Mike Wallace (Right) and Chrissy Wallace (Left) made history at Talladega by competing together, a first in a NASCAR national series event. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Almost everyone agrees that a successful racing career is based on two things. One, obviously, is talent. The other is money.
An individual can have tremendous driving skills and the desire to perform at the highest levels. Many times these are enough to attract the attention of the best organizations.
But if they don’t have the sponsorship to support a promising, talented driver, that driver isn’t going to be employed.
It’s likely there are hundreds of aspiring drivers across the country who could tell you they haven’t been able to realize their dreams because of a lack of funds.
Certainly that isn’t anything new.
And it’s something with which Chrissy Wallace is very familiar.
She’s the 21-year-old daughter of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace. As a member of the Wallace clan, which includes uncles Rusty and Kenny, she has been around racing all her life.
“She started out racing Bandeleros at Lowe’s Motor Speedway 10 years ago,” her father said. “Before that, she watched me, Rusty and Kenny race. She worked on her own cars. She worked her way up the ranks. She has never been some little rich kid whose father is throwing money at her.”
You name it, Chrissy has driven it – and won in it. She’s raced karts, Thunder Roadsters, quarter midgets, Pro-Challenge, Late Models and more.
Among many other accomplishments, she is the only female to win a Super Late Model race in the 57-year history of Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Actually, she’s won five of them.
She has won more than 40 races in the Legends Car series. She has won six of 10 races in Arena Racing USA. She won the 2005 Winter Heat championship at Lowe’s.
The list goes on.
In 2006, she was approved by NASCAR to compete in the Camping World Truck Series. In March of 2008 she got a big break when she was tapped to drive Germain Racing’s Toyota. Her first race came at Martinsville, where she started 30th and finished 18th.
But eventually German dropped her. The reason? No sponsorship.
