Russ Wallace dies
Wallace, a determined auto racer, scored over 400 feature race victories on Midwestern short tracks in the 1960s and 1970s, making him one of the region's most feared drivers of the time. He eventually spawned what has become one of racing's most well-known families, including three winners in NASCAR's National Series: Rusty, Mike and Kenny Wallace.
In February, 2011, Russ Wallace's family became the first in NASCAR history to have produced four Daytona 500 competitors. When grandson Steve Wallace qualified for the February event, he broke a longtime tie with the Petty, Allison, Earnhardt and Bodine families.
Russ Wallace was born on August 2, 1934 in St. Louis, MO to the late William Russell Wallace and Marie George Wallace. He is survived by his wife Judy, sons, Rusty Wallace and wife Patti, Mike Wallace and wife Carla and Kenny Wallace and wife Kim.
He is also survived by brother Gary Wallace and wife Jane, as well as nine grandchildren: Greg, Katie, Lindsey Wallace Van Wingerden and husband Thomas, Brooke, Stephen, Chrissy, Brandy, Brittany and Matt. He was preceded in death by his grandson Michael Wallace, Jr.
In lieu of flowers, memorials to Russ Wallace may be made online to the USO at: http://www.uso.org/wallace or to Victory Junction Gang Camp, 4500 Adam's Way, Randleman, NC 27317.
The family will receive members of the racing community and other invited friends at Grace Covenant Church in Cornelius, NC on Monday, November 7, 2011, from 4-8 PM. The family will also receive friends on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 from 12-3 PM at Schrader's Funeral Home in Ballwin, MO. Wallace Family
10/30/11 Russ Wallace, the patriarch of the racing family that grew to include not only his three sons but also some of his grandchildren, died early Sunday morning from complications of a stroke he suffered only days earlier. He was 77.
Long before sons Rusty, Mike and Kenny Wallace were winning races in NASCAR's top national touring series, the trio stayed busy preparing cars that their father raced on dirt tracks around the St. Louis area — primarily in Granite City, Ill., and Valley Park, Mo. Russ Wallace was an accomplished and well-respected driver on dirt, where he once won 200 features during a four-year stretch from 1974-78 in machines that his sons helped build and repair. He generally won no more than $300 to $500 even on a good night, however, and had to work various jobs to support his racing obsession.
Through the years he worked as a mechanic at a car dealership, as a newspaper carrier (again assisted by his sons, who frequently delivered the newspapers) and as co-owner of a vacuum and janitorial supply business in St. Louis. NASCAR.com