"Roger Penske is my biggest mentor" - Rusty Wallace credits Penske's owner for guiding his future beyond racing

Recently, NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace opened up on how Roger Penske helped and guided him. Wallace was the 1989 Cup Series champion and one of the most prominent drivers who rose to fame competing for the Penske-led organization.

In a career spanning over 25 years, Wallace accumulated 55 wins and is ranked 11th in the all-time Cup Series winners list. Moreover, more than half of his Cup wins have been with Team Penske, led by one of the pioneers of motorsports racing and business, Roger Penske.

In a recent episode of Kenny Conversation hosted by Kenny Wallace, Rusty's brother and former NASCAR driver, Kenny, asked his elder sibling whom he gives credit for guiding his future beyond racing. To this, Rusty replied (13:08):

"Roger Penske got to be my biggest mentor. He's the one that told me, 'Look Rusty, when I was at the top of my game, you know, what one of these days you're not going to be driving and you better have something else going on because a lot of these guys drive off the hood ornament."

Rusty added:

"They don't think about the future they'll think I'll always be a race car driver the rest of my life and when their career is over or starts to dwindle they're not competitive any longer which happens to all the drivers. I see them all fight it to the very end."

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"I do like the car" - Rusty Wallace elaborates on the NASCAR Next-Gen cars

Recently, veteran Kenny Wallace asked for Rusty Wallace's take on the Next-Gen car which was introduced at the beginning of the 2022 NASCAR season. The Gen-7 car was an evolution of the Gen-6 car, with an improved aero and downforce package.

In the aforementioned conversation, NASCAR Hall of Famer Wallace said (11:21):

"I do like the car. One thing I do like about the car is that it's really made a lot of drivers able to show their talents there's drivers out there that are really running up front that I personally thought were good drivers but average drivers that weren't upfront on a consistent basis and now these guys with this new car are upfront every single week and they're able to show their talent."

Wallace believes that the pit crew strategy and some small setups tend to differentiate these stock cars nowadays as the Next-Gens are all identical these days.

"Look the horsepower is almost identical, the body shape is identical, the rules are identical and because of that it's let teams that maybe weren't greatest teams run with the good teams and so that's one aspect I like a lot," Wallace added.

Meanwhile, NASCAR drivers and teams are gearing up the Next-Gen cars for the remaining four regular-season races and the 2024 playoff round.

NASCAR will be back in action for the Cook Out 400 race at Richmond Raceway on August 11.