NASCAR veteran and television personality turned full-time dirt racer Kenny Wallace scored a major victory om Wednesday night in the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway.
The win, which came in the UMP Modified division prior to the World of Outlaws season opener, was significant for several reasons. For one, this is amongst the toughest competition for these cars all year and Wallace emerged victorious in a stacked field of drivers.
It was also his first win at Volusia in 12 years and comes after Wallace nearly retired from racing altogether. He didn’t even enter this event last year, going on vacation to Cabo San Lucas in 2023, trying to force what life after racing could look like.
It was only after numerous friends and family members told him to keep racing that Wallace got the offer to drive a car put together by Late Model racer and expert chassis builder Nick Hoffman that Wallace won.
He literally cried in Victory Lane.
“Nick Hoffman and then Darrell Hoffman, the team elite chassis, uh, hi, everybody in St. Louis, my wife, Kim, I love you, I think I’m going to cry,” Wallace said in Victory Lane. “I got a toughen-up. Well, oh yeah, you know, um…There’s so much to say, right?”
He couldn’t stop choking up no matter how much he tried.
“I’m 60. I shouldn’t be racing. But I eat grilled chicken and I stay healthy and I just want to keep racing.”
Wallace explained to Sportsnaut afterwards why this was so emotional.
“Us competitors, we want to make sure we justify everything,” he said. “My (race) was by far the toughest one of the night. Kyle Strickler, he’s a hot rod and has won so many races here. This new kid (Tom) Berry, he’s been dominant here. To be able to win here against those guys is so special.
“Really, any win will be big. It’s crazy and means everything to me.”
Wallace won several races here in 2012, and probably would have won the week long championship if it weren’t for his FOX NASCAR television duties and Wallace says that hung over him for 12 years when he wasn’t able to win in a Modified here since.
“I never won a Cup race,” Wallace said. “I run second three times. I love racing. I asked a dear friend, Billy Smith one time, I said I’m not ready to quit and he says ‘Herman, you still love it.’ And when you love something this much, my wife is all in, my kids are all in. I talked about quitting and my oldest daughter says, ‘dad you can’t quit.’
“She says I had to have a race car in my garage, but to make sure I come to the grand-kids birthday parties. So, I got a lot of advice from Don Prudhomme, Walker Evans, Kenny Schrader and it’s so true, when you get old, it’s a Clint Eastwood song, ‘don’t let the old man in.’
“I was so close to letting the old man in and then I realized I didn’t have to run 75 races. I could run 30 races, still do the Trackside Live (NASCAR) show, so I appreciate it way more and I think that’s why I was so emotional.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.