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Matt Wallace (racing driver)

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Matt Wallace
NationalityUnited States American
Born (1995-10-24) October 24, 1995 (age 29)
Concord, North Carolina
Related toMike Wallace (father)
Rusty Wallace (uncle)
Kenny Wallace (uncle)
Chrissy Wallace (sister)
Steve Wallace (cousin)
ARCA Racing Series career
Debut season2015
Former teamsKimmel Racing
Starts2
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish73rd in 2015
Finished last season73rd (2015)
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
2 races run over 1 year
2015 position63rd
Best finish63rd (2015)
First race2015 Lakes Region 200 (New Hampshire)
Last race2015 U.S. Cellular 250 (Iowa)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Last updated on: January 21, 2020.

Matthew Wallace (born October 24, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is a member of the Wallace family, which includes his father Mike and uncles Rusty and Kenny, each former NASCAR drivers who successfully competed in the sport for decades. His sister Chrissy and cousin Steve have both also had careers in NASCAR.

Career

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ARCA Racing Series

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Wallace made two ARCA starts in the No. 69 Ford for Kimmel Racing.

Matt made his debut in stock cars in the ARCA race at Toledo Speedway, driving the No. 69 for Kimmel Racing,[1] where he would go on to finish tenth in that race. Mike Wallace was friends with team owner Bill Kimmel, which is how the deal was put together for Matt to race for Kimmel's ARCA team.[2] It was later revealed that he would return to the same car at IRP in July.[3]

Matt Wallace tested at ARCA's Daytona test session in January 2016 leading up to the race at the track in February. He drove the No. 22 Dodge for Cunningham Motorsports, sharing the car in the session with Kevin Thomas Jr, who was set to be the full-time driver of that car for the 2016 season. However, Wallace's crew chief Paul Andrews did state that Cunningham would try to field an additional car for him at Daytona if sponsorship could be found[4] (and it was not).

NASCAR Xfinity Series

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On July 10, 2015, it was announced that Matt would make his debut in the Xfinity Series at the New Hampshire race later that month, driving for JGL Racing, the same team that his father Mike drove for in many races in 2014 as well as Daytona in 2015 and his uncle Kenny raced for earlier that year at Talladega. In addition, he was also scheduled to pilot the car at Iowa and other races yet to be determined,[5] although he only ended up driving at Iowa.

Although he made his debut in the series in 2015, Matt Wallace did have a chance to do so one season earlier, as at the Daytona night race in 2014. Mike Wallace, JGL, and his sponsor for that race, Smith Transportation, agreed that if Mike got a top-5 finish, the team would give Matt one race in the team's No. 93 car and he could pick which one.[6] Although his father did finish in the top-10 in the race, it was not a top-5, so Matt did not get to run for the team that year.

Late Model Racing

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He has not made any NASCAR or ARCA starts since 2015, but he is still racing, competing in super late model events in the CARS Series, sometimes against his cousin Steve, who also now competes in CARS late models after competing full-time for several years in the Xfinity Series.[7] In 2019, he launched his own driver development program to give other drivers an opportunity to compete in super late models as well. His father Mike and late model car builder Robert Hamke assisted Matt in this effort.[8]

Personal life

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He grew up in the Charlotte, North Carolina area (where the majority of race teams are based) although his family is from St. Louis. He started racing at age 8 in bandoleros. When he was 12 and 13, he raced legends cars, and then pro late models by the age of 14. When he made his debut in both ARCA and Xfinity in 2015, he was attending classes at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, and expressed a desire to attend UNC-Charlotte after graduating from RCCC, studying business administration at both schools.[9][10]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

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NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts Ref
2015 JGL Racing 26 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH CHI DAY KEN NHA
33 		IND IOW
25 		GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 63rd 30 [11]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

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ARCA Racing Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ARSC Pts Ref
2015 Kimmel Racing 69 Ford DAY MOB NSH SLM TAL TOL
10 		NJE POC MCH CHI WIN IOW IRP
13 		POC BLN ISF DSF SLM KEN KAN 73rd 330 [12]

References

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  1. ^ "Matt Wallace to make ARCA debut at Toledo with Kimmel Racing". ARCARacing.com. May 12, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  2. ^ Buchanan, Mary Jo (May 8, 2015). "Matt Wallace Holds Legacy In His Hands". Popular Speed. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  3. ^ Moody, Dave (July 10, 2015). "Wallace, Boat Set For Series Debuts". Godfather Motorsports Blog. Blogspot.com. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  4. ^ Kelly, Godwin (January 16, 2016). "Mike Wallace showing son Matt how Daytona drafting works". Daytona Beach News Journal. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  5. ^ Caldwell, Clayton (July 16, 2015). "Matt Wallace to Make Xfinity Series Debut for JGL Racing at New Hampshire". Frontstretch. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  6. ^ "Mike (Wallace) Driving for Matt (Wallace) at Daytona". Catchfence. July 2, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  7. ^ Evans, Zach (May 31, 2019). "Matt Wallace Looking to Continue Family Success at Bristol". Speed51.com. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  8. ^ Evans, Zach (2019). "Matt Wallace Launches Driver Development Program". MattWallaceRacing.com. WordPress. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  9. ^ McFadin, Daniel (July 7, 2015). "Matt Wallace returning to ARCA at Lucas Oil Raceway". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  10. ^ Radebaugh, Don (July 22, 2015). "Matt Wallace returns with Kimmel Racing at LOR". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  11. ^ "Matt Wallace – 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  12. ^ "Matt Wallace – 2015 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
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