# Wally Dallenbach Jr.

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.
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.
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)
* Trans-Am Series Hall of Fame (2025)

## 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 | Roush Racing | 16 | Ford | 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 | |
| 1995 | Bill Davis Racing | 22 | Pontiac | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | GLN 2 | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR | PHO | ATL | | | | | | | | | | 50th | 221 |
| 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 | |
| 1997 | Team SABCO | 40 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | DOV 36 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 41st | 1475 |
| 1998 | Team SABCO | 46 | Chevy | DAY DNQ | CAR DNQ | LVS 38 | ATL 39 | DAR DNQ | BRI | TEX 19 | MAR DNQ | TAL 26 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 38th | 1832 | |
| 1998 | ISM Racing | 35 | Pontiac | | | | | | | | | | CAL 29 | CLT | DOV | RCH | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 38th | 1832 | |
| 1998 | 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 | | | | | | 38th | 1832 | |
| 1998 | Elliott-Marino Racing | 13 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | POC 25 | IND 40 | GLN | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 38th | 1832 |
| 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 | |
| 2001 | Petty Enterprises | 44 | Dodge | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | GLN DNQ | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | KAN | CLT | MAR | TAL | PHO | CAR | HOM | ATL | NHA | 64th | 85 | |

##### Daytona 500 results

| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
| 1992 | Roush Racing | Ford | 37 | 15 |
| 1993 | Roush Racing | Ford | 22 | 10 |
| 1994 | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 18 | 17 |
| 1996 | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 9 | 6 |
| 1997 | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | 26 | 42 |
| 1998 | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | DNQ | 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 |
| 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 |
| 2003 | Reiser Enterprises | 89 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | KAN 17 | CLT | MEM | ATL 36 | PHO 37 | CAR | HOM 25 | | 73rd | 434 |
| 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 |
| 2004 | Team Rensi Motorsports | 35 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | CAL 20 | RCH | DOV | KAN 10 | CLT 40 | MEM | ATL | PHO 24 | DAR | HOM 29 | | 61st | 484 |
| 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 | |