Wally Dallenbach Jr.

This article is about the American auto racer and commentator. For his father, the American auto racer and official, see Wally Dallenbach Sr.

Wallace Paul Dallenbach (born May 23, 1963) is an American former racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, and is known for his prowess as a road racer. In addition to NASCAR, Dallenbach has raced in SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA Camel GT, CART, and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Dallenbach in 2004
Born	Wallace Paul Dallenbach (1963-05-23) May 23, 1963 Basalt, Colorado, U.S.
Achievements	1985, 1986 Trans-Am Series champion Four class wins at 24 Hours of Daytona Three class wins at 12 Hours of Sebring
NASCAR Cup Series career
226 races run over 11 years
Best finish	18th (1999)
First race	1991 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 (Atlanta)
Last race	2001 Pocono 500 (Pocono)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 23 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
16 races run over 4 years
Best finish	61st (2004)
First race	2002 Cabela's 250 (Michigan)
Last race	2005 Ameriquest 300 (California)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
2 races run over 2 years
Best finish	68th (1995)
First race	1995 Subway 100 (Sonoma)
Last race	1996 Lund Look 225 (Topeka
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of December 2, 2011.

Dallenbach is the son of Indy car driver and official Wallace Jacob Dallenbach. After the younger Dallenbach began a professional racing career during the middle 1980s, he came to be known by the retronym Dallenbach Jr.

Mostly retired from full-time driving, Dallenbach was a race commentator for NBC Sports and Turner Sports. His primary responsibilities are for TNT's NASCAR coverage, a position he had held since 2001, and NBC Sports Network's IndyCar Series coverage, which he has been a part of since NBC was bought by Comcast in 2010 until 2014. Dallenbach worked with Adam Alexander and Kyle Petty on TNT and with Leigh Diffey and Jon Beekhuis on NBC Sports Network. In 2015 Dallenbach joined Fox NASCAR on NASCAR Race Hub.

Racing career

Early career

Dallenbach was born in Basalt, Colorado. He grew up in Denver with his father Wally Dallenbach Sr. and mother. After graduating high school, Dallenbach left Colorado for North Carolina to start a racing career. He 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 Dallenbach the youngest Trans-Am champion at the age of just 22 years. The following year Dallenbach 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. Dallenbach followed up those accomplishments by winning the 24 Hours of Daytona four times and the 12 Hours of Sebring three times. He later drove in the GTO class of the IMSA GT championship, finishing runner-up in the standings in 1988 (driving for Jack Roush) and 1989.

IndyCar

Initially, Dallenbach followed the steps of his father by pursuing an open-wheel career, taking part the inaugural round of the American Racing Series in 1986, on which he raced four more times over the following two seasons, finishing 3rd at Phoenix in 1988. One year before, he had made his CART Indy Car debut at Road America subbing for driver-owner Dick Simon, who had undergone an arm surgery after a fall off his motorbike. After qualifying 17th, Dallenbach went off the track late in the race and retired, though he was classified in the 12th and final points paying place. Three years later, in 1990, he took part in three road course races at the end of the season for the Leader Cards team, in place of the departing Pancho Carter, with an 11th place finish at Denver followed by engine failures at Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca.

NASCAR

By 1991, Dallenbach was ready made the jump to the world of NASCAR, racing in the Winston Cup Series. He made eleven starts that year driving one of Junie Donlavey's Fords. In 1992, former boss Jack Roush called Dallenbach up to have him drive as a teammate to Mark Martin in the No. 16 Ford. He drove for Roush during the 1992 and 1993 seasons, finishing second at Watkins Glen 1993, fifth at the 1991 Watkins Glen race, seventh at 1996 Sonoma, and tenth at the 1993 Daytona 500 and 1993 Talladega 500.

In 1994, Richard Petty put Dallenbach in the famous No. 43 Pontiac. He was the second driver other than Petty to drive the No. 43. Dallenbach finished fourth at Sonoma, eighth at Talladega and tenth at Dover, but was released part way through the season. 1995 was an up-and-down year for Dallenbach, as he did not have a full-time ride. However, a one race deal with Bill Davis in the No. 22 Pontiac almost got Dallenbach his first Cup win at Watkins Glen, but he fell in the closing laps to finish in second.

Dallenbach's 1996 Winston Cup car at Pocono Raceway

The following years saw Dallenbach jumping around to different rides. He was considered one of the better road course drivers and was often recruited to drive at such tracks as Sonoma and Watkins Glen, as many drivers struggled on these more demanding tracks. In 1996 he drove the No. 15 Ford for Bud Moore Engineering, finishing sixth at the Daytona 500, third at Sonoma and tenth at Watkins Glen. Then he drove the No. 46 First Union-sponsored Chevrolet for Felix Sabates from 1997 through part of 1998, claiming a tenth-place finish at the 1997 Watkins Glen race.

