"When you've been used to winning and having success and then suddenly it stops, it really bugs you," he says. "I won't lie to you-it aggravates the hell out of me. But you know what? It also makes me all the more determined to get back out there and prove that I can still do it. I guarantee you, the fire's still burning, maybe hotter than ever."
"Rusty realizes he has his back to the wall," says Tom Roberts, who has served as Wallace's PR representative for 15 years and probably knows him as well as anyone outside of his immediate family. "But I can tell you this for a fact: He is genuinely convinced that he can still win. I know Rusty and I know how proud he is. He wouldn't keep at it if he didn't think he really had a legitimate chance."
Jarrett says a "sense of urgency" is creeping into the mindset of the veterans.
"I think it's fair to say that a lot of us feel it," he says. "It's more difficult to win now than it used to be. There was a time when you'd be in a position to win a certain percentage of the races you ran. That percentage is not as high as it used to be, so you have to take advantage of the chances when you get them. You know you're not going to get many more, and that makes it particularly frustrating when you let an opportunity escape."
Jarrett, like Wallace, insists that he will know when the time comes to hang it up. "That will be when I feel that I'm the reason why my team is not winning," he says, "or when it's not fun anymore. So far I don't feel that way."
Martin, arguably one of the greatest drivers never to win a championship, shares Jarrett's "sense of urgency."
"I have definitely felt it the last two years," Martin says. "After you get past 40, your odds get longer."
Martin's correct on the over-40 odds. Only three drivers 40 or older won races last year, and one of those, Bill Elliott, is now semi-retired.
"I'm still fighting," Martin says with a shrug. "I go out and do the best I can do."
The Next GenerationCompounding the struggles of the aging drivers is the gush of hot, talented youngsters into the sport. Every position that the young drivers claim, every race that they win, is one less available for the veterans.
Tensions sometimes simmer and fester between the dueling generations. When young Kurt Busch was involved in an altercation with veteran Jimmy Spencer, Busch referred to Spencer as "a washed-up old has-been." And Ricky Rudd had an emotion-charged exchange with sizzling young rival Kevin Harvick following a fiercely contested battle over some choice racetrack real estate.
Some of the veterans feel that the youngsters are brash and pushy and fail to show proper respect for their elders; the youngsters say they're simply racing hard, and that the old dudes need to get moving or get out of the way.
"The sport has definitely switched to the younger generation," says Elliott Sadler, 28. "There are only so many pieces of the pie, and some of the guys don't want to let go."
Nothing reflects NASCAR's widening generation gap-the out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new-more acutely than the situation at Penske Racing. While the veteran Wallace was struggling through a second consecutive winless season last year, his 26-year-old teammate, Ryan Newman, was roaring to eight victories and capturing 11 poles, both season highs.
"It's not all about the nut behind the wheel," smiles Newman, the 2003 Driver of the Year. "I had some things go my way last year and Rusty didn't. That was the big difference in our seasons. Rusty is still a great driver, and nobody should count him out in any race he's in."
Still, assuming that their equipment and technical support is equal, the only difference in the teammates is their ages. Wallace refuses to concede that was the deciding factor in their different results.