“I have no idea what’s going on”: Kenny Wallace’s wife Kim makes her feelings known about NASCAR’s scrutinized playoff format
Kenny Wallace's wife Kim gave her take on NASCAR's knockout playoff format. She expressed her satisfaction about Joey Logano securing his third Cup Series title and commented on the 'not the same' playoff system.
Aged 61, Wallace speaks about the ongoing developments in NASCAR and uses his motorsports experience to opine about multiple issues. Wallace entered NASCAR as an Xfinity Series driver and achieved a major chunk of his successes from the Series.
Though he has battled across Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series, he was the most dominant in NXS, collecting nine wins, 173 top 10s, and bagging a career-best rank of P2 in 1991. The Missouri native called his final Xfinity race in 2001 but stayed until the 2008 Talladega race in the Cup Series, and marked his penultimate Truck race in 2013.
NASCAR was recently engulfed in a drama concerning its knockout format. The system introduced in 2014 trimmed the playoff field by four drivers after every third race. The winner of a playoff race was guaranteed advancement to the next round, putting more emphasis on winning.
The format preceding it was different. The top scorer from the 10-race playoff slate was declared the Cup Series race winner, resulting in all playoff drivers having a shot at the title until the penultimate race.
While the format received varied reactions from the community, Kenny Wallace's wife Kim said she was unaware of the system but knew it was not the same. She said:
"I'm glad he won because I like Joey because he's a nice person...As far as the point system goes, I haven't watched a race since you (Kenny Wallace) got out of a car. So, I have no idea what's going on out there, I just know its not the same as it used to be. That's all I know," Kim said via Kenny Wallace on X (1:00).
Multiple reasons surfaced for the playoff system coming under the scanner. One among them was Joey Logano's reinstation following Alex Bowman's Charlotte DQ, and the following Las Vegas win, guaranteeing the Championship 4 spot.
Kenny Wallace comments on Christopher Bell's 'cheated' take about Martinsville
The Martinsville race caught a lot of heat for all the wrong reasons. Christopher Bell's wall ride and Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, and Bubba Wallace's race manipulation shadowed Ryan Blaney's exhilarating win. Bell denied riding the wall on purpose and blamed Chevrolet's illegal racing for forcing the final lap mistake on him.
Chastain, Dillon, and Wallace were fined $100,000, and 50 driver points were stripped. Trackhouse Racing, 23XI Racing, and Richard Childress Racing's owners were slapped with $100,000 each and docked 50 owner points.
The JGR driver addressed the controversial turnaround during the 35th Cup Series race weekend, slamming the race manipulators. Kenny Wallace refrained from giving his take but seldom praised how Bell handled the media gathering.
He said (via X).
"It's not for us to debate. He said what he said. And I liked that. Good job, Christopher. That way they can't argue with you and they can't, can't bust you down. Cause it's like, hey, this is what I said. And I mean it now take whatever you think and move on out. Cause I said what I said and they wanted to hear from him," Wallace said (6:53).
NASCAR's COO Steve O'Donnell revealed a plan is "1000%" coming to punish manufacturers guilty of race manipulation from next season onwards.