Mike Wallace's 1999 Newell Coach: Rusty's Former Rig Finds Its Way Home! (Andretti Autosport)

you're buying as is. And far as we know, there's nothing wrong with it. Well, when the bus got here, I love this thing. This is the toolbox my dad used to have for like his personal deal back in yesterday. So, we're standing here with Mike Wallace in front of his 1999 new coach. That's got a pretty interesting backstory. And what is the deal with this thing? What is it? What did it do? Well, first of all, you got to understand I really didn't want a coach. It was no big deal for me to own a coach. And I happen to be at the Keller Marine RV show down in Tampa, Florida. A buddy of mine, Mike Keller, owns it. And there's a guy who walks up to me. He's a vendor there at the show. And he pulls a picture out, or I shouldn't say he pulls a picture out. He opens his phone. He had a fold case in it. Says, "You ever seen this coach before?" I said, "Well, I I know one looks just like it. It used to be my brother Rusty's." He goes, "That's whose it is?" He was proud that he had that picture, you know. We got to talk a little bit more. He goes, "Michael and owns it now. It's sitting in Indian Indianapolis." Said, "Well, how do you know anything about it?" And he goes, "Well, because it's it's stored in my building. They pay me to store it and let them store it in there." He says, "They're wanting wanting to sell it." I says, "Well, that bus has probably got some history to it, you know. I mean, it's uh not that I'm into history. I just a new coach is pretty badass to have, you know." He said something about money and I says, "Well, here I'll buy it tomorrow for this." It was It's ridiculously low. It's embarrassing to say, so I'm not even going to say it. And said, "Hey, see you later." You know, "Hey, tell them guys to call me if they're interested." So about a month passes, phone rings. Hi such and such, uh, Andredy Autoports said, I understand we got a bus that you want to buy. I said, well, I I don't really know that I want to buy it, right? I mean, but um only way I will buy it is I made an offer a while back. If that offer price is acceptable, then sure, I'll take it. He goes, well, I guess you just bought yourself a bus. I went, oh my gosh. you know, cuz we've had co motor homes all through our racing career. But you know what? A coach is a coach, man. That makes you feel with proud, you know, kind of cocky. So, we made the deal over the phone and I'm talking now. I'm talking to the famous Michael Andredy family of racing. You know, says, "Okay, you're going to buy this coach. How are we going to get it to you?" I says, "Well, I don't know. You have I don't have anybody." I says, "I'll have to fly somebody up there or something." I says, "Do you have anybody?" I'll call you back. just if you play pay for the airplane ticket, I'll send one of our guys here down and they drop it off. I says, "Okay, it's a done deal." Two days later, the coach is sitting in their shop driveway. The gentleman calls me. I have to run him back to the airport to catch a flight. And he's on the way, he goes, "Well, you know some story about that bus, don't you?" Because they really didn't do knew who he was bringing it to. There were some ties from Rusty owned it originally and his brother 20 years later owned it and uh he goes you know Tumisado when he drove for Michael Andredy stayed in the coach. If you're into history on coaches 1999 new you got Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace Indie Car champion Michael Andredy Daytona 500 champion Tacumasada and one of probably one of the greatest racers in the world Mike Wallace that owned the same coach. I didn't have no big championship to throw on. Yeah, these things are are pretty crazy how nules in particular, they they're there's not that many of them and they're very trackable because they're so sparse and they all kind of seem to I mean, not all of them, but the ones that start a life in motorsports seem to stay there. Yeah. Like like mine did, you know. It Yeah. You got a famous coach and uh it's funny that you say that because when I first bought the coach, I I called New and I think I want to say his name is Larry in the parts or service department, whatever. He knew the exact bus. He knew the model number without me telling him. He says he used to take care of this bus when it was first under warranty and at the racetrack all the time. Yeah, that's how they are. They knew that when I pulled, they're like, "Oh, that was Robbiey's old one." Like, you guys know everything. They just know. And we're we had some tires put on it, had it serviced, did that stuff. And man, how helpful. There was nothing they didn't know about it. And I uh you know, in the modern day stuff, we at least I do. I follow Mark Martin. He's having a new build. So, he's been sending pictures every so often. It's like, man, they track, document, photo every every part of that assembly that that coach. So, way cool. Yeah. Let's go take a