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Associated Press 18y

AUTO RACING PACKAGE: Rusty Wallace racing for pride as career winds down

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- His championship hopes are over, leaving
Rusty Wallace little to race for in the final three events of his
storied career.

But Wallace has too much pride to simply ride around the next
three weeks before he drives off into retirement.

"I'll be going as hard as I can to salvage what we can,"
Wallace said. "I think the remainder of the year, my goal now is
to win a race and get back in the top five in the points at
least."

Wallace had hoped to leave the sport with a second Cup
championship, but his chances ended last weekend in Atlanta when he
was involved in an accident seven laps into the race. It was his
third straight wreck and dropped Wallace to eighth in the Chase for
the championship standings, 257 points behind leader Tony Stewart.

"It's been real upsetting the last three weeks," Wallace said.
"This deal at Atlanta was just unbelievable. Seven laps in the
race, a fellow blows a right front tire, spins in front of me,
there's nowhere to go. That's three in a row.

"That really, really hurt. We've got the car to be in the top
one or two in points easy, but we just haven't had the luck."

This isn't the way Wallace wanted to go out after 22 full
seasons. He started the 10-race playoffs maintaining that simply
being eligible for the title was not enough for him -- Wallace
wanted to win it.

It marked a resurgence of sorts for the 49-year-old Wallace, who
had put his career back on the fast track after several
disappointing seasons. The 1989 series champion had been a model of
consistency throughout his career, winning at least one race in 16
consecutive seasons and finishing in the top 10 in points from 1993
through 2002.

He hit a drought midway through 2001 and went almost three years
without a win. He also found himself outside the top 10 the past
two seasons, an also-ran in a sport that was shifting toward
younger, tech-savvy drivers.

So this was to be Wallace's final year, regardless of where he
ended up.

But as Wallace put together strong runs throughout this season,
going out as a champion became a real possibility. Now that it's
over, he's trying to take solace in making one final run and
earning the right to attend the season-ending awards ceremony in
New York -- something he had missed the last two years.

"I'm going out going to New York, (so) I'm not beating myself
up," Wallace said. "If I wasn't in the top 10, I wouldn't have
felt good about it. I'm in the top 10, everybody knows I've run
well.

"If it wasn't for these last couple weeks, I wouldn't be so
damn dejected like I am now. I just can't believe this is
happening. I'm devastated about what the hell has happened because
I really thought I was a legitimate candidate to win this
championship."

But Wallace isn't so upset that he'd consider returning for yet
another season behind the wheel. Unlike Mark Martin, who also
planned to retire at the end of the year but was talked out of it
by car owner Jack Roush, Wallace won't be persuaded.

His situation is similar to Martin's in that Kurt Busch has
signed on to drive the No. 2 Dodge in 2007, and if he can't get a
release for next year, car owner Roger Penske has no one lined up
to immediately replace Wallace. Martin found himself in that
position when Jamie McMurray signed on for his ride, and Roush
fretted he'd have an empty seat if Martin left in 2006.

But replacement driver or not, Wallace is moving on in three
more weeks.

"I love racing, no doubt about it," he said. "I got behind in
the points now because of these crazy wrecks that happened three
weeks in a row, which I never would have believed it happened. It
makes me want to keep on racing and try to get myself back up in
there. But that's unfortunately over, and I've got three more to
go.

"That's going to be it. But I'm comfortable with my decision, I
really am. I made the right decision and I'm driving my brains
out."

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