Duo not ready to say goodbye just yet

Nearing retirement, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace kicked off their farewell tours with top-10 finishes in Nextel Cup's season opener.

By MIKE READLING
Published February 21, 2005

[Times photo: James Borchuck] Jeff Gordon is waved on to his third career Daytona 500 victory Sunday.
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DAYTONA BEACH - Rusty Wallace made the sharp left hand turn to get behind the pit wall and drove his No. 2 Dodge through the garage area before he whipped it into an empty stall.

With the engine quieted, Wallace took a second to sit back in his seat and relaxed for the first time in nearly five hours.

Soon, Wallace pulled off his helmet, squeezed through the driver's side window and leaned against his car. At the other end of the garage area, Mark Martin got out of his car, grabbed a quick drink of water and started back to his hauler for a change of clothes.

Behind each driver laid the first race of their final season. Ahead of them - at least if Sunday is any indication - is a pair of very successful farewell tours.

Long after the two drivers had changed clothes and answered all the questions they could handle, the scoring pylon in the infield at Daytona International Speedway glowed with a testament to a veteran pair.

Martin finished his 22nd and final Daytona 500 sixth overall. Wallace was 10th, his best 500 finish since he was third in 2001.

Those finishes came on a day that saw each driver pushed to the back of the field after a wreck in Thursday's qualifying race. Fittingly, the drivers who used to race on the ASA circuit together more than 30 years ago, hooked up several times throughout the day to pick their way through the pack.

"I love Rusty," Martin said. "I've raced with him for 30 years and we fought for the same turf for 30 years and we never once had a problem. Rusty and I knew this was our last shot and I would've helped him at the end and he would have helped me. I figured (he) was probably the most loyal friend I had on the race track at the end of the race."

Martin may have had the more successful day but Wallace's was certainly more eventful. Wallace, who is known for spectacular barrel rolls and flips on Daytona's backstretch, escaped several wrecks unscathed and ran consistently in the Top 10.

"I really thought I was going to finish a lot better than 10th," he said. "I was in the lead pack, Top 5 and Top 10 most of the day."

Martin said Thursday he brought a car capable of winning, but it was mangled in the wreck. There was no way, he added, that he could win in his backup car. That wasn't entirely true.

Martin's team spent all eight hours of practice time Friday installing a new engine and fixing some body damage to the No. 6 Ford. He was bumped in practice Saturday but had the car fixed enough that he was able to go from 32nd to the Top 10, back to 32nd after an air intake fan shorted out, then all the way back to sixth.

Neither driver got the fairy tale finish he would have drawn for himself but neither seemed that disappointed. Martin doesn't particularly like the track, and Wallace has bigger plans than just winning the Daytona 500.

"I wanted to win this race, but that's okay," Wallace said. "It really isn't okay, but I told everybody if I didn't win, it wouldn't be the end of the world. I'm not worried about that.

"I want to go out way on top."

[Last modified February 21, 2005, 04:55:27]