Rusty Wallace: "I'm sticking with my decision right now. I did tell people I'm not going to race anything." Credit: Autostock

Rusty finds letting go easier said than done

LAS VEGAS -- In the midst of what he thought was a pretty successful test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Tuesday, Rusty Wallace said that if he had it to do over, he would have delayed his decision to retire from Nextel Cup racing.

"Looking back right now, maybe I would have gone another year before I did it." Wallace said.

	Credit: Autostock
	RUSTY WALLACE •   Driver Page •   Store: Rusty Wallace gear! •   Join Rusty's Official Fan Club

Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR champion, said when he announced his "Last Call" tour in August, he wasn't aware that Mark Martin would announce that 2005 would be his last season or that Terry Labonte would scale his 2005 Cup schedule to 10 races.

"I did it because I wanted to be the only guy doing it and I wanted to do a really good tour, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm sticking with my decision right now. I did tell people I'm not going to race anything."

But, Wallace said nothing is forever.

"I kinda opened the door back up where if I wanted to run a couple of races I could," Wallace said. "I don't plan on it, but I do plan on running the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona. I've never done that before, and I want to do that before I'm all said and done and be able to say I've done that one.

"I know I'm doing that one. Anything after that, I don't know."

The 2005 season appears to be starting well for Wallace. He was all smiles Tuesday after a day and a half of running the new spoiler modifications and new tire compound mandated by NASCAR for the coming season.

"I've got to tell you right off the truck we ran really good. We made some changes and looked at both cars and they're both fast. I left about half an hour early yesterday.

"The car was flying. I went out there and felt very confident. I didn't see anybody run any quicker than us. I went out there this morning and made a couple of changes, and it really flew this morning."

While Wallace was someone who lobbied for the changes, he's not ready to take credit just yet.

Final chapterMark Martin talks about his last season in Nextel Cup racing Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"We've got to get in the race and see what happens," Wallace said. "I remember last year in the first five races everyone was screaming about how hard the tires were and the competition wasn't good.

"The whole goal right now is when you put four tires on, the tires start to wear and the cars start sliding around and the only way you can do that is to soften up these tires a little bit."

Still, Wallace contends that no matter what happens this season, he won't be returning full time to the Nextel Cup Series.

"I don't like running 36 races. I hate running 36 races," Wallace said. "I don't like being away from home that much. I don't like just constantly doing that, and I've got a lot of cool things going on right now.

"My car dealerships in East Tennessee, my son Stephen coming up racing. I've got involvement in Team Penske. Right now, I feel like I've got my life in order."

Wallace also says it may be time for sponsor Miller Brewing Company to someone who fits the company demographic.

"I didn't get any pressure from the Miller Brewing Company," Wallace said. "But I kept getting all these vibes from the distributors. 'We want a guy that wants to hang out with us until 2 o'clock in the morning and drink some beer.'

"I'm not that guy. At 11 o'clock I'm dead asleep right now."

Wallace said he could run some test laps for Penske next season, or maybe helping his son with his budding career. Whatever the case, it seems he isn't closing the door on much.

"I told myself, 'self, get halfway through the year and see where you're at and see if you're still comfortable with your decision.'"