Rusty Wallace's last Charlotte race, was the last race my father attended. He was dying with cancer. Hot as hell outside, morphine pump on his hip... meds wouldn't even let him enjoy a beer to cool down. He insisted we go. He bought me a Rusty's farewell jersey... but it was really Dad's farewell.... from Nascar, and from life. Enjoy the ride, Rusty!
Dale Jr was one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR history Mark Martin was one of the most respected drivers in NASCAR history He'd be great for the show!
I've always understood why Dale and Rusty had a beef with being in a multi car team. They were both struggling at times when both RCR and Penske were trying to compete with Roush and Hendrick on that multi car team level. That and both Earnhardt and Wallace came from that old school one car team model that had been the norm in Cup racing for decades at that point in the sport and at the time they had to have been thinking, "why aren't we as competitive as we used to be?" The new ingredient, the younger new teammates! I know at times Earnhardt and Mike Skinner had their differences but Newman and Wallace outright hated each other, Rusty was being nice about Ryan in this interview with Jr!
People seem to forget how old dale sr was…he came 2nd in the points and was 48 years old…and rusty retired at 48 in 2005. So rusty could have gone longer…mark martin was 54.
I said for years racing isn't as good as it was in the 90s. Its the cars and less technology, but even more the drivers from back then had way more personalities. That's the biggest problems now, robots for drivers.
I have to agree. Once Dale Sr. Passed. I naturally went to Jr. He didn't have the same success as his dad, and when he called it quits. I pretty much stopped watching nascar. I do applaud Dale Jr. for his continued support for nascar and his current Dirty Mo show. He's still part and supportive of his family tradition of racing.!it's no wonder why he was the most popular person in racing after his dad's death.
True that. I watch more older racing back in the Dale Sr & Rusty rivals. That was racing. Today its a kid show with Nascar leading them down the hell hole. Ever in the both has not been anywhere near of the past. As one broadcaster said "Ringing the bell and blowing the whistle". Nascar past Quiz Who said it and what track was it.
Two things while watching this clip and scrolling through Racing Reference: 1. Rusty Wallace had a pretty good 2005 season and I think he could have competed at a high level for at least another year. 2. I'm really nostalgic for those 1990 Busch Series schedules. The series raced at Nashville Fairgrounds, Hickory, Nazareth, Pikes Peak, Milwaukee, Myrtle Beach, South Boston, IRP and Gateway that year.
Rusty's spot on about the teammate thing. Drivers like him, Ricky Rudd, Dale Earnhardt and to a lesser extent, Dale Jarrett didn't adapt well to having teammates because they all started racing in NASCAR in the era when all teams (except Hendrick) were single car operations.
@@mattrc1679 Ernie Irvan had one of the best/worst careers. Delt some bad hands, won Daytona, fell short at Indy, and nearly won a championship then almost lost it all. And had to make a choice to get out which was probably very wise.
I actually understand why he said Daytona 500 mistake while calling Indy in 2006 on ABC when Hornish beat Marco. He missed it. Yeah he and Newman did not get along. You could tell by 2004 at Fall Martinsville. Once he retired enter Kurt Busch from Roush.
rusty was my driver till he went to ford but i always liked him even after. If he stayed with pontiac i don't know if i would be as big of a dale earnhardt fan that i became?
I never understood why Penske left Pontiac after 93. Rusty won 13 races in 3 years and nearly won the championship in 93. I guarantee he would’ve won another championship. Those Pontiacs were slick as hell back then.
@@superbird4351 at the end of 1993 Nascar started decreasing the height of the spoiler. The Pontiac had the shortest rear decklid making it a huge disadvantage having that car. Plus GM at the time was getting rid of Buick and Oldsmobile. I guess they thought Pontiac was next. Although if they struggled through 94, the new model Pontiac that made Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart competitive would have been a good option.
Mark Martin pulling away from early retirement *almost* makes up for him trying to enter victory lane one lap early. Man I miss all these guys. This was racin'.
