|
Russell William (RUSTY) Wallace Jr
Bio/Stats |
||
|
|
married to wife Pattie 1984 was Rustys rookie year,where he drove the 88 Gatorade Pontiac for Raymond Beadle, 1984 saw Rusty take his first win at Bristol Motor Speedway,a track that he was to see a lot more success at during his career,although one scare came in a crash in 88 when he had to be revived by Dr Jerry Punch,after he had stopped breathing 1989 Rusty in the Kodiak Pontiac achieves his first and only cup championship,beating Dale Earnhardt by a meer 12 points, it was well known on track that Rusty and Dale were fierce rivals, but off track, a great respect and friendship blossomed 1990 saw the introduction of the Miller Genuine Draft sponsership, but finacial problems saw Rusty leave at the end of the season, to join Roger Penske,he took the Miller sponsership with him, now driving the No 2 Pontiac, 1993/4 was Rustys most successful,with crew chief Buddy Parrott, he won 18 races,but also saw him have two airborne crashes at Daytona and Talledega, 93 also saw the death of good friend Alan Kulwicki at Bristol and the introduction of the Polish victory lap in his honour, 94 Penske also changed to Ford Rusty has shown he has a temper many times,once trowing a bottle of water at Dale Earnhardt accusing him of rough driving,but by the next race run lap after lap, door to door, racing each other clean, some believe that was the perfect image of what NASCAR racing should be. He still found some success but wins became harder to clinch,now in the Dodge Miller Lite Rusty, saw his good friend Dale Earnhardt killed at Daytona 2001,he had to wait until California,April 29th Dales 50th birthday,to salute his good friends memory, holding a 3 flag aloft, on his victory lap, some say this was the moment Rusty questioned his comitment to racing,and 2005 we saw him walk away. Quote,when asked, after winning a race,if he would party? What do you think,we a sponsered by a beer company for christs sake!
|
|