Prior to joining the NASCAR circuit, Wallace made a name for himself racing around in Florida, by the late 1970s by winning a pair of local track championships. Wallace, a Missouri native, won more than 200 short track races. In 1979 he won United States Auto Club\'s (USAC) Stock Car Rookie of the Year honors, finishing third in points behind A. J. Foyt and Bay Darnell. He finished second USAC Stock Cars in 1981 behind Joe Ruttman.\n', '

In 1983 he won the American Speed Association (ASA) championship while competing against some of NASCAR\'s future stars like Mark Martin, 1992 NASCAR Champion Alan Kulwicki and Dick Trickle.\n', '

Wallace finished second in his first NASCAR race in the 1980 Atlanta 500, in which he started 7th, driving for Roger Penske in the No. 16. He made 9 further NASCAR appearances over the next 3 years, although he did not score any further Top 10 finishes until he went full-time in 1984. He joined the Winston Cup circuit full-time that year, winning NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors and finishing 14th in the final points standings. He drove the No. 88 Gatorade-sponsored Pontiac for Cliff Stewart with the best finish of 4th in 30 races, along with two 5th-place finished and four further Top 10s. Wallace stayed with Cliff Stewart for 1985 but this time, he drove the No. 2 Alugard Pontiac. In 29 races, Wallace had two Top 5s and eight Top 10s.\n', '

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