Rusty Wallace - NASCAR Driver
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Rusty Wallace - Bio
Rusty Wallace made his racing debut in 1973 at Lakehill Speedway near Valley Park, Mo. He recorded more than 200 feature-race wins from 1974 to 1978 before joining the United States Auto Club stock car circuit in 1979, where he was rookie of the year. He added an ASA ACDelco Challenge Series championship to his resume in 1983 before heading to the Cup Series, where he earned rookie of the year honors in 1984 after posting two top-five and four top-10 finishes in 30 events -- highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the Southern 500 at Darlington.Wallace got his first Cup checkered flag in April of 1986 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Valleydale 500. Interestingly, it would be another entire year before Wallace would earn his first pole award. He earned his first top qualifying spot at the Miller 400 in June of 1987 at Michigan International Speedway.
Wallace really started gaining national attention in 1989. He captured the checkered flag in The Winston all-star race and added 6 more wins and 20 top-10 finishes in 29 events. Wallace won the 1989 NASCAR championship, beating Dale Earnhardt by just 12 points for the honor.
Wallace won 10 times in 1993, but finished second to Earnhardt. His string of 16 years in a row with a victory was broken in 2002. The string was the best of all active drivers.
Rusty Wallace - Statistics
| Year | Top 5 | Top 10 | Laps Led | Earnings | Races | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 8 | 19 | N/A | $4,828,771 | 42 | 0 |
| 2004 | 3 | 13 | 308 | $4,267,669 | 38 | 1 |
| 2003 | 2 | 12 | 379 | $3,020,259 | 37 | 0 |
| 2002 | 7 | 17 | 202 | $2,825,935 | 36 | 0 |
| 2001 | 8 | 14 | 1104 | $4,138,884 | 36 | 1 |
| 2000 | 12 | 20 | 1731 | $2,956,190 | 34 | 4 |
| 1999 | 7 | 16 | 1048 | $2,123,429 | 34 | 1 |
| 1998 | 15 | 21 | 945 | $2,006,435 | 33 | 1 |
| 1997 | 8 | 12 | 785 | $1,428,671 | 33 | 1 |
| 1996 | 8 | 19 | 964 | $1,203,412 | 32 | 5 |
| 1995 | 15 | 19 | 1066 | $1,323,878 | 31 | 2 |
| 1994 | 17 | 20 | 2142 | $1,416,120 | 31 | 8 |
| 1993 | 19 | 21 | 2860 | $1,147,830 | 31 | 10 |
| 1992 | 5 | 12 | 673 | $556,475 | 29 | 1 |
| 1991 | 9 | 14 | 524 | $390,330 | 29 | 2 |
| 1990 | 9 | 16 | 1137 | $794,014 | 29 | 2 |
| 1989 | 14 | 22 | 2106 | $895,235 | 36 | 6 |
| 1988 | 19 | 26 | 908 | $952,010 | 35 | 6 |
| 1987 | 12 | 20 | 450 | $528,760 | 41 | 2 |
| 1986 | 5 | 18 | 427 | $386,200 | 32 | 2 |
| 1985 | 5 | 11 | 28 | $205,755 | 32 | 0 |
| 1984 | 2 | 4 | 11 | $172,615 | 30 | 0 |
| 1982 | 0 | 0 | N/A | $7,655 | 3 | 0 |
| 1981 | 0 | 1 | N/A | $12,895 | 4 | 0 |
| 1980 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $22,860 | 2 | 0 |
