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
To think about a new car owner, a driver, a new driver so to speak, all new, new, new, and have to make all the races early, things like that, it just is a huge uphill feat. I wish them all the luck, but it's going to be a tough one.
I told the guys, 'Let's not get crazy right now. We've got a year and a half to make that decision.' We'll look at some guys out there and see what we can do. There's been absolutely no decision made on any driver at all.
It's our consistency that has gotten us this far, and there's really no need to be looking for some other game plan, ... This is my final season as a driver and I want to go out being remembered as a winner.
Some drivers today don't have a clue what's in their cars right now because it's too much work. You can't have somebody hold your hand your whole life.
Restrictor plates you've got to rely on all the other drivers around you to make it happen, and that's hard to do. ... But I think the mile and a half tracks are perfect for this Chase.
He just said it was part of tradition and something they've always done. I've talked to some of the drivers and I don't think anybody sees the need for it any more.
I'll tell you, I never could have reported on this sport the way it needs to be reported without getting to drive this car.
I just got in the car for some verification. And that's the thing as a dad that I can do. I can get in it and drive it and say 'Ok it is doing this' or 'This is what you're feeling Steve' and just try to help his learning curve.
This is my final season as a driver and I want to go out being remembered as a winner.
We had the best car, without a doubt. We were able to take the lead and just throttle back. But when the right front went down, the day started to unravel. We led the most laps, even with the problem we had. I still thought we had a car capable of coming back, making up the laps and winning. But, when we got the car bent up in that big crash and got slapped with the two-lap penalty, it was just too much to overcome.
We certainly want to go out on top of our game at Bristol with a strong run and I think we're primed to come in there and do just that. The fact is that we had a car that should have won the spring race at Bristol and looked like we were certainly headed that way until we had a right-front tire go down.
We certainly want to go out on top of our game at Bristol with a strong run, and I think we're primed to come in there and do just that.
I've still got a pin in my wrist that's about 8 inches long from that accident. I got hurt at some racetracks a little bit, but never as bad as I got hurt at Talladega.
I've never seen it yet, so I'm going over to look at it. He's got it all done and it's for sale. The rest of the day, I might play nine holes of golf. Then, I'm going to have a nice early dinner at my favorite Italian joint.