Rusty Wallace: # 27, Pontiac Grand Prix

Russell William “Rusty” Wallace is a former NASCAR champion, NASCAR Bush Series car owner, and a television broadcaster with the Walt Disney Company. Wallace was born in 1956 in Fenton, Missouri, and had his first live broadcast of the Indy 500 on May 2006.

In the late 70s prior to joining the NASCAR circuit, Wallace made a name by himself racing around the Midwest winning a pair of local track championships. Rusty won more than 200 short track races. He also won United States Auto Club’s (USAC) Rookie of the Years honor in 1979 while competing against the likes of A.J Foyt and other racing legends. In 1983 he won the American Speed association (ASA) championship while competing against some of NASCAR’s future stars.

Wallace joined the Winston Cup circuit full-time in 1984, winning NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors and finishing 14th in the final points standings. In 1986 he switched teams to the # 27 Alugard Pontiac for Raymond Beadle. His first win came at Bristol Motor Speedway. In 1987, Rusty obtained a new sponsorship which made his career more remembered with his #27, Kodiak Pontiac.

By 1989, Wallace had won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship, beating out to close friend and fierce rival Dale Earnhardt by twelve points. In the 1990s Wallace switched sponsors, and had his most successful season in 1993 when he won 10 of the 30 races, but finished second in the final points standings, 80 points behind Earnhardt. He ended the season strong, finishing in the Top- 3 in all but second of the final ten races of the season.

In 2004, Wallace won his 55th, and final, race on a short track: the 2004 spring Martinsville speedway race. On August 30, 2004 Wallace announced that his last season as a full-time driver would be the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Currently, Rusty registers 55 NASCAR wins, which is tied for 8th on NASCAR’s all time wins list.