It’s a Family Tradition - NASCAR Style

April 5, 2008

By Brenda Benedict

If you live in a small town, you are always discovering family connections between people that you didn’t even know were related. The conversation would go something like this, “I didn’t know you were related to Sonny.” -- “Yes, his father and my father were cousins.” -- It is always dangerous to gossip with anyone in a small town because they are probably related to the person you are talking about.

The same might be said of NASCAR.

Family tradition is an important part of the NASCAR scene. Drivers who are the children or even grandchildren of racers have become almost commonplace. One of those featured recently is Ned and Dale Jarrett. In a poignant moment Ned Jarrett, a two time Cup champion, waved the green flag to start the Bristol Race in March to signal the start of his son Dale’s final point NASCAR race. Dale, the 1999 Winston Cup champion, will follow his father’s footsteps into the broadcast booth upon retirement. Ned’s other children, son Glenn and daughter Patti both have connections to the racing world as well. Glenn was a Cup driver and became a racing broadcaster. Patti’s husband, Jimmy Makar is with the Joe Gibbs Racing organization as senior vice-president of racing operations. At one time he was Dale Jarrett’s crew chief. That is probably a story in itself.

There are also several brother combinations that are currently part of the NASCAR community. The most prominent would be Kyle and Kurt Busch who are both running in the Sprint Cup Series. Other brother combinations include Ward and Jeff Burton, Hermie and Elliott Sadler, Darrell and Michael Waltrip, Greg and Scott Zipadelli, both crew chiefs. The list would also contain the past greats of the Wood brothers, the Green brothers, the Allison brothers, the Bodine brothers. I’m sure there are many more that I’m not aware of right now but will learn in the future.

You can read the stories of the families of NASCAR on the NASCAR web site at http://www.nascar.com/kyn

Stories of family connections would be material for this column for the next year. Family names whose NASCAR association has run across generations include Labonte, Hamilton, Wood, Elliott, Bodine, Parsons, Allisons, France, Earnhardt-Gee and the list goes on.

One such connection is the Wallace family. This was brought to light in last Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Race.

Chrissy Wallace, 19 year old daughter of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace, participated in her first Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville on March 29, 2008. She finished a respectable 18th place, finishing on the lead lap.

Chrissy’s first Craftsman Truck race was on the same track where her father made his NASCAR debut in 1990. Her father served as a spotter for her in her debut truck Race.

The Wallace family has a long tradition of participation in motor sports that includes her father, Michael, and his brothers Rusty and Kenny. Chrissy’ grandfather, Russ Wallace was a driver out of St. Louis, Missouri.

His son, Rusty, says “Racing has been a family deal for us and it's much more than just the three of us racing," Rusty said. "My dad, Russ, started it all. He was the king of all the tracks around St. Louis for years and won a ton of races and track championships. We owe it all to him because he's responsible for getting us all interested. We owe it to him and my mom for all the support through all these years."

Chrissy, at 19 years old has already the racing credentials needed for a serious attempt at the big leagues. She has had nine years of continuous racing throughout many series including bandalero’s, legend cars, thunder roadsters, go-karts, arena cars, and Late Models with a great deal of success. Last year, she was approved by NASCAR for competition in the Craftsman Truck Series. She was signed by Germain Racing for developmental attempts this year.

Chrissy’s strong finish was marked by an attitude that should serve her well in her racing career. After finishing the race, she commented that she learned from family and friends during the race. It really helps that she has a family rich in tradition. During the race her uncle Kenny Wallace sent text messages to her father concerning her performance. Family friend Tony Stewart was there atop her pit box to cheer her on and offer words of wisdom.

“It was good to have my dad up there helping me today. There were a couple of times I messed up, and my dad helped me out,” said Wallace. “The biggest thing I needed to learn was pit stops. I also learned a ton about Martinsville Speedway and I learned a lot about how the other competitors race in the Truck Series. It was a good day for the 03 EICO/Mobile Delvac Tundra team.”

In a day when young racers sometimes think that there is nothing for them to learn from the elder racers, it is refreshing to hear someone who can learn and wants to learn.

Chrissy’s obvious good looks coupled with her good attitude and her desire to achieve in the NASCAR world will make her a very interesting rising star to follow. I’m sure we will be seeing more great things from this talented third-generation racer.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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