Rusty Wallace

Russell William "Rusty" Wallace (born August 8, 1956) is an American former professional race car driver, who competed in NASCAR from 1980 to 2005. He also is a former general champion of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup season. Wallace is currently a TV announcer on TV stations ESPN and ABC for NASCAR and IndyCar racing shows.

He was the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion in 1989, runner-up in 1988 and 1993, third in 1994, fourth in 1998, and fifth in 1987 and 1995.

Wallace had 55 victories in NASCAR Winston Cup Series qualifying races, most notably the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, though none at Daytona, Talladega, Indianapolis nor Darlington. His specialties were short tracks, where he racked up 34 wins, and road courses where he won twice each (Riverside, Sears Point and Watkins Glen).

The driver also won the 1989 The Winston and the 1998 Bud Shootout. He also won four races and a championship in the International Race of Champions.

Wallace owned his own NASCAR Busch Series team from 1985 to 1992, which then returned to racing in the renamed NASCAR Nationwide Series from 2004 to 2011. He drove for the team, along with his brothers Mike Wallace and Kenny Wallace and his son Steve Wallace. His niece Chrissy Wallace is also a stock car driver. Iowa Speedway is an oval that Wallace was involved in designing and of which he is a partner.

From 2006 to 2014, Wallace was a reporter for ESPN for the NASCAR and IndyCar Series broadcasts, and host of the television show NASCAR Angels. He appears briefly in the 1990 film  as himself.

Beginnings
Wallace competed in his youth on short ovals in the Midwest. He was third and Rookie of the Year in the 1979 USAC Championship Car season and runner-up in 1980, and American Speed Association champion in 1983.

NASCAR Winston Cup Series
His NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut was at Atlanta in 1980 in a Penske Chevrolet, where he finished second. That year he ran another race for Penske. In 1981 he contested two races in a Ron Benfield Autombile and two in a John Childs Buick, earning a best finish of sixth. In 1982 he contested three races for John Childs, again in a Buick, without finishing any of them.

Wallace returned to NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing in 1984, this time as the starting driver for Cliff Stewart's team. Driving a Pontiac, he posted a fourth, a fifth and two sixths, finishing 14th in the championship and receiving the Rookie of the Year award. In his second year on the team, he posted two fifth-place finishes and eight top-10 finishes, leaving him with a 19th-place finish.

In 1986, Wallace moved to the Blue Max team, which also used Pontiac models, adopting the number 27. He had two wins, two fourth-place finishes and 16 top-10s, which allowed him to reach sixth place in the final classification. The pilot had two wins, 9 top 5s and 16 top 10s in the 1987 season, with which he finished fifth.

Blue Max Racing
Continuing on the Blue Max Racing team into the 1988 season, Wallace posted six wins and 19 top-fives, although Bill Elliott outscored him by 24 points and left him with the runner-up spot. In 1989, he had six wins, 13 top-fives and 20 top-10s in 29 races, defeating Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Darrell Waltrip for the championship. Wallace became sponsored in 1990 by the beer brand, which accompanied him for the rest of his racing career. That season he finished sixth overall, with two wins and nine top 5 finishes.

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

Penske Racing
Wallace moved to Penske Racing for the 1991 season, where he continued to drive Pontiac, now with the number 2. He again had two wins and nine top-fives, but this time he finished 10th in the points. 1992 was his worst year since 1985, posting just one win and five top-five finishes and a 13th-place finish.

In 1993, Wallace had ten wins and 19 top-five finishes in 30 races. However, he was runner-up due to Earnhardt's fewer DNFs. Penske left the Pontiacs for the Fords in 1994. The driver had eight wins and 17 top-fives for that mark, but Earnhardt and Martin outscored him in points.

In his fifth straight season as a Penske driver, Wallace had two wins and 15 top-fives in 1995, earning him a fifth-place finish. With five wins but only eight top-five finishes, the driver finished seventh in 1996.