Later in 1998, Dallenbach stepped in to sub for Ricky Craven in the No. 50 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. The combination worked out well, earning three top 10s, and Dallenbach signed on to drive the No. 25 Chevrolet for 1999. It resulted in his best position in the standings of eighteenth with six top tens.

In 2000, Dallenbach joined the new Galaxy Motorsports and drove the No. 75 Ford. It was a difficult season, with a best result of ninth at Watkins Glen. In addition, promised sponsor opportunities fell through, leaving Dallenbach without a ride right before the 2001 season was to begin. In fact, Dallenbach was listed in several season preview media sources, despite never attempting a single race that season. Dallenbach would also sub for Joe Nemechek in the Pocono event in 2001.

2021

Dallenbach made his return to racing in 2021 in the Trans-Am TAH subcategory of the TA class with the Ultimate Headers Racing Team under the ownership of John & Debbie Cloud.

Broadcasting career

Without a ride, Dallenbach took up TV commentating in 2001, covering the NASCAR races for NBC and TNT alongside Allen Bestwick (later Bill Weber, then Adam Alexander) and Benny Parsons (later Kyle Petty). In doing so, he became known for his pre-race "Wally's World" segment, where he takes celebrities for a ride around the track. The commentating also allowed Dallenbach to drive in a few Busch Series races and do some live commentary from the car. Dallenbach and Weber also teamed up to commentate several Championship Off-Road Racing events, with Dallenbach pre-running the track in a Pro-4 truck. With the NBC and TNT partnership splitting at the end of the 2006 season, Dallenbach stayed with TNT's new six-race package, and also reunited with Weber during NBC Champ Car broadcasts.

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. On September 22, 2014, Dallenbach announced he would return to Trans-Am for the season finale at Daytona in the TA2 class, stating the "broadcasting phase of my life is over".

Personal life

Dallenbach was married to Robin Dallenbach, until 2016. Robin is the daughter of drag racing driver, engine builder, and team owner Bob McCall. Their daughter Kate Dallenbach was a member of Richard Childress Racing's driver development program.

Awards and honors

• Pikes Peak Hill Climb Museum Hall of Fame (2022)

Motorsports career results

American open–wheel results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete CART Indy Car results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points	Ref
1987	Dick Simon Racing	LBC	PHX	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS	POC	ROA 12	MDO	NAZ	LAG	MIA		37th	1
1990	Leader Card Racing	PHX	LBG	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	DEN 11	VAN	MDO 18	ROA	NAZ	LAG 25	27th	2

