Hanging With Herman
Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 4:26pm CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
[thumb:384:r:s=1:l=x]Had the fortunate pleasure of being in the company of Kenny Wallace for a brief few minutes while at Bristol this past week. Kenny had comments on everything from the new “Rebel Yell” to finding sponsors when you’re a veteran driver, and even some comments on his nephew Steven (with a few Rusty jokes thrown in for good measure).
Before I dive into it, let me reiterate something I’ve always considered to be one of the reasons NASCAR is just so darn neat. Take an average guy with a skill for driving a car, and give them one really cool job. For a slight few, it changes their personality considerable. While there isn’t a doubt that it does change a person to some degree, most of the driver’s out there are as humble and personable as your next door neighbor.
Kenny Wallace is no exception. Kenny is who he is, and he has always been that way. He praises his good fortune at happening to have one of the coolest jobs on the planet, but set that aside and he’d still be the same guy even if he were sweeping floors somewhere, and always have a story to tell.
First question was what was he expecting in the Cup race. Did he think it would be another “hot” one, or what.
Kenny’s response was rather intriguing. Bristol’s always been a place where you could “right a wrong” so to speak. Granted if the opportunity presented itself. When it comes down to the win, he figures it’s just about how hungry you are. If there’s a couple laps left, and you’re being blocked, beep beep and drive right on by. That’s just the nature of Bristol. Sometime your the giver, and other times the taker. He then went on to talk about his current team (the #78 Furniture Row Chevy) and how they are getting better. Kenny’s seen some first class operations in his time in racing, and he says these guys are laying the foundation for a solid race team. As we heard in the past couple of weeks, Kenny will be running the full schedule with that team in 2007, as well as Busch.
Next up was a question that might not have been in the mix even 5 years ago. What is it like dealing with sponsor’s and trying to secure sponsorship in a market where many of the sponsorship dollars seem to be poised on finding the next “Hamlin or Kahne”, and hoping it doesn’t turn into a “Leffler or Atwood” deal?
Kenny was brutally honest in his answer. He said it is very tough, as there are some sponsors out there that do take image first, ability second. He went on to explain though, that it was all about finding the right mix, having a good personality, and being marketable. He continued with the note that there are still a lot of sponsors out there that are willing to go with talent and experience vice a young gun. He says it comes down to their marketing strategy, and who they are trying to reach. If their audience is a younger crowd, they need someone younger to deliver the message. With some sponsors it matters, with some it doesn’t. The ones that are getting all the attention as of late just happen to prefer a younger face for their marketing. For example, your “beverage” manufacturers. He even flat out said that that was also one of the reasons Rusty retired when he did. No, not the sole reason, but it was a part of the big picture. He went on to say that a lot of sponsors are also race fans. In the case with Auto Zone, and his relationship ending with them this season, sometimes it comes down to a changing of the guard. You have management that’s a fan of racing, and then you get someone in that isn’t, and they don’t renew the gig. It goes to show that the business side of the sport can be a tedious chess game, and one wrong move and the lights go out.
Next was talk about how his nephew Steve is doing.
Kenny said he had pretty much taken over “management” of getting him ready to run. When asked where Steve falls into the mix between Kenny and his brothers Rusty and Mike, Kenny flat out said that Steve’s got the potential to be at the top. His biggest hindrance right now is patience, and getting the seat time. Enter in Rusty jokes. He joked, with a serious undertone, that Rusty’s pretty hard on Steven and wants the results right now. Kenny knows he needs the time to pull it all together, and is willing to stick with it to see he gets what he needs. His raw talent is immense, and while it needs refined, he could surpass his Dad and Uncle’s to become the biggest of the Wallace names. He’s also got a bit of a media shyness to work through, but he’s getting better. Kenny went on the point out that Steven was almost like him in personality. If this is the case, we’ll be far from starved for entertainment 10 years from now during a rain delay. He also went into talking a little bit about his brother, and his love for flying. Said he’s (naturally) flown a lot with Rusty, and that he’s an incredible pilot.
