Rail Road Flat man inducted in drag racing Hall of Fame

By Jeremy D. Malamed

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Posted: Friday, August 22, 2008 12:42 PM CDT

Dave Wallace snaps a photo of legendary racer Don "Big Daddy" Garlits before a race. Courtesy photo

Dave Wallace Jr. of Rail Road Flat has never covered a quarter-mile in five seconds or less, but in the past 44 years, he's covered drag racing like nobody else.

Earlier this year, Wallace was part of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame's Class of 2008.

The only living journalist in the Hall of Fame, Wallace, 58, was recognized for a 44-year career that began with his first byline in Drag News in 1964.

“I got $5 for my first story and I worked on it all night,” he recalled.

Wallace learned to love drag racing as a young boy growing up in Southern California, tagging along with his father, Dave Wallace Sr., who was the track reporter at San Fernando Drag Strip.

“It was a pretty cool scene in the early 1960s,” he said. “I liked the noise, the innovation and the guys were pretty wild.”

At the age of 14, he learned to type and eventually took over track reporter duties for his dad, and a career was born. He went on to become editor of Drag News, feature editor of Hot Rod magazine, and founding editor of Petersen's Drag Racing magazine, before launching his own advertising agency, Good Communications Inc., and the collectibles company, hotrodnostalgia.com.

“I've always liked the cars, but realized early on that I didn't have the talent to race them, but I enjoyed the writing part of it,” Wallace said. “I really got a rush from seeing my stuff in print.”

Wallace, who moved to Rail Road Flat in the 1980s and is married to Calaveras High ceramics teacher Donna Guadagni, was inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Florida attended by his parents.

“It's the highest honor in drag racing,” said Wallace, whose dad is in the California Hot Rod Hall of Fame. “It was a total surprise for me. I was never one to shy away from controversy, so I never expected this.

“ I'd been to those ceremonies before for the people I wrote about. I never imagined it would be turned around and I would be on the receiving end.”

Wallace still covers drag racing events on the hot rod nostalgia circuit-he said he's disgusted with the way pro drag racing is run-and has a cover story in this month's Hot Rod magazine.

Contact Jeremy D. Malamed at sports@calaverasenterprise.com

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