Rusty Wallace

Russell William Wallace Jr.
Rusty Wallace at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007.
Born	August 14, 1956 (1956-08-14) Arnold, Missouri, U.S.
Achievements	1983 ASA champion 1989 The Winston winner 1989 Winston Cup Series champion 1991 IROC champion
Awards	1979 USAC Stock Car Rookie of the Year 1984 Rookie of the Year 1998 Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
706 race(s) run over 25 year(s)
Best finish	1st – 1989
First race	1980 Atlanta 500 (Atlanta)
Last race	2005 Ford 400 (Homestead)
First win	1986 Valleydale 500 (Bristol)
Last win	2004 Advance Auto Parts 500 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles 55 349 36
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
42 race(s) run over 9 year(s)
Best finish	32nd – 1987
First race	1985 Goody's 300 (Daytona)
Last race	2005 O'Reilly Challenge (Texas)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 18 2
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
1 race(s) run over 1 year(s)
Best finish	9th – 1996 (Craftsman)
First race	1996 DeVilbiss Superfinish 200 (Nazareth)
Last race	1996 DeVilbiss Superfinish 200 (Nazareth)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of February 6, 2012.

Wallace at Michigan in 1994 with his MGD paint scheme

Russell William "Rusty" Wallace, Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is a past NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, currently a broadcaster on ESPN, car owner in the Nationwide Series, and a co-host of NASCAR Angels.

Early racing career

Prior to joining the NASCAR circuit, Wallace made a name for himself racing around the Midwest in the late 1970s by winning a pair of local track championships. Wallace, a Missouri native, won more than 200 short track races. In 1979 he won United States Auto Club's (USAC) Stock Car Rookie of the Year honors, finishing third in points behind A.J. Foyt and Bay Darnell. He finished second USAC Stock Cars in 1981 behind Joe Ruttman.

In 1983 he won the American Speed Association (ASA) championship while competing against some of NASCAR's future stars like Mark Martin, 1992 NASCAR Champion Alan Kulwicki and Dick Trickle.

NASCAR career

#88 Rookie of the Year racecar (1984)

Wallace in the #2 (background) in 1985

Wallace finished second in his first NASCAR race at Atlanta 500 in 1980, having started 7th, driving for Roger Penske in the #16. He made nine further NASCAR appearances over the next three years, although he did not score any further top 10 finishes until he went full-time in 1984. Wallace joined the Winston Cup circuit full-time in 1984, winning NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors and finishing 14th in the final points standings. He raced in the #88 Gatorade Pontiac for Cliff Stewart with the best finish of 4th in 30 races, along with two 5th places and four further top 10's. Wallace stayed with Cliff Stewart for 1985, but this time in the #2 Alugard Pontiac. In 29 races, Wallace had 2 top 5's 8 top 10's.

Blue Max Racing

For 1986 he switched teams to the #27 Alugard Pontiac for Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Racing team. Rusty's first win came on April 6, 1986, at Bristol Motor Speedway. He also won at Martinsville on September 21. He finished the year with 2 wins, 4 top 5's and 16 top 10's in 29 races. Wallace finished 6th in the points, his first top 10 in the standings. For 1987 Wallace gained sponsorship from Kodiak, establishing the #27 Kodiak Pontiac livery his early career is most remembered for. He took victories at Watkins Glen and Riverside, as well first series pole at Michigan in June. These results were backed up with 9 top 5's and 16 top 10's in 29 races. He finished 5th in points.

Wallace developed his career further in 1988, scoring six victories including four of the final five races of the year. His wins came at Michigan, Charlotte, North Wilkesboro, Rockingham, the final race ever at Riverside, and the season finale at Atlanta. With these 6 wins as well as 19 top 5's four further top 10's, he finished second to Bill Elliott by 24 points.

