Rusty Wallace
Rusty Wallace
Russell William "Rusty" Wallace, Jr.is a retired American racing driver, and a former NASCAR Winston Cup Champion. Considered one of racing's most well-known and charismatic personalities, he is a member of four of stock car racing's major halls of fame: the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America and the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame. He also served as the...
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth14 August 1956
CityArnold, MO
I knew when I retired that this is what I wanted to do. I've had a few broadcasting gigs and I enjoyed them.
I like our chances over a 10-race span,
If you sit down with a guy and say 'I'm gonna sign a three-year deal,' and he sells sponsorship for three years based on your being there, you need to be there. You've got to honor it.
I guess my day is coming, ... I tried real hard. I just got nailed in the rear end on the last lap and turned sideways. I didn't expect it.
I just think if you make a deal with a man, and he builds his program around you, then you need to understand that and you need to honor that,
I just couldn't believe the bump drafting I was seeing.
I put Stephen in the car, and he runs a 22.99. He said, 'I beat you,' and I said, 'I'm glad. That's good. I'd rather have you beat me than any of the rest of these characters.'
It's a mystery to me why the track doesn't already have a Nextel event. It's definitely a Nextel Cup track. It's beautiful. It's wide. It's shaped perfect. It's got the grandstand capability. They've proved they can pack them in with a lot of drama and excitement. It's just a fun place to go.
As an owner, he's been incredible at getting all five of his teams working together. And (if) one of them doesn't get along, he makes damn sure that he fixes that real, real quick.
A victory would have been nice, ... but my disappointment was tempered by having a section of the Bristol grandstands named after me in a pre-race ceremony.
That's not going to make me come back. That will make me go out on top of my game, more than I have ever dreamed.
It was a good run, a real good run, ... We qualified really bad but got from the back up to the front and it turned out real good. It was just a long day, but I really had pretty smooth stuff all day long, only a couple of little things happened. The jack broke early but we got that right back. And then, at the end, I just, the lapped cars were really tough to get around on the get go and that got me way behind. Other than that, it was a good day.
I want to go out on top, and above all I want to spend a lot of time with Patti and the kids, and I don't want to be some invalid or hurt and killed because of something that went wrong.
It turned into a real wild card. I came in this thing 92 points out of the lead, and I'm still 92 points out of the lead. I don't know what happened, but Stewart going out (briefly) helped everybody.