Conversation: Rusty, II

• Read Part I of the conversation with Rusty Wallace

Rusty Wallace has proven, even before he retired from driving Nextel Cup cars at the end of last season, that diversity is a good thing.

These days that has the 1989 Cup champion at the end of a booming business conglomerate centered on a number of car dealerships, owner of a successful Busch Series race team and a key member of ESPN's NASCAR coverage team.

In the second half of a two-part conversation Wallace talks about his impression of the third year of NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup; what it means when his youngest son, Stephen, races when he's not there; and the place of mind games in the Chase, among other topics.

Q: Rusty, talk about the latest move in Stephen's career, which has to be the most serious step in his career, so far?

Wallace: Well, yeah -- that's for sure that this is a serious move in Stephen's career. You can go out and win all the ARCA races you want and all the short track races and all that type of stuff.

But when you get down into the hornet's nest -- when you take 43 Busch guys and throw them all together where there's a lot of crashing and banging like there is in the Busch Series -- and you throw him right in the middle of it, and tell him to sink or swim.

That's a tough doggone deal and it's been very nerve-wracking. I've seen some really good runs, where he qualified fourth, I believe it was, at Nashville and he ran top five all day long.

And then I've seen him struggle with some of them. Then you look at Dover, which was a big one for me to watch because I decided to enter a second car because I wanted Stephen to get more experience yet.

And he drove great Saturday. He got knocked sideways, he got hit in the rear, he was hitting them in the rear -- I saw him come off of Turn 4 broadside sliding it and hold onto it.

He really did well because this Dover track is so high-banked and they get so loose when there's a guy behind you that crazy things can happen. And he held onto it and I said, 'Whoa -- Stephen you did a helluva job today.'

And he was running 12th with 25 laps to go and we didn't put tires on him and he got passed by guys that had new tires on, and he fell all the way back to 21st. I said, 'Forget it, man, it was OK -- it was a wonderful race.'

My 64 car with Jamie McMurray driving dominated throughout the day and ended up finishing fourth -- we loaded up both cars without a dent on them and Stephen learned a lot.

Now, with that being said he's running this weekend at Kansas City, and we'll have him run Memphis, and then the last three Busch races, at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.

He'll also run the ARCA race at Talladega, which is the one that's got me nervous because they can wreck there pretty good, but I've got to do that to get his speedway time in, and he'll also run the ARCA finale at the new Iowa Speedway.

So we've got six or eight races left for Stephen to do, and when we're all done I'll feel comfortable in my heart with a good start.

Q: What's it been like for you this year, with your busy schedule, to watch Stephen race when you can't be there?

Wallace: It's been really tough, but I've really been relying on him and the team. All I can do is watch what's going on. Now, I came to the track this weekend and they were struggling with handling.

I said, 'Do this, this and this.' They went out there and Stephen comes back in and says it was great and that made the car feel better. So that made me feel that I contributed and that I knew what I was doing would make the car better for him, from being a driver and being able to convey it to Stephen and the crew chief, Steve Darne, quicker.

So I felt good that they listened to me and that I was able to help. But on the other hand, sometimes I think that if I'm around and I try to dictate too much that I can screw his career up.

So I've been trying to stand back. Some of the races I haven't gone to, and he's done quite well. So I don't have to be there -- but my mind tells me I have to be there and my wife, Pattie, says she wants me there.

I feel it's not so much that she wants me there to watch him run the race, she wants me there to make sure he's doing interviews right, because he's a 19-year-old kid and he's not screwing up.

I feel like more of a babysitter than I do anything else.

Q: As busy as you've been this year, it's going to be even busier next season -- but you've got a big NASCAR schedule -- so how enthused are you about that?

Wallace: I'm really enthused about it, but I'm a little bit nervous. I quit driving because I didn't want to be on the road for 36 races. Well thank God I was able to cut my new contract with ABC and ESPN, so that I'll be doing 30 weeks.

Those other five weeks I'll be able to take off will be in the first half of the year, and Pattie and I will be able to do some nice vacationing together, you know, that we've never been able to do.

On the other hand, those five races that I'll be gone, Stephen will be racing, but I feel like my Busch guys are real good, talented guys -- so I feel like he'll be in good hands.

But the thought of having to get back into the grind and living in the motorhomes again and getting back on the road -- that's a tough one.

When you're used to 14 Indy car races and now you're back to 30 Cup weekends, that's crazy, you know?

Q: How much golf have you been playing?

Wallace: Not near enough -- although, in the next week and a half I've got three big golf things I'm doing: Two up in the mountains of North Carolina and whatever else I can squeak in.

Because right now is about the best time to start playing golf, with the cool weather. All the good courses shut down in about a month and a half and I'm getting to get in about as much as I possibly can.

Q: You've been out of driving in Cup racing for nearly a year, but when you came out of the drivers' meeting in New Hampshire the people went crazy and dogged you for 20 yards getting autographs. What does that tell you about how people remember you and is there any concern that will change over time?

Wallace: Yeah, there absolutely is a concern, but at Dover [last] weekend was one of the most fabulous feelings I've had in a long time, because I came out of the hotel where I stay at and the people were lined up and I was doing autographs and they were chanting my name and they were screaming.

I did a big thing [Sunday] morning at the Dodge tent and a lot of people were there. A lot of people were going, 'We wish you were back in the 2 car.' It just feels good.

