Dave Wallace Jr.
Dave Wallace Jr. pretty much grew up with drag racing as a second home for him. His dad, David Sr., work at San Fernando Raceway, and Jr. followed him around wherever he went, learning what dad did. By the age of 11, Jr. was utilized by manager Harry Hibler to write and pass out time slips, tend the hot- car pit gate, and generally make himself useful.
From the very beginning of his association with the sport, Dave wanted to be a track reporter, like his dad. The big day arrived when at the age of 14, Dave Jr. was allowed to try his hand at writing the results of the day for the Drag News story-on Father’s Day 1964. Dave did such a good job that he was told to learn to type, and the job would be his, complete with a salary of five dollars per week. Before the end of the year, the weekly byline from San Fernando Raceway contain the immortal words “by Dave Wallace Jr”.
In the November 1965 issue of Modern Rod Magazine, Dave had his first magazine feature story appear in print. In 1968 Dave replaced his journalistic hero, “Digger” Ralph Guldahl, as the weekly feature writer for Lions Drag Strip. In 1969 Uncle Sam saw fit to draft young Dave, so his weekly byline disappeared until 1971, when his first feature appeared in Hot Rod Magazine. After a two-year stint as Publicity Director for Orange County International Raceway, Dave return to the newspaper field as Editor of Drag News from 1975 to 1977.
In the spring of 1977, Dave was able to fulfill a lifelong ambition by joining the staff of Hot Rod Magazine as Feature Editor. Over the next three years Dave put together a series of great editorial packages, including the industry’s first series devoted to governmental threats. In 1980 Dave took the plunge from full-time editor of Hot Rod to launch his career as a freelance writer/photographer. Dave’s words and photos have since been published by virtually every performance automotive title in the US, plus European and Australian magazines. Not limiting himself to just to the monthly titles, Dave also produced three drag racing history books for Petersen Publishing in the years 1981-1983. The success of these books led Petersen publishing to contract with Dave to produce Drag Racing Magazine, which evolved into a monthly title.
In 1988 Dave opened his own advertising agency for motor sports manufacturers, and in 1994 he added the division for retailing hot rod collectibles. Though officially semi-retired from photojournalism Dave remained devoted to telling the story of drag racing, and his byline continued to appear above historical articles in print and online productions.