"They wanted me to be poor" - $9M-worth Kenny Wallace recalls indifferent attitude of locals upon returning home

Former NASCAR driver, Kenny Wallace recently opened up about his tough experience returning to his hometown of St. Louis. In a conversation with Charlie Marlow, Wallace talked about being upset when he was met with resentment.

Wallace, who has a net worth of about $9 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth), retired from NASCAR in 2015. He won his debut race at the Illinois Street Stock State Championship and secured his big break in 1988. Dale Earnhardt provided him with an opportunity to drive the No. 8 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. Over his 25-year career, he competed in 547 Xfinity Series and 344 Cup Series races.

Wallace now competes on dirt tracks across the country and maintains an active presence on YouTube with podcasts and talk shows. He recently discussed the negative sentiments he experienced within his community. The 61-year-old expressed his frustration during the conversation with Marlow.

“I go to these racetracks by myself. I drive in like an old man in my truck, and they all look at me. There's Kenny Wallace...But I'd say that what pissed me off the most is when I came back home and my people were mean to me. They didn’t like that I made it; they wanted me to be poor with them, and I just couldn’t get over that. It was just shocking." Wallace said (00:48).

Wallace began his racing career as a mechanic for his father's and brother's teams. He started racing full-time in the Xfinity Series in 1989 with his brother Rusty's team and earned the Rookie of the Year award. He made his Cup Series debut in 1990, driving for Kyle Petty. He also joined SABCO Racing for a year but was released at the end of the season.

Wallace returned to the Cup Series with FILMAR Racing in 1996 and raced for various teams throughout his career. He holds the record for the most NASCAR Xfinity Series starts.

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"I had to prove it to them": Kenny Wallace on overcoming resentment

When asked what driver pissed him off the most, Kenny Wallace replied by saying he didn’t have a specific driver in mind but was upset when he moved back to his hometown and people were unfriendly.

"I would say there’s not one NASCAR driver that pissed me off the most. However, I will say this: It pissed me off when I moved back to St. Louis to race against my people, and they hated me ‘cause I was a NASCAR driver. Here I thought I was coming home to be with my friends...Now they’re not like that much anymore. My local people now are good to me, but I had to prove it to them,” he said (00:12).

In a separate discussion, Wallace addressed the frightening crash involving Corey LaJoie at Michigan International Speedway. He revealed that he and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had previously predicted the potential for cars to flip, emphasizing that such incidents are occasionally unavoidable.

“Dale Jr and myself, we both said cars are going to flip. I still believe NASCAR racecars are going to flip. You’re just not going to prevent angle of the dangles all the time,” Wallace said.

NASCAR implemented air deflectors (shark fins) on the cars at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 to mitigate the risk of such crashes.