Rusty Wallace

Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. For the accolades over the course of his successful career, Wallace has been inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame (2013), the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2013), the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2014)^[3] and the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (2010).

Racing career

Early career

Prior to joining the NASCAR circuit, Wallace made a name for himself racing around in

In 1983, he won the American Speed Association (ASA) championship while also competing against some of NASCAR's future stars like Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, and Dick Trickle.

NASCAR career

In 1980, Wallace made his NASCAR debut at Atlanta, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet for

During a practice session at Bristol on August 27, 1988, Wallace's car lost control and slammed on the turn 4 wall before barrel rolling five times on the straightaway. It took rescue officials - including Jerry Punch - 15 minutes to extract him from the wrecked car. According to Wallace, he nearly choked to death from a ham sandwich he ate before practice.^[5][6] Despite this near-death experience, Wallace developed his career further in 1988, scoring six victories (including four of the final five races of the year). His wins were at Michigan, Charlotte, North Wilkesboro, Rockingham, the final race ever run at Riverside, and the season finale at Atlanta. With these six wins as well as 19 Top 5s and four further Top 10s, he finished second to Bill Elliott by 24 points.

In 1989, Wallace won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship with crew chief Barry Dodson, by finishing 15th at the Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta to beat out close friend and fierce rival Dale Earnhardt (the race winner) by 12 points. Wallace also won The Winston in a controversial fashion, by spinning out Darrell Waltrip on the last lap.

In

Penske switched to

In

In 2000, he secured his 50th career win at Bristol, becoming the 10th driver in NASCAR to win 50+ races. He is also the only driver in NASCAR history to win his 1st and 50th career victories at the same track, and in the same race. He would also score 3 more wins at Pocono, Michigan, and the night race at Bristol (season sweep at Bristol). He finished seventh in the final points standings after some inconsistency in the championship race. The next year, he won at California for his 54th career win. He won on what would have been Dale Earnhardt's 50th birthday and paid tribute to him with an Earnhardt flag. Wallace almost won the 2002 Sharpie 500 after being bumped out of the way by his rival Jeff Gordon.

In 2003, Penske Racing switched to Dodge and appropriately, in 2004, Wallace won his 55th (and final) race on a short track: the 2004 spring Martinsville Speedway race. It was also the last win for the track under the ownership of the H. Clay Earles Trust; the death of Mary Weatherford (matriarch of the trust) forced the Trust to sell the track a month later.

On August 30, 2004, Wallace announced that the

In 2016, Wallace competed in the Ferrari Finali Mondiali at Daytona. Driving for "Ferrari of Houston", Wallace finished tenth overall and third in the Professional, North America class.^[16]

Broadcast career

On January 25, 2006, it was announced that Wallace would cover auto racing events for ESPN and ABC. Despite Wallace's lack of open-wheel racing experience, his assignments began with the IndyCar Series and included the Indianapolis 500 (in a perhaps forgivable lapse, he described a thrilling battle on the last lap as "The most exciting Daytona 500 ever!"). He joined the NASCAR broadcasting team for both networks when they started coverage of the sport in 2007.^[17] He signed a six-year deal with ESPN in 2006. He returned to commentate for the 2007 Indianapolis 500 won by Dario Franchitti. He co-hosted NASCAR Angels with Shannon Wiseman. Wallace worked with ESPN from 2007 to 2014 until their contract with NASCAR expired.

Since the 2015 Daytona 500, Wallace has worked with Motor Racing Network as a booth announcer.

Car owner

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2015)

Up until 2012, Wallace owned and operated

Family

Wallace's brothers, Kenny and Mike, also used to race on the NASCAR circuit. He and his wife Patti have three children – Greg, Katie, and Stephen. Stephen raced full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and made his Cup Series debut during the 2011 Daytona 500, making him the fourth member of his family to compete in the Daytona 500 and in NASCAR, behind the Bodines (Geoff, Brett, and Todd), Pettys (Lee, Richard, and Kyle), Earnhardts (Ralph, Dale, Dale Jr. and Jeffrey), and the Allisons (Bobby, Donnie, and Davey). Wallace's father, Russell Wallace Sr., died on October 30, 2011, at age 77.

Iowa Speedway

In late 2005, Wallace broke ground on his "Signature Design Speedway" in

• 2003 – Callaway Golf – Callaway Golf Signs NASCAR Driver Rusty Wallace to Multiyear Endorsement and Licensing Agreement.[20]
• 2009 – U.S. Fidelis – USfidelis TV Campaign Debuts, Featuring NASCAR's Steve and Rusty Wallace.^[21] The March 2010 bankruptcy of US Fidelis lists Rusty Wallace Racing as a creditor owed $535,439.^[22]
• 2009 – Lista International Corporation – Legendary NASCAR Driver Rusty Wallace Endorses Lista Products in New Online Video^[23]

Other media

Wallace made a

• 1988, 1993 Richard Petty Driver of the Year^[24]
• 2005 NASCAR Illustrated Person of the Year Award recipient^[25]
• 2005 Myers Brothers Award recipient^[26]
• 2014 Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America^[27]

Records and milestones

With 55 career points-paying victories, Wallace is ranked eleventh among the all-time NASCAR Cup Series winners; he is ranked seventh (in a tie with Bobby Allison) among those who have competed during the sport's modern era (1972–present).

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nextel Cup Series

Daytona 500

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rusty Wallace.

• Official website
• Rusty Wallace driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Rusty Wallace owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Rusty Wallace at
  IMDb
• Rusty Wallace at NASCAR.com
• Rusty Wallace at ESPN
• June 2005 interview with Rusty Wallace
• Rusty Wallace Fans Club

Sporting positions
Preceded by Bill Elliott	NASCAR Winston Cup Champion 1989	Succeeded by Dale Earnhardt
Preceded by Dale Earnhardt	IROC Champion IROC XV (1991)	Succeeded by Ricky Rudd
Preceded by Mark Martin	ASA National Tour Champion 1983	Succeeded by Dick Trickle
Achievements
Preceded by Darrell Waltrip	Coca-Cola 600 winner 1990	Succeeded by Davey Allison
Preceded by Terry Labonte	The Winston winner 1989	Succeeded by Dale Earnhardt
Awards
Preceded by Sterling Marlin	NASCAR Rookie of the Year 1984	Succeeded by Ken Schrader