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How Rusty Wallace’s Flying NASCAR Cup Car Saved Countless Lives
Prior to the advent of roof flaps, rollover accidents threatened NASCAR s very existence.
By Al Pearce RacingOneGetty Images
In the early 1990s after upwards of 15 rollovers in that era NASCAR had a problem: when turned around at speed, its cars and trucks often became airborne.
Driver Rusty Wallace, an NASCAR Hall of Famer, was involved in such crashes at Daytona Beach and Talladega in early 1993.
Wallace s crashes that year, in part, led to development of roof flaps to help keep cars grounded in the event of a crash.
By almost any measure, Rusty Wallace had a tremendous NASCAR career: 36 Cup Series poles and 55 victories, the latter resting 11th on the all-time list. There were 17 top-10 points seasons in 22 tries, including 10 consecutive (1993-2002) for owners Raymond Beadle and Roger Penske. He won the 1989 championship with Beadle and crew chief Barry Dodson and went into the NASCAR Hall of Fame