Kenny Wallace envisions himself more like Kevin Harvick than J.J. Yeley.
For fans of Sunday's 36th annual TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway, that means seeing a driver putting being competitive ahead of simply showing up for the appearance check. Wallace is a nine-time Nationwide Series race winner, and one of the most popular drivers in series history -- a driver that's turned his popularity into a successful television career as a racing analyst. But Wallace defines himself as a short-track racer, one who runs nearly 50 races each year, primarily on dirt across the midwest. He'll give the '250' a try in a car owned by local Mark Brackett as a teammate to Ricky Rolfe.
"See, there's a generation gap now," Wallace said last month at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "(Ricky Craven) said it was funny because the first thing they asked him at the shop was if Kenny Wallace was a good short-track racer. Ricky said, 'I told them the truth. He's one of the best short trackers I've ever raced against.' He said they all kind of lit up then. I told him we were getting old.
"I'm just still digging."
The St. Louis, Mo., native believes in his heart that race fans in the northeast will appreciate the authenticity of his attempt on Sunday much the same way the appreciated Kevin Harvick's winning effort at Oxford last summer.
Where other drivers like Yeley and Denny Hamlin, for example, simply rolled in on race morning before needing provisionals to make the race in half-hearted efforts, Harvick worked from scratch to build his own car and win the race.
"One reason I wanted to go back is because Harvick won there last year. It pissed me off. So I want to go back there and have my shot at winning," Wallace said with a laugh. "The northeast fans are very knowledgeable racing fans. They understand that just because you're a NASCAR driver, there's so much difference in the cars that you can go out here and win a Cup race and then get in the (Nationwide) race and run 10th.
"The fans know that Kevin Harvick put an incredible effort into winning that race. He built the car and he tested and tested and tested. I think the fans appreciate the ability. They know that just because you see us on TV doesn't mean we're any different than you."
Joining Wallace in the field will be his nephew, Steve Wallace, a former winner of the prestigious winter Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Fla. Kenny's brother, Rusty Wallace, will serve as the grand marshal for the event.
"You know, we always went to the Snowball Derby, but we kind of quit going there. The inspectors and stuff, it was a waste of time and a waste of money there for a while," Steve said. "I'm excited about it. It will be cool... It's a pretty big race and you don't want to go there and look stupid."
Kenny Wallace said the same thing, and he hopes his early days in the ASA ranks will help him get quickly acclimated to a the ACT Late Model package. He had hoped to test during his race weekend at NHMS, but rain called off a schedule session.
"I won the ASA Rookie of the Year. I spent three years in those type of cars to prepare myself for what was then the Busch Series.
"The biggest thing is that I don't want to embarrass myself. I want to have a shot to win."
Wallace is aware that the younger, hipper NASCAR fan base may scoff at the notion of him as a driver capable of winning a crowd over with his performance and not with his skill on a microphone. Though his efforts at a lucrative Sprint Cup Series career never panned out, Wallace can win more than audiences.
Wallace already has four wins in a DIRT Modified this year alone.
"I like people to think like that. I don't want people to say, 'Kenny Wallace finished 10th, great job,'" said Wallace, who is 14th in this year's Nationwide standings and still searching for his first top-10 of the year. "If people think I run 10th and that's a good job, then I'm not happy with that. It's like when we ran third in our (Nationwide) car at Memphis last year. Yes, it was a shocking run -- but for me it was normal. Know what I mean? It was normal.
"The biggest thing is getting momentum, getting with a good team that has a good handling car. Your talent will only carry you so far. Even Tony Stewart or these other great race car drivers, it's the same.
"Best example was the Oxford 250 last year. Harvick built that car and was struggling all through practice. He didn't learn how to drive halfway through the Oxford 250 -- he didn't go 150 laps, get in the thing and say, 'Oh, OK, I've got it.' He got his car better."
On Sunday, Wallace wants to prove to New England's race fans that he's more than just a talking head.
Think Kevin Harvick. Not J.J. Yeley.
-- TRAVIS BARRETT, GWC Editor
Does anyone know who is fielding a car for Steve Wallace?
Posted by: redsgreg | 14 July 2009 at 01:55 PM
Steven will be in a team car to ACT regular, John Donahue.
Posted by: Tristan | 14 July 2009 at 02:16 PM
Kenny Wallace already has ACT Late Model experience from a couple years ago at Thunder Road. He didn't do much though and wasn't very competitive.
Posted by: Andy B | 14 July 2009 at 09:41 PM
Kenny's a good racer, but I'll be interested to see how Steve Wallace does.
He hasn't shown me much in the Nationwide series -- just a LOT of wrecked cars. He seems to have trouble keeping his temper (and mouth) under control. In my opinion, he'd have been replaced long ago if it wasn't daddy's car he was driving.
Given that the qualifying races tend to be rough affairs -- and especially if he has to race in a consi -- I think it's the perfect recipe for the younger Wallace to do a lot of damage.
Frankly, I'm opposed to bringing "name" drivers in for this race. It's just not needed. Yeley and Hamlin were complete disappointments. And the fact that the winner's purse went to Harvick last year was a travesty.
Posted by: Mike Allen | 14 July 2009 at 11:28 PM