Bill Elliott: Nascar Hall of Famer Retirements—Who Hung On Too Long?

Unlike other sports, Nascar can see drivers compete well into their 50’s.  While this allows for some pretty cool stories and added fan memories, it also can lend itself to some drivers staying active well past their prime.

With Jimmie Johnson being just the latest driver to announce his retirement from Nascar (effective the end of the 2020 season), I wanted to take a look at drivers who voluntarily retired from the sport to see if they hung on too long or left at just the right time (or maybe even a little too soon).  By “voluntary retirement” that means I’m not including anyone who was killed or seriously injured while driving.

Instead of looking at EVERY driver (even though interest in an analysis of Jody Ridley’s latter years could be quite high) I’m limiting it to Hall of Fame inductees—for now.

(Drivers listed in order of their Hall of Fame induction)

NOTE: Those inducted primarily or exclusively for achievements outside of driving (team ownership, crew chiefing, etc.) will not be considered.  Cup performance is all that’s considered for this piece.  Also, the more modern term “Cup Series” will be used instead of Grand National, Winston Cup, etc.

Bill Elliott

DRIVING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville”.  1988 Nascar