NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace set to return to the driver's seat

Wallace, the 1989 champion of the Sprint Cup Series, will compete in the Ferrari Finali Mondiali next weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

Wallace, 60, will drive for the Risi Competizione Ferrari of Houston team in the North America division of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli. He will take part in practice on Thursday, followed by qualifying and racing on Friday and Saturday.

“I hope that I can run strong in it and hopefully win but I’m realistic, too,” Wallace said. “I haven’t been in a car in a long time. I’m going to have to knock a lot cobwebs off but I got the passion for it.

“Everybody that I talk to says (the team) is first class. The team has welcomed me with open arms.”

Wallace, who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2013, was scheduled to take part in a test with the team at the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Tex., to get acclimated to the car before arriving this week at Daytona.

The Ferrari Finali Mondiali is a four-day event that is being staged in North America for the first time. It brings together competitors from the European, North American and Asia Pacific series of the Ferrari Challenge for a battle for the World Championship in their Ferrari 458 Challenge EVOs.

The Ferrari Finali Mondiali has been previously held in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Spain and Italy. The weekend also includes the display and running of historic Formula 1 cars and Ferrari’s exclusive XX Programmes.

The Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 show is scheduled for the final day of the Ferrari Finali Mondiali. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen will drive in the Formula 1 exhibition – the first public appearance of Formula 1 cars at Daytona International Speedway.

Wallace said he is looking forward to the Formula 1 exhibition.

“The sound is going to be incredible. Everybody is talking about it,” Wallace said of the F1 exhibition. “I definitely want to see that.”