One-on-one with Rusty Wallace
By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
January 24, 2002
9:24 AM EST (1424 GMT)
CONCORD, N.C. - Don't look for Rusty Wallace to back down this year. It's never been his style.
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Rusty Wallace
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Entering his 22nd year of Winston Cup competition, the driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford hasn't lost his desire to win on the NASCAR circuit. If nothing else, it intensifies each year.
During the following interview, Wallace was seated at his spacious desk at Rusty Wallace Inc. The view from the corner office overlooks the outside of his personal race shop and across the vast concrete floor inside.
Just like Wallace does on the race track, he can keep an eye on almost everything that takes place. Wearing jeans and a mustard button-down shirt, Wallace was animated and relaxed as he talked about a variety of topics.
When the topic of winning comes up, he promptly sits up straight and leans across the desk with a quick reply:
"I'll tell you one thing, my desire to win hasn't faded one bit," Wallace said emphatically. "Also, my attitude about taking (crap) on the race track has not dwindled. I'm not real good about taking crap on the track anyhow and if someone hits me, they're going to get hit back."
Just in case one doubts Wallace's prediction, just look back to the fall race at Dover. Wallace and Ricky Rudd got tangled on the track, which prompted a heated-verbal discussion in the garage area afterwards.
The competitive side of the 45-year old Wallace hasn't diminished either. A few years ago, he said there was just a handful of drivers who could win races. Now, there are at least 20 drivers who can win on any weekend.
"It's definitely become more competitive through the years. There were 19 winners last year in 36 races. That's because all the teams have more money and more talented people on those teams. It's just getting tougher."
Wallace currently holds the record for most consecutive seasons, 16, with at least one trip to Victory Lane. His single win of 2001 came at California in April.
But what was also noteworthy about 2001 was the fact that he was shut-out of Bud Pole Awards. By contrast, in 2000, Wallace had nine top starting spots.
Through more than two decades of racing, Wallace has seen many changes take place in the sport he has earned his livelihood in. One significant change, possibly more than any other, has been the business side of racing.
Days of hanging out after a race like a local short-track driver are long gone for Wallace. Today, the hustle and high-level demands of sponsorship and media requests placed upon a Winston Cup driver have eradicated those casual moments of years past.
"In the old days, we used to go race and sit on the back of the car and have a few Miller beers afterwards," Wallace said reflectively. "A few hours later, I'd get in the right-side seat of someone's car and then go home.
"That's one thing I've always been very careful about -- drinking and driving. With me being sponsored by a beer company and driving in NASCAR, that wouldn't be the smartest thing for me to do.
"Anyhow, we'd hang out because we didn't have any commitments like we do today. This sport has become a business and it's just not as much fun as it once was. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not complaining and still love to race. It's just the nature of the beast and how popular this sport has become."
Wallace knows he has some devout fans out there and even manages to spend some time with a few of them in the off-season. During the recent layoff, Carnival Cruise Lines put together a Rusty Wallace Cruise where fans could sail, sun and fun with Wallace during a voyage.
"We took off from Tampa, Fla. and went to New Orleans, Grand Cayman and Cozumel," Wallace said. "There were 1,180 Rusty Wallace fans on a boat that held 2000 people. That was pretty neat.
"I signed 1,180 autographs, posed for 1,180 pictures and had three-different question and answer sessions with them. Let me tell you, these fans are sharp because they asked some pretty interesting questions."
2002: A SEASON OF CHANGE
Wallace and the No. 2 Penske Racing South team have already gone through some major changes in the off-season. The most significant were in regards to his crew chief and teammate situations.
Last December, Robin Pemberton announced he was leaving the team he had guided for seven seasons so he could spend more time with his family. Pemberton sat atop the pit box for 15 of Wallace's 54-career victories and had a top-10 finish in points each year.
Wallace didn't have to look far for a replacement, just to the front of his race car.
Bill Wilburn has been with Wallace since 1992 and was an award-winning front-tire changer. The driver has already issued one main challenge to his new crew chief.
