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“Just Hard to Beat Talent”: Truck Series’ Daytona Luminary Credits His Dale Earnhardt Farm Visit for Career Success

Published 09/10/2023, 5:01 PM EDT

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Much like the Petty name, the name Earnhardt has also become synonymous with NASCAR. From John Henderson Earnhardt, who started racing to boost his family income even before the inception of NASCAR, to Ralph Earnhardt, who, apart from racing dirt, also took to the tracks of NASCAR, the Earnhardt family has been in the game since the very beginning. Then came the late great Dale Earnhardt Sr, and the rest is history.

Perhaps something that motorsport enthusiasts love as much as hard racing is listening to the untold stories and behind-the-scene encounters. And in a recent episode of the Kenny Wallace Show, a NASCAR Truck Series legend shared an interesting story revolving around the great Dale Sr.

When Mike Wallace Dale Earnhardt Sr’s hangout story

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In the latest episode of the Kenny Wallace Show, Herman was joined by his brother Mike Wallace. Kenny praised his brother’s racing prowess, especially in trucks. Mike Wallace won the first-ever Truck Series race in Daytona. Additionally, he came back to that track in a red Geico car and made an incredible 4th place finish. Kenny was curious about what made his brother so good at superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega.

Mike Wallace lost no time and declared, “Just hard to beat talent,” to which his brother roared into a thunderous laughter and nodded in approval.

Mike Wallace admitted that most drivers reflect on a turning point in their career and pledge it to somebody else, and the name Earnhardt often crops up. However, Mike went back in time and dug up a true story for the audience to munch on.

Early in his career, Mike Wallace had bought a hood from Richard Childress for charity. He asked Dale Sr if he would sign it. And Dale Earnhardt, being the man that he was, replied, “Only way I’m gonna sign it is if you come up and hang out at the farm all day.”

Little did Dale Sr realize that it was a huge deal for Mike to be able to spend time with the legendary Cup champion. Mike Wallace said, “I literally got there at 9 o’clock in the morning and I stayed till 4 and we talked about racing, we talked about Daytona, Talladega, all those type of things and I think I learned things that the average person didn’t get that exposure to and I enjoyed the racing there.”

But what made the 64-year-old ex-driver so good at the superspeedways? “I liked racing at Daytona and Talladega,” said Mike.

Kenny Wallace brought out another funny story from the Wallace household

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Dale Earnhardt and Kenny Wallace’s other brother Rusty Wallace were really close friends, but on the tracks, they were bitter rivals. It is not natural for someone like Dale Earnhardt to make friends on the track, so a rivalry doesn’t sound too unusual. However, in another of his videos, Kenny Wallace revealed something unusual about his brothers Rusty and Mike Wallace.

Watch this story: Dale Earnhardt Jr Learns a Surprising Fact About His Father and WWE Legend Dusty Rhodes

Kenny Wallace admitted that he often gets a question about what it was like to grow up as a Wallace. And it was then that Kenny frowned and exclaimed, “Rusty and Mike; they always fought like cats and dogs, I don’t really know why because they tolerate each other right now and they love each other.”

Needless to say, managing two such enthusiastic kids required a stern parent. And Kenny’s mother was the perfect fit for the role. “It’s summer. We’re on the backyard, we took a break from working on the race car…and all of a sudden, Rusty and Mike are going at it, I mean, they are beating the s**t out of each other,” he said.

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Kenny Wallace, being the youngest, was sacred. Their dad, Russel Wallace Sr was not home and hence, their mother rushed in to mitigate the sibling fight. Kenny took a deep breath and said, “Mom turned the water hose on, she squirted them down.” He burst out into laughter yet again.

“Rusty and Mike are fighting their a** off and mom’s squirting them stop, stop,” he added.

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Stopping the fight by literally cooling off the hotheaded brothers, that’s an ingenious idea! Don’t you think?

“Give Me the Car Back”: Remembering Dale Earnhardt’s Uncanny Return Amid Nerve-Wracking Daytona Crash

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Written by:

Soumyadeep Saha

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Soumyadeep is a NASCAR writer at EssentiallySports. He has done his Master's in English Literature and is a semi-professional bodybuilder. He has, in recent years, channelized his love and commitment for motorsports into a building career path.
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Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal