Rusty Wallace's Plea For Safety At Daytona, February 1994

[ThisNameIsNotProfane]

Oh God. Rusty's opening line and cutting to Dale in the front row. Made me shudder.

[HBKshowstopper635]

nothing but respect for rusty. that was awesome

[EricEbac22]

davidallenroth--

Well, he didn't, because Rusty was partially responsible for causing some of the accidents that sent drivers flipping through the grass, shooting head-on into the wall, etc. Ken Schrader in his comments was right as well, when he said that they'd had a reality check, primarily with the deaths of Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr.

[davidallenroth]

he shouldve had his finger pointed at dale sr the whole type.....

[btruetken]

The 314 Representing in that video!!!

[79malibu350]

God i miss nascar. i mean real nascar. when a group of guys like that were in the drivers seats, not these california pretty boys that pollute the tracks today. You just dont see those kinds of personalities today.

[94lol6]

what a baby



[MurphyMonster]

:58 All i saw was " Is anybody else listening to this sonbitch?"

[nudracr]

roof flaps at the rear are sending the tail skyward, they should move all roof flaps to leading edge of top,,,,,,DUH!!!!!!!!!!!

[nudracr]

@nudracr and another thing, the splitter at the nose often bottoms the car out striking the ground raising the wheels off the track, inhibiting turning for drivers who don't keep the car perfectly levelly balanced, I've seen cars come into turn, splitter hits the ground and sends the car straight on

[3wide4checkers]

this is something the drivers of today need to have the cars are faster and nascar saying "its gloves off time" is bad! i mean cars should not flip over at atlanta these drivers take nascar's safety measure's for granted and think that they can drive like a bunch of idiots and be ok

[1themanfromvan]

Never cared much for Rusty as a driver, but as a spokesman to his fellow drivers, he does a damn good job.

[stableshadow]

@1themanfromvan And he said "damn" around the garage more than any driver, as proven by the tail-end of his speech, when he does the hat-trick. LOL!

[askesis]

@1themanfromvan Pretty much what you said. I wasn't a fan of his on the track, but he was a stand-up guy.

[tylerebill]

was this rite after neil bonnet died?

[Brian211978]

Actually, him and rodney orr died in practices leading up to the '94 daytona 500, Orr's crash being 3 days after bonnets.

[Crisgo3d]

Yeah, racing over 200 MPH is dangerous. As Kenny said, 18 foot car won't cut in a 9 foot hole

[davidallenroth]

smartest driver ever

[NAVGFan]

I wish Rusty would walk up to Kyle Busch and say this to him.

[Sk8BoardTrucker]

how abut denny hamlin?or keselowski or tony stewart and juan montoya? how about earnhardt jr at daytona in 09? you are a sheep...all you know is that it's cool not to like kyle busch...shut the fuck up!

[NAVGFan]

I do know it's not cool to put your own life in danger along with several others. Yes those other guys are in the wrong too, but Kyle does it the most at plate tracks. Just shut your mouth with all that "oh, you hate Kyle because he wins" because I'm NOT a Jr fan either.

Almost every time we go to plate tracks Kyle blocks 3-wide like a moron, so that's why I said it.

[solaire66]

@Sk8BoardTrucker Kyle at least has personality, hes not vanilla like alot of the guys are. I like Brad for that too, theres a few but not too many.

[vince065us]

@NAVGFan Rusty needs to tell this to a few people.

[PYLrulz1984]

@NAVGFan

How about Carl Edwards for what he did yesterday?

[NAVGFan]

Yeah, I didn't like that at all. I used to root for Carl back when he had the Office Depot colors, but I can't stand him now.

[PYLrulz1984]

Agreed. He seemed like a nice guy, but it seems like the last couple of years or so, his total asshole side has been showing. Had Carl wrecked Keselowski at Bristol, or even just wrecked Keselowski at a slower part of the race track where he wasn't going to fly like that, I would of been cool with it. It was spinning hm in a car that has been known to flip at a fast part of the track, that I did not like.

[vidEvWill]

He was serious, but back then I thought they were just saying that to get the drivers to lay off of him so he could win. I felt this plea was so he could call off everyone to win the race. But I was a child then, I didn't know what that meant.

[UltimateEEnEFan]

I wish Rusty would tell that to the drivers today. In 2009, no one respects each other. In 1994, everyone did. Rusty is annoying on ESPN, but here, he tells it like it is. If I ever get the privilege to attend a NASCAR driver's meeting, I will tell everyone to 'Use you damn head please'.