That's the way it was with those old school drivers. They understood that it was all business on race day and they never took it personal. I truly believe Dale's death had a lot to do with Rusty's retirement. He didn't seem the same after that.
Dang, sounds like Roger Penske really wanted Rusty out of the car to go "younger". I knew Rusty didn't want to retire then. He wasn't forced out or fired, but he it certainly seems he was advised to retire.
@@Matthewsoftball but to sort of go with what Richard Petty’s wife told him when his results started going south. Are you having fun when you’re finishing well off the pace each week? Rusty retired while he was still reasonably competitive, and I think it would have hurt more if he gone out like Petty or Waltrip where he’s just making laps.
All the years I have been a sports fan, nothing irritates me more that some nit wit reporter shoving a mic into the face of one of my hero's and asking the question, "when are you going to retire?"
I've been a Rusty Wallace fan since I was a very small child I am 40 years old now. I started pulling for him when he was driving the number 27 Kodak car. I'll never forget those days! Especially the Miller Genuine Draft black and gold number 2. My dad was always a Earnhardt senior fan so whenever I started racing go karts, my racing number was 32 and it's always been that way. My dream is to one day meet Rusty Wallace and just talk to him. I would love to have a beer or two with him especially Dale Earnhardt Jr that would be cool to drink a beer with Junior. I will tell you I have the utmost respect for Kelly Earnhardt.. she found out about what happened to me and my family and let's just say she took care of me very generously! Something I will never forget and if I ever get the chance to thank her face to face that would be amazing, I want to give her a big hug so bad. But anyways, man I would give anything to seriously meet Rusty Wallace that would complete my life Journey in racing
There's never a perfect time to hang it up. But everyone's time comes. The fact that Rusty walked away from Nascar is a blessing after some of his scary moments.
So true. He did have some horrific crashes. I was thankful when he retired and came out and still with us unlike Dale Sr. That one still hurts. I had to retire due to illness from nursing and I understand it takes a long time to leave your career but there is a time.
Rusty should do a Bill Elliott and do a xfinity race somewhere. If I was one of these greats like rusty,gordon,jarrett etc I would do an xfinity race eveyr now and then. It would help track ticket sales without a doubt to have some hall of famers in a race.
Interesting that Rick would say something like that about young talent. He hired a young boy named Jeff Gordon. And a relatively young boy named Jimmie Johnson. And now he's got a young Chase Elliott and William Byron.
Rusty was my guy hated to see him retire. Never was really a Jr. but this was great to watch, seems like Jr is more relaxed and doesn't sound like he's not trying to figure out what not to say. Seemed like his interviews while he was racing he was always trying to keep the press from pressing him for more then he wanted to talk about.
It was good he retired when he did. He only won one race over his final three seasons and had an average finish over those final three of 17th. He was fading. I would rather see him retire a year too early than a year or two too late. No one wants to watch an icon run 25th every week.
Not really. Although he didn't win a race, 2005 was Rusty's best year in many years. In fact he had an excellent shot at winning the championship before getting wrapped-up in a wreck at Talladega (I believe he was 3rd in points at the time). That's why Rusty felt like he made a mistake and climbed out of the car too soon.
Rusty is the man and always will be the man. He was my driver from 86 to 05 when he retired. He is a honest as the day is long. You don’t find that these days. Thank you Dale Jr for having him on. My driver these days is Harvicks since 05 he is the most driver like Rusty was in his hay days. I know jr doesn’t like Harvock but it’s all good with me. Thank you again Dale Jr for the podcast and the tv stuff your great at it.
ShotgunFelatio It tends to happen, it probably happened to Dale Sr and Richard Petty as well. When you’re getting up there in your career and you arent winning, the sport media kind of figures “Well, he’s getting older, maybe it’s time to ask how much longer he wants to see this out before saving his reputaion.
