First female to ever do so, now waiting on National and Regional title results
LEBANON, Missouri (September 12, 2011) – Chrissy Wallace did something no other female Late Model driver has ever done in ASA competition over the weekend.
She clinched the ASA Late Model championship at her home track of Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Saturday night. In turn, that also put her back in the lead for the West Region track championship, which consists of hundreds of drivers from multiple tracks.
Now, the 23-year old daughter of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace has another fete left to accomplish this year – the ASA Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil National Championship. But, she’s going to have to wait until October to find out the results for the West Region and National championship as other ASA Member track have seasons that are still in progress.
Going into her championship night at I-44 Speedway, Wallace had a solid point lead based off her six feature wins. She just needed to have respectable finishes in each of her 30-lap features on Saturday night to take the crown.
And, she came through finishing fifth in the first feature, and seventh in the second one. Making it even more special was having her entire family on hand for the crowning moment.
In 1990, Mike Wallace won the same track championship and went on to launch his NASCAR career the following year. Now, 21 years later, Chrissy is hoping the same comes true for her.
“This is just great,” Wallace said. “We worked real hard all year to achieve this goal and to have the season over and be the ASA Late Model champion at the same track my dad was, it’s just a very special thing for all of us.
“The toughest part of the year was coming back from being 12th in points at one time. The level of competition here is incredible, and I enjoyed racing everyone here at I-44 Speedway.
“When we were able to take the points lead here, that put us to the top of the ASA West Division, too. I can’t believe it, we still have two titles to compete for and our season is over. Now, we just have to sit and wait to see how the National and West Region ones work out. That would be the perfect ending to a great season.”
Wallace has made no secret of her desire to return to the NASCAR ranks in either the Camping World Truck Series, or the Nationwide Series. Utilizing her ASA Championships at a catalyst makes perfect sense.
The National and West Region championships will be decided after the final ASA events take place on September 25 at various member speedways. Currently, Wallace and Barry Beggarly of Ace (NC) Speedway are battling it out for the National title.
Wallace is leading the West Region standings, with Beggarly doing so in the East Region. Either way, the Wallace name is still prominent in racing circles around the country.
And now, Chrissy Wallace can put “champion” next to hers.
