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NASCAR legend Mark Martin congratulated Kenny Wallace after the former closed his dirt racing season with seven wins and two championships. He called 2025 his best year in his dirt racing career of 18 years. He ran dozens of UMP Modified and regional events and scored 24 top-3 finishes this season. The 62-year-old added another title to his previous Missouri/Illinois regional and the Bullring Championships at the I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park and Brownstown Bullring. Wallace shared his thoughts after completing the season on X, writing:"It was my best year ever in DIRT racing. We won tonight and won two championships in 2025 . Thank you so much to everyone that has helped me. Tonight was my 50th race of the year. That's all. It's time for the holiday season 🏁"Martin, who competed with Wallace in NASCAR between the 1980s and 2010s, left a comment to commend his successful season."Congratulations to the old man with no pit crew [Kenny Wallace]," Mark Martin replied.Wallace retired from NASCAR in the late 2010s but kept his dirt racing career going and has collected 128 wins. He also has six championships, including the 2012 UMP DIRTcar Summer National, three Missouri/Illinois Regional, and two I-55 Speedway championships."Dirt Racing saved my life and gave me something to do at the end of my NASCAR career. DIRT Racing kept me alive," Wallace wrote in another post on X.Kenny Wallace @Kenny_WallaceLINKKenny Wallace started Racing DIRT cars at a surprisingly 44 years old. And now he is a 6 X DIRT Racing Champion with 128 WINS at 62 years old 🏁 Arnold Missouri, I heard something lately that went like this. “To retire is to expire” Dirt Racing saved my life and gave meMeanwhile, Martin has stepped away from the race track since his final NASCAR Cup season in 2013."It took me a while to find some passion" - Mark Martin after retiring from NASCARMark Martin has expressed his reluctance to get back into a race car multiple times. The NASCAR Hall of Famer took on different behind-the-scenes roles after giving up racing. He joined Stewart-Haas Racing as a consultant, became a driver development coach for Roush Fenway Racing, and also worked for a dirt racing team in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Martin later set up car dealerships.In a recent video, Martin and his son Matt showed Kenny Wallace the custom motor coaches they built with Newell Coaches."After I retired, I didn't really have any passion, and it took me a while to find some passion like I had about race cars," Mark Martin told Wallace on YouTube. (1:10 onwards)."I bring some things to the table and then together we build something that is just magnificent. After two years, I start thinking about building a new one. And there’s a waiting there’s a line for my old coaches," he added.The 66-year-old also opened a power sports store in Arkansas.