look at the You take a look at it. Yeah. I want to walk around the the outside here. So, this is a 99 and it's got two slides. This must have been one of the maybe this is like the first year they did two slides cuz they the '9s were rapid for development in new, you know, they didn't have slides at all in '96 and then I think 97 they had that one. I don't know about 98 and I've seen a few 99s that had two. So, this was like this was top stuff. See, you know way more than I even think about knowing about it. Other thing that's interesting is you look on here and where it has the the VIN number, the last three digits are the the coach number. So, this is 514, but where see where it says uh 458 in there? That means 45'8 in. So, this is actually longer than 45 ft. Oh, wow. I got a bigger bus than I thought. Yeah. If it says 45. You know what? I'm glad you pointed that out. I never knew where the serial number was on this. So the five 1514's the the build number or 514 is the build number. 514. So this was the 514th coach New would have built. Yeah. After they started numbering them. Okay. I have 402. 402. Yeah. And I think now they're up into the they skipped a bunch of them. You know that coach you got I just seen pictures of it the other day for the first time. I I've had drinks in that coach before. Really? Yeah. That's funny. You got any interesting stories of that thing? No. Not that you're going to tell the world about, but no, just, you know, I think the bus world in the NASCAR world for a period of time, you know, you had just the star drivers that had buses, you know, or coaches, however you want to say it. Everybody else had some type of motor home, so you always got to at least stop in and see the inside or say hello or get something because everybody's so proud of their buses. that that's, you know, it's part of your life and it's uh in this situation like mine, I didn't get to design it or anything. I just bought it and, you know, we use it a few times a year and that's about it. But guys get them things new, man, they they put their heart and soul and their their image in it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, this was a pretty revolutionary in the '9s, huh? Late '90s. Yeah. This was the this is the best you could get. It's got the basement air down there. I think it was SCS. I know that cuz uh when I find threads on how to fix those, it doesn't apply to me. But you can kind of tell when looking at these things from the back if it's a 45 or 458 by this little door here. It's like a Is that where the power cable is? This little door right here, the power cable is right here. Yeah. See, mine my VIN says 45, so it's 45 ft flat. And my door is only about that big. H And there's actually a few 47 floers or How'd you get so smart on this? I've been to the factory a few times. Wow. I did a lot of research before I So, so the story, another thing about this bus right here, when Rusty owned it, my brother bought it brand new from News deck that's on the roof wasn't there and Rusty didn't put it there. So, we're assuming that Andreddy's put it there to use it for entertainment. The bus was used for entertainment. But when I bought it, there wasn't a ladder on it. So, what what's the good of the observation deck? Even though we're probably not going to ever use it, but it's got to build a ladder. So, I had Steven, Rusty Son, build the ladder for me. And then the base of the ladders slides in underneath one of the bays. You just put some pins in it, climb up there. That's pretty handy. Yeah. I wonder how they they used to get up there if there is a deck. Well, there apparently they would have had to have some type of portable ladder. A lot of times like in the cup trailers and all that, they got a real light ladder that goes up to the second layer. Is this this will look like every other one there? That's Yep. series 60. That's a lot cleaner than mine is. That's for sure. Yeah. I've heard some pretty weird stories about about mine. One of your bus Ryan used to drive that. You ever heard of that name? Ryan? No. He was Robbiey's driver. Lives out in California. Well, he he drove that bus for a long time. Interesting. cuz I'd have talked to a guy who had driven for Robbie before who uh told me that it caught on fire. Oh, really? I never heard that story. So, yeah, you never know. What else can you tell me about this coach? I I mean, you know more than I know about it. Uh well, you got the fancy Gerard awning instead of That's the electric one that just comes out on its own instead of You know, they usually have ones like that. You want to go inside? Yeah, let's check out the inside. Okay, keypad. But I can't tell you what the keypad code is because that way you could get in it. H sounds kind of silly, doesn't it? This the only thing I don't I wish there was like a little snap thing. You didn't have to relatch the door. So this is inside. And uh, of course, up till now, I had been spoiled having a motor home or a coach at the