"Fired him, it was the best thing that happened": Kenny Wallace reveals brother Rusty's 'mad' shenanigans that lost him a job

During an episode of the Herm & Schrader podcast, former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace revealed his brother, Rusty, was fired for doing his job recklessly. Wallace said his brother accidentally left an ordered item on a river as he was rushing to make a delivery before a Friday night race in Missouri.

Kenny Wallace is the younger brother of NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. He told co-host Ken Schrader on their podcast that they used to work at their uncle’s O K Vacuum & Janitorial Supply store.

However, Rusty Wallace was fired after failing to complete a delivery, though Kenny thinks it was the best thing that happened to his brother.

Wallace said on Herm & Schrader (via Dirty Mo Media on X):

“Rusty and Paul Andrews (NASCAR crew chief), they’re working at my Uncle Gary’s O K Vacuum and Janitorial Supply. Every Friday night, we run Springfield Missouri, Ozark Empire Fairgrounds. So Uncle Gary [said], ‘You boys need to decide if you’re going to be racecar drivers or work here.’”

While the Wallace brothers had to leave at around 3:30 pm to enter the race, their uncle asked them to deliver a 55-gallon drum of chemicals to Illinois.

“Rusty is pissed,” Wallace shared. “He gets in the box truck. The back of the box truck doesn’t have a roll down door. It’s got these chains. They wiggle […] So Rusty throws this 55-gallon drum up in there. He’s so mad he starts gear banging.”

After reaching their destination, Rusty Wallace realized the delivery item had fallen off the truck.

“’Here you go, pal. Sign for this 55-gallon drum.’ Guy looks at Rusty and goes, ‘What 55-gallon drum?’ Rusty says, ‘Oh no. I know right where it’s at.’ Rusty’s on his way back and there’s that 55-gallon drum right at that river,” Wallace said.

As a result, Rusty was fired by Uncle Gary, which Kenny believes was the best for his brother, saying:

"So Gary fired him. It was the best thing that happened."

Rusty Wallace had a fine stint in the NASCAR Cup Series, amassing 55 Cup race wins and one championship title won in 1989. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2013.

---

Kenny Wallace shared how to stay relevant in NASCAR despite underwhelming performances

Kenny Wallace shared how he started 905 races across the different NASCAR series despite a lackluster track record. On his ‘Coffee with Kenny’ show, Wallace revealed he ran his mouth and sold himself to stay relevant.

The former NASCAR driver said:

"People would say to me and I always brag on it. People say to me, 'Herman (Wallace's nickname), you aren't very good, how the hell did you stay in NASCAR for 905 races?' and I said, 'That's simple. You got to skin the cat the different way,'" Wallace said [2:10]

Kenny Wallace added:

"I tell these kids these days, 'If you want to race, you better learn how to run that mouth like I have mine in my whole life.' Because I sell product first."

While Rusty Wallace is known for his Xfinity Series career where he won nine races, he also competed in the Cup and Truck Series. However, the driver didn't secure a single win in the premier series, with his stock pickup truck racing days limited to 13 races only.