I gotta talk about the first one. I don’t believe Junior retired too early. He was in a wreck and he knew something was wrong and soon after hung it up, smart move on his part
You need to livestream like the Joe Rogan podcast. While audio is good to listen to, it really adds another level when you can watch people being interviewed. You seem to have the camera equipment, mere clips just aren't enough. Regardless, really enjoy the podcast!
I'm from California and NASCAR didn't hit us hard until Cal Speedway was built. A few years before I saw my first full NASCAR race on TV. Rusty put the fender to everyone. It was a full race fist fight and he took the win and it was the most exciting thing I had ever seen. After that, I was hooked. Also, I drink Miller beer, so, there's that LOL Thanks RW for all those years of great racin'
Wow... Jr has finally come out of his shell, Im sure his wife has something to do with this. So, rather than being shy or uncomfortable in front of a camera, he now shows a ton of confident and pride in his new craft.
bbigjohnson069 I remember Jeff saying the accent difference was because when they were kids, Jeff’s bedroom was in the northern end of the house, and Wards was in the southern end 😀
Great stuff .... many of today’s NASCAR guys can’t just say it like it is. That is what made NASCAR great is that it is raw. Roger Penske will never the accolades he deserves.
Damn, I love hearing the candid interviews here! Rusty sucked at being a racing team mate, but he is awesome at being one in an interview. Love this stuff. Keep the Legends coming, Dale!!!
Then again, he came up in a time where if you had a teammate, it was generally a case where you’re still THE man. I can get the mentality he had at that time.
Was always under the impression that Rusty couldn't wait to get out of the car. As a fan, it kind of disappointed me. Glad to see he hated to hang up the helmet, as any true racer does.
This interview changed my mind about Rusty. I like him now. Thanks for a lot of great racing memories, best of luck to you. Good job Dale and Mike. At 2:53 you tell Dale's missing it.
My dad was a Dale Sr fan... I was a Rusty fan.... He was a Steelers fan.... I was a Cowboys fan.... He was Atlanta braves.... I was New York Yankees.... We argued a lot.... Lol...
Rusty was such a competitor, he’d scrap toe to toe with the Intimidator and they were so fun to watch, both great drivers, but I think they respected each other’s abilities!!!
Rusty's mistake was going to Ford. Never seem to have the same success. And its not really because Fords are inferior, some crews and teams simply know how to work with certain makes better. Larry McReynolds was an ace with Fords, but never had much success at all as crew chief for Earnhardt's Chevy. Earnhardt on the other hand soured on Fords forever when he had a blown engine every other week with Bud Moore. Primary cause for his slump in the early 80's.
Breaks my heart to hear this story. He still had many good years. That’s a hard thing to forgive yourself for. Damn Always go out own your on terms. Damnit Rusty
When Rusty Wallace was a "young guy" he was learning from Larry Phillips. Because of that is one of the reasons he's so knowledgeable about a race car.
Rusty, you made the right decision to retire when you did. Look at all you've accomplished since then. All your fans understand and respect.your privacy.
I basically stopped watching nascar when Rusty retired I can't even name 5 racers today but I can watch races from the 90's and name almost everyone and I was a kid in the 90's loved it back then
I think rustys tragic flaw was his ego. He got to a point where he thought he was the next “guy” after big E and when Gordon came out of nowhere, rusty wasn’t ever the same. Not because Jeff was a million times better(he wasn’t) but because rusty was more dedicated to putting Jeff “in his place” than winning races and suddenly the guy who was top 5 ten every week couldn’t buy a victory.
Idk...I'm from Milwaukee, WI, and heard some stories of good old Rusty partying it up...granted I'm much younger and didn't get to experience any of it...however its still not as hard as Dick Trickle partying it up and still racing hard the morning and afternoon after...Sorry if this gets back to Rusty but going from what I've heard over the years.
My uncle beat Kyle and kurt Busch in the legends series at Sears point back in the early 90s. Wish my uncle had the chances kurt and Kyle did. He could a been a great asphalt racer. But he ended up running A mods and super late models on dirt. Lot of FUN FUN SUMMERS! Love nascar. But LOVE LOVE dirt track racing
