$9M Kenny Wallace explores NASCAR's paradox of criticism and defense from fans, citing 23XI-FRM lawsuit

Kenny Wallace has shared his thoughts on NASCAR's paradox of criticism and defense from fans. Wallace pointed out that some fans are on a trend of complaining about NASCAR but get mad when someone else does it.

Wallace, who is worth $9 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth) is a 61-year-old Missouri native who made 900 starts across NASCAR's top three divisions. Today, the former driver hosts his show where he talks about anything NASCAR-related.

In the latest episode of "Coffee with Kenny" posted on X (formerly Twitter), Wallace addressed the fan's love-hate relationship with NASCAR, citing two issues.

The first issue is 23XI Racing's lawsuit battle against NASCAR. Wallace said that fans were criticizing NASCAR for how it governs the sport. But when 23XI started to do so, fans defended the league and slammed the Toyota-based race team.

"You got mad at 23XI because it's your NASCAR. Only you can talk bad about NASCAR, not 23XI," the former driver stated. [6:58]

The other issue is a more recent one involving a diecast store owner who claimed 'NASCAR is dying' because of a lack of sales on Black Friday.

According to Kenny Wallace, some fans have ridiculed the sport for declining TV viewership. However, they blasted the diecast owner for his statement.

"The man says, 'NASCAR is dying. Nobody came to my store.' And all of you went to that man and you said, 'Buddy, what are you doing with a diecast store nowadays?'" Wallace shared. [7:11]

He concluded:

"You love NASCAR so much that you wanted to complain about it. But if somebody else complains about it, you're like, 'Woah, woah, woah.' Cause that's what happened.'" [8:44]

Kenny Wallace defended NASCAR by mentioning recent growths in the sport. Some of these include the third-car expansion of 23XI Racing and RFK Racing, and the $7.7 billion media rights the league signed effective from 2025 to 2031.

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Kenny Wallace explains why the diecast business is declining

In response to the diecast store owner who claimed 'NASCAR is dying', Kenny Wallace said the blame should be on the manufacturers, not NASCAR. Wallace believes the companies got greedy and created more, which affected the value of collecting diecasts.

Per Wallace on X, the Missouri native said:

"NASCAR souvenirs and die casts, that business went to hell in a handbasket, and here's why... because they lied to you. What they did was they make a Dale Earnhardt diecast [...] they say this is only one of 10,000. Well, what would happen them souvenir companies, they'd get greedy and then make more." [2:29]

He added:

"The souvenir industry themselves got greedy and killed it. It wasn't NASCAR. That was not NASCAR's fault." [5:47]

In addition, Wallace said that the diecast business isn't as productive as it used to be amid the era of online shopping, which he described as a disease.

The former driver stated that he doesn't collect or accept NASCAR souvenirs. He only wanted to run his dirt cars and share his opinions on "Coffee with Kenny."