Home sweet home

When Kenny Wallace Tweeted an invite to fans Thursday on the way to the Dollar General 300 to stop by and visit from noon to 1 p.m., he wasn’t kidding. He gave the address to his fan club office.

What he didn’t say was, that office was at his home.

So I, and about 30 others, invaded his fan club/ office/ shop / home. He had snacks and sodas set out. He greeted everyone as they came inside."Hey! How ya doin'? Come on in!"

How cool was that?!

Now, I almost didn’t go. He had already autographed my Pit Road Pets book, which is where I collect those. But my friends made an executive decision, plugged the address into the Tom Tom GPS and off we went. 

Steve and Caitlin Sunday get a few things signed by Kenny Wallace

 The Kenny you see on TV, You Tube, Instagram, Vine and Twitter, is the same Kenny we saw Thursday.

He’s talking, laughing, answering questions and showing everyone around.

His heart is really in dirt racing and does it every chance he gets. I jumped into that opening.

“Hey Kenny, do you know Steve Francis?” I asked.

“He’s a legend!” the Hermanator exclaimed. “He’s racin’ for Clint Bowyer  now!”

Oh, yeah. He knows Ashland, Kentucky’s Steve Francis. And when we Tweet from the Dirt Track World Championship in Portsmouth, Ohio, next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Kenny Wallace will be following; and Tweeting, retweeting and replying. 

Kenny answers questions and talks racing, TV commentating and Social Media

 After talking about dirt racing, he posed for photos with everyone there. He signed autographs for everyone who asked – on multiple items. He strolled down memory lane with fan questions. He talked about preparing to leave metro Charlotte and moving to Kansas City.( BTW, the house is for sale.) And dirt racing. He went through the trophy case and talked about each one, where, when and how it came to be his.

There are perks to this job

Certainly we realized not all drivers can do something this personal for the fans. But what an opportunity! Everyone in that room felt special. They felt like they were the only person on the planet Kenny Wallace was greeting and talking with, not to and not at. Talking with them.