"My outlook is good," Wallace said without hesitation. "I'm going into this deal very optimistic. Bill Wilburn has been with me for a long time sitting in the pit area just dying to make a call.
"In the past, sometimes he's disagreed with certain calls that were made by crew chiefs. Now, this is an opportunity for him to shine.
"He's already gone into the shop and made it pretty clear to everyone that he means business. We've lost a couple crew members that we had to let go. We picked up 14 guys from the old No. 12 team, too.
"I already told him that I want the best pit stop crew on the circuit. I don't want to have one or two good stops per race; I want every one of them to be good. We need that and I know he can get that done with the guys we have."
As far as teammates go, Wallace was paired with Jeremy Mayfield at Penske for the last four seasons. However, Mayfield was let go from the No. 12 Ford team last October and was replaced by Rusty's brother, Mike Wallace.
In December, Penske decided to disband the No. 12 team to consolidate all its efforts into Rusty Wallace and his new teammate, upstart Ryan Newman.
Newman made a name for himself in the ARCA Series by winning races. Last year in the Busch Series, he won six Bud Pole Awards in the 15 races he entered and garnered one victory. The hotshot with the hot foot was also the Bud Pole winner for the Coca-Cola 600 Winston Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
When asked about Newman, Wallace perked up when discussing his new teammate. For years, Wallace and Mayfield ran two different chassis making it very difficult at times to compare notes the way Wallace wanted.
That's not the case now.
"Ryan is a new guy who's showed he has the nerve to stand on the gas," Wallace said with a smile. "He's done a lot of neat things that proves to me he has the talent to drive the car. It's not going to take long for him and Matt Borland (Newman's crew chief) to get caught up to what Winston Cup racing is all about.
"The biggest thing I'm excited about is that we're finally all on the same chassis. That was the one thing I was trying to get done before with the No. 12 car. Now, we can work together much better and I'm pretty pumped up about the whole arrangement."
WALLACE THE STAT-MAN
If some drivers are asked how many wins they have or how many laps they led, they may say those things aren't important to them or they don't matter. Wallace disagrees and can rattle off any number of his team's statistics with very little effort.
"I think it's important for everyone on your team to know what it has been able to accomplish," Wallace said. "I think it's important to me if I'm going to go out and speak on behalf of our sponsors and put together personal service deals, people need to know what you've done.
"Not everybody is a NASCAR fan and sometimes they need to be educated. They get excited when they hear the stats and I really like educating new fans to the sport."
RETURN TO CHAMPIONSHIP FORM
With only one championship trophy in his trophy case filled with so many race wins, Wallace would like to repeat his 1989 top-driver accomplishment. The closest he came to repeating his title season was in 1993 when he won 10 races, only to fall short by 80 points to Dale Earnhardt.
Wallace has finished seventh in points the last two years. The only time he finished outside the top 10 since 1986 was a 13th- place finish in 1992.
"A championship this year would mean everything to me," he said flatly. "If you look at the stats, I led the second most amount of laps, won a race and started in the front row many times.
"But, to go to Michigan and get in a crash while leading; Watkins Glen and blow a motor and cut a tire at Phoenix while upfront is frustrating. I add up all those lost points and say to myself, 'But what if?' I use that word 'if' a lot-all the points are there.
"I think with some new, fresh blood in this team and the desire to go out and kick butt that we're going to be really good."
HITTING THE RESET BUTTON
The 2001 NASCAR season began with the death of Dale Earnhardt, a close friend of Wallace, and the world was saddened further with the events of September 11. Nothing can ever take away from those tragedies, which seemed to dominate the mood of the 2001 season.
"Obviously, there is no way in the world to ever forget what happened last year, it will never go out of people's minds," Wallace said, casting his eyes downward. "What happened at the World Trade Center and those other places was unforgettable.
"To think we could lose a driver who had been in every wreck imaginable, who won seven championships, at the his favorite race track-nobody is ever going to forget about those things. That's going to go on forever and ever.
"But, I think there's now some feeling that year is over. It's a new year, a new season in NASCAR and a new everything. Now it's a new game for everybody involved.
"We're going to push the reset button."
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