[ewertjoe]

@UltimateEEnEFan I watched the video and scrolled down and was about to type the exact same thing but then you beat me to the punch. Damn you! LOL. They need this speech at EVERY driver's meeting until they get it right. Working for a media outlet, I've got to sit in on a few driver's meeting and let me tell you, the guys up there on the podium don't fuck around, but half the young guys sit at the back and twiddle their tumbs the whole time. Makes you want to smack em and say LISTEN!!!!!

[elkinsinbox]

He sounded fucking serious when he said "use your damn heads please".

[ziggo99]

Well he should have been, that rant at 1:22 to the end was pretty powerful.

[Papoose888]

rusty that was awsome

[cnycarnut]

ok if you guys really think earnhardt didnt care your nuts. this is the year that bonnett died and that was his best friend. of course he cared. the idea is rusty was saying everything that needed to be said and dale wasnt the kind of guy to stand up and make a speech just cuz cbs brought a camera in there. If you think about the boos he was getting back then the fans wouldve said oh look hes stealing rusty's spotlight. he was smarter than that

[lpdoby]

I remember that Daytona race week quite well. Everyone got a real reality check, and everyone cared because we were all scared (fans included) whether we wanted to admit it or not.

[DsturbedFan728]

does anyone know where i can find a video of Rodney Orr's crash?

[kingofrunescapepking]

i don't think there is any... but the car overturned and hit the fence with the roof, and the roll cage collapsed on him and killed him... at least that's what i was told

[DsturbedFan728]

oh ok. sounds pretty bad then

[ewertjoe]

@kingofrunescapepking The car rolled and hit the fence with the roof which peeled back the sheet metal, and if my memory serves me right Rodney was a tall fella, and the car came to rest on it's roof and he was killed when the cage bent in on him.

[Blackout690]

There are some straight OG's in that video.

Those were the days.

[a7x5631]

Lmao I thought the same thing. Well said.

[paul197604]

everyone scared but Dale Sr. - More old school NASCAR and less 18 year old kids who are all Hollywood

[ballsthatclank]

Dale also died.

[dupontracin2465]

dude the drivers are prpbaly like just shut up

[stangman02]

Dale's reaction to Schrader at 1:07 is priceless. Again, he's probably thinking "Ahhh dammit, another puss. Shutup so we can go race already."

[stangman02]

Kyle Petty at 00:25 kinda looks like Lawrence from Office Space.

Dale Sr. is like... "Shutup pussy so we can go race."

[radio187]

Check out young Jeff Gordon rockin that mullet. Dale Sr. looks like he's too cool for school, and I'm sure he didn't really care about safety too much. How ironic that Dale bought it seven years later almost to the day at that very track.

[BERRYMCOKINER]

what a bunch of babies!

nascar should protect us the fans!

let the drivers protect themselves as they see fit !..they race & crash & burn 4 our amusement ! u show me a fan not entertained by a wreck ..i'll show u a liar !

[ClineRacing]

The fans are protected, it's up to the track owners to protect the fans more than it is NASCAR's responsibility.

[batvette]

Being entertained by a wreck is one thing..... hoping for them or not caring if someone suffers horrific injuries or death is another. He's just trying to prevent the stupid wrecks.

Nascar should protect the fans from bruises and cuts from getting pushed up against the chain link fences and retaining walls. Take them all down, let the fans get real up close to the action, make money renting those sumo wrestler suits with a couple feet of thick foam on them.

[chief1tooth]

I miss that era in nascar, if you notice there were not alot of young drivers back then in nascar. Jeff gordon looked the youngest, now you have all these 20 year old cry babies.

[fedexskins]

I think dale JR. needs to see this one too he is causing to much crap out there this year trying to be like his daddy but he is not doing it for wins it is mid pack or he's trying to get back on the lead lap you want to bash smoke busch and vickers lets bash the "golden boy of nascar" dale Jr who nascar does nothing with simply because he is an Earnhardt and he drives for Mr. Hendrick that is enough said I am out!!!!

[cousinearl216]

he said they dont turn around by themselves............ both neil bonnets and rodney orrs crashes were alone in qualifying

[rdtli]

dale sr seems to don t give a shit about whatrusty s saying ... he s one of the old school , and here in brasil the race comunity , journalists and fans talk about the probability that he died because he was without the seat belt .... is that correct ???? in u.s the authorities have already become to a veredict ??? cheers friends...

[superdawge33]

Ken Schrader asleep at 0:10....Yanni at 0:26...Morgan Shepard is nodding off at 0:49..

Loy Allen at 0:53 looks like a porn star!