racetrack cuz we used to have a driver, someone that would take it to the racetrack, clean it, set it up, get the satellite dish on, everything. You just walk in it. Clothes are hanging in the closet already. So, it was like just an extension of your house. Now, I don't have that luxury of having someone drive us around. And we never rode in it before. That was the crazy part. We never rode in. So now myself and my son Matt are the drivers of the coach. And if we ever go somewhere, which we haven't been many places, then one of the two of us are drive. And uh what's it what's this look like compared to yours up here? A lot rounder. You got nicer seats. Mine's a the older ones. The dash is really square. Yeah. The gauges look like they came out of a Cold War era transport truck. Like it's pretty basic. But this is it's crazy how much of a difference the slide makes. This is easily twice as big as as mine. Really? Yeah. Get a nice big I like the slide because it goes as it goes. It doesn't fall. It comes out and the floor raises and comes back in. Probably, you know, compared to some coaches, not coaches, buses that I've had in the past. And u so I like it. They both of them fold out into futons or you know sleeper couches. You know my baby loads out there. So so when my grandkids come they fold them both out, put a sheet over each one and this is like a tunnel right here and they jump from one to another to another. So uh and I think it's just got basics. Cabinets are probably about the same as what you got. Yes. No. Yeah. I mean all these things are lined with that same kind of carpet. Yeah. And but it's got a fulls size refrigerator. I think that's what they call it. You know, probably I mean all the big coaches I think got the same in them. You got a dishwasher. We have I don't know. Yeah. What is this here? That tells you how much I know about it. Yes, that's a a dishwasher. It's got an incinerator. Got a dishwasher. got this type of just two burner cooktop and it's got a convection/microwave oven, right? Combination oven or something. That's all I know about it. I don't mean to sound really silly, but I don't I do know uh you know, cabinetry, simple stuff. You don't have much use for a dishwasher unless you're like living in it. Yeah. No, say here's a Well, I thought they were in here. These are dishwasher approved right here. You just drink them then you throw them away. So, uh closet area here. Half bath here or a toilet area, however you want to call that. I remember got a little cool little air doors you Oh, yeah. See, you just push the button and it rolls shut. Oh, no. Simple uh little garment closet back behind here. I have this little panel down here, a little aluminum panel that I pull out while we're driving. I put that under over the step area. Huh. So my grandson or granddaughter can't fall. There's no step cover. Well, that's all that's all I know that's there. Oh, yeah. It doesn't have one. That's weird. Yours have a stop cover chopper. Yeah, it has a little air powered um really thing. Yeah, that must you know part of the configuration of your own deal. You get more base space if you don't have that. And Rusty was probably like I'm never riding in it. We don't need that. Oh, I guarantee up until the last I don't know four or five years, I don't think he ever rode in a coach. He had the nicest ones, but he you know the convenience he had all the time is he got to fly a lot of places. You know, he flew everywhere. So his bus was there. the uniqueness. There's a guy by the name of Tom Palansky. Palansky used to drive this bus. So, he uh he's still around, does work for Rusty. He goes, "You ever want to know anything about that bus, just call me. We'll come do a crash course." I haven't done that yet, but uh that's a source. That's good to know. Yeah. And um the full rear bath ones are pretty freaking cool. Yeah, I like this setup a lot. I'm trying to figure out why this little light didn't work. Okay, we're learn. There we go. I love this thing because you take a full shower in it. It's huge. But I mean, you stand there. Uh then there's a closet here. So, you know, I'm I'm sure this is uh probably not the best coach to go up and down the road in, you know, but it's what this coach was designed for was be taken to a racetrack, parked for 3 to 4 days. Driver in this case was Rusty Wallace, you know, first got this, now it's me. You just This is your home away from home. So, you don't need uh the traveling features. I think you have a bigger shower and Yeah. All that stuff. Or like some of these whenever you close the slide. Do you have to climb over the bed to get back here? Basically. Yeah. You got to You only got like this much to squeeze through. Yeah. This thing's freaking really nice. Doesn't A lot of these ' 90s ones, they got a lot of '90s funk in them. You know, like you've been in somewhere where they got all this ridiculous gold appliances and flowers and pink stuff. And I think more of the the poos kind of looked like uh