Rusty Wallace, born August 14, 1956, is best known as a former NASCAR racing driver with the most short-track wins in NASCAR History. Ranked ninth among the all-time NASCAR Cup Series winners with 55 career points-paying victories, Wallace has been inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, to name a few.

In 1984, Wallace began his professional career with the Winston Cup circuit, winning NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. In 1986, he took his first career victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, eventually completing the year with two wins and a Top 10 season finish. He was then sponsored by Kodiak tobacco, and ended his 1987 season with fifth in the final points standing, and in 1988 he climbed to second place. Wallace took his first NASCAR Winston Cup Championship in 1989. In 1993, he managed to win 10 of his 30 races, completing the season second in overall points. Wallace secured his 50th career win at Bristol, in 2000, becoming the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win 50+ races. After the 2005 season, Wallace retired, completing his career with a 14.4 average-point finish.

Wallace won the Richard Petty Driver of the Year award in 1988 and 1993. In 1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
He was also the recipient of the 2005 NASCAR Illustrated Person of the Year Award and the 2005 Myers Brothers Award. In 2006, The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame named him a Missouri Sports Legend. And in 2011, Wallace was inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. He currently covers auto racing events for ESPN and ABC, reaching millions of racing fans worldwide.