Wally Dallenbach, Jr.

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**Wally Dallenbach, Jr.**

Born:	May 23, 1963 (age 43)
Birthplace:	Basalt, Colorado
Awards:	—
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics
226 races run over 11 years.
Best Cup Position:	18th - 1999 (Winston Cup)
First Race:	1991 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 (Atlanta)
Last Race:	2001 Pocono 500 (Pocono)
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
0	23	0

Wally Dallenbach, Jr. in 2004

Wally Dallenbach, Jr. (born May 23, 1963 in Basalt, Colorado) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He competed in 226 Winston Cup races from 1991 to 2001, but had only 23 top 10 finishes and no wins. The son of legendary open wheel racer and former CART chief steward, Wally Dallenbach, Sr., Wally Jr. is also an accomplished road racer. Aside from NASCAR, Wally has raced in SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA, CART, and the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb.

Wally began his pro racing career in the SCCA Trans-Am Series. Immediately he won the Rookie-of-the Year title in 1984, and followed that up with two Trans-Am championships. The first one in 1985 driving for Jack Roush in a Mercury Capri. This made Wally the youngest Trans-Am champion at just 22 years old. The following year Wally joined the Protofab team and drove their Camaros to another championship. The success garnered him an invitation to race in the International Race of Champions in 1987. Wally followed up those accomplishments by winning the 24 Hours of Daytona four times and the 12 Hours of Sebring three times.

By 1991, Wally was ready to make a jump to the world of NASCAR. He made 11 starts that year drving one of Junie Donlavey's Fords. In 1992, former boss, Jack Roush called Wally up to have him drive as a teammate to Mark Martin in the #16 Keystone Beer Ford. He drove for Roush during the 1992 and 1993 seasons with two top5 and five top10 finishes. In 1994, The King, Richard Petty put Wally in the famous STP #43. He was the first driver other than Petty to drive the #43. Things didn't go as well and Wally was released part way through the season. 1995 was an up-and-down year as Wally didn't have a full time ride. However a one race deal with Bill Davis in the #22 MBNA Pontiac almost got Wally his first Winston Cup win at Watkins Glen. The following years saw Wally jumping around to different rides including the #15 Hayes Modems Ford for Bud Moore in 1996, and the #46 First Union Chevrolets for Felix Sabates from 1997 through part of 1998. Later that year Wally stepped in to sub for Ricky Craven in the #50 Budweiser Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. The combination worked out well and Wally signed on to drive the #25 Budweiser Chevrolet for 1999. It resulted in his best position in the standings of 18th. In 2000, Wally joined the new Galaxy Motorsports and drove the #75 Turner Broadcasting Ford. It was a difficult season and proved even more so when promised sponsor opportunites fell through leaving Wally rideless right before the 2001 season was to begin.

Without a ride, Wally took up TV commentating in 2001, covering the NASCAR races for NBC and TNT alongside Allen Bestwick and Benny Parsons, and now Bill Weber. In doing so, he has since become known for his pre-race "Wally's World" segment, where he takes celebrities for a ride around the track. The commentating also allowed Wally to drive in a few NASCAR Busch Series races and do some live commentary from the car.

These days, Wally hasn't given up on driving. He has since run Daytona Prototypes with his brother Paul at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in 2006, won the open wheel division at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb with Paul finishing right behind in 2nd.