"I see Tony Stewart spinning out right now" - When Rusty Wallace analyzed NASCAR icon's decline

Former NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace once discussed Tony Stewart's sudden decline in performance, blaming the leg injury he suffered a few years ago. Wallace claimed that the injury had hindered Tony's ability to work with the pedals in the car.

Rusty Wallace's career in the Cup Series lasted from the 1980s until the end of the 2005 season. During this time, he won 55 games and won the championship once, in 1989.

A decade after his retirement, in 2015, he discussed the downfall in performance that Tony Stewart had recently faced. He was a consistent driver in the series, however, there was a steep decline in his performance in 2014 and '15.

When Wallace was asked about what had happened to Stewart, he said (via Democrat & Chronicle):

"This is just Rusty speaking, and if Tony heard me saying this he’d say, ‘He’s full of it.’ I know personally, there’s a lot of maneuvering inside the car. There’s a lot of what I call body English, I used to use on road courses, the short tracks and it gave me a lot of damn victories."

He further mentioned that Stewart was perhaps facing issues maneuvering with his pedals inside the car because of the injury he suffered from earlier.

"I really think that Tony’s leg injury really screwed up his dancing inside the car (to work pedals), the way he works his momentum inside the car as a driver. I see Tony spinning out right now and doing some things that Tony never did.’"

Tony Stewart had suffered a crash in 2013 that saw his leg get fractured. He had to miss the rest of the season, and as mentioned, his performance dropped steeply.

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Rusty Wallace desired a victory at the Daytona 500 before his retirement

In August 2004, Rusty Wallace announced his plan to retire at the end of the 2005 season. At the time, he had spent over two decades in the sport, clinching multiple victories per season and being one of the most competitive drivers on the field. However, he never had the chance to be in victory lane at the Great American Race, the Daytona 500.

While announcing his retirement, Wallace mentioned that he felt it was the right time to walk away from the sport.

"It's time. I feel it," Wallace said in 2004, referring to his retirement decision. "I know I'm doing the right thing and I feel good about it." (As quoted by The Gadsden Times).

He further mentioned that he aimed to win the Daytona 500 next year, as it would be the last time he would have the chance to achieve that victory.

"This is my last shot at the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 is still the granddaddy of them all. It's the race I haven't won and I'm going to try my darndest to win it," Wallace said.

Despite his ambition, Rusty Wallace could not win the Daytona 500. He retired at the end of the 2005 season with no victories but multiple top-10 finishes.