"This was Dale Jr.'s idea": $9M Kenny Wallace reflects on DEI tradition in classic NASCAR shop stories from his career

Former NASCAR driver and TV personality Kenny Wallace took to social media to share some old racing stories from his shop. The nine-time Xfinity Series showed off some old race car parts and shared a tradition once carried out by Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, a team once owned by the late Dale Earnhardt.

Wallace, who's worth $9 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, posted a video on his YouTube page of him sitting in his race shop with multiple car parts on display in front of him on a table. One of the parts he shared was a real piston off of Wallace's pole-winning #1 DEI car from Rockingham in 2001. Wallace was a fill-in driver for Steve Park at the time, who was out with an injury.

Wallace gave the viewers an up-close look at the piston, where they can see his name, the name and date of the race, the track, and "pole winner" engraved on it. The engraving on car parts, Wallace said, was a DEI tradition.

"They started a tradition at DEI, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated," Wallace said. "For Christmas or after I set quick time in that car, this was one of the real pistons. ... I'm going to read it to you for those of you that can't see it. It says, 'Pop Secret 400, pole winner, Rockingham, Kenny Wallace,' that's me, baby. 'November 4, 2001.' ... What's interesting is that this was the real piston." [2:07 onwards]

Earlier in the video, Wallace added that the tradition was started by former DEI driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., the son of the late Earnhardt. The Missouri native pointed out that he and Earnhardt Jr. discussed the tradition on his "Kenny Conversations" YouTube show.

"Remember we talked about this," Wallace mentioned. "For all of you that don't remember, this piston, Richie Gilmore gave me this and Richie said this was Dale Jr.'s idea." [1:28 onwards]

Recently the youngest Wallace brother also gave a sneak peek into his racing plans for 2025.

Kenny Wallace reveals 2025 racing plans in social media post

Kenny Wallace might not be behind the wheel in NASCAR anymore, but the 61-year-old isn't slowing down on the dirt racing side of things. Wallace recently took to social media to reveal some of his 2025 racing plans coming up at the end of January.

Wallace announced via X he'll be competing in the DIRTcar Nationals at the Volusia Speedway located in Daytona Beach, Florida. He wrote:

"I will be racing the @DIRTcarNats at @VolusiaSpeedway from January 30th through February 8th. See you there 🏁"

Kenny Wallace's last NASCAR race was in 2015 at the Iowa Speedway when he was behind the wheel of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing car. He hasn't competed on a full-time basis since 2011 when he drove the #09 car for RAB Racing in the Xfinity Series.

Wallace never won a Cup Series race, but was a nine-time Xfinity Series winner.