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
My racing career in California dates back to the late '70s when I was out here running the outlaw late model shows,
It was twice as wild when I started, because when I started, there was no spoiler rule, ... Guys were running wide-open with only an eight-degree rear spoiler, and cars were out of control, sliding and spinning out, going in the air and flipping upside-down. It was just totally crazy.
By the second day she was running laps a half-second faster than I had on the first day. Let me tell you something, she's fast. And if she couldn't drive, she wouldn't be in our car.
I'm really disappointed that Mark has been talked into running that extra year, ... The thing I feel bad about for Mark is that he and I have been out there getting all these accolades, and now Mark's having to say, 'It looks like I'm coming back.'
But I'll tell you this -- there's no way we could be out there racing at those speeds. It was neat to be out there running that fast by myself, but it would be insane to think we could have a pack of cars out there doing that.
We still had a pretty good position going. I had a pretty clean stint myself. We were running third and fourth and kept our car running there. (I was) just getting ready to pit and coming down pit road and got out of the car and it was just really overheating bad.
I ask myself why would I retire and its because I don't like running 36 races. I hate running 36 races. I don't like being away from home that much.
I think by the end of the year, he'd have a lot of knowledge. He'd be up on the wheel and ready to go then.
I think a lot of people look at me as the favorite here, ... I kinda feel that when I come into this track. I've got a little extra step in my stride when I come into this track because I've been so successful here in the past.
Larry reminds me of my old buddy, Buddy Parrott, reminds me of what (Parrott) did for me and how many victories he helped me get, ... We're having fun again.
We got down into turn one and the 66 spun out right in front of me,
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.
I tell Steven all of the time that I want his head in the carburetor,
I tell you what, I gotta get one of these at home.