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Rusty Wallace, NASCAR’s second-winningest active driver with 55 victories, made official Monday what had been widely anticipated for weeks. He’ll retire after the 2005 season. Wallace, 48, said he’d been rethinking his career since the death of longtime friend Dale Earnhardt “kinda got to me” in 2001. “It made me a little nervous. It made me think hard about it.” Not driving doesn’t mean he’ll vanish from NASCAR. “I plan on staying in the sport,” said Wallace. “I plan on being very heavily involved with Team Penske.” Wallace has 37 wins with Penske since 1991. Wallace doesn’t plan to have a slow walk during the next year. “I want to go out at the top of my game . . . with a big year,” said Wallace, 14 wins behind Jeff Gordon.
