Wallace 'still ticked off' with teammate

T

TonyB

Guest
From That's Racin'

By JIM UTTER

ThatsRacin.com Writer


Rusty Wallace said he is "still a little ticked off" over incidents during and after Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway with Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman.
"We are supposed to be working much closer as teammates and, hopefully, this instance will wind up opening the door for us to do the most we can in making sure that happens in the future," Wallace said.

Newman and Wallace traded bumps while battling for second place, which sent Wallace to the outside lane and out of contention for the win, on Lap 494 of 500.

Following the "cool down" lap after the race, Newman, who finished third, drove onto pit road where the top-five cars are required to stop. Wallace followed Newman and appeared to hit the rear of Newman's No. 12 Dodge.

As of Wednesday night, NASCAR was still investigating the incident.

"When I announced that the 2005 season would be my final year as a driver, I also said that one of my biggest goals as a part owner of the team in 2006 would be getting all the teams working and communicating better," Wallace said.

"I guess what happened there at Martinsville on Sunday has moved that goal up to being my No. 1 priority when I hang up my helmet at the end of next season."

As of Wednesday, Wallace said he had not spoken with Newman about Sunday's race.

"We both have been busy and moving in different directions since Sunday's race. I'm sure we will talk soon and I think this will be one of those situations where a negative turns into a positive," Wallace said.

"We'll learn from this and work a lot closer in the future – and the future begins in this weekend's race at Atlanta."
 
"I guess what happened there at Martinsville on Sunday has moved that goal up to being my No. 1 priority when I hang up my helmet at the end of next season."



Now THAT's a pretty direct statement.
 
I'm betting Rusty is a firm believer in the old saying:" Revenge is a dish best served cold." He's going to remember this for a while, is my guess. Likely to put it on the back burner until the time is right?
 
I agree, Jeff Gordon at Richmond several years back being the perfect example.
 
in that article, rusty makes it sound like he is ryans team owner and that ryan was way out of line for what he had done. as far as i know Roger Penski is still owner of both ryan and rustys cars. and ryan should be taking orders from him and not rusty. granted rusty has logged a lot of hours in a cup car, and has earned a lot of respect in the series. but, teammate or not, some drivers are going to race everyone hard (look at robbie and harvick) unless the team owner tells them otherwise. i think rusty wanted ryans support there more than anything because he only has 4 more races untill he retires, and would love to go out with a win. Although that might be the #1 thing on his mind at the moment. i assure you its not the #1 thing on any other drivers mind.
 
Originally posted by TonyB@Oct 28 2004, 08:10 AM

Following the "cool down" lap after the race, Newman, who finished third, drove onto pit road where the top-five cars are required to stop. Wallace followed Newman and appeared to hit the rear of Newman's No. 12 Dodge.
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Appeared to hit it.

Yeah, looked that way to a lot of people. :p

My God, is NASCAR becoming so milquetoast that the reporters can't even say "hit" without putting a disclaimer on it?

Now before any of you (and some in particular) start ripping this apart, please bear in mind that I appear to have posted this...not actually posted it, just appeared to...

:rolleyes:
 
MCanyon, just so you understand, Rusty will retire at the END of the 2005 season. He actually has 40 more races before he retires, 4 this year and 36 next. (This doesn't include the non-points races)
 
it should have mentioned in the artilcle that it APPEARED rusty made a mistake by trying to pass the fastest car on a track that has one groove, and ryan (being a driver in the race) capitalized on rustys mistake. sure it doesnt look like ryan has a chance of winning the chase. but he could still move up some spots.
 
MCanyon, just so you understand, Rusty will retire at the END of the 2005 season. He actually has 40 more races before he retires, 4 this year and 36 next. (This doesn't include the non-points races)
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hey, thanks for the info majestyx. i thougth he was retiring this year from a full schedule. and then running a shortened schedule next year.
 
Originally posted by MCanyon@Oct 28 2004, 08:54 AM
in that article, rusty makes it sound like he is ryans team owner and that ryan was way out of line for what he had done. as far as i know Roger Penski is still owner of both ryan and rustys cars.
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Rusty Wallace has an ownership interest (he is a part owner) in Penske Racing South which owns the #2 and the #12.

I don't think Rusty has an ownership interest in Penske-Jasper Racing which fields the #77 car.
 
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