Wallace: the Legend Continues
For those NASCAR fans that thought after the retirement of Rusty Wallace two years ago that the sole responsibility of getting the Wallace family name into the headlines of the racing world would fall squarely on the shoulders of young Lauren (Warren?) Wallace, you could be sadly mistaken. No, I’m not talking about the trio that currently occupies the Nationwide Series – Mike, Kenny, and Steve – and, I’m not even referring to the team of Rusty Wallace Inc. I’m actually making reference to the 20-year-old Chrissy Wallace.
For those of you not familiar with the name, Chrissy is the daughter of Mike Wallace, and the niece of future Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. She’s been racing for a few years now, particularly in late model events in North and South Carolina. She has won four late model events and is also the first female to win a late model stock car event at Hickory Speedway in the track’s 57 year history. Additionally, she’s won forty-plus races in legends cars.
Now, according to Raygan Swan at nascar.com, Chrissy will officially embark on her professional career on March 29th of this year when she competes in the Craftsman Truck Series’ Kroger 250 at Martinsville. She has partnered herself with the Toyota team Germain Racing and will compete in at least five Craftsman Truck races as well as five ARCA races throughout the course of the season. If she runs well in those events, who knows, she could potentially be tapped to run more events if scheduling permits. Chrissy’s father, Michael, also races for Germain in the Nationwide Series, and this move will officially make them the first father-daughter combo to ever race for the same team in NASCAR.
In response to questions regarding the status of women in NASCAR – or, in the racing world in general – Chrissy stated, “I feel more accepted here, especially lately because I proved my point by winning. But, guys have it stuck in their heads that females don’t need to be out here. The phrase ‘never a successful female’ is stuck in owners’ minds and some have said we don’t run well and look like idiots, but if you don’t take a chance, you’ll never know.”
Tags: chrissy wallace, Craftsman Truck Series, germain racing, kenny wallace, lauren wallace, mike wallace, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, rusty wallace, rusty wallace inc, steve wallaceRelated Stories
POSTED IN: NASCAR
2 opinions for Wallace: the Legend Continues
Bruce Simmons
Mar 16, 2008 at 10:06 am
Tim, I’ve seen a lot of noise that Chrissy is just getting the show at the trucks because of who she is and not on talent. I briefly glazed over an article that despite her stats with wins, it said she hasn’t really done that well overall in the different series she’s been in and some vehement backing of that, but I only glanced over the issue and can’t really say one way or the other.
In my mind, it’s like Crocker. Let’s slap her in a truck and see what happens. (The winning part, not new boyfriends part!) Then, we’ll see where it goes.
Tim Zaegel
Mar 16, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I really can’t say too much about Chrissy one way or the other, because I honestly don’t know much about her. It’ll be interesting, though.
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