Rusty Wallace celebrated his final season by making the Chase. Credit: Autostock

YIR: Rusty Wallace

Veteran driver retires with one of his most successful seasons

They say 50 is the new 30. Even though Rusty Wallace had the energy of a 30-year-old in 2005, he knew it was time to hang it up.

Wallace can smile on the fact that he joined Bill Elliott in finishing his final season in the top 10 in points. It was an unexpected comeback by Wallace, who wasn't expected to have much of a golden parachute after finishing 14th in 2003 and 16th in 2004.

Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Rusty Wallace in 2005 Race Start Finish Daytona 500 36 10 Auto Club 500 23 10 UAW-DaimChr 400 21 12 Golden Corral 500 32 27 Food City 500 3 13 Advance 500 4 5 Sam/RadSh 500 6 10 Subway Fresh 500 9 36 Aaron's 499 20 22 Dodge Charger 500 12 12 Chevy 400 8 19 Coca-Cola 600 20 10 MBNA 400 11 5 Pocono 500 12 11 Batman 400 12 10 Dodge/S. Mart 350 14 4 Pepsi 400 9 4 USG 400 33 12 New England 300 6 8 Penn. 500 13 2 Allstate 400 41 25 Sirius at the Glen 4 6 GFS 400 38 13 Sharpie 500 20 5 Sony HD 500 34 15 Chevy 400 15 5 Sylvania 300 7 6 MBNA 400 6 3 UAW-Ford 500 41 25 Banquet 400 33 7 UAW-GM Quality 500 27 24 Subway 500 3 19 Bass Pro/MBNA 500 32 37 Dickies 500 26 22 Checker 500 26 29 Ford 400 37 13 Average 19.2 13.7 Saying GoodbyeRetirement brings mixed emotions for Rusty. TeammatesRusty discusses working with Ryan Newman Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

But in 2005, Wallace drove like every lap counted. In a way, it did, and he managed to complete almost every lap of the season -- he was running at the finish in all 36 races.

He was one of the few Dodge drivers who experienced any sort of consistency with the new Charger. And while Wallace didn't qualify well, he usually stayed in the hunt on Sundays, especially on the flat tracks, where the Charger excelled.

It was a remarkable turnaround from a troubled 2004 campaign in which Wallace criticized his team, his teammate -- or both. Too often, mistakes were made, and tempers flared.

Wallace's final season, however, wasn't filled with many mistakes. He spent 15 weeks in the top five in points, and only a late-season run of bad luck prevented him from finishing with his best season in years.

Like a lot of drivers, Wallace's season effectively ended on Oct. 15, when he crashed at Charlotte and finished 24th. That crash knocked him out of title contention and started a stretch of six races without a top-10, his longest such streak of the year.

Wallace was spun late in the race the following week at Martinsville, and he crashed early the next week at Atlanta.

"It was like five races in a row -- bam, bam, bam, bam, bam -- ripped me right out of this point thing," Wallace said. "It's been a really tough deal, but all year long it's been wonderful.

"How can you go all year long with no problems at all and then the world comes crashing in with five to go? It happened. That's the way it is, I guess."

Wallace's season can best be defined by an outstanding streak he enjoyed from late May to late July. In those nine weeks, Wallace never finished worse than 12th, and he moved from 11th to fourth in the points.

That summer stretch put Wallace into the Chase by a wide margin.

"We were locked in the top 10 two races before the thing was over," Wallace said. "The highlight has been all the consistent great runs and locking up my spot in the Chase for the Championship with two races to go.

"That was my goal, get myself back in the top 10, where we've always been, and we did that."

Wallace went winless in 2005, and he led only 259 laps to fall just 28 short of leading 20,000 in his career. He finished second behind a dominant Kurt Busch at Pocono, and he was third at Dover eight weeks later.

Dover was Wallace's last hurrah and final top-10, and he was only seven points out of the lead when the circuit hit Talladega with eight races to go.

"Three races into the thing and we're still second in the points," Wallace said. "Then everything broke down."

Wallace says the painful final month doesn't take any luster of his final season.

"I'm on top," he said. "In my mind, I'm on top, and I hope the fans think that. I think I went out with style and grace, and I think I went out on top, too."