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1991	Donlavey Racing	90	Ford	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL 26	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL 34	CLT 33	DOV	SON	POC	MCH 28	DAY 34	POC	TAL 41	GLN 32	MCH 22	BRI	DAR	RCH 25	DOV DNQ	MAR	NWS	CLT 19	CAR	PHO	ATL 36								38th	803
1992	Roush Racing	16	Ford	DAY 15	CAR 21	RCH 24	ATL 27	DAR 30	BRI 22	NWS 30	MAR 19	TAL 14	CLT 28	DOV 34	SON 25	POC 27	MCH 18	DAY 11	POC 32	TAL 14	GLN 5	MCH 20	BRI 19	DAR 24	RCH 23	DOV 31	MAR 14	NWS 24	CLT 20	CAR 23	PHO 12	ATL 38								24th	2799
1993				DAY 10	CAR 20	RCH 27	ATL 25	DAR 13	BRI 11	NWS 21	MAR 34	TAL 29	SON 7	CLT 40	DOV 12	POC 25	MCH 25	DAY 35	NHA 27	POC 17	TAL 10	GLN 2	MCH 31	BRI 21	DAR 11	RCH 15	DOV 15	MAR 27	NWS 15	CLT 24	CAR 31	PHO 34	ATL 33							22nd	2978
1994	Petty Enterprises	43	Pontiac	DAY 17	CAR 27	RCH DNQ	ATL DNQ	DAR 41	BRI 17	NWS 16	MAR DNQ	TAL 41	SON 4	CLT 25	DOV 10	POC 17	MCH DNQ	DAY DNQ	NHA DNQ	POC 16	TAL 8	IND 23	GLN 14	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL						38th	1493
1995	Strauser Racing	45	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON 39	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND																		50th	221
	Bill Davis Racing	22	Pontiac																				GLN 2	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL
1996	Bud Moore Engineering	15	Ford	DAY 6	CAR 23	RCH 40	ATL 20	DAR 37	BRI 24	NWS 28	MAR DNQ	TAL 12	SON 3	CLT 19	DOV 22	POC 12	MCH 13	DAY 12	NHA 18	POC 33	TAL 32	IND 17	GLN 10	MCH 34	BRI 25	DAR 25	RCH 33	DOV 29	MAR 22	NWS 34	CLT 33	CAR 36	PHO 15	ATL 40						25th	2786
1997	Team SABCO	46	Chevy	DAY 42	CAR	RCH	ATL DNQ	DAR	TEX DNQ	BRI	MAR	SON 15	TAL 17	CLT 35		POC 17	MCH 20	CAL 39	DAY 39	NHA	POC 38	IND 36	GLN 10	MCH 41	BRI 26	DAR 41	RCH 41	NHA 31	DOV	MAR 34	CLT 37	TAL 41	CAR 35	PHO DNQ	ATL 38					41st	1475
		40													DOV 36
1998		46		DAY DNQ	CAR DNQ	LVS 38	ATL 39	DAR DNQ	BRI	TEX 19	MAR DNQ	TAL 26																												38th	1832
	ISM Racing	35	Pontiac										CAL 29	CLT	DOV	RCH
	Hendrick Motorsports	50	Chevy														MCH 10	POC 7	SON 27	NHA				MCH 8	BRI 28	NHA 43	DAR 31	RCH 30	DOV 25	MAR 32	CLT 23	TAL 39	DAY 30	PHO 25	CAR 36	ATL 25
	Elliott-Marino Racing	13	Ford																		POC 25	IND 40	GLN
1999	Hendrick Motorsports	25	Chevy	DAY 12	CAR 17	LVS 13	ATL 39	DAR 38	TEX 23	BRI 30	MAR 18	TAL 20	CAL 8	RCH 20	CLT 21	DOV 20	MCH 14	POC 39	SON 41	DAY 26	NHA 7	POC 5	IND 14	GLN 7	MCH 23	BRI 28	DAR 21	RCH 28	NHA 22	DOV 15	MAR 22	CLT 33	TAL 35	CAR 39	PHO 9	HOM 9	ATL 23			18th	3367
2000	Galaxy Motorsports	75	Ford	DAY 40	CAR 20	LVS 35	ATL 39	DAR DNQ	BRI 29	TEX DNQ	MAR DNQ	TAL 16	CAL 27	RCH 16	CLT 28	DOV 24	MCH 34	POC 39	SON 40	DAY 21	NHA 27	POC 31	IND 35	GLN 9	MCH 25	BRI 33	DAR 19	RCH 23	NHA 39	DOV 21	MAR 40	CLT 33	TAL DNQ	CAR 22	PHO 22	HOM 35	ATL 29			34th	2344
2001	Andy Petree Racing	33	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC 26	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND																64th	85
	Petty Enterprises	44	Dodge																						GLN DNQ	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MAR	TAL	PHO	CAR	HOM	ATL	NHA

Daytona 500 results

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1992	Roush Racing	Ford	37	15
1993			22	10
1994	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	18	17
1996	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	9	6
1997	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	26	42
1998			DNQ
1999	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	34	12
2000	Galaxy Motorsports	Ford	34	40

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NBSC	Pts	Ref
2002	Tommy Baldwin Racing	6	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH 14	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT 7	MEM	ATL	CAR	PHO 9	HOM		62nd	405
2003	Reiser Enterprises	17	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	NSH	CAL	RCH	GTY	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN 12	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV									73rd	434
		89																													KAN 17	CLT	MEM	ATL 36	PHO 37	CAR	HOM 25
2004	NEMCO Motorsports	88	Pontiac	DAY 42	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI												61st	484
	Team Rensi Motorsports	35	Ford																									CAL 20	RCH	DOV	KAN 10	CLT 40	MEM	ATL	PHO 24	DAR	HOM 29
2005	Kevin Harvick Inc.	83	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	NSH	BRI	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	GTY	IRP	GLN 34	MCH	BRI	CAL 30	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	100th	134

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	NCTSC	Pts	Ref
1995	Roehrig Motorsports	18	Chevy	PHO	TUS	SGS	MMR	POR	EVG	I70	LVL	BRI	MLW	CNS	HPT	IRP	FLM	RCH	MAR	NWS	SON 2	MMR	PHO					68th	170
1996	Chesrown Racing	66	Chevy	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	TUS	CNS	HPT 25	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	I70	IRP	FLM	GLN	NSV	RCH	NHA	MAR	NWS	SON	MMR	PHO	LVS	112th	88

External links

• Wally Dallenbach Jr. driver statistics at Racing-Reference