“Freaked me completely out”: Rusty Wallace recalls the moment Bill France Jr. nearly banned him from NASCAR for life

Rusty Wallace recently addressed the "scariest thing" that has ever happened to him in his life during his days as a racing driver in NASCAR. Speaking about the incident in a recent interview, the former driver recalled how close he came to being banned from the sport for good by Bill France, NASCAR's then-CEO.

Wallace, a 55-time Cup Series race winner, recently sat for an interview with his younger brother, Kenny Wallace, who is also a former NASCAR driver. While having a conversation regarding the stock car racing sport, Mr. Rusty Wallace opened up about an incident he would never forget.

It was the 1989 Goody's 300 Busch Series (currently Xfinity Series) race at Daytona International Speedway, in which he finished runner-up behind Darrell Waltrip. However, not before he was involved with Dale Jarrett in the penultimate lap.

"It was, it was a Bush race on a Saturday," Wallace said in the interview. "Last lap, I'm leading the race. Dale Jarrett gets alongside me. We go in the corner and I get real tight to him. He gets loose. He gets up in the gray. He spins. I go on and I'm thinking I'm going to win the race and underneath him I hear Darrell Waltrip. Here comes Darrell Waltrip in the very bottom. He wins, I finish second." (0:27-0:52)

Even though the race was over, Mr. Wallace's troubles weren't. After the wreck, he was called to the "big red building" where Bill France Jr., NASCAR's then CEO, was present. They reviewed the wreck, which appeared to be deliberate.

"Okay. So Rusty Wallace to the garage at Daytona. They had a building, not a big red truck. Brought me in there. He said, "Son, this is Bill France." He said, "I'm kicking you out for life and your day is over. Your racing history is done. You need to load your chicken sh*t ass up and go back to St. Louis." Freaked me completely out," he further added in the interview. (1:00-1:21)

After this, France checked the video where Wallace was involved in an incident with Jarrett. However, the footage showed that the two drivers did not make any contact, and as a result, Rusty Wallace did not face any penalty.

---

Rusty Wallace's NASCAR career in a nutshell

Rusty Wallace, born on August 14, 1956, is a renowned NASCAR driver with 749 races across all three national series races, the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series. The 1989 Cup Series champion, Wallace, occasionally participated in Xfinity Series races, and the above incident is a testament to that.

Rusty Wallace during the red carpet at Charlotte Convention Center Crown Ballroom. - Source: Imagn

In the Cup Series, Wallace amassed 706 races in over 25 years from 1980 to 2004, where he picked up 55 wins, 36 pole positions, and 349 Top-10s. In the Xfinity, he has 42 races under his belt, with two poles and 18 Top-10s. However, he only has one race to his name in the Truck Series.

Over the years, the 68-year-old racked up multiple accolades in NASCAR, including a NASCAR Hall of Fame induction, International Motorsport Hall of Fame, Missouri Motorsports Hall of Fame, 1984 Cup Series Rookie of the Year, and one of NASCAR's 50 and 75 Greatest Drivers.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

Edited by Pratham K Sharma