Ernie Irvan at 1:01 looks like a human cat!

Ron Jeremy at 1:25 to the right of Rusty...What the hell was he doing at the drivers meeting?

[coalreigoncoalcracke]

Superdawge33 it's not often that I'm brought to tears from laughter at a youtube comment but you've done it for me. Thank You!!!!! Loy Allen does look lik ea porn star, Gordon's rocking the mullet, Irvan does look just like a cat, and Mike Helton as Ron Jeremy! Kyle Petty as Yanni, OMG i can't take it anymore

[mattn1313]

Sounds like Rusty was scared....of his wife lol

[rockypc24]

lol

[dmpnqc]

Wow!

[HBKshowstopper935]

and before i forget it, kyle busch,kurt busch,tony stewart,and brian vickers need to see this too

[nascarulz01]

kyle busch needs to sit through a whole class titled "pulling your head outta your ass before you get in the racecar 101" hahahaha

[HBKshowstopper935]

rusty wallace one of the toughest men in nascar. ive got a lot of respect for him.

[twotone3232]

well they should have thought of that before they flip the starter switch its a sport that death is very possible

[RancheroBFT]

if rusty aint da man, then I dont know who da man is

[ovalracer44]

Look at ol DW catch a cheap feel of rustys leg at the end.

[threelegduck]

said it like a true talledega chimp

[19bam91]

this is why rusty was my favorite driver.

[zarubaconst]

Who is the guy at 0:52?

[nadeau1064]

That right there is Loy Allen, driver of the #19 Hooters Ford. Allen won the pole for this race, becoming the first rookie to win the pole for the Daytona 500. Only Mike Skinner (1997) and Jimmie Johnson (2002) have so far equaled Allen's feat.

[vidEvWill]

Loy really never became much after the pole. I don't think he was a bust he just never got the right breaks.

[3fan4eva]

If im not mistaken he had a wreck in early 96' at either Atlanta or Rockingham that resulted in a head injury and he was just given up on....I think

[Educalifa]

What he meant was that you need someone behind the wheel

[PsychedelicGuy]

I commend Rusty for giving this speech but he said these cars dont crash on their owns, but both Neil and Rodney's crashes were both during single car runs in practice.

[Zadan]

His point is "accidents don't just happen, people cause them". Neil and Rodneys crashes were both due to trying to make a car do something it didn't want to (neither cars were handling any good and they were doing their test qaul runs, so they went balls-to-the-wall. The handling wasn't good enough in either car, so it got away from them).

[RothmansRenaultF1]

1994 and the word "motorsports" combined bring back a lot of dark memories.

[azbobbybooshay10]

Add 1993 to that list as well. While they weren't killed in a race car, the deaths of Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison had a tremendous impact on the present and future of NASCAR. And don't forget Stanley Smith's ugly crash at Talladega that nearly took his life as well. Possibly the darkest 13 months in motorsports (April 93 to May 94).

[hookups]

big mike helton standing on the side of rusty...

[vidEvWill]

That's Him?! He sure didn't have a moustache then, now he's got a salt and pepper moustache.

[Spazzer]

Don't joke about these guys and their safety, please. The early 90's was an extremely rough time for race car drives (and even pit crews!) There were a lot of deaths, and change was needed. It wasn't even just in NASCAR, either. Less than a month after this video was taken, Ayrton Senna was killed.

Anyway, this video brings back really good memories, too. It's nice to see these guys again. :)

[ERROLLDUFRESNE]

There was only one guy running scared and that was Rusty. He never did win that race did he?

[ERROLLDUFRESNE]

At 0.49 Morgan Sheperd is nodding off!

[ERROLLDUFRESNE]

Look at 0.26...Was Yanni at the drivers meeting? What the fuck was that about?

[jaggedlittlethrills]

That's Kyle Petty.

Don't compare him to some, instrument playing person.

[cousinearl216]

rustys awesome

[Enzofan24]

Earnhardt was like "Dude, I hear ya, but I don't care."

Typical Earnhardt, not caring about other people's concerns.  I think he finally got Rusty's message at Daytona in 2001, though, thank God.

[ralphiemayphan]

GODDAMN RIGHT!!!!

[46hardrocker]

rusty has always been all about saftey in nascar

[BBoyd27]

i think this was around the time that alot of wrecks were caused by just dumb driving. I read ernie irvan's book when he was causing alot of the wrecks himself and ended up doing the same thing rusty did and went infront of everyone and said he was sorry and that he would change his driving ways. Its kinda funny thought rusty talking about safety and years later would cause some crashes himself

[pens66]

ur an idiot, u don't what ur talkin about.

