something Cup races, ran second three times. But never got what I wanted… Randy Lajoie is a great race car driver but he was not a great Cup driver (either)…”

After laying out the proper context, Kenny Wallace made another bold declaration and said, “I guess I’ve told you a hundred times. Randy’s a great driver and he’s one of my very dear friends. I’d do anything for Randy. However, Randy is not a Bill Elliott…”

To add to his assumed ‘criteria of selection’, the 1989 Busch Series ROTY took a few other examples with his evolving monologue: defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney & his father Dave Blaney.

This fact was assumedly not lost on Kenny Wallace when he declared Elliott “the very last of a great bloodline” following the #9’s triumphant Texas advance earlier this season.

Representing the lesser-known father-son duos of the current NASCAR spectrum, two-time Busch Series champ Randy Lajoie allegedly told Wallace, “I got a beef with you,” with regard to the earlier assumptions.

A Lonely Walk for NASCAR’s Mr. Popular

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Unfortunately, Ryan Blaney’s dirt track legend father only registered a solitary second-tier win in two decades of competing in NASCAR. Blaney, on the other hand, has certainly made his father proud with the Blaney family’s inaugural Bill France Cup last year. Although the pair have practically lost their chances of adding their names alongside the Elliotts, Pettys, and Jarrett, Dave’s 1995 World Outlaws triumph sits neatly alongside his son’s more widely recognized stock car racing trophy.

According to Kenny, an interaction with a fan drew his disbelief when the loyalist vaguely deducted Ryan Blaney as another “one of the last of the great bloodlines.” To which Wallace reasoned, “I love Dave Blaney. Dave Blaney is one of the greatest race car drivers of all time, but damn it, I’m talking about NASCAR guys that have won seven championships, 22-time most popular driver.”

Regardless, all thanks to Kenny Wallace, the garage had an alternate topic of discussion in light of Brad Keselowski’s emphatic 110 race-winless streak-breaking showcase at Darlington this past Sunday. Neither Blaney, Lajoie, nor Elliott finished inside the top 10. As it so happens, the 6x MPD is the only one out of the trio to claim a victory, after 16 races this season. So is Kenny wrong about his early-season assumptions after all?