PERSONAL PROFILE
	Spouse: Kim Kids: Brooke, Brandy, Brittany Hometown: St. Louis, MO Birthdate: August 23, 1963 Hobbies: Slot car racing

Kenny Wallace has been a winner everywhere he has been in his stock car racing career, and in 2001 he finds himself paired with a team and organization that, just as he does, needs to prove itself.

Wallace started his 11th Winston Cup season in Jack Birmingham's No. 27 Eel River Racing Pontiacs after struggling, again, in the points in 2000, his second and final year driving owner Andy Petree's No. 55 Square D Chevrolets. Wallace's single top-10 finish was a career best-matching second at Talladega in the fall.

Wallace ran in the middle of the field for virtually the entire year -- scoring only nine top-20 finishes -- and failed to improve on his career best 22nd place point finish he earned in his first season with Petree, when he ended up 26th. By joining Eel River, he was united with part owner and crew chief Barry Dodson, who ironically led Wallace's older brother, Rusty to the 1989 Winston Cup championship.

The St. Louis native was trouble by engine failures, dropping out of six races with puffed powerplants. The two-time career pole winner continued to enjoy qualifying success at short tracks, starting on the outside of the front row at Bristol and Martinsville in the spring. He also started third at Dover in June and sixth at Martinsville in October.

Despite his lack of strong finishes, "Herman," as he is playfully known in the garage, topped the $1.5 million mark in winnings for the first time in his career.

As his older brothers Rusty and Mike did, he started his career in the Midwest racing on a variety of tracks. His first racing experience came in Street Stocks, and he won the Illinois state championship in 1982. He worked on Rusty's cars for several years before racing in the American Speed Association, where he won 1986 rookie of the year honors.

After running two more years in ASA, he was hired to drive for Rusty's Busch Series team in 1989 and won rookie of the year honors. He has eight career Busch Series victories and finished second in the standings to champion Bobby Labonte in 1991. He was named the Busch Series' "Most Popular Driver" in 1991 and 1994.

In 1993, Wallace drove for car owner Felix Sabates and competed for rookie honors in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, finishing third behind Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte. Wallace has also driven for Robert Yates, filling in for the injured Ernie Irvan for the final 10 races of 1994.

Fellow Winston Cup driver and St. Louis native Ken Schrader, Wallace's teammate in 1998 at Andy Petree Racing, was a rival of Kenny's brother Rusty on tracks around Missouri in the 1970s. It was Schrader who let Kenny Wallace drive a vehicle for the first time.

"He used to take me to a town called Licking, Mo., where he had some property," Wallace said of Schrader. "It was there where Schrader put me in an old pickup truck and let me drive around. I'll never forget that experience. It was the greatest time I ever had -- to be able to drive for my first time."