NASCAR Car Number Countdown - #27
January 20th, 2008 by James J.
Many of the older veteran drivers complain about the length of the Sprint Cup Schedule. Several of them have retired from full time competition, but still get in a car on a race-by-race basis for various teams. Veterans such as Terry Labonte and Bill Elliot are perfect examples. Some will begin pursuing a career in television. While others will cut back on their personal appearances and truly retire from the sport, perhaps spending more time on their farm or with family. Each of them have one common goal, to cut back on their schedule and commitments. As we reach car #27 on the car number countdown to the Daytona 500, we will spotlight a driver who has been a dominant force on the track with many wins, a championship, a part owner of a cup team, and owner of a Busch Series team. Yet after his retirement, one has to wonder if his schedule got any easier at all.
Stats for all cars running the #27:
- Number of Races: 851
- Number of Wins: 51
- Number of Top 5s: 210
- Number of Top 10s: 348
- Number of Poles: 45
- Number of Drivers: 76
Spotlight Subject: Driver Rusty Wallace
While Rusty Wallace is most commonly associated with the Miller car #2, I’ve chosen to spotlight the 1984 Cup Rookie of the Year in the #27 cars. He competed in 145 races with the #27 and had an average finish of 11.5 in those races. It was in the #27 that Rusty won his Winston Cup Championship in 1989. The championship year featured Rusty in the #27 Kodiak Pontiac that his early career is most remembered for. Rusty also got his first Cup Series win in the #27 at a track that he would come to dominate and be a fan favorite at, Bristol Motor Speedway. During one race at Bristol, 
Rusty was involved in a crash where he stopped breathing. A pit reporter (who was also a doctor) revived Rusty. That pit reporter would be Dr. Jerry Punch. After 25 years of racing, 9 of Rusty’s 55 Cup Series wins (which puts him 7th on the All-Time Win list) came at Bristol. After 706 races in Cup Series racing, Rusty would have 202 top fives, 349 top tens, and 36 poles. His average finish was 14.5 through his entire Cup career. Most of his success and wins came on tracks such as, Bristol (9 wins), Martinsville (7 wins), Richmond, (6 wins) and Rockingham (5 wins). He also has two race wins each on the two road course circuits. Rusty truly dominated on the shorter tracks having never won a point-paying restrictor place race in Cup Series competition. However, he would have many good runs on the restrictor plate tracks, he also is remembered for some of his horrific crashes that he survived there too.
The 2005 season was dubbed “Rusty’s Last Call” as it would mark his retirement season. He would be honored with an emotionally moving display by the fans in the grandstands at Bristol, the site for so much of his success. Since then, Rusty seems to have kept just as busy of a schedule as he had before retirement. He has signed on with ESPN for six years in which he will be in the broadcast booth with none other than Dr. Jerry Punch calling the action for NASCAR races. Even before his retirement Rusty owned some automobile dealerships, but the list seems to keep growing as he is now at six selling everything from Cadillacs to Kias. Rusty is an avid pilot with over 15,000 flight hours. Over the years he has increased his certifications and pilots license class which now enables him to pilot either his Lear jet or helicopter. While Rusty did sell his part ownership in Penske Racing South (the Cup Series operation which he drove for with Roger Penske), he has his own Busch Series team in which his son, Steven Wallace, competes.
If his schedule and above mentioned ambitions were not enough, Rusty has ventured into another business, race track design. Rusty took his years of experience as a driver and team owner and joined forces with consultants and business partners to create the Iowa Speedway, the first driver-deigned race track in the country. The track is just under a mile in length and opened with grandstand seating for 25,000 spectators and expansion plans for 40,000 seats. The garage area can accommodate 50 competitors and the track itself is equipped with the SAFER Barrier System walls. The speedway has received great reviews since opening, and is noted for it’s similarity to Richmond International Raceway. Now, Rusty has joined with Riverside Motorsports Park in California as a consultant. Over the next five years he will provide track design assistance to the eight racing venues that are a part of Riverside Motorsports Park. These eight venues will offer fifteen race tracks within a single recreation and entertainment park. The complex will consist of tracks such as:
- A 7.8 mile track
- A 3.2 mile road course (which closely resembles Riverside Int’l Raceway)
- A 1/4 mile drag strip
- A 1/3 & 1/2 mile banked oval tracks
- A 3/8 mile dirt oval track
- A 3/4 mile karting course
- A 1/2 mile motocross & 1/8 mile BMX course
- A 1 mile off-road course for trucks, buggies, etc.
Be sure to check out the Riverside Motorsports Park website and click on the “park map” and “park tour” links. The facilities are sure to be impressive and ambitious. Sounds like something right up Rusty’s alley.
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