Firefighters' Marshal:
Rusty Wallace

NASCAR Legend and ESPN Broadcaster, Rusty Wallace, will serve as the Firefighters’ Marshal for the 85th Celebration of the Blooms. Russell William "Rusty" Wallace, Jr. (born August 14th, 1956), has delighted racing fans not only with his hard-nosed and aggressive approach to racing, but also with a personality and charisma that are unmatched in the sport. Wallace’s accomplishments both on and off the track have been widely recognized. He is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association’s (NMPA) Hall of Fame, a past recipient of the NMPA Myers Brothers Award for outstanding lifetime contributions to the sport of stock car racing and a two-time NMPA Driver of the Year.

When all is said and done, Wallace, a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and 55-time race winner, will go into history as one of the greatest stock car drivers ever to strap on a helmet. At the time of his retirement from driving in 2005, Wallace ranked as one of the top-five money winners in NASCAR history, with nearly $50 million in career earnings. His 55 career victories marked the eighth-best all-time career total and the seventh-best in NASCAR’s modern era. His nearly 20,000 laps led ranked him seventh all-time. For sixteen straight seasons, Wallace won at least one race on NASCAR’s premier circuit, marking the third longest such streak in history. In his final year on the NASCAR circuit, Rusty Wallace left fans with an appreciation for his vast contributions to the growth and popularity of NASCAR racing. Nine race facilities permanently honored Wallace and more than a dozen state, city, and county seats of government declared race day as officially recognized Rusty Wallace Days. In addition, bestowed upon Wallace were Delaware’s Order of the First State and North Carolina’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honors in those states.

Wallace’s current undertakings allow him to continue putting his immense knowledge and charismatic personality to work. In 2006, he was named Lead Auto Racing Analyst for ABC/ESPN and currently headlines NASCAR Countdown, the networks’ widely-popular race show. Thanks to his first-hand experience with the sport’s inner workings, Wallace is widely acknowledged as one of the foremost authorities on NASCAR racing. Wallace is also active in other business pursuits. In 2005, he became the first driver in recent history to design a professional racing facility, when he inked the plans for the 7/8 mile Iowa Speedway. The next year, Iowa Speedway opened to rave reviews. The facility currently hosts rounds of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the IRL Indycar Series and a bevy of other professional racing series. Additionally, Wallace is a sought-after public speaker and the principal stakeholder in The Rusty Wallace Automotive Group, a collection of six automotive dealerships located throughout eastern Tennessee.

While he remains as intense as ever, Rusty Wallace also enjoys relaxing on the golf course and piloting his Learjet 31A.  An avid pilot with over 11,000 flight hours, Wallace has three children and resides near Charlotte, NC, with his wife, Patti. Rusty Wallace’s schedule at the 85th Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival® is still being confirmed. While Festival Organizers feel confident in announcing their intention to attempt to take Tony and Jazz Dorsett by the Wells Fargo Sports Breakfast for at least a podium recognition [schedule permitting], they do not know at this time if Rusty’s schedule will permit him to do the same thing. Rusty Wallace’s appearance at the 2012 Festival is sponsored by Gear Clean.

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