As his older brothers Rusty and Mike did, Wallace started his career in the Midwest racing on a variety of tracks. His first racing experience came in Street Stocks, and he won the Illinois state championship in 1982. He worked on Rusty's cars for several years before racing in the American Speed Association, where he won rookie of the year honors in 1986.
After running two more years in ASA, he was hired to drive for Rusty's Busch Series team in 1989 and won rookie of the year honors. He has nine career Busch Series victories and finished second in the standings to champion Bobby Labonte in 1991. He was named the Busch Series' Most Popular Driver in 1991 and 1994.
In 1993, Wallace drove for car owner Felix Sabates and competed for rookie honors in the Cup Series, finishing third behind Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte. Wallace has also driven for Robert Yates, filling in for the injured Ernie Irvan for the final 10 races of 1994.
Wallace started 2001 with Jack Birmingham's No. 27 Eel River Racing team after leaving the No. 55 team of Andy Petree at the end of 2000. He remained with Eel River through the first 15 races of the season. His best finish was 25th, which he achieved twice before they split up.
He sat out nine Cup races, while continuing his program with Busch Series owner George deBidart. He took over the No. 1 Chevrolet for DEI at Darlington Raceway on Labor Day Weekend after Steve Park was injured in a Busch Series race and sidelined for the rest of the season.
Wallace competed in the final 12 races of the season and did well enough to earn a contract with DEI for 2002. He drove the No. 1 until Park returned in March. Wallace won the Bud Pole at Rockingham and had a second-place finish there. He scored another top-10 -- sixth-place -- at Talladega.
The St. Louis native won once in 32 Busch Series starts and finished 10th in the Busch standings. Despite his lack of strong Cup finishes, Herman, as he is known in the garage, topped the $1.5 million mark in winnings for the second-straight year.
Wallace didn't find a full-time Cup ride in 2002 until August, when he finished out the season with Bill Davis Racing. His finished 10th at Rockingham in Feburary for his top result of the year.
In the Busch Series, Wallace had 11 top-10 finishes in 2002, highlighted by a pair of fifth-place finishes.
Wallace enjoys playing video games while not on the track.
