What do Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick have in common, other than both wearing Nomex suits and $5,000 helmets to work every day?
Chrissy Wallace.
Stewart, as her mentor and coach. Patrick, as her role model
This Wallace teenager, just a couple of weeks after she finished 17th in her first-ever NASCAR Truck run at Martinsville, is trying to figure out her next step in what she hopes will eventually become a major-league NASCAR career.
A 17th-place finish at Martinsville isn’t quite as earth-shattering as Patrick’s historic IndyCar win, one of the biggest victories ever for a female racer. But it is clearly a good month to be woman driving a race car.
“It’s definitely a big deal for her and her series, but these are two totally different divisions (NASCAR and IndyCars) and it may not open any more doors in NASCAR,” Wallace said. “It’s definitely going to help her, but I don’t know if it will open any doors in NASCAR - because NASCAR hasn’t had a female win yet.”
“This is definitely something I want to do as a career,” Wallace said. “When I was younger, I was just doing it for fun; I was more interested in softball and basketball. But then when I started winning more, especially when I got into Late Models….
“I’d like to follow in my dad’s (Mike Wallace) footsteps. But we’re going to take it slow, and hopefully move up. We’ve got seven Truck races planned this year: Just ran Martinsville, started 35th, wound up 17th. That’s the biggest track I’ve run so far. Got Milwaukee next, in June. And we’re talking about running Talladega here in the fall. And maybe running Kentucky in September and Nashville.”
As part of the Wallace clan, she’s heard all the horror stories. Is she really tough enough for all this?
“Mentally and physically, you’ve got to be tough,” Wallace said. “Definitely you’ve got to be mentally strong, so if you’re in a wreck you don’t get down. And if people are bumping you, trying to spin you out, you can’t let it get to you….”
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