like geriatric flidian is what I call it. Yeah. Or is it Rusty had good taste uh picking this one out? Yeah. I think you know Rusty what a story that is. And we that's not he used to be cra if you want to say crazy kind of dirty cuz he worked so hard and it was always working and you know didn't now for all these years later and back into the heck the '9s when him and Roger Pensky got together it was like a switch that turned on and everything he did was perfect. you know, we always kid him that he builds things without a budget and goes over and uh so I'm sure I know he has a lot of input and he probably had a designer or somebody and I'm just going to sleep in this thing. I'm not going to travel in it. Help me figure it out. Clean lines, you know. I I think this is still kind of trendy, isn't it? This type of this color. Yeah, this is not This is really nice in here with the the black floors and the black countertops and the the light wood. It doesn't It doesn't It doesn't really have itself dated in in a way. No. No. You took somebody who didn't know anything about motor homes in here and ask them what year it was from, they'd probably say like 2012 or something. Yeah. Cuz I'm taking people to mine who don't know anything and I'm like, "What year do you think it is?" They're like, "Uh, 2010." Like, "No, this was built in 1994." But well, if you don't have any any idea about anything like this, it's uh it's real confusing. What what this allowed us to do was to take and have something look really nice, looks kind of expensive, drives wonderful, only got 260,000 miles on it, and buy it for a really fair price. And so we can use it whenever we want. And we were talking a moment ago about how fuel prices are high. above. I'm just going to have to forget that. You know, we bought the deal on a deal. You got to spend a little money to get there. It's nobody's fault that the fuel prices are up, but uh you know, I I'm sure happy with it. Do you like driving it? Like the actual the act of driving it. I'm going to tell you the exact story I told my wife the other day. My wife Carla goes, "Why don't we just get in the bus and go more often?" I says, "You know want to know why? Because you know I we've had the thing for going on three years now. Neither one of us know what every switch operates in that bus. I says from day one because we were spoiled. We You know what I mean spoiled? We just showed up and everything worked and you knew where the light switches were. Well, you just don't hop in one. I don't at least. You just don't hop in these babies and just take off. You know, they're they're semi trucks on wheels and big boxes and uh the least aerodynamic of anything you'll ever drive on a road. So, uh I enjoy to answer that question directly. It's all drugged out just now. I enjoy when my son Matt drives it and I sit over here, you know, but I I don't mind driving. I can hop in and it's just you know what I don't know what you call yours. We all call them buses, coaches, anything like that. But they're they're a rolling house. So you got every category, you know, all the plumbing, all the HVAC, got the generator, you got just gobs of stuff you got to kind of keep track of and you just can't let it go unmaintained forever. You think about it, it's like these things are like houses that are suggested like have to go through a freaking category five earthquake every time you drive it and it has to still work. Yeah, I mean I agree with you 100%. I mean just think about we were talking about cabinet align or cabinet and cabinet alignant alignment. You know what I'm saying? But think about this. All this stuff, this whole structure flexes and moves going down the road. Somehow they have the the engineering capability. And again, this was back in 199. All the door lines are perfectly straight. And it's like, really? Yeah. How did they do that? How did How did you do that? How did If we put the slide out in right now, you'll see it flex, you know? on it's like but when it all gets back like the finished position it's all nice and smooth and perfect. So uh I would assume you've been to new is it is it like a real technical looking place or is it like a weld shop and there's a design center somewhere else or it's it's like worlds within worlds. You go the heavy fab they're listening to like rocket stuff on the radio and you go into the seamstress area and they're listening to stuff like you know Donna Summer and stuff from the 80s. It's like, and then you go a little further down, you got the wiring guys. And what in here do you look at and you don't know how it works or you wonder like what is this for? Well, up out here over the panel. I mean, and when I say that, I I don't sit and stare at this stuff, you know? There's just more switches than I'm used to on things. I'm a real simple guy. Told my wife, she put a lot of this electronic stuff in her house. I says, "Just give me an off switch. That's all I want. just make, you know, I don't need part of the…