Few drivers across the world of motorsports possess the charisma and personality of Kenny Wallace. He’s a racer’s racer who’s done everything from NASCAR to local modified events.

Unlike a lot of national drivers, Wallace has been able to master many different divisions of the sport, including modifieds, where he has many A-main victories. He is a fan favorite and his energy has managed to captivate everyone from television audiences to local dirt fans.

Wallace will kick off the 2018 modified season with a trip to Winter Nationals, which get underway at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, FL, next week.

Watch the 2018 East Bay Winter Nationals LIVE on FloRacing

FloRacing: Kenny, you’ll be heading to the East Bay Winter Nationals next week to drive for another team. Who are you going to be driving for and how did it all come together?

Kenny Wallace: I’ll be driving for a good friend of mine, Jeff Mathews. He is a local to the area. His car is the No. 33 Lethal Chassis. He’s from Apollo Beach, which is only about 10 miles from the track there. It all came together at World Finals. 

He’s a good friend and we got to talking about it and everything just fell together. My team will be getting ready and we’ll be back in my stuff at North Florida and Volusia. 

What draws you to East Bay Speedway’s Winter Nationals?

I like to support Al (Varnadore) and Todd (Hutto) that run the track there. They are good friends and great guys. I’ve been racing there for 10 years and it’s the start of the racing season. It’s a hard event to miss. It is without a doubt the signal that racing has begun.

You’ve said that you’ll be racing a little bit of a reduced schedule this season. Can you talk a little bit about why you came to this decision?

We have decided to race 50 events this season. Last year we raced 73 events and cost-wise it just wasn’t working. We looked around at what everyone else was doing and most guys are running 36 or 40-something races a year. We thought it over and a 50 race schedule is what we came up with. 

It is going to give us a little more time for family. It seems that when you race too much it burns you out. Racing a little less makes you love it more when you actually go racing. Let’s be honest, 99 percent of people that run dirt do not do it for a living. They have jobs and it’s a hobby. The ones that do it for a living aren’t usually racing for a team that makes money — there’s a sugar daddy backing it somewhere.

If you were to tell all of the race fans the biggest reason to make it to East Bay or tune in to the Winter Nationals on FloRacing what would you say?

It’s the start of the season and if you want to know what’s happening this season you have to see it!