[billthaxton]

Both Bonnett and Orr were killed in PRACTICE and had nothing to do with careless driving...what is this clown talking about? By the way, I heard that cool looking hotshot dude with the long hair standing against the back wall at :26 is going to rock the Nascar world from one end to the other and make everyone forget about Earnhardt and Wallace...you'll be hearing his name for years to come!

[kcfire4]

your a fag

[mikeyzx2]

at the end DW gives him a pat on the leg. did you notice Earnhardt and Marlin had the look of "sit down and shut up"

[pens66]

No because neil nonnett who died just a few weeks earlier was one of dale's best friends. i assure you he agreed with rusty 100% percent.

[Spazzer]

Not even a few weeks. =\ Neil passed away during practice.

[coalreigoncoalcracke]

Just watch the movie  3 and you'll see how much Dale cared. I assure you he completely agreed, and he was scared.

[EarnhardtsYear08]

@coalreigoncoalcracke dale just never showed emotion

[K4driver2]

How long has mike helton been around? Btw..Rusty had a lot of guts to go up on stage and speak his mind

[leehr777]

Dale SR was like one ear out the other. You can't teach a old dog new trick's.

[kcfire4]

but smacking the wall did

[dchasse12]

You really think losing his best buddy in Neil Bonnett didn't change his style at least on restrictor plates?

[Orangetree547]

I'd have to say no honestly. From what I remember Neil's and Rodney Orr's crashes had something to do with the Hoosier tires not from being bump drafted or wrecked like what Rusty's talking about.

[texnation]

Other than Neil did anyone else get hurt that weekend?

[nadeau1064]

Unfortunately, yes, texnation. Rodney Orr, the defending Goody's Dash Series Champion, died in a separate practice wreck at Daytona while preparing to make his first Winston Cup race.

[JMACISBACK08]

the voice of reason rusty wallace and ken schrader tellin em that we need to fix these cars

[JMACISBACK08]

luckly they did or we would of lost more drivers

[KKFan9]

All I can say is he is damn right about everything he said in this video. Well said Rusty, I agree with you 100% on this.

[FordFusion2006]

HAHA this is good shit.

[combatking08]

You tell'em Rusty.

[SAMMYJS99]

damn!

talk about rusty's balls.

pardon me pun - BUT, THEY AINT RUSTY -- THAT'S FOR SURE.

[beckett929]

fantastic video!

[patman1071]

What might have been if Rusty Busted Ass by declaring "We need to figure out how to stop skull fractures from head on impacts". What a difference it would've made. Maybe Dale Sr. would've been alive to this day! I wonder if the drivers even knew about their cause of death?

[xsilverstudx]

lol the other drivers are looking at Rusty like Who the F are you LMAO

[777garyow]

shut up man

[CrAcKsMoKeR13]

no not really

[Elittle1982]

Testify Rusty Testify!!!

[HotLapMotorsports]

kinda ironic to see Mike Helton, the NASCAR president who changed saftey after Dale Earnhardt died, in that video as well

[aviatormotivator]

Not a big Rusty fan as driver, but greatly respected him as a person. Met the guy at NBAA two years ago, what a great guy.

[battalionfan888]

You tell em Rusty!!!!!!

[rachelbudda]

Good ol Rusty...Gotta love that man!!! I miss the good ol boys...Thanks for posting this video!!! If it wasn't for all the changes in safety Mcdowell probably wouldn't have walked away from that wreck in practice at Texas the other day-there's going to be wrecks no matter what, but at least we haven't had so much heartache!!

[RunerRacerPeniguin5]

It was Qualifingman, but Rusty is a nice man. he signed my stuff at IMS(Indianapolis Motor Speedway). But he was right!

[4Tracer]

Rachel we had enough heartache in 2001 to take the place of all the heartache we couldve had in the last 7 years...

[THEkingjaymz]

Anybody else think Kyle Petty looks a bit like Kirk Hammett (Metallica's guitarist) at that clip at 0:26?

[Greenie1981]

Hahahahahaha. You're absolutely right. Good call.

[ewertjoe]

You know....a lot of drivers today need to watch this and take this to heart. The young kids in the sport have to realize they aren't invincible and I hate to think it's going to take another death to turn these kids straight. Until they learn, the racing will continue to suffer. Rusty is right....USE YOUR DAMN HEADS!

[wpsracing108]

yea anyone can say what they like about rusty - but he has done more to save the lives of the people u cheer for every weekend than anyone else.

