Fast Facts: Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace after his 2011 Talladega Truck Series win
Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR/Chris Graythen

Family is often the tie that binds in auto racing, and nowhere is that more evident than with the Wallace family. Taking after family patriarch Russ Wallace, his three sons – Rusty, Mike and Kenny – all made names for themselves in stock car racing, with Rusty, profiled here, reaching the pinnacle of NASCAR success as both Cup Series champion (1989) and recent inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame (2013). This week in Fast Facts, we’ll meet middle brother Mike, a veteran of all three national series in NASCAR.

• Michael Samuel Wallace was born March 10, 1959 in Fenton, Missouri. In addition to being the middle Wallace brother, between older brother Rusty and younger brother Kenny, he is the father of racers Chrissie and Matt, as well as another daughter, Lindsey, with his wife Carla.
• After competing in stock cars around the Midwest and winning the 1990 NASCAR Winston Racing Series Mid-America Regional championship, Wallace made his Nationwide Series debut at the final race of the 1990 season, starting 24th and finishing sixth at Martinsville. In 1991, he made his Cup Series debut at Phoenix racing against Rusty and Kenny, marking the first time since the 1950s that three brothers competed in Cup Series race.
• Since his Nationwide Series debut, Wallace has competed in all three top-tier NASCAR series. He competed full-time in the Truck Series from 1998 to 2000, and in 14 seasons over 17 years (1995 to 2011) earned five wins, 56 top 10 finishes and three poles in 115 races. In the Nationwide Series, he has eight full-time seasons over 23 years (every year since 1990), winning four times and finishing in the top 10 64 times in 449 races. In the Cup Series, Wallace has 14 top 10 finishes in 190 starts in 18 seasons over 19 years (1991 to 2009).
• In October 2009 at Talladega Superspeedway, Wallace and his daughter Chrissy became the first father and daughter to compete in a NASCAR race; they later repeated the feat in the Nationwide Series, at Daytona in February 2010.
• In 2013, Wallace is set to return to the Nationwide Series as driver of the No. 01 of JC Motorsports with Gary Keller; the team is currently looking for sponsorship.
• Find out more about Mike Wallace at his website, www.mikewallace.com.