1989 car at Phoenix with Kodiak paint scheme

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

In 1990, Raymond Beadle switched sponsors, to Miller Genuine Draft. The four-year sponsorship deal was specifically tied to Wallace, meaning it went where the 1989 champ went. The 1989 championship year was reportedly marked with acrimony between Wallace and Beadle. However, Wallace was stuck with the team for 1990 due to his contract. Rusty had 18 wins for Beadle.

Penske Racing

In 1991 Wallace took the Miller sponsorship with him to Penske Racing, and he continued in the #2 Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac. He also won the 1991 IROC championship. While 1992 only carried him one win, the win at the Miller 400 was satisfying; it was the first win for Rusty in a car which arguably was Rusty's best known chassis for his career, one affectionately known as "Midnight" after the win. "Midnight" would be raced for six seasons, carrying various race wins, before being retired in 1997.

1993 was arguably his most successful season despite two major accidents at Daytona and Talladega in which his car went airborne and flipped several times. He had already won the second race of the season Feb 28th 1993 at North Carolina Motor Speedway but also a sad one as his friend and reigning NASCAR Champion Alan Kulwicki was killed flying into Bristol Speedway in April 1993, because of this Rusty won the race at Bristol and in respect to Alan Kulwicki he did a "Polish victory lap"—turning his car around and driving around the track the wrong way, as made famous by Kulwicki. Every race Rusty won that year he did a "Kulwicki victory lap". He won all 3 races in April (Bristol 4/4/93, North Wilkesboro 4/18/93 and Martinsville 4/25/93). Also he won the first ever race at the New Hampshire Speedway starting 33rd on July 11. In 1993, he won 10 of the 30 races, but finished second in the final points standings, 80 points behind Earnhardt. He ended the season strong, finishing in the Top-3 in all but two of the final ten races of the season.

Penske switched to Fords in 1994. In 1996, sponsorship changed from Miller Genuine Draft to Miller beer sponsorship.

1997 paint scheme

In 1997, Miller changed the teams sponsorship to Miller Lite, replacing the black and gold with a blue and white scheme. In 1998, Wallace won the Bud Shootout at Daytona, A non-points race for the previous years pole winners and past winners of the race. It was the first win for Ford's new Taurus, and Wallace's only victory at NASCAR's premier track (as well as his only victory in any restrictor plate race) in a Cup car.

Wallace at RIR in 1998.

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.

2005 Nextel Cup car

On August 30, 2004 Wallace announced that the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season would be his last as a full-time driver. Although at the time the possibility remained that he may have continued to run a limited schedule after the 2005 season—as semi-retirees Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte also have done, Wallace's current broadcasting contract forbids him from doing so. Kurt Busch would replace Wallace in the number 2 Miller Lite Dodge in 2006-2010. In 2011, Brad Keselowski will drive the number 2.

In 2006, Wallace returned to his General Motors roots when he raced a Crawford-Pontiac sportscar, painted black and carrying the familiar stylised #2. The car was sponsored by Callaway Golf, in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, teamed with Danica Patrick and Allan McNish, In 2008, his NASCAR Nationwide Series cars switched from Dodge to Chevrolet.

To date, Wallace has had 55 NASCAR Cup wins, which is tied for 8th on NASCAR's all-time wins list. They include victories at Charlotte as well as the series' last three road courses (Riverside, Infineon and Watkins Glen), but none at Daytona, Darlington, Indianapolis or Talladega. He has the most short track wins in NASCAR history with 34, and therefore he is considered among the best short track drivers in NASCAR history. He retired after the 2005 season with a 14.4 career average finish.

NASCAR Cup Statistics

Year	Starts	Wins	Top Fives	Top Tens	Poles	Rank
2005	36	0	8	17	0	8th
Totals	706	55	202	349	36	-

Broadcast career

On January 25, 2006, it was announced that Rusty would cover auto racing events for ESPN and ABC. Despite Rusty'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. He signed a six year deal with ESPN in 2006. He returned to commentate for the 2007 Indy 500. He co-hosts NASCAR Angels with Shannon Wiseman.

