It seems everyone is on one side or the other about the ongoing controversy of whether NASCAR should keep the current playoff system, tweak it, or get rid of it entirely. So why not have Kenny Wallace get into the discussion with his take? One reason fans like Wallace so much is because, yes, he’s opinionated but doesn’t just talk off the top of his head; he states his cases fairly, but adds facts, reason, and stats to back up his argument.
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On a recent edition of his “Coffee With Kenny” daily podcast, Wallace talked about the playoff outlook for Connor Zilisch in the Xfinity Series and Corey Heim in the Truck Series. And Wallace was, as usual, spot-on with his observations.
Zilisch has dominated the Xfinity Series this season. In 28 starts to date, he has 10 wins, 18 top fives, and 20 top-10 finishes. Heim, meanwhile, has an equally dominating record in the Trucks. In 22 starts, he also has 10 wins, along with 16 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes. But Wallace made it very clear to fans not to bet the farm on either driver winning their respective championship.
“In 1993, Rusty Wallace [Kenny’s NASCAR Hall of Fame older brother] won 10 Cup races and lost the championship to Dale Earnhardt Sr.,” Kenny said matter-of-factly. The stats don’t lie.
In fact, Rusty won five of the last eight races that season, including the finale at Atlanta, but still wound up losing to Earnhardt by 80 points. Now, remember, there was no playoff format back then: the driver with the most points earned over the course of the 30-race season won the championship based primarily on consistency, not victories. For the record, Earnhardt won six races in 1993.
Even with Rusty winning the season finale at Atlanta and Earnhardt finishing 10th, the seven-time Cup champion still won the crown, preventing Wallace from earning what would have been his second Cup championship (the only NASCAR crown he won in his career was 1989).
“So it is very easy to have the most wins and not win the championship,” Kenny said. “On Saturday, somebody said, ‘Wouldn’t it be a shame for Corey Heim to go to Phoenix and lose the championship with the most wins?’ I said, ‘What’s that got to do with NASCAR? That sounds to me like the New England Patriots when they won the most games and lost the Super Bowl.’”
Wallace then talked about Zilisch’s chances of not bringing home the Xfinity title for himself and JR Motorsports. “He’s won 10 races and he could lose the championship,” Wallace said. “[In] 1993, Rusty Wallace by far won the most Cup races at 10 and finished second.
“So when people jump on me and say, ‘Wallace, you’re insane, you’re crazy, you’re not thinking right. If you win the most races and you don’t win Phoenix and don’t win the championship, that’s all NASCAR’s fault. The championship, the playoffs’ all tainted. It’s a gimmick.’
“Then I’m like, ‘Well, it must have been a gimmick back in 1993.’ We can dig as deep as we want to dig, but we’re going to race on and we’re going to determine a champion this year at Phoenix.”
And wins very possibly may have absolutely nothing to do with it for either Zilisch or Heim. If either has mechanical issues or is involved in a crash before the checkered flag falls at Phoenix, all those wins are ultimately not going to mean much if they don’t bring home the title.
