Wallace calls Ganassi cars junk, Sabates calls Wallace a moron

Wallace called the EGR cars junk and Sabates took offense

Felix Sabates, angry over statements made by his former driver Kenny Wallace, called into a national radio show to complain about the current part-time Nationwide Series driver and Fox Sports commentator.

Wallace had said on SiriusXM’s NASCAR channel that Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, of which Sabates is a co-owner, doesn’t regularly have top-15 race cars. He at one point called them “junk."

Sabates called into the channel’s evening show and talked to Claire B. Lang about Wallace’s statements.

“I fired him because he couldn't drive a racecar," said Sabates, who released Wallace in 1993 after he ran one full Cup season. “And he has held a grudge against me for 20 years. And every time he gets a chance to take a shot at us, he takes a shot. … He is just a complete moron and an idiot."

Wallace currently runs part time in the Nationwide Series and has spent the last several years as a commentator on Fox-owned Speed, which is now Fox Sports 1. He was talking about Kyle Larson’s replacing Juan Pablo Montoya at EGR during a segment earlier in the day on the SiriusXM NASCAR channel.

“It’s hardly a top-15 car, let’s be honest," Wallace said on the network. “I’m not even being mean here. … There’s a theory that this is a top-notch Cup team. It’s not."

Wallace went on to say he thinks Larson is better than the Nationwide cars he’s driving from Turner Scott Motorsports.

“Kyle Larson is good," Wallace said. “But, in my opinion, there is no driver in the car that can take a junky car and do good with it."

Sabates said he felt that “junky car" was in reference to his team, and he would call Fox because he feels that it shouldn’t have someone on the air who holds a grudge and said they should have unbiased broadcasters.

Wallace has raced for more than 20 years with no wins in 344 Cup starts and nine wins in 541 Nationwide stars. He was the 1991 Nationwide runner-up and his highest finish in the Cup standings was 22nd in 1999.

“For a no-good driving piece of junk like Kenny Wallace to say something like that? Yeah, it ticked me off," Sabates said. “And I'm not through with him yet. … I got a problem with him because I just think he's a spoiled brat that says whatever he wants to say.

“He doesn't care about hurting people. He is not a driver. He couldn't drive a Volkswagen in a bicycle race and be competitive."