Wallace family has its own holiday traditions

CONCORD, N.C. -- While many of you are gathered with your families on Thanksgiving Day, the racing Wallace clan is doing pretty much the same thing they have done every Thanksgivng since Rusty, Mike and Kenny were kids themselves -- eating and sharing family traditions.

	Rusty Wallace usually takes a trip for Thanksgiving. Credit: Autostock

"I remember going to my grandmother's house on my dad's side in downtown St. Louis," said youngest brother Kenny, driver of the No. 23 Stacker2 Dodge for Bill Davis Racing. "She lived near this botanical garden and it was just great. We called her 'Maw Maw' and when she got too tired as she got older, we ended up at my Uncle Gary's house.

"After a few years, it ended up we had Thanksgiving at our house and everyone came over there. There was always a ton of people, too."

If you know the Wallace brothers like most fans do, it's not surprising that they are a few traditions that are uniquely Wallace.

"During those days, my mom worked as a film inspector at Swank Motion Pictures," he said. "She would bring home these major-motion pictures and a projector to the house. We'd sit there and watch these movies like we had our own movie theatre in the house."

Mike, the middle brother, recalled those days at Uncle Gary's house, as well. But, he remembers the feasting.

"We were your typical family when it came to Thanksgiving," said Mike, driver of the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac. "We ate as much as possible until we felt just miserable. Then it was time for pumpkin pie just because you knew you had to eat the darn thing.

"Then, an hour later you'd get up and eat a turkey sandwich of some kind with a bunch of stuff on it," Mike said. "But, the part that really got me was we would actually wonder why we didn't eat turkey but once a year."

Fast forward to 2002 and all the brothers are racing in the NASCAR ranks. Rusty, the oldest, drives the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford and usually takes his family on a trip at this time of year.

But, according to Mike, you can bet his family will be at mom's house on Christmas Day -- or there'll be heck to pay.

	Thanksgiving means one thing to Mike Wallace -- food. Credit: Autostock

For the past few years, Kenny and his wife Kim have played host to the Wallace gang and any stragglers that might need a place to hang for the day.

"My wife's dad, Charlie, gets up real early to cook the turkeys," Kenny said. "Two years ago, I had the kitchen redone and Kim got her wish for double ovens in there. So, we have two turkeys and ham and all the fixings.

"We'll have about 30-40 people here for food and fun."

According to Mike, fun is definitely on the agenda for a gathering at Kenny's house, too.

"When we finally get done eating, we head into this computer room of Kenny's and play video games," Mike said. "He is all into this World of Outlaws racing game right now. I guess he figures if he can drive one of those things, he can drive in a Winston Cup car," he said with a laugh.

"Games, heck yeah we play games," Kenny said. "I have three computers with two of them hooked up to each other so you can play against someone else. My house is always a hotbed for entertainment.

"We'll play pool and there's a blackjack table for those who like to play cards or things like that. We start at about 2 p.m. and people hang around until 8 p.m., if they don't get sick of us before that," Kenny said with a chuckle.

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Both Wallace brothers said they are glad that they have been able to keep the traditions of family and friends gathering together for the holiday. Besides the eating and games, they enjoy watching the football games on TV.

Believe it or not, they both said that the topic of racing comes up very little during the course of the day. When it does, it's usually about where the next test is and what are they looking forward to next year.

Other than that, it's all about having fun, being together and carrying on traditions. One is the making of the deviled eggs, a Wallace favorite.

"We love deviled eggs," Mike said. "You can find those at any Wallace gathering even if it's not a holiday. Once we start eating those, we know it's an official gathering."

As they got older, Kenny was glad to see one tradition go away. Like many families, they have the kid's table where the younger members dine and the adult's table for the older folks.

"I sat at the kid's table my whole life," Kenny said. "Once I bought my own house, I was finally able to sit at the adult's table. But until then, I sat at that kid's table.

"I mean it, I didn't sit with the adults until I had bought that house, too."