1994-1997
Early in 1994, Wallace was hired by Junie Donlavey to drive his #90 Heilig-Meyers Ford Thunderbird in the Winston Cup Series. Although he competed in twenty-two of the scheduled thirty-one races that year, Wallace finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year standings, and thirty-third in the overall championship standings. His season was capped off with a fifth-place finish at the Hooters 500. In the Busch Series, he won his first career race at Dover, followed by victories at The Milwaukee Mile and Indianapolis Raceway Park. The following season, Wallace failed to qualify for five races in the Cup series, and dropped a spot in the standings. His lone lead-lap finish came at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he finished 8th. In the Busch Series, his team switched to #90 with sponsorship from Duron Paints, and posted two second-place finishes. He also made his Craftsman Truck Series debut that season at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and finished 29th in the MB Motorsports truck.
Twelve races into the 1996 season, Wallace was released from his Cup ride with Donlavey. Despite moving back down into the Busch Series full-time, Wallace only posted one top-ten in the second-half of the season, forcing Owen's team to close its doors. Wallace began 1997 with high hopes in the #91 LJ Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by Joe Falk and Ron Neal. The team had moved up from the Busch Series and signed Spam as a full-time sponsor but after many DNQ's and a best finish of seventeenth at Texas Motor Speedway, the team lost its sponsor and Wallace found himself without a ride. He also split time in the Busch Series in the #7 Chevrolet for Ed Whitaker, making six starts. Midway through the season, he left for the Truck series, driving the #52 Purolator Chevrolet Silverado for Ken Schrader Racing. Despite only running fifteen races that season, he finished twenty-third in points. He also finished in the top-ten in each of the last four races of the season, including California Speedway, where he finished second.
Read more about this topic: Mike Wallace (racing Driver)