Rusty Wallace - Major Crashes

Major Crashes

Rusty Wallace is known for being involved in several severe wrecks throughout his racing career. The first one happened in 1983, when Wallace was attempting the Daytona 500 through the Gatorade Twin 125's. He was tapped by Rick Wilson, got airborne, and went on a spectacular series of flips that left him hospitalized. His next flip came at Bristol Motor Speedway. Its beginning was unclear, but Wallace somehow managed to climb the wall and did a barrel roll. ESPN commentator Dr. Jerry Punch was the first responder, and possibly saved his life. In 1993, Rusty had two massive flips – both at plate tracks. 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 down the back straightaway several feet in the air. Just 2 months later at the Winston 500 at Talladega, racing to the checkered flag, Rusty 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. Earnhardt was visibly shaken by the incident and did make sure Wallace was okay by checking on him after the race had concluded.