In 1997, Miller changed the team's sponsorship to Miller Lite, replacing the black and gold with a blue and white scheme, and for the next three years, Wallace won only one race at a time. Posting eight top-five finishes in 1997, 15 in 1998 and 17 in 1999, the driver finished fourth, ninth and eighth respectively. In 2000, Wallace amassed four wins, 12 top-fives and 20 top-10s in 34 races, placing him seventh in the final qualifier. With one win and eight top-fives, he again finished seventh in 2001. In 2002, Wallance didn't win a race, which hadn't happened since 1985. He had seven top-fives, 17 top-10s and again seventh place in the championship.

Penske changed brands again for 2003, this time Dodge. Wallace posted just two top-five finishes and 12 top-10 finishes, finishing the contest in 14th place. His last victory in the series was the one he got at the Martinsville oval in 2004. With three top-fives and 11 top-10s, he finished 16th in the championship. Wallace bid farewell to the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2005 at the age of 49, posting eight top-fives, 17 top-10s and eighth-place finishes.

Other categories
From 1985 to 1989, Wallace competed sporadically in the NASCAR Busch Series, the second category for stock cars. He then ran one race in 1993, three in 1997, two in 2004 and six in 2005. He scored two second, two third, three fourth and one fifth, though no wins. In the late 1989s, he competed in two NASCAR West races and one NASCAR East race. In 1996 he entered a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

Wallace contested the International Race of Champions from 1989 to 1996 and then in 1999 and 2000. He recorded four wins and 14 top 5 finishes in 36 races. He was champion in 1991 with three wins, third in 1989 and 1994, and fourth in 1992 and 1999.

In 2006, he entered the 24 Hours of Daytona of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in a Howard Boss Crawford Pontiac, accompanied by Allan McNish, Danica Patrick and Jan Lammers, where he dropped out.

On April 1, 2015, Wallace tested a Stadium Super Truck owned by former NASCAR driver Robby Gordon, and the following day, he announced he would race in the series' round in Austin. After finishing last in his heat race, he was relegated to the last-chance qualifier. During the LCQ, Wallace rolled his truck, but continued running; he finished sixth in the event but failed to qualify for the feature.

In 2016, Wallace returned to racing when he 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.

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. 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. Wallace worked with ESPN from 2007-2014 until their contract with NASCAR expired.

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

Car owner
Up until 2012, Wallace owned and operated Rusty Wallace Racing, which fielded the No. 62 Pilot Flying J Toyota Camry driven by Michael Annett and the No. 66 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry driven by his son Steve Wallace. This operation was temporarily suspended due to the loss of sponsorship. However, Steve Wallace confirmed on his Twitter account that the team would return for the Nationwide Series race at Richmond in May 2012 in a former Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang, powered by a Roush-Yates engine in the No. 4 sponsored by LoanMax Title Loans. Due to lack of sponsorship in 2013, Wallace's team ran one race in a No. 66 entry finishing 25th at Charlotte, then closed at the conclusion of the season.

Endorsements

 * 2003 – Callaway Golf – Callaway Golf Signs NASCAR Driver Rusty Wallace to Multiyear Endorsement and Licensing Agreement.
 * 2009 – – 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

Other media
Wallace made a in the movie . He and his brothers all appeared in the video game . Mike was featured as a Craftsman Truck Series driver, driving the No. 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 No. 55 Square D Chevrolet (although the game's commercial showed him driving the No. 81 Square D Ford) & Rusty was featured in the game driving his No. 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. In the video for “Nowadays” by featuring Landon Cube, Cube can be seen wearing a vintage Rusty Wallace jacket.

Awards and honors

 * 1988, 1993 Richard Petty Driver of the Year
 * 2005 NASCAR Illustrated Person of the Year Award recipient
 * 2005 Myers Brothers Award recipient
 * 2014 Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

Records and milestones
With 55 career points-paying victories, Wallace is ranked ninth 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).

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

International Race of Champions
(key) ( Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led. )