Kenny Wallace -- kissing brother Mike in Victory Lane -- is regarded as one of the series' most light-hearted souls. Credit: Autostock

Wallace keeps TV close, but heart is on the track

LAS VEGAS -- In between test sessions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kenny Wallace took some Polaroids with a couple of adoring fans.

"You're the funniest guy in NASCAR," one of them said after the impromptu photo session.

Wallace just smiled, comfortable with his image in the sport. It's an image Wallace said has been helped by his growing television career, particularly appearances on the FX reality program NASCAR Drivers: 360.

	Kenny Wallace continues to make a name for himself on TV, and will be a part of two weekly SPEED programs this season. Credit: Autostock
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"When people saw me on that show, spending $15,000 of my own money to rent a car after we had the problems in Rockingham last year that we had, I think it told people that 'yeah, he's funny ... but holy (crap), is he serious about his racing.' "

While some drivers shunned away from the idea of having cameras follow them around all day, Wallace said he was quick to sign up.

"They were looking for drivers to do it and all the drivers were very busy being famous, so they asked me."

Then Wallace asked his family, letting them know what doing the show would entail.

"Because I had watched so much of The Osbournes on MTV, I had an idea what it would be like," he said. "But you have control. If you don't like something that they shoot, you tell them and they work around it.

"Other guys saw that and now they all want to be a part of it."

This year's version of 360 is scheduled to begin shooting next week at Daytona. Wallace says his brother Rusty and Mark Martin will join him on the show this season.

Wallace -- "Herman" to his close friends -- said the exposure the show gave him was more than a bit surprising.

"I am humble when I say this," Wallace said, choosing his words carefully. "If my popularity was at 70 percent before 360, it's at about 90 percent now."

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Wallace says he actually had an offer to take a much more high-profile position when FOX Sports asked him in 2000 to serve as analyst for its budding coverage of NASCAR beginning in 2001.

Wallace said he passed on the offer because he still had some on-track things that he wanted to achieve.

"I race," he said. "I'd rather be racing. That's what I do."

But while Wallace is a racer, he's also a realist.

"I'm 41 years old and I still can win a Cup race easily, but when you're 40 nowadays it's like you're 50, because people like Jeff Gordon and Tiger Woods started achieving things so young.

"If a Cup team hires me now, I'm a band-aid and I had to realize that, also."

So the FOX networks found him things to do that are more conducive to his racing schedule. In addition to the reality show, Wallace serves as a panelist on NASCAR Victory Lane and NASCAR This Morning, both which will be seen on SPEED this year.

Inside the Numbers Kenny Wallace's career stats   Cup Busch Truck Races 305 312 9 Wins 0 9 0 Top 5 5 58 2 Top 10 27 141 4 • Wallace's Driver Page

Rather than filming the shows at the SPEED studios in Charlotte this season, both will be shot on the SPEED stage at the track each weekend. Wallace says while that may make things challenging for him when the Busch Series races at another location, it was the right call.

"I think if we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it right," he said.

Wallace believes NASCAR is on the right track when it comes to marketing itself on television, but he said there's also more work to be done.

"I hear so much negative talk on TV," he said. "I think I'm opinionated, but I know how to fix things. I'll tell you how to make things right.

"I think we understand that our sport is pretty new," Wallace said. "NASCAR's only been around for about the last 50 years and baseball's been around since the 1800s.

Kenny Wallace is a familar face on TV, appearing on "Family Feud" with host Richard Karn. Credit: Autostock

"We're up against something that kids can do in their backyard," Wallace said. "You can't really race cars in your backyard."

He said the solution comes from showing personalities, something he think TV is getting better at when it comes to NASCAR.

"We're trying to catch up to the ball-and-stick sports and we need to show personalities," he said.

At the end of the day, Wallace feels pretty good about his.

"We're not robots," he said. "We have families. I make food for my dogs. I'm not made up. I make a good living, but I'm not Jeff Gordon. I'm not a gazillionaire."

Cue the trademark cackle.