Next up was an entertaining story about a driver you probably haven’t thought of much lately. None other than the 1996 and 1997 Busch Series Champion, Randy LaJoie.
Kenny talked about the party that Randy throws at his home for every Cup race, and how much of a blast they are. This was brought up because there’s a certain game dealing with the number of cautions in the race. He went into more details, but it just can’t be done justice unless it’s Kenny telling the story.
Kenny went into a story about Talladega, and how they have refined the well renowned Rebel Yell. While this is another story best heard from Kenny, suffice to say at Talladega it includes a loud, growling, “Eaaarrrrrrnnnnnnnnnhaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrdt” after the traditional yell. I won’t even try to get into it. I’d butcher the whole story pretty good I’m sure.
All in all, Kenny was as easy to be around as one of your buddies. In some cases, probably even easier. He’s someone you could see sitting with you on your porch with some “tea”, or sitting down with you for dinner. Yes indeed. Kenny is a fine example of what makes this sport so great. Something that the others just can’t touch. That folks, is an ordinary man with a talent for driving cars, that happens to be fortunate enough to have one hell of a cool job.
A note to Kenny, if you happen to stumble across this, or the Thunder Lounge at the track, you’re welcome to dinner any time.
Filed Under: Nascar, Nextel Cup, Tracks
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I just found your blog via the Technorati Blog
Directory. Thanks this is a great blog! It was
fun to read about your experience in Bristol. With
all the hype beforehand I thought it would be the
best race of the season, but I guess you just had
to be there. I’m just new to NASCAR, I have only seen
about 9-10 races this season. But my favorite so far has
been Michigan. Looking forward to California this
weekend…another FAST track!
I’ve added a link to you on my blog
Bethie said this on September 1st, 2006 at 2:21 pm
Well, it was not a typical Bristol race, Beth. Which is why it is drawing a lot of flack. Of course, this is from the same folks who are probably the reason the interstate backs up more than necessary when there is an accident. They want to see the wrecks. The racing itself was good, the holes in their arguments are most certainly visible, leaving them exposed as the “watch a race for the crash” kind of fan. Nothing wrong with it, but criticizing a race because of the lack of accidents is disgusting.
Their first big “gripe” is that there wasn’t any racing. I beg to differ. Perhaps there wasn’t much shown on TV, but let me tell you… there was a ton of side by side racing, with OUTSIDE competitive passes going on all over the place.
Their second complaint is that there was a lot of drivers moving over, and letting cars go by. This is a half truth, really. Yes, there were some cars that did that. However, they were multiple laps down and yielding to much faster lead lap cars. They aren’t dumb, they didn’t want to bring home a pile of junk.
All in all the racing itself was good, but it lacked the wrecks that apparently a lot of people wanted to see.
Sure, I don’t mind if certain drivers end up with some bent up sheet metal at the end of the day. That’s natural. First, as long as nobody gets hurt. That isn’t good, and there are people out there that want to see someone hurt. It makes me sick to think about it. Second though, is that there is more to NASCAR than wrecks. It’s called racing. If the amount of wrecks determined a races success, would NASCAR be successful? Yet, it sure is.
Thanks for stopping by Beth, glad to see you found us. Feel free to share and let people know we’re here. By this time next year, you’ll be able to say you were Thunder Lounge before Thunder Lounge was “cool”.
Luke said this on September 1st, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Hey I just found your site and I like it. I’m going to add it to my link list. I had an interesting encounter with “Herman” about 10 yrs ago at MIS. Here is where the story is located if you are interested,
http://4ever3canadianeh.blogspot.com/2006/05/kenny-wallace-what-you-see-is-what-you.html
Take Care.
4ever3 said this on September 4th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Glad to have you aboard.
I tell you I can’t recall laughing so hard, for so long, in a long time.
Glad you like the site. We’re growing, and next year is looking to be an incredible start of growth as well.
Gosh, I’m realizing that I’m a little further behind on writing this week too. The “behind the scenes” stuff for the Lounge right now is taking up a ton of my time. But hey, it’s going to be well worth it.
Luke said this on September 4th, 2006 at 12:26 pm