Kenny Wallace | |||||||
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Wallace signing autographs in 2014
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Born |
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
August 23, 1963 ||||||
Achievements | 2005 Prelude to the Dream Winner | ||||||
Awards |
1989 NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year 1991, 1994, 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Most Popular Driver |
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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
344 races run over 18 years | |||||||
2008 position | 61st | ||||||
Best finish | 22nd (1999) | ||||||
First race | 1990 First Union 400 (North Wilkesboro) | ||||||
Last race | 2008 AMP Energy 500 (Talladega) | ||||||
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NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
547 races run over 26 years | |||||||
2015 position | 51st | ||||||
Best finish | 2nd (1991) | ||||||
First race | 1988 Advance Auto 150 (Martinsville) | ||||||
Last race | 2015 U.S. Cellular 250 (Iowa) | ||||||
First win | 1991 Spring 200 (Volusia County) | ||||||
Last win | 2001 Sam's Club 200 (Rockingham) | ||||||
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
13 races run over 5 years | |||||||
2013 position | 99th | ||||||
Best finish | 34th (1996) | ||||||
First race | 1995 Goody's 150 (Martinsville) | ||||||
Last race | 2013 EnjoyIllinois.com 225 (Joliet) | ||||||
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NASCAR Pinty's Series career | |||||||
1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
Best finish | 62nd (2003) | ||||||
First race | 2003 Canada Day Shootout (Cayuga) | ||||||
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Statistics current as of August 1, 2015. |
Kenneth "Kenny" Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American professional driver. He retired from NASCAR after a 2015 Xfinity Series race at Iowa, where he competed in the No. 20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in a one race deal. In a career spanning twenty-five years in NASCAR, Wallace had nine wins, all occurring in the Xfinity Series. Now retired from NASCAR competition, he continues to race on local dirt tracks across the country as a hobby.
Wallace is the youngest of three brothers born to Russ and Judy Wallace. Russ was a prolific race winner himself, which made him unpopular with fans. Wallace earned his nickname, "Herman," early in life when Lake Hill Speedway promoter Bob Miller made note of Wallace's boisterous behavior when taking up for his father, likening him to the mischievous cartoon character Herman the German. He went to Fox High School in Arnold, MO.
Wallace began his racing career by working as a mechanic on his father's race cars and brother's team. He entered his first race, the Illinois Street Stock State Championship, in 1982, winning the event. This victory sparked Wallace's driving career, and he entered the American Speed Association in 1986, achieving Rookie of the Year honors in the series.
In September 1988, Dale Earnhardt gave Wallace the seat for his first-ever NASCAR start, in which he finished eleventh in the Busch Series race at Martinsville Speedway, driving the No. 8 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. The following year, he raced the full Busch Series schedule in a car owned by brother Rusty Wallace, sponsored by Cox Treated Lumber earning the 1989 Rookie of the Year award and finishing sixth in driver point standings. In 1990, he made his Winston Cup debut at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the No. 36 Pontiac for Randy Cox, finishing 26th after a late-race crash. He finished seventh in the Busch Series. The following season, he won his first two career races and finished a career-best second in the Busch points, and subbed for Kyle Petty in two races in the Cup series. At the Pyroil 500, he competed against his brothers Mike and Rusty, marking the first time since Bob, Fonty, and Tim Flock raced that three brothers competed in the same race. In 1992, Dirt Devil became his sponsor and he won his third Busch race of his career, but several mechanical problems forced him down to sixth in points.