Only Yesterday: From Glory to Frustration, Rusty Wallace Experienced It All at Bristol

It’s complicated.

No, that isn’t a reference to anyone’s relationship status, employment history, or past experiences. At least not in this particular instance. Rather, it describes the highs and lows of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway for another driver who picked up his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at the Last Great Colosseum: Rusty Wallace.

Wallace made 44 starts on the high banked .533-mile concrete oval in eastern Tennessee and a simple glance at the stat sheet would lead one to believe that it was all love and no hate. 

Sure, there are plenty of highlights, beginning primarily in April of 1986 when his fifth start in Raymond Beadle’s No. 27 Pontiac resulted in his first Cup win. He led 174 laps en route to victory after leading 28 laps and finishing fifth in the previous spring event at Bristol.

Like Ty Gibbs, the most recent first-time winner at Bristol, Wallace winning a race wasn’t much of a surprise. He finished second in his first ever Cup start in 1980 and it seemed to be almost inevitable that he would better that showing eventually.

But 1988 would bring one of the most shocking low moments of Rusty’s career. While practicing for the August night race, Wallace blew a tire, glanced off of the wall and began a violent barrel roll down the frontstretch. After the roll cage was cut off, track workers discovered Wallace had been knocked unconscious by the crash. Dr. Jerry Punch, who served as a pit reporter for the ESPN television broadcast, helped stabilize Wallace. Years later, during his Hall of Fame induction speech, Wallace credited Punch with saving his life.

There would be more wins though. Wallace won in the spring of 1989, 1991, and 1993 as well as his first triumph in the nighttime edition in 1994. Wallace brought a streak of seven consecutive finishes of 10th or better at the track into the August race in 1995 and qualified fifth. 

But Bristol giveth and Bristol taketh away. Or in this case, Dale Earnhardt took away Wallace’s position when he took a shot at the rear bumper of the No. 2 Ford. Just 33 laps into the Goody’s 500, a tap from Earnhardt turned Rusty around and left him backwards against the turn 4 wall. 

Wallace was not amused and made contact with Earnhardt under the ensuing caution to express his displeasure. But even a one-lap penalty for the Intimidator and the passage of three hours did little to quell Wallace’s frustration. After the race, the two engaged in a heated exchange that culminated with Rusty hurling a water bottle at Earnhardt. The bottle missed but Wallace made sure the message landed with his post-race comments.

“I ain’t forgetting this and I ain’t forgetting Talladega,” Wallace said, referring to a 1993 crash in which he was sent into a wild series of flips after being bumped by the Goodwrench Chevrolet. He added, “I’ll see you next week in (expletive) Darlington!” Either Wallace felt better seven days later at the Southern 500 or he didn’t see an opportunity to retaliate because that race concluded without any incident between the two.

Wallace would feel much better a year later, as he won the Bristol night race for a second time. He followed that up with a pole in the spring of 1997, but there would be another heartbreak brought on by a competitor’s front bumper.

Rusty had the lead at the white flag but Jeff Gordon was hot on his heels. Entering turn 3, Gordon drove in deep and got to the bumper of the Miller Lite Ford. Wallace bobbled and Gordon snuck past to collect his third-consecutive victory in the spring race.

Wallace seemed a little less angry about this incident than he had been a year and a half earlier. In fact, he lamented that Gordon wouldn’t have even been close enough to reach his bumper if not for the lapped car of Jimmy Spencer occupying the preferred line as they exited turn 2 on the final lap.

That pole in 1997 was part of an impressive run for Wallace in qualifying at Bristol during which he started sixth or better nine times in a 10-race span, including five poles. Then in 1999, he ended Gordon’s four-year stranglehold on the Food City 500, starting and finishing in first place to secure his 49th career win.

The 2000 season saw Wallace reach an important milestone that had eluded him for a year. He admitted that after the 1999 win, he expected to win “five or six more times” that year but remained stuck at 49. Then Wallace became only the 10th driver to achieve 50 Cup wins by claiming his second consecutive spring race victory. 

While the first visit to Bristol in 2000 saw Rusty mired in a slump, he came into the nighttime edition as the hottest driver on the circuit. Wallace had won two of the past four Cup starts and would make it three out of five, sweeping both races at the concrete half-mile in one year for the first time.

Heading to Bristol in August of 2002, there was another slump for Rusty, but this time he wasn’t alone in that regard. His adversary Jeff Gordon was also winless to that point in the season. Once again, Wallace was leading Gordon late in the event and once again, the No. 24 put the bumper to the Penske stalwart. 

The move came with three laps to go and relegated Wallace to his third runner-up finish of 2002. He failed to win a race that year for the first time since he began winning with that first Bristol triumph in 1986. 

Wallace hung up his helmet at the conclusion of the 2005 season. His legacy is that of an adept road racer and a short track ace, at least in part due to his impressive performances at a certain half-mile in eastern Tennessee.