[speedracr245]

People can say what they want about Rusty Wallace, but the man truly did care about his competitors. A prime example is the 1999 Daytona 500. The man practically dominated that race. In the closing laps Jeff Gordon made a crazy ass move to the inside of him for the lead which was fine except for a couple of problems: 1. he went below the yellow line (it was legal then). 2. Ricky Rudd was coming out of the pits and in the way. Rusty moved up to prevent a disaster. He never did win the 500.

[PsychedelicGuy]

Ya I can see Rusty trying to make the race safe, and I respect him for that, but, he says the cars just don't flip by themselfs, well both fatal accidents that speedweeks occurred during single car practice runs, so it kinda made his case a little etchy, but he was still in the right telling the drivers to be safe, althought I remember that race being a wreckfest anyways...

[seankolker]

Rusty was right on on this one,always was the person that was stepping up for safety!

[davidd2172]

Yeah, but then Rusty himself wrecked in the race by putting his nose underneath another car instead of showing patience himself.

[seankolker]

Don`t they all do that????

[4Tracer]

Yeah davidd2172 they all do it its called bump drafting it has nothing to do with being patient

[ToivonenDeltaS4]

top man rusty. need more like him in nascar today, say something and mean it. and dont bitch pointlessly like a stewert would - going round thinking hes the law.

[Bullitt02bf]

great video. The days of drivers respectin other drivers are gone. Rusty was my favorite driver, you could tell around the mid 90's he changed alot. It wasn't all about winning anymore. He wasn't gonna put his or anyone elses lives in danger just to win a race. It didn't slow him down it, it just made him look at the big picture!!!

[Showstopper42]

Too bad we don't get to see footage like this out of todays coverage. Everything seemed so much more real and intense back in the 90's. I guess sponsors and media really have sugar coated a lot of things. This video is a reminder of that.

[speed114]

Okay, but I hope Rusty realized that the fatal wrecks that occured in Speedweeks 1994 were by individual driver error/car trouble, not by contact with other competitors.

[nascarman1]

shut up rusty

[Stevens434]

fuck you

[thebiff16]

Tell it like it is, Rusty!!!

[wolves16]

And did NASCAR do anything to improve driver safety? No. Not until Kenny Irwin, Adam Petty, Blaise Alexander, Tony Roper, Neil Bonnett, Chad Coleman, Dale Earnhardt and others all died of the exact same injury. How about a round of applause?

[dante317]

Wow, I never saw that video before. Rusty made a great message to the drivers. Damn i miss vintage nascar

[jazzbo1974]

whats messed up if that was from thursdays drivers meeting for the 125 s i rember the 2 race had a big one on the 1 lap i guess they werent listing

[SimRacin14]

That wreck only happened because Dale Jarrett's car didn't get up to speed and the pack had difficulty trying to get around him.

[burtonfan2]

kyle looks awesome

[3fan4eva]

Rusty is right....there was and still is too much bumping on these restrictor plate tracks. Thank god the safety got better but sadly it took 4 drivers in less than a year too do it. Go Rusty for this.

[dchasse12]

5 if you count Scott Baker in the ARCA crash in 2000.

[lostfreakadam]

Wow!

Rusty Wallace kicked ass!

[Cynon44]

Yeah, gotta agree with that. I have this on tape, too.

[burtonfan2]

if rusty was half that good in the booth hed be great

[Randildo]

and today tony stewart gets hung for that....

[O5fan]

Did Stewart ever see this video? Rusty should jump out of the booth and kick his ass.

[RDarth]

Because Tony Stewart is only looking out for his own ass.

[Lasek99]

Because Stewart went right out and started wrecking people again.

[4Tracer]

Lasek99 Stewart wasnt even around then dumbass

[battalionfan888]

Fuckin eh Rusty

[gadgefan48]

1994 was a very tragic year in motorsports in general.

[thebiff16]

That's true, with Ernie Irvan having his horrible crash at Michigan, and Ayrton Senna getting killed.

[JokaPlaya]

And Ratenzberger (Rookie, but still a driver). Thank God there was some safety when Mark Martin took that diver @ Talladega...it would have been a real dark year, especially since it would have been the same day Senna was killed......

[thebiff16]

That's true. I'll never forget Mark getting out of the car and holding his nads after that hard hit. Maybe THAT'S why he needed Viagra!!!

[gadgefan48]

That was the same day as Senna's fatal crash at Imola.

[hockeyboy1231]

I think he gave this speech in February and Senna was killed on May 1st, but it woulda been ironic if the speeches were given on the same day

[gadgefan48]

I meant Mark Martin's crash at Talladega as the same day.