Some of them were actually vicious, going, 'You were stupid to quit.' But it's all good because, God, they're my fans and they remember you and they're fun.

If it was silent and they didn't acknowledge you when you walked past, you'd feel like you failed as a driver and as a role model, maybe -- as someone they looked up to -- and that you failed them and just left the sport.

But they've treated me so good. I've been doing a lot of public speaking around the country and the fan following is strong -- it's still good -- and that feels great.

Now, next year I'll be doing announcing with ESPN, which has replaced ABC Sports as the only branded entity for sports for the ABC Network. When it's on ABC it will be called 'ESPN on ABC,' but I'll be out there with the fans and they'll be able to hear me and I'm looking forward to continuing that relationship with all the fans.

And I'm going to keep myself in a racecar as much as I can. I am going to drive the Car of Tomorrow and I am going to test Stephen's ARCA car and I am going to drive his Busch car, some.

I'm going to try to jump in a Cup car and I want to go out there and be competitive and lock-down qualifying laps that would put me in the top five when I go and test.

When I'm up in that damn booth I don't want to just have hearsay stuff to draw from -- I want to drive it and to know exactly what coil-binding is feeling like and what the new shocks feel like.

I want to know, so I'm going to drive the damned cars, so I will be in a car a lot -- as much as I can be next year so I know what it feels like. I can do whatever I want with Penske Racing, and Roger [Penske] will do anything he can for me when it comes to cars and stuff like that.

Although, as a journalist one thing I have to be careful about is that I don't own any of Penske Racing and I have no affiliation with Penske Racing -- other than Roger is one of my best friends in the whole world.

I had to be careful with the Indy cars this year because people thought I was showing favoritism to Team Penske. Even though the guy is one of my best friends and he's one of my greatest mentors in life, I've got to call it as I see it.

And Roger understands it, though it's hard to take sometimes. If Sam Hornish has been dominating the race and Rusty Wallace has been talking about him all day long, now I've got to let Marty Reid talk about him because I'm starting to show too much.

So I've got to be careful of that and I'm conscious of that. Chip Ganassi is another friend of mine and he's a great guy. I can get in one of Chip's stock cars any time I want, or one of Penske's stock cars any time I want to get a feel for it, so that's it.

Q: In general, what's your take on Year 3 of the Chase for the Nextel Cup?

Wallace: I think it's achieving what NASCAR wanted it to. It's showing extreme excitement and I think they're realizing right now there are so damn many good drivers that there really are guys that they want in the Chase that just can't be in the Chase.

I think that's why you're hearing rumblings about maybe opening it up to a couple more drivers.

Q: Do you think it needs to be adjusted? Is a select field of 10 ideal, or does it need to be something else?

Wallace: See, people don't think it's enough. They don't think it's enough and they want a couple more guys in the Chase. I don't disagree with them.

It all started because of Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. not making the Chase and Jeff Gordon not making it. Now, it's really weird that Tony Stewart ran great all year long and made some mistakes, and now he's 11th.

It does seem weird that the champion from last year is not in the thing, and here's the guy that's had some great races -- and he's out. If there were 12 guys eligible, he'd be in.

But I'm not going to say that's what it needs to be. Something doesn't ring a bell with me when you say, 'The Chase for the top 12.' To me, that doesn't sound as good as the top 10.

That would be my only complaint, that the top 10 has a better ring to it than the top 12 does. But the sports gotten so damned big and there are so many cars in it, that that's it.

Q: What's your take on mind games in Nextel Cup racing, and particularly during the Chase for the Nextel Cup?

Wallace: Mind games -- now, that's a good one. Playing mind games is a perfect example of what happened last week to Kevin Harvick. Champion Wheel carries all the wheels for these race teams, to all the races.

The guys don't really have access to play with the tires and wheels the way that they might want to. So, one of the crewmembers goes to one of the media guys and gets him razzed up and this guy reports a story -- a good guy, by the way.

But it's just another chance to try and start some crap, and that's what happens. The late Dale [Earnhardt] Sr. used to do that same stuff, you know, and did it well.

I always tried it in the past but I didn't know how to do it right so it always backfired on me. So after that I stayed completely out of that.

But that was a classic case where Harvick dominates -- and they've probably been the best team at understanding coil bind and getting the nose of their car down and getting the aero advantage.

You can just physically look at their car and you can see that they've got one of the best looking cars out there, as far as attitude, and they've got that stuff figured out.

But on the other hand, a rival team member started some controversy and got the whole place up in arms and now here I am explaining that on my SportsCenter shows -- and you are, too, on NASCAR.COM.

The bottom line is, a guy would be ridiculous to try to cheat and to get fined in a situation like that. But on the other hand, he doesn't have access to the wheels and tires to do what they're accusing them of doing.

Q: What's your take on no Penske cars in the Chase?

Wallace: It's one of those things, yeah, and it's unfortunate that that happened -- although they're in a big reorganization process.

I don't drive the car and the team that I put together is not there any longer. We had some rhythm going and we got ourselves into the Chase -- we were third when the championship chase started [in 2005] and it was unfortunate to not even see those guys up in there at all.

I really, honestly believed that they would have been there, because it was obvious that [former Penske teammate Ryan] Newman and I really couldn't see eye to eye -- though I respected his talents.

I really thought that when he and Kurt [Busch] got together they would talk more and maybe they could help each other more, but it seems that it's went the other way for them.

So now they're still in a rebuild situation.