Rusty Wallace

Rusty Wallace Profile

Rusty Wallace, the legendary and now retired racecar driver, brought personality and charisma to the sport of auto racing that is unmatched in the history of the sport. A 55 time race winner and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, he is one of the greatest racecar drivers in America.

When Rusty retired in 2005, he ranked as one of the top five earners in NASCAR’s history, making nearly $50 million during his career. He has the third longest winning streak in racing history, winning at least one race in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series for 16 seasons in a row.

Rusty is a member of several halls of fame including National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, NASCAR Hall of Fame, and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. He is one of only 20 people to achieve America’s racing halls of fame “triple crown” distinction. Rusty’s firsthand experience with the world of racing has earned him acknowledgment as one of the world’s top authorities on NASCAR racing. He became the first driver in history to design a pro racing facility, The Iowa Speedway.

Rusty is permanently honored at nine NASCAR tracks, and more than a dozen city, state, and county seats of government have declared race day as an official Rusty Wallace Day. Rusty is also the prime stakeholder of The Rusty Wallace Automotive Group in Tennessee.

As a board member for The NASCAR Foundation—an organization that helps children play, learn and live—Rusty oversees the foundation’s development committee.

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  • Rusty Wallace is one of the greatest NASCAR drivers in history. Having won 55 NASCAR Winston (Nextel) Cup races and with 36 Career Winston Cup Pole Positions, he is ranked the eighth all-time best NASCAR driver. He also ranks as one of the top five money winners in NASCAR history with over $43 million in career earnings.

  In addition to being a driver, Rusty Wallace has entered the team ownership arena as well. His first full-time campaign in the NASCAR Busch Series with driver Kenny Wallace in the early 1990′s was highly successful, and in 2005, he entered the Series with drivers Jamie McMurray and Jeremy Mayfield. Wallace also has joint ownership of Penske Racing South, the highly successful NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series team for which he drives.

  In the 2004 season, Rusty Wallace finished 16th in the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, and he started his 650th career race and his 650th consecutive race.

  Rusty Wallace has had an exciting career from the start. He was first named USAC Rookie of the Year in 1979, after winning 200 races between 1974 and 1978. In 1984 he was again named Rookie of this year, this time by Winston Cup. In 1988 he was voted the NMPA Driver of the Year, an award that he received again in 1993 along with being voted one of NASCAR′s 50 Greatest Drivers. In 1989, Wallace won both the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship and the Winston All-Star Race.

  Rusty is married with three kids and currently resides in Cornelius, North Carolina. He is a highly accomplished pilot with over 10,000 flight hours and is an avid golfer.