Russell William Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver.

In 1979, he won the United States Auto Club's (USAC) Stock Car Rookie of the Year honors, finishing third in points behind A. J. Foyt and Bay Darnell.

[4] In 1983, he won the American Speed Association (ASA) championship while also competing against some of NASCAR's future stars like Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, and Dick Trickle.

In 1984, Wallace joined the Winston Cup circuit full-time, winning NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors and finishing 14th in the final points standings.

He scored victories at Watkins Glen and Riverside, as well as his first series pole at Michigan in June.

During a practice session at Bristol on August 27, 1988, Wallace's car lost control and slammed on the turn 4 wall before barrel rolling five times on the straightaway.

It took rescue officials - including Jerry Punch - 15 minutes to extract him from the wrecked car.

[5][6] Despite this near-death experience, Wallace developed his career further in 1988, scoring six victories (including four of the final five races of the year).

In 1989, Wallace won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship with crew chief Barry Dodson, by finishing 15th at the Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta to beat out close friend and fierce rival Dale Earnhardt (the race winner) by 12 points.

Wallace also won The Winston in a controversial fashion, by spinning out Darrell Waltrip on the last lap.

The season was also a sad one, as Wallace's friend and reigning NASCAR Champion Alan Kulwicki was killed flying into Bristol in April 1993.

On August 30, 2004, Wallace announced that the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season would be his last as a full-time driver.

In 2006, Wallace returned to his General Motors roots when he raced a Crawford-Pontiac sportscar, painted black and carrying the familiar stylized No.

They include victories at Charlotte as well as the series' last three road courses (Riverside, Infineon and Watkins Glen), but none at Daytona, Darlington, Indianapolis, or Talladega.

"[11] Wallace's legacy, besides being a close rival of Dale Earnhardt, was a number of severe wrecks he endured, especially at restrictor plate racetracks.

He was tapped by Rick Wilson, got airborne, and went on a spectacular series of flips that left him hospitalized.

The first was at the 1993 Daytona 500, where he was tapped by the crashing cars of Michael Waltrip and Derrike Cope, and barrel rolled multiple times in the grass on the back straightaway several feet in the air.

Months later, at Talladega, racing to the checkered flag, Wallace was tagged from behind by Dale Earnhardt, turned backwards, and flew into the air before violently flipping in the grass past the start-finish line, breaking a wrist (the area where Wallace's car wrecked has since been paved over).

Earnhardt was visibly shaken by the incident and did make sure Wallace was okay by checking on him after the race had concluded.

[12] He also had an airborne crash in his last Gatorade Twin in 2005 when Dave Blaney clipped his right rear tire and sent his car off the ground.

On April 1, 2015, Wallace tested a Stadium Super Truck owned by former NASCAR driver Robby Gordon, and the following day, he announced he would race in the series' X Games round in Austin.

[14] During the LCQ, Wallace rolled his truck, but continued running;[15] he finished sixth in the event but failed to qualify for the feature.

Driving for "Ferrari of Houston", Wallace finished tenth overall and third in the Professional, North America class.

[16] On January 25, 2006, it was announced that Wallace would cover auto racing events for ESPN and ABC.

Despite Wallace's lack of open-wheel racing experience, his assignments began with the IndyCar Series and included the Indianapolis 500 (in a perhaps forgivable lapse, he described a thrilling battle on the last lap as "The most exciting Daytona 500 ever!").

Stephen raced full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and made his Cup Series debut during the 2011 Daytona 500, making him the fourth member of his family to compete in the Daytona 500 and in NASCAR, behind the Bodines (Geoff, Brett, and Todd), Pettys (Lee, Richard, and Kyle), Earnhardts (Ralph, Dale, Dale Jr. and Jeffrey), and the Allisons (Bobby, Donnie, and Davey).

In late 2005, Wallace broke ground on his "Signature Design Speedway" in Newton, Iowa.

The track is noted for its structural similarity to Richmond International Raceway, where Wallace has won six times.

[18] On December 4, 2023, it was announced that the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race there was officially sold out.

2 Ford, with the exception that the Miller Lite stickers are replaced by Penske Racing stickers similar to current Penske Championship Racing driver Brad Keselowski, whose sponsor is censored by NASCAR's ban on wireless telephone advertising.