Former NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace walked away from an accident in which a driver talking on her cellphone ran a stop sign and collided with Wallace's SUV _ then used the occasion to tout the safety of his Dodge Durango.

``You hear car companies talk about safety a lot,'' the former driver of the No. 2 Dodge said in a statement Tuesday, ``but I can tell you that (wife) Patti and I are both really thankful for the research and development that Dodge puts into the safety of their vehicles.''

A report filed by police in this Charlotte suburb said the crash occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Monday, when a 2004 Mercedes driven by Stacy Earls Greene struck the driver's side door of Wallace's 2006 Dodge.

Wallace's wife, Patti, was a passenger in his vehicle; four-year-old Trey Greene was riding in Stacy Greene's car.

``Driver ... stated she was talking on her cellphone and did not see stop sign on Harborside (Drive), causing her to strike the left side of'' Wallace's truck, officer Marc Fasano wrote.

No one involved in the accident required medical treatment. The 50-year-old Wallace said he and his wife were on their way home after attending an IndyCar Series race and a taping of the NASCAR Angels television show in California over the weekend; Wallace is an auto racing analyst for ABC and ESPN.

``I've been in a lot of crashes in my time, but that was one of the craziest things I think I've ever experienced,'' Wallace said. ``We really got knocked around there and we're both really sore.''