Wallace not ready for retirement talk just yet

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Former Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace said Thursday any talk of retirement from the sport was extremely premature, to say the least -- but he did admit to having a plan.

RUSTY WALLACE  •  Driver Page  •  Crew chief Bill Wilburn  •  2002 Season Stats

Wallace didn't speculate that his 62-race winless streak -- including the end last season of a 16-year streak with at least one victory -- might have spurred thoughts of the demise of his 54-victory career.

"Everybody keeps talking to me about that (retirement) for some reason," Wallace said during a break in Daytona Winston Cup testing. "I guess when you get 46 years old that's the question you get asked (and) that's OK.

"I'm going to drive for at least three more years. I'm not looking for anything after three. I've always said the day I can't be competitive and I'm just out there running I don't want nothing to do with it (and) I'm not even close to that.

"I should have won a ton of races (in 2002). We had great runs last year. I don't think I'm close to that right now, but there is a time."

Wallace said the current media craze over the "Young Guns" unsettles him a bit.

"It does bother me a bit when everybody groups drivers," Wallace said. "Instead of saying they're all Winston Cup drivers, we get grouped into the 20s, 30s and 40s -- here are the veterans and here are the young guns.

"I wish they'd just quit all that and go back to everybody is a Winston Cup driver. I think that would be cool. I guess it's exciting for media attention, but I wish they would just stop it all and move on to something different."