Editing Rusty Wallace (section)

====Blue Max Racing====
In 1986, Wallace switched teams to the No. 27 Alugard-sponsored Pontiac for [[Raymond Beadle]]'s [[Blue Max Racing]] team. His first win came at [[Bristol Motor Speedway]] on April 6, 1986.<ref name="firstwin" /> He also won at Martinsville on September 21. He finished the year with two wins, four Top 5s, and 16 Top 10s in 29 races. He finished 6th in the points, making this his first Top 10 finish in the standings. In 1987, Wallace gained sponsorship from [[Kodiak tobacco]], establishing the No. 27 Kodiak Pontiac livery his early career is most remembered for. He scored victories at [[Watkins Glen International|Watkins Glen]] and [[Riverside International Raceway|Riverside]], as well as his first series pole at Michigan in June. These results were backed up with nine Top 5s and 16 Top 10s in 29 races. He finished 5th in the final points standings.

During a practice session at Bristol on August 27, 1988, Wallace's car lost control and slammed on the turn 4 wall before barrel rolling five times on the straightaway. It took rescue officials - including [[Jerry Punch]] - 15 minutes to extract him from the wrecked car. According to Wallace, he nearly choked to death from a ham sandwich he ate before practice.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1988-08-27-0060310029-story.html |title=Wallace Escapes Injuries in 5-flip Crash in Practice |newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |date=August 27, 1988 |access-date=September 2, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sportscasting.com/dr-jerry-punch-recounts-incredible-story-about-time-saved-rusty-wallace-dying-bizarre-death-after-a-horrifying-accident/ |title=Dr. Jerry Punch Recounts Incredible Story to Dale Earnhardt Jr. About Time He Saved Rusty Wallace From Dying a Bizarre Death After a Horrifying Accident |first=Kyle |last=Dalton |website=Sportscasting |date=March 9, 2021 |access-date=September 2, 2021}}</ref> Despite this near-death experience, Wallace developed his career further in 1988, scoring six victories (including four of the final five races of the year). His wins were at [[Michigan International Speedway|Michigan]], [[Charlotte Motor Speedway|Charlotte]], [[North Wilkesboro Speedway|North Wilkesboro]], [[Rockingham Motor Speedway|Rockingham]], the final race ever run at [[Riverside International Raceway|Riverside]], and the season finale at [[Atlanta Motor Speedway|Atlanta]]. With these six wins as well as 19 Top 5s and four further Top 10s, he finished 2nd to [[Bill Elliott]] by 24 points.

[[File:RustyWallace27car1989.jpg|thumb|left|1989 car at Phoenix with Kodiak paint scheme]]
In 1989, Wallace won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship with crew chief [[Barry Dodson]], by finishing 15th at the [[1989 Atlanta Journal 500|Atlanta Journal 500]] at Atlanta to beat out close friend and fierce rival [[Dale Earnhardt]] (the race winner) by 12 points. Wallace also won [[1989 The Winston|The Winston]] in a controversial fashion, by spinning out [[Darrell Waltrip]] on the last lap.

In [[1990 in NASCAR|1990]], Raymond Beadle switched sponsors, to [[Miller Genuine Draft]]. The four-year sponsorship deal was tied specifically to Wallace, meaning it went to whichever team Wallace went. The 1989 championship year was reportedly marked with acrimony between him and Beadle. However, Wallace was stuck with the team for 1990 due to his contract.<ref name="wallacemillion">{{Cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFD61531F932A25751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 |title=Wallace a Million-Dollar Man – New York Times |newspaper=The New York Times |date=11 December 1989 |access-date=2017-02-12 |archive-date=2021-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423173411/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/11/sports/wallace-a-million-dollar-man.html |url-status=live |last1=Siano |first1=Joe }}</ref> Rusty won 18 races for Beadle.