Rusty Wallace

Rusty Wallace (2007)

Russell William "Rusty" Wallace (born August 14, 1956 in Fenton , Missouri ) is a former NASCAR American racing driver and 1989 Winston Cup champion. He is the owner of a team in the Nationwide Series and television commentator on ESPN and "ESPN on ABC ". He had his first live broadcast at the Indianapolis 500 on May 28, 2006. He is the brother of Kenny and Mike Wallace , and father of Steven Wallace , who were also active in NASCAR.

Early career

In the late 1970s, before joining NASCAR, Wallace made a name for himself in the Midwest by winning a couple of local circuit championships. In total, he won more than 200 short track races. In 1979 Wallace won the United States Automobile Club's Rookie of the Year title against AJ Foyt, among others . In 1983 he won the American Speed ​​Association championship , beating other future NASCAR stars like Mark Martin , Dick Trickle and 1992 Winston Cup Champion Alan Kulwicki .

NASCAR career

At the race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1980, Wallace sat in his first NASCAR race in the car with starting number 16 for Roger Penske and came directly second. He drove one more race for Penske at the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway , where he finished 25th on the grid and finished in 14th place.

In 1981 Wallace started in a total of four races. He completed two of them for Ron Benfield in a Pontiac with starting number 98. The best result was a 21st place. Wallace drove the other two races for John Childs in a number 72 Buick . The best result of these two races was a sixth place. In the following 1983 season, Wallace drove three races for John Childs, also with starting number 72. The best result of the season was a 29th place.

The first full season in the Winston Cup drove Wallace in 1984. At the end of the season he finished 14th in the championship and was named Rookie of the Year . His car was a number 88 Pontiac for Cliff Stewart. In 30 races he achieved two top 5 and four top 4 placements with fourth place as the best result. The 1985 season, Wallace also drove for Cliff Stewart, but in the number 2 Pontiac. In 29 races, he achieved two top five and eight top 10 results.

In 1986 he switched to the Pontiac with the number 27 for Raymond Beadle. For him, Wallace scored his first victory on April 6, 1986 at Bristol Motor Speedway . A second victory followed on September 21 at Martinsville Speedway . Together with four top 5 and 16 top 10 results in 29 races, Wallace finished 6th in the championship at the end of the season.

The year 1987 was under the sign of his new main sponsor Kodak on the Pontiac with starting number 27. With him Wallace took his first pole position at Michigan International Speedway on June 28, 1987. He also took two wins, one of them at Watkins Glen International and one on the Riverside International Raceway . Nine top 5 and 16 top 10 results ensured that he was fifth in the championship at the end of the season.

The 1988 season was his best year to date, with a total of six wins at Riverside International Raceway, Michigan International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway , North Carolina Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Of the last five races of the season, Wallace won four, finishing second in the championship, 24 points behind Bill Elliott .

Together with his crew chief Barry Dodson Wallace won his first and only championship in the Winston Cup in the 1989 season. A 15th place in the last race of the season in Atlanta was enough for him to beat his friend and rival Dale Earnhardt by twelve points.

Wallace at Michigan International Speedway in 1994 with his Miller Genuine Draft color scheme.

1990 team owner Raymond Beadle changed the main sponsor in favor of Miller Genuine Draft . This connection lasted a year. After five years and 18 wins, Wallace switched to Penske Racing and took the sponsor with him. There he drove in the Pontiac with starting number 2. In addition to his two wins in the Winston Cup, Wallace won the championship in the International Race of Champions that year .

Also in 1990, Wallace played himself in a supporting role in the film Days of Thunder .

In the 1992 season, Wallace could only win one race with the Miller 400. Known as “Midnight”, this car's chassis is one of the most enduring in its career. It was used for a total of six seasons through 1997.

The year 1993 was the most successful in Wallace's career in terms of number of wins and placements. He won the second race of the season at the North Carolina Motor Speedway. He also won the race at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was a special race for Wallace as his friend and reigning NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki was killed in a plane crash on the flight to Bristol. After this victory and the other eight of the season, Wallace completed the "Polish lap of honor" made famous by Kulwicki, in which the driver completes the lap of honor in the opposite direction to the actual driving direction. Nevertheless, these ten wins of the season were only enough for second place in the championship behind Dale Earnhardt.

In the 1994 season, Penske changed manufacturers and started with Ford engines. With the new car, Wallace achieved eight wins, 17 top 5 and 20 top 10 results, which in the end was enough for a third place in the championship. 1995, on the other hand, did not go so well, with Wallace only taking two wins. At the end of the season he was fifth in the championship. Despite a total of five wins in the following year, Wallace slipped from fifth to seventh place in the championship.

Rusty Wallace, 1997

In 1997, the main sponsor Miller switched the advertised brand to Miller Lite . This replaced the blue and gold “Midnight” color scheme with a new, blue and white one. In the championship, Wallace only reached ninth place, largely due to only one win during the season and eight top five and twelve top 10 places.

In the 1998 season Wallace won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway , but no championship points are awarded for it. It was the first win for the new Ford Taurus and its only win on this track. Towards the end of the season he won the race at the Phoenix International Raceway , which was enough for fourth place in the championship.

After a season with only one win and 8th place in the championship in 1999, Wallace improved slightly in the following season. His four victories reached seventh place in the final. He reached this place again in 2001 and 2002, but with only one or not a single victory. Even after moving to Dodge in 2003, Wallace had no win that season. Accordingly, he slipped to 14th place in the championship and was no longer among the top 10 for the first time in ten years.

The 2004 season would be the last in Wallace's career in which he could score. He scored this 55th and last in the spring race at Martinsville Speedway. On August 30, 2004, Wallace announced that the 2005 season would be his last as a full-time driver. The possibility of being able to participate in a few selected races afterwards, however, was nullified by his contract as a commentator. The only race in which he started in 2006 was therefore the Daytona 24-hour race , together with Danica Patrick and Allan McNish .

Commentator career

On January 25, 2006, it was announced that Wallace would be commenting on auto racing for ESPN and ABC. Despite a lack of experience in formula racing , he began to play in the Indy Racing League, including the Indianapolis 500 . Since the beginning of the 2007 season he has been commenting on the NASCAR broadcasts of both broadcasters, with whom he has signed a six-year contract.

Car owner

Wallace owns his team, Rusty Wallace, Inc. , which runs the # 66 Nationwide Series car driven by his son Steve Wallace .

literature

• Bill Fleischmann & Al Pearce, The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 1998-99 (1999)

Web links

Commons : Rusty Wallace  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• NASCAR.com: Rusty Wallace
• Driver statistics on racing-reference.info