Blind luck: at the track or on the trail, Wally Dallenbach has things going his way

I was on the Greystone Castle grounds less than a minute before I saw a deer. Six, in fact, five of them bucks. If I had come to do a story about hunting, I had come to the right place.

The right place in this case is Mingus, Texas, about 70 miles west of Fort Worth. Hunting is big business around here, with big-game hunters from all over the world visiting the many lodges and ranches in the area. I had passed The Rattlesnake Ranch, a name I hope is ironic, like a fat guy everyone calls Slim.

I'm here to do a story about hunting, yes, but I'm also here to do a story about Wally Dallenbach. Not familiar with him? He's the guy who listened when the high school counselor said find something you love to do and make a career of it. Only Dallenbach did it many times over. He drives a racecar in the Busch Series and gets paid to do it. He talks about Nextel Cup and Busch racing on TV and gets paid to do it. He hunts on TV and gets paid to do it.

What's more, his wife of 20 years, Robin, not only doesn't mind that he's often off racing and hunting, she shares both passions. She was a hunter and professional racer when they met. "She's a better shot than me and a better driver," he says. "It pisses me off."

On this morning at Greystone, he heads to his blind at 6 a.m. The birds aren't even up yet. "I don't have patience to fish; I don't have patience hitting golf balls; I don't have patience waiting for people," Dallenbach says. "But I could sit in a deer blind for a month waiting for that big buck to come out."

The morning passes without a kill of a buck or one of any number of exotic animals, which he needs for the episode of Track and Trail Adventures with Wally Dallenbach he is filming. This episode, one of 13 this TV season, will air in the summer on The Outdoor Channel.

"These guys think they know pressure, sitting in a racecar," Dallenbach says. "Pressure is sitting in a blind with 10 minutes to go without a kill, and we need a show."

The afternoon pheasant hunt goes better, as it's lively and fruitful. The birds are up by then. If they're not, the bird dogs act as slobbering alarm clocks.

Late in the afternoon, one of Dallenbach's companions gets an eight-point buck, meaning the show is complete. Next up is a trip to New Zealand for another episode. This will be Dallenbach's second trip to New Zealand; he's been to Africa seven times and says the bird hunting in Bolivia is the best in the world. If you're keeping score, Dallenbach gets paid to race, hunt and travel.

"Yeah, I didn't win a Nextel Cup championship," he says. "But as far as championships, my lifestyle is a championship. I love doing the TV stuff for NASCAR on NBC and TNT. They let me drive as much as I want. I get to run six, eight Busch races a year. Then I get five months off to go hunting and do my hunting show. Are you kidding me? If I'm not the luckiest guy on the face of the earth, nobody is."

COPYRIGHT 2005 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning