Credit: Autostock

Conversation: Rusty Wallace

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Monday was a celebration of career and family for NASCAR Nextel Cup Series veteran Rusty Wallace.

Wallace, 48, and NASCAR put together a gathering at Daytona that included dozens of media, NASCAR officials, family members and individuals who played key roles in his racing and business career of more than 20 years.

AUDIO Conversation: Rusty Wallace Listen to the conversation

On the stage of the Pepsi Theater at DAYTONA USA, Wallace announced that he would retire from competitive racing following the 2005 Nextel Cup season.

Later, during a private reception, Wallace sat down with NASCAR.COM senior writer Dave Rodman to discuss, among other subjects, the impact on his career of Earnhardt's untimely death, the dynamics of his "Last Call" tour, the importance of going out on top of his game and choosing his successor.

Q: Everyone has to retire eventually, and today's announcement was expected. But the surprise to everyone was the way you couched it, saying that Dale Earnhardt's death really affected you, more than anyone else probably realized. What was the significance of Dale's death, in terms of this announcement?

Rusty Wallace: That was in the back of my mind and at that particular point it just kind of came out. I'm never, ever scared driving a racecar. I never have been. When I get in the car I just give it (my all).

In fact, I get people on my butt all the time because sometimes they think I don't wear the exact, perfect head and neck restraint system and things like that. But I don't ever think about that.

I honestly don't think (about it). But Earnhardt, that bugged me when we lost him. I had Mr. (Bill) France tell me, "Man, you've done everything in the world. You've won every single race there is to win. Yeah, I know you want to win the (Daytona) 500, but don't just keep doing this and doing this and doing this until you finally get hurt and you can't enjoy life after racing."

I thought about that and that stuck in my mind. And then I got thinking, I really enjoy this sport. I love driving the car. But I don't like being at the racetracks a lot. I like to get in there and do my deal and get out of town.

Credit: Autostock

I want to go out on top, and above all I want to spend a lot of time with Patti and the kids, and I don't want to be some invalid or hurt and killed because of something that went wrong. I love golfing. I've had a great time hanging out with the guys from Callaway Golf (equipment manufacturers). I love to golf and I want to hang out with the kids more.

You heard the speech that (oldest son) Greg did this afternoon. Everybody in the room was just buzzing about how good a job he did -- it was amazing what he did, you know?

I want to hang out with the guys more, and I want to grow my car dealership businesses more and I want to get more involved with Team Penske. There's a lot of stuff going on there that we can make better. We've got to get the three teams working together better.

There's a lot of things that I just can't do while I'm driving. But once I get out of the car there's a lot of stuff that I'm going to fix, and I can get that done.

Q: Describe the process, in terms of the time frame, of deciding to retire. You said about eight months ago you really started to think about it, you decided maybe two months ago and the point of no return was when you met in Phoenix with the folks from Action Performance. How did this Last Call tour come to fruition?

Wallace: Yeah. The point of no return was when I finally (met with the Action people in Phoenix). I was on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again. Then I kept saying, well you know that the worst-case scenario was that I was for sure going to be out of there at the end of 2006.

Then I got to thinking about what Mr. France said to me -- "Don't push it too long." That stuck in my brain. Don't push it. Why push it another year?

And (wife) Patti's like, "We've saved, you've built a good career, we've got a couple good businesses, we feel good (and) you're at the top of your game." I said, "You know, you're right -- 2005 is it."

Eight months ago I really started talking about it. And then I made a couple trips out to Action Performance in Phoenix and we really started planning and hiring these people and getting stuff put together, it started getting more locked in.

The final deal was when I picked the phone up and called Mr. France and told him I wanted him to host the event, here. I wanted to do it live from the world center of speed.

We had talked about doing it on the South Lawn of the White House, about doing it at Rockefeller Center, and then one day I just woke up and said, 'you know what? I want to do it at the world center of speed because I'm a racecar driver and that makes the most sense.'

When I asked Bill (France) to do it, he said "Hell yeah, buddy -- I'll handle it." And I knew then when he said, "yeah, we're on," that it was done (laughing).

I hope I didn't mislead anybody too much when I said I plan to drive a couple more years. I was counting this year.

I know everybody wants to get the first story and talk about it, but I really wanted today to be a special day for everybody. I just couldn't spill all the beans right then, so it's this year and next year. That's two. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Q: You had a pretty impressive assembly of people here this morning -- everyone from some of your key crewmen, like crew chief Larry Carter and Earl Barban; to your car owner Roger Penske, who gave you your start in Cup racing in 1980. How meaningful was that to you?

Wallace: That was very, very meaningful to me. And I had a lot of people invited that really wanted to come (but couldn't). Cliff Stewart, my first (full-time Cup) car owner was invited but couldn't make it.

Raymond Beadle (1989 Cup championship car owner) was invited and couldn't make it. But my championship winning crew chief, Barry Dodson was here with me and I had the entire France family -- all of them were in the front row and they said some nice things about me.

One of my very best friends of all time in racing, Don Prudhomme, I asked him to come and speak and he flew from Los Angeles, straight out here with his family to do it. We had a great night last night, you know, talking racing and talking about the future over at Lesa (France) Kennedy's house.

Credit: Autostock

It was fun. We talked until my words started to get a little bit not right, because I was drinking a little bit too much wine, I think (laughing). But it's been a great day-and-a-half.

Now, since Rusty's Last Call is announced and we're going to tour all around the country, I'll be focusing on the tour, I'll be focusing on trying to win and honestly, once I get the 2005 season started, I'll be looking towards the end of the year.

Q: You unveiled the Rusty's Last Call racecar, with all your statistical highlights on it, this afternoon. How significant was the return to that kind of "Midnight" looking, black racecar that you previously had so much success with?

Wallace: That was a cool car (but) whether that car will ever be raced, I don't know. That car was meant for the announcement and it was a car that we made a lot of diecast on and gave out to the media to thank them for all they've done for us.

We might run that car in the Bud Shootout. We might do that, I don't know. We've talked about it, but (right now) that's the announcement car.

We've got several other paint schemes to follow. Miller Brewing Company has made (the car) available, for next year, for me to sell off 12 races. That's something that's never been done in the industry that I know of.

They feel they've got a lot of equity built in the name "Rusty" and "No. 2" and Miller Lite and a lot of people know who that is, so we're going to take the money that we (make) off of those cars and put it back into television ads and we're going to start getting back into the business of making a lot of TV commercials, which is gonna be cool.

Q: As much as you can talk about it, what are the dynamics of the Last Call tour going to be? Are there going to be special appearances away from race markets as well as events at the races that fans can participate in?

Wallace: First of all, it's still a work in motion, I can tell you that right now. We don't have all the answers, but one thing we do know is that I've went to a lot of autograph sessions this year that were out of the race markets.

I been to Minot, South Dakota; I've been to Minneapolis; I've been to Wyoming. I've been to places where there are not NASCAR races and the line for autographs was two or three thousand (people) long -- just huge, huge crowds.

And right then I understood that the United States is still starving for NASCAR racing and it's got a lot of room to grow. And so we're going to take the Rusty's Last Call tour to a lot of those places -- a lot of places where people can't come to see us.

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We're going to have autograph sessions; we're going to have bands. It's going to be like a mini Rusty-fest. There will be a lot of entertainment, interactive stuff, show cars, autograph sessions and things like that.

There'll be a lot of special events and stuff around the racetracks, also. A lot of stuff I will personally attend (and) a lot of stuff I won't be able to attend, because I'll be racing or practicing or whatever.

But these 20 markets, outside the (NASCAR racing stops on) tour, I will be there.

