The Bizarre and Controversial Life of the Forgotten Mike Wallace
The Wallace family as a whole is an odd pack of characters who all have their own unique stories and qualities. Including the unrelated defending Brickyard 400 champion Bubba Wallace, who would slot in so perfectly, I’m still shocked he isn’t related to any of them! But one of the least talked about is Mike Wallace!
If You Dig Into Him: You Might Find Him To Be The Oddest Of the Bunch
I’m sure he’s only known by younger fans due to his recent controversies with the top brass of NASCAR. Like this year, when he was not allowed to race at the Daytona 500 because he’s a 65-year-old with no next-gen experience. Or in 2020, when NASCAR banned him for a short period for a social media post that NASCAR strangely never disclosed to the media. Which post caused the suspension and the need for sensitivity training? And to this day, nobody knows. But that’s only the tip of the Mike Wallace weirdness iceberg.
From Tragedy to Malice to Victim to Suspended to Banned: It’s a Roller Coaster
One sunny afternoon in 1984, Mike Wallace was backing out of his driveway like normal, only to hit a bump. A bump that turned out to be his own, almost 2-year-old son, Michael Samuel “Mikie” Wallace Jr. The hit would take the infant’s life, the brand-new father now losing the son who had changed his life so much for the better before he could even see him go to school. Only he knows how much this affected him and in what ways, but we know we used this tragedy to help others.
After another tragic loss, that of Dale Sr. after the 01 500, Tony Stewart talked to Mike Wallace, who told Tony Stewart about his son, and then told him whatever’s bothering him, it isn’t that bad. Advice Tony took that to heart and even became friends with him.
Now It’s Time to Go from The Good Side to the Ugly
In 1994, Shawna Robinson became the first woman to earn a grand national pole at Atlanta, where she started next to Front Row Joe, and behind her was Mike Wallace. In turn 3, Wallace made it three wide, hitting Nemechek and then Robinson, wrecking both. Then, both Nemechek and Robinson accuse Mike Wallace of something I’ve never seen any other NASCAR driver accused of before. Because they both said Wallace, before the race, told everyone he would intentionally wreck Robinson.
Although Wallace denies this, and I couldn’t find any record of NASCAR punishing him for it, which would be the only time in my memory that a driver has ever claimed to have intentionally wrecked someone and then received no punishment. His 1994 season was unusual in general, with almost as many wins as DNQs, having 3 wins and 2 DNQs, despite being full-time in all but 3 races with Owen Racing.
The Bizarre Mess That Was His Career
Starting with Owen Racing, replacing the fallen Clifford Allison, and quickly going PT in Cup a year after his Busch Series debut in 1990. Four years into his career, he had already driven for eight different teams in both series. After his breakout in 1994, he went for Donleavy in 22 Cup races.
After struggling in both Cup and Busch, being fired from 2 different Cup Series rides mid-season. He began his truck series revival with frequent top tens in 2 seasons with Ken Schrader. Before an impressive 2 seasons with Ultra, winning four total races and finishing 6th and 4th in points.
Full-time in the Cup Series with Ultra in 2001
Starting with a top 10 in the 500, he was inconsistent, with 4 top ten finishes, 3 of which were at plate tracks; he also had 3 finishes of 40th or worse. Midway through 2001, the greatest opportunity of his career arose when he was at Penske, where his brother Rusty also raced.
Mayfield was fired, and so Rusty did Mike a solid and got him the No. 12 ride. He had 2 top tens with an 8th at Martinsville and a 2nd at Phoenix, where he was upfront all day. In 2001, he also raced for the GEICO-sponsored Biagi Brothers in the Busch Series, which is where he’d spend the majority of 2002.
Multiple Cup Races in 2002
Like all the plates for APR, replacing Benson in the 10 and finishing the season for AJ Foyt‘s No. 14 and finishing 10th at Bristol. The following season, he continued racing for Biagi and began another long-term relationship in Cup with Phoenix Racing, going PT for both in 03. In 2004, Mike Wallace started his streak of random plate track wins, winning at Daytona, which gave the Biagi brothers their first-ever win after Leffler intentionally tried to take out Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip.
He Played a Side Character, Too
Like when he ran out of fuel on the last lap at Chicagoland in the Busch Series, handing Justin Labonte his only NASCAR win. And in 2004, he led several laps in the chase cut-off race at Richmond and battled with Jeremy Mayfield for several laps, who went on to win that race to make the first-ever Chase. By 2005, he had driven for 30 different car owners; however, from 2006 to 2011, he experienced more stability.
Racing full-time for Phoenix and then Germain in the Busch Series, and even earned a top 5 in the 2007 Daytona 500. In 2010, he went full-time with JDM Motorsports in the No. 01 for four seasons, during which he achieved two top tens at road courses, the only time in his career. He even won a truck race for KHI in 2011, winning the Talladega race after leading half the laps.
Another Strange Incident in 2016
In a concert, he was assaulted by three people, resulting in physical injuries, and he went to court. However, charges were eventually dropped for unknown reasons. Nowadays, despite his previous claim that he doesn’t need NASCAR, he can be seen begging Elon Musk for support to return to NASCAR. Why one of the wealthiest men in the world would sponsor a driver with no Cup wins is beyond me, but hey, props for trying.
