Rusty Wallace heads special Sturgis motorcycle ride, auction for The NASCAR Foundation
Since 2019, the Buffalo Chip’s Rusty Wallace Charity Ride has become a key piece of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.
The fifth edition of the motorcycle journey kicks off Wednesday at Spearfish City Park with a scenic 25-mile cruise through Spearfish Canyon and through to the Sturgis Buffalo Chip campground.
The 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, Wallace loves the experience in South Dakota — the people, the bikes, the atmosphere — but his heart is with the charity.
Wallace’s ride and its extracurriculars benefit The NASCAR Foundation as well as the Rapid City Special Olympics, with proceeds evenly split between the two organizations. A 55-time Cup race winner, Wallace serves on the Board of Directors of The NASCAR Foundation, which works to improve the lives of children who need it most within the NASCAR community through initiatives like the Speediatrics Children’s Fund and the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award.
The key extracurricular this year is a fully customized 2023 Harley Davidson Road Glide, loaded with high-performance parts and upgrades, designed and built by Southern Country Customs, the Mooresville, North Carolina, based company Wallace co-owns with son and former NASCAR driver Steve Wallace. The bike will be auctioned off Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET in Sturgis, with proceeds benefitting the aforementioned charities.
Southern Country Customs, founded in 2019, operates out of the same building that housed Rusty Wallace Racing, the Xfinity Series team that fielded 547 entrants among drivers like Steve Wallace, Kenny Wallace, Jamie McMurray, Bill Elliott and Brendan Gaughan, among others.
This year’s unique ride features a 127-cubic-inch engine that produces over 150 horsepower, as well as a custom front end to fit an 18-inch fat tire.
“That’s how these people talk about these bikes,” Wallace told NASCAR.com with a laugh.
But the vehicle never would have come together if not for the gracious donations made to Southern Country Customs, made in large part from T-Man Performance in Kernersville, North Carolina, with the knowledge the bike would be auctioned for a great cause.
“We’ve had many, many people provide all the free parts to build this bike,” Wallace said. “And out of all the bikes we’ve built, this particular one has probably got more high-end pieces and parts than any bike we’ve ever built. And so we’re real proud of it. It’s all been tuned and dynoed and ridden, and now it’s sitting on display here in Deadwood, South Dakota, at Cadillac Jack’s Gaming Casino.”
Motorcycles weren’t always in Wallace’s wheelhouse — not until former NASCAR president and current Senior Advisor to NASCAR Mike Helton introduced him and others to the South Dakota bike rally.
“One of the things I really love as far as having fun is the motorcycles, and Mike Helton is the one that actually started that,” Wallace said. “Mike started bringing a lot of the NASCAR drivers out to Sturgis for the motorcycle rally almost 20 years ago, and I just really got hooked on it. I just love Sturgis and all the people we get to meet, and my wife started coming out with me about the last six or seven years, and she just loves it and the family, too.”
Wallace’s affiliation with The NASCAR Foundation began with a phone call in 2006 from Betty Jane France, wife of former NASCAR CEO and president Bill France Jr., whose words still have Wallace laughing 17 years later.
“(The NASCAR Foundation) has been something very, very special in my heart, and it all started back in 2006 when I got a phone call from the late Betty Jane France,” said Wallace, who retired from NASCAR racing after the 2005 season. “And she says, ‘Well, Rusty, I want to start a foundation, and I want you to be on the board. And I said, ‘Why me?’ And she laughed and said, ‘Well, now you’re not controversial because you’re not driving any longer.’ “
Wallace said by the time this week’s rally concludes, over $500,000 will have been raised for children through auctions and the bike builds.
He throws heaps of credit to Jim Burgess, former owner of Black Hills Harley-Davidson, for his assistance and friendship over the years. This year marks the first in which Burgess no longer owns the dealership, touted as one of the world’s largest Harley dealers, but that didn’t keep Burgess away from the cause.
“Jim actually donated the motorcycle through his charity, the Rapid City Flame, this year,” Wallace said. “So he’s the one who wrote the check for the bike. Jim Burgess, he’s the one who has been the partner through the whole entire deal. And I just want to recognize him because he’s just really done a ton for us.”
