Wallace feeling a touch of retirer’s remorse

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005 | 9:57 a.m.

When Rusty Wallace announced last August that he would retire from NASCAR Nextel Cup racing at the end of the 2005 season, he said he was comfortable with his decision.

As the days tick down to what will be his final start in the Daytona 500, Wallace admitted he is less comfortable with his decision to walk away from the sport.

"I'm second-guessing myself," Wallace, 48, said Monday during a break in testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"I'd be lying to you if (I said) I haven't thought about it a thousand times. I've been laying in bed going, 'Man, have I made the right decision? Did I pull the trigger too quick?' Looking back, right now, maybe I would have run another year before I did it."

When Wallace announced his plan to run a farewell tour this season -- called "Rusty's Last Call" -- he told the assembled media that he would not run a limited schedule or in another series after he stepped out of his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for the final time. Wallace already has backtracked on that statement by announcing he would run in next year's Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race.

Wallace went a step further Monday.

"I did tell people I'm not going to race anything, I'm not going to do anything after the 2005 season, but I didn't want to do that," Wallace said. "I kind of opened the door back up to if I wanted to run a couple of races, I could -- although I don't plan on it.

"One thing I do plan on running, I'm going to run the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona. I've never done that before and I wanted to do that before I'm all said and done. Anything after that, I don't know."

Wallace, who won the 1989 NASCAR Cup championship, is tied with Bobby Allison for most race victories (55) in NASCAR's modern era (since 1972). Although he has won only one race in the past three seasons, Wallace said his reasons for retiring at the end of this season remain the same.

"I did it because I'm on top of my game; I want to go out on top of my game," he said. "I ask myself all the time, 'Why did you do it?' It was because I don't like running 36 races -- I hate running 36 races. I don't like being away from home that much.

"Right now, I feel like I've got my life in order. I'm not going to close the door (on racing again) ... but I can't think of a scenario right now (where I would come back). I told myself, 'Get halfway through the year and see where you're at halfway through the year and see if you're still comfortable with your decision.' "

It appeared that the two days of testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway also might have played a part in Wallace second-guessing his decision to retire. Despite the rules changes that have had some teams scrambling to find the proper balance in their cars, Wallace said he has been pleasantly surprised by how his car has handled this week.

"I didn't know what to think about the setup, what was going to happen (with) the softer tires and the shorter spoilers," Wallace said. "We unloaded with a setup that was totally different from anything we've ever run here and I've got to tell you, right off the truck we ran really good. We made some changes, we looked at both cars we've got and they're both fast.

"I quit about a half an hour early (Monday) and I said, 'Man, this thing is just flying.' I went out there and felt very confident, passed a lot of guys. I didn't see anybody run any quicker than us. I went out there (Tuesday) morning and made a couple of changes and it ran smooth this morning. I got all done and said, 'If it runs this good during race weekend, we've got something here.'"