Car owner

Wallace owns and operates Rusty Wallace Racing, which fields the #62 Pilot Flying J Toyota Camry driven by Michael Annett and the #66 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry driven by his son Steven Wallace. This operation has been temporarily suspended due to the loss of sponsorship.

Family

His two blood brothers, Kenny and Mike, race on the NASCAR circuit. He and his wife Patti have three children — Greg, Katie, and Steven. Steven races in the Nationwide Series and he will make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at 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 (Dale and Dale Jr.), 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 Newton, Iowa. The Iowa Speedway had its first race on September 15, 2007 and hosted many races in 2007 including an IRL race. The track is noted for its structural similarity to Richmond International Raceway, where Wallace has won six times. The Iowa Speedway hosted its first NASCAR Nationwide Series race in 2009.

Major wrecks

Wallace is known for several major wrecks throughout his racing career. The first one happened in 1983, when Wallace was attempting the Daytona 500 through the Gatorade Twin 125's. He was tapped by Rick Wilson, got airborne, and went on a spectacular series of flips that hospitalized Wallace. The next one came at what is undoubtly the last place to ever see a flip: Bristol Motor Speedway. What started it was unclear, but Wallace climbed the wall and did a superspeedway barrell roll. ESPN commentator Dr. Jerry Punch was the first responder, and probably saved his life. In 1993, Rusty had two massive flips, the first of which was at Daytona during the Daytona 500, where he was tapped by the crashing cars of Michael Waltrip and Derrike Cope, and barrel rolled down the backstraight several feet in the air. Just 2 months later at the Winston 500 at Talladega, racing to the checkered flag, Wallace was clipped by Dale Earnhardt, and flew into the air before violently flipping past the start-finish line, resulting in a broken wrist. Earnhardt was visibly shaken by the incident and did make sure Wallace was okay by checking on him after the race had concluded.^{[citation needed]}

Endorsements

• 2003 – Callaway Golf – Callaway Golf Signs NASCAR Driver Rusty Wallace to Multiyear Endorsement and Licensing Agreement.

• 2009 – U.S. Fidelis – USfidelis TV Campaign Debuts, Featuring NASCAR's Steve and Rusty Wallace. The March 2010 bankruptcy of US Fidelis lists Rusty Wallace Racing as a creditor owed $535,439.

• 2009 – Lista International Corporation – Legendary NASCAR Driver Rusty Wallace Endorses Lista Products in New Online Video

Personal

Wallace was featured in Days of Thunder. He & his brothers all appeared in the Electronic Arts video game "NASCAR Rumble". Mike was featured as a Craftsman Truck Series driver, driving the #2 ASE Dodge (no specific car makes for the Trucks; the real truck was a Dodge at the time), Kenny was featured in the game driving the #55 Square D Chevrolet (although the game's commercial showed him driving the #81 Square D Ford) & Rusty was featured in the game driving his #2 Ford, with the exception that the Miller Lite stickers are replaced by Penske Racing stickers similar to current Penske Championship Racing driver Brad Keselowski, whose sponsor is censored by NASCAR's ban on wireless telephone advertising.

All publishers of NASCAR titles are prohibited from carrying alcohol or tobacco advertising on their cars. He was teammates with his brother Mike, once in his career when Mike Wallace subbed for Jeremy Mayfield at Penske Racing. The #62 South Point Chevrolet Impala SS driven by Brendan Gaughan in 2009 on the NASCAR Nationwide Series intentionally carries a black and gold paint scheme reminiscent of Wallace's legendary "Miller Genuine Draft " car.

References

• The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 1998–99, by Bill Fleischman and Al Pearce (1999)

External links

• Official website
• Rusty Wallace at Racing Reference
• 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 Sterling Marlin	NASCAR Rookie of the Year 1984	Succeeded by Ken Schrader