Kenny Wallace highlights, most memorable moments in NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt gave Wallace his first seat in NASCAR back in 1988, and Wallace helped Earnhardt get his final win.

In the 2000 Winston 500 at Talladega, Earnhardt sat in 18th with just five laps to go. But he came charging through the field in unforgettable fashion with the help of Wallace, who wound up in second.

Much of his ascension to popularity came from television. Wallace began his career as a broadcaster in 1994 when he called a Winston Cup race.

He appeared on SPEED TV twice a week, as well as on pre- and post-race coverage for Fox. He's colorful and loud — perfect for television.

Wallace did have a minor slip up in 2008, though.

Davey Allison died from injuries suffered in a helicopter crash in 1993 while manning the No. 28 car.

In 1994, Ernie Irvan, who took his place, was in the running for the Winston Cup Championship, but during a practice run at Michigan, crashed head-on into the wall and suffered major brain and lung injuries.

Wallace took his place in the No. 28 car for the rest of that season and ran 10 races. He finished fourth in one, 10th in another, and had three more top-15s.

He may not have won, but Kenny Wallace had a race to remember in the 1998 Bud Shootout, an exhibition before the Daytona 500.

Kenny Wallace finished second to his brother Rusty in that race after they started 12th and 13th.

Wallace won the Nov. 3, 2001 Busch Series race at Rockingham, and had been chosen to replace the injured Steve Park in the DEI No. 1 car for the rest of the season in the Winston Cup Series.

In that race, Wallace led 101 laps and finished second to Joe Nemechek.

Wallace spent years racing on dirt tracks. Those venues give fans an opportunity to interact with drivers much more often than in the Sprint Cup Series.

Thanks to that and his TV work, Wallace had become a fan favorite, and fans voted him into the 2007 Nextel All-Star race. He finished 16th that night in Charlotte.

He was voted NASCAR's most popular driver for the Xfinity Series in 1991, 1994 and 2006, becoming one of only four drivers to win the award at least twice.

Wallace joined Twitter in May of 2009 and has tweeted approximately 75,700 times. That's an average of more than 33 tweets per day.

Wallace is always interacting with fans, posting pictures from the track and professing his love for the St. Louis Cardinals. He has more than 250,000 followers.

Go check out his page here — a must follow for NASCAR fans.

Kenny's father Russ had success on dirt tracks in the St. Louis area. His brother Rusty, with 55 wins, is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and his brother Mike had success in the Xfinity Series. His nephew Steve drives in NASCAR's truck series.

There have been other famous NASCAR families, but Kenny (51), Mike (56) and Rusty (58) all raced in the same era. Even though Rusty was the only one to win a Sprint Cup race, this is one of the sport's most likeable and well-known families.