MADISON, Ill. – Third-generation racer Chrissy Wallace is on the 1.25-mile oval at Gateway International Raceway in her firesuit with helmet in hand. But she’s not here to race; she’s at her legendary family’s home track to participate in a photo shoot for St. Louis Magazine (STLMag.com), where she will grace the cover for the publication’s January issue.
Under a clear blue sky amid temperatures in the mid-30s, Wallace worked with photographer John Fedele for more than two hours to get the perfect shot. Photo shoots are no longer new for the daughter of Mike Wallace and niece of Kenny Wallace and Rusty Wallace, all natives of St. Louis. She’s participated in several as the new female face of NASCAR, as well as participating in several high-visibility events, such as working with IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick and international soccer star David Beckham.
Wallace, 21, was supposed to run the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series fulltime in 2009, but the downturn in the nation’s economy caused all the sponsorship dollars she had been counting on to dry up. Her racing career put temporarily on hold, she focused on one thing this season. "Working on sponsorship!" she said, prior to her makeup session for the St. Louis Magazine photo shoot. "We’ve worked with different people trying to get different things going for next year. We’re hoping to run the first five (Truck Series) races at least and there’s a couple of Nationwide races that we’re trying to work on."
After running six races in 2008, including the event at GIR, she only ran once this year, an historic race at Talladega that saw her racing her father. She crossed the start-finish line 13th, while Mike finished 28th due to an accident. "That was definitely a big deal," she said. "We had a lot of fun, unfortunately Dad had a little mishap on his truck, but as far as doing it as a family, it was definitely a big deal to finally race against my dad. To be able to make history, that was big for us."
Chrissy is looking forward to a return to Gateway July 16-17, 2010, for the venue’s first-ever Truck Series/Nationwide Series doubleheader weekend. While racing at GIR is a great time to catch up with family (she now lives in Concord, N.C.), it’s a challenging track forcing competitors to bring their A-game to the egg-shaped oval.
"It’s tough. I would say Gateway is one of the toughest tracks to get around and memorize the lines," Wallace said. "Especially in your first time. Fortunately, I had a very decent truck (in 2008), so that helped out a lot. We finished (19th) and on the lead lap, so we couldn’t really ask for anything better for our first time here."
In 2005, Gateway hosted the Wallace Family 250 featuring the three Wallace brothers. Chrissy said there is the possibility of four Wallaces on the track at once, including Rusty’s son, Steve. "If I can get into a truck, I think Dad could definitely find a truck and Kenny, we all know he could find something. It’s a good possibility that all of us could be out there together. Who knows? For the Nationwide race, there could be four Wallaces."
NASCAR returns to Gateway International Raceway July 16-17, 2010, for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series/NASCAR Nationwide Series doubleheader and again Oct. 23, 2010, for a second Nationwide Series event. For ticket information, call 866-35-SPEED or visit GatewayRaceway.com.
Race fans can follow all the action throughout the season at Gateway International Raceway on its official Twitter site at Twitter.com/GatewayRaceway and its official page on Facebook, Facebook.com/GatewayRaceway.
Under a clear blue sky amid temperatures in the mid-30s, Wallace worked with photographer John Fedele for more than two hours to get the perfect shot. Photo shoots are no longer new for the daughter of Mike Wallace and niece of Kenny Wallace and Rusty Wallace, all natives of St. Louis. She’s participated in several as the new female face of NASCAR, as well as participating in several high-visibility events, such as working with IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick and international soccer star David Beckham.
Wallace, 21, was supposed to run the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series fulltime in 2009, but the downturn in the nation’s economy caused all the sponsorship dollars she had been counting on to dry up. Her racing career put temporarily on hold, she focused on one thing this season. "Working on sponsorship!" she said, prior to her makeup session for the St. Louis Magazine photo shoot. "We’ve worked with different people trying to get different things going for next year. We’re hoping to run the first five (Truck Series) races at least and there’s a couple of Nationwide races that we’re trying to work on."
After running six races in 2008, including the event at GIR, she only ran once this year, an historic race at Talladega that saw her racing her father. She crossed the start-finish line 13th, while Mike finished 28th due to an accident. "That was definitely a big deal," she said. "We had a lot of fun, unfortunately Dad had a little mishap on his truck, but as far as doing it as a family, it was definitely a big deal to finally race against my dad. To be able to make history, that was big for us."
Chrissy is looking forward to a return to Gateway July 16-17, 2010, for the venue’s first-ever Truck Series/Nationwide Series doubleheader weekend. While racing at GIR is a great time to catch up with family (she now lives in Concord, N.C.), it’s a challenging track forcing competitors to bring their A-game to the egg-shaped oval.
"It’s tough. I would say Gateway is one of the toughest tracks to get around and memorize the lines," Wallace said. "Especially in your first time. Fortunately, I had a very decent truck (in 2008), so that helped out a lot. We finished (19th) and on the lead lap, so we couldn’t really ask for anything better for our first time here."
In 2005, Gateway hosted the Wallace Family 250 featuring the three Wallace brothers. Chrissy said there is the possibility of four Wallaces on the track at once, including Rusty’s son, Steve. "If I can get into a truck, I think Dad could definitely find a truck and Kenny, we all know he could find something. It’s a good possibility that all of us could be out there together. Who knows? For the Nationwide race, there could be four Wallaces."
NASCAR returns to Gateway International Raceway July 16-17, 2010, for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series/NASCAR Nationwide Series doubleheader and again Oct. 23, 2010, for a second Nationwide Series event. For ticket information, call 866-35-SPEED or visit GatewayRaceway.com.
Race fans can follow all the action throughout the season at Gateway International Raceway on its official Twitter site at Twitter.com/GatewayRaceway and its official page on Facebook, Facebook.com/GatewayRaceway.
