“Dale Sr. was bigger than NASCAR” - Kenny Wallace opens up on lack of ‘superstars’ in comparison to the sport's ‘magical’ days

Former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace shared a video to his social media earlier today reminiscing about the days when drivers like his brother Rusty Wallace and Dale Sr. were part of NASCAR, and he talked about them as being bigger than the sport itself. Specifically, Wallace talked about Dale Sr.'s impact on the fans and the sport, remembering the kind of icon he was.

Kenny shared the video to his X (formerly Twitter) account, where he talks about his first-hand experiences with Dale Sr. during his years in the Cup Series. Speaking in the video, he said:

“Dale Sr. was bigger than NASCAR. You know, there's that old saying ‘You're never bigger than the sport’. I'm telling you right now, I talk to anybody about that, I would talk to Steve Phelps, I would talk to Mike Helton, I would talk to Jim France, in those days Dale Senior - he was bigger than NASCAR. He could have got on radio or TV and said ‘everybody stay home’ and all the fans would have stayed home. That's what superstars were back then.” [5:13]

Wallace also shared an anecdote that took place before a Brickyard Race, saying:

“Whenever Dale Senior would leave his motor home to head to the garage, he had to have two police escort him because the people were literally hanging on the fence and screaming. Those days were magical. It was so big, I mean these guys were like Elvis Presley, they were superstars.” [3:04]

Dale 'The Intimidator' Earnhardt is one of three NASCAR drivers to have won seven Cup Series titles during his career. Along with this, he has won 76 races, while also scoring 281 Top 5s and 428 Top 10s.

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"Dale Sr. gave some incredible sound bites" - Kenny Wallace talks about the lack of superstars in NASCAR

In another video that Wallace shared to his YouTube channel earlier this week, he discussed an announcement regarding JR Motorsports' debut in the Cup Series this year.

JR Motorsports is founded and owned by the children of Dale Earnhardt Sr, Kelley and Dale Jr. In the video, Kenny also talked about the lack of superstars in the sport, referencing Dale Sr.'s ability to make his mark in the press.

Towards the end of the video, Wallace says:

“The racing's great but we just don't have any Superstar drivers in the cup series. Denny Hamlin's the only one because he's the only one brave enough to take it on and if you remember that Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Tony Stewart, those are the boys we’re missing. Even Dale Sr. gave some incredible sound bites.” [10:05]

Dale Jr.'s team will be fielding a single charter at the Daytona 500 this year, driven by NASCAR Xfinity Series 2024 champion Justin Allgaier.