Q: Looking ahead to 2006, on a percentage basis, where do you feel like your time is going to be spent? Obviously, you'll take a more active role with Penske Racing; you've got your RWI race team that's really coming on strong; of course, the family and Stephen's racing career. Where do you see your time going?

Wallace: Well, I've had some of my employees, say, 'what's your plan, three and four years down the road?' I say, 'guys, I can't think that far ahead.' All I can tell you is that right now, I will be super actively involved in Team Penske.

Like I say, I know there's a lot of things I can fix and help get done quicker once I get out of the car. I can't do them while I'm in the car, but once I get out of the car I got to get these three teams working together better.

I've got to get us some better pieces and parts put together. There are a lot of things I need to improve and I'll be looking real hard for a driver to replace me.

I'll be spending a lot of time with my Grand National (Busch Series) team, which I spend a lot of time on. It's going to run the whole series next year with a couple of Cup drivers that I'll be announcing here shortly.

Greg has been helping me with that along with numerous people back at the shop: Tom Knox and Tom Polansky and Barry Dodson, just to name a few.

I'll also be trying to grow my car dealership business. I've got five dealerships in East Tennessee right now and we'll probably add two or three more to that. I've got some ideas and some deals I've got cooking on that.

I've got a lifetime personal services contract with Miller Brewing Company, which takes me through age 55 is what that means, speaking on behalf of those guys.

I want to be in TV and I think there's a career for me in that. I also plan on doing a lot of my endorsements and keeping that going, so it looks like I've already filled up my plate, doesn't it?

Everybody's told me that that's going to happen, but the one thing is I won't have to be living at a racetrack all of the time, this way.

Q: What's your role going to be in that driver search, and what kind of individual do you see replacing you in the seat?

Credit: Autostock

Wallace: It's got to be a qualified driver. We're just not in the mood right now to start teaching a young guy, to bring him up. I just don't think there's enough time, so we'll be looking for a qualified guy, that's for sure.

Q: People might be frustrated at this announcement, saying 'who are we going to follow, now?' But how important is it for you to go out on top of your game?

Wallace: It's everything in the world to go out on top. You know what? If I go out next year and I don't have a great year, I'm still going out on top, because I've won this year, I've had tons of top-five runs only to get spoiled by mechanical failures.

I know I'll run good next year because that's just me. I feel like, at age 48, I'm one of the youngest feeling 48 year olds out there. But I think I'm making a smart decision and I think I've done it the proper way.

I'm going to give back to the fans with this tour we're going to do, and I just want to let these fans know that I appreciate what they've done for me and it's very, very big.

Q: Next year will be your final shot to win the Daytona 500. What does that mean?

Wallace: I've come close to winning that thing many times. I've got to get really actively involved with that team because I've got to go to Daytona with the best car I've ever had in my life. I've got to have the most horsepower, I've got to have the best car, I've got to be well tested.

I've got to have a real commitment from my team to get it right because this is my last one. You're going to see me real focused, very much paying attention to that race. I've won about everywhere. Heck, I felt like I won the Brickyard 400 about five times. How many times have I been leading that race only to finish second?

The Daytona 500 is still the granddaddy of them all. It's the race I haven't won, and I'm going to try my (best) to win that one.

Q: Are you proud of your accomplishments in the sport?

Wallace: I'm real proud of what I've done for the sport, and I'm going to continue doing all I can for the sport. A lot of that stuff gets overshadowed right now with the hardcore racing. A lot of things are going on and some of the young guns showing up and all that.

In the back of my mind I chuckle a little bit because I started that. I made that happen, and I did this and I did that. It feels good saying that. Again, I'm honest with my beliefs in it, and I want to continue in the sport and make everybody happy.

Q: In a 20-year career, it can be hard to look back and single anything out, but what would you say is your biggest accomplishment in your racing career?

Wallace: My biggest accomplishment was definitely winning my title -- the 1989 Winston Cup championship -- and also the driver of the year titles (in 1988 and 1993).

But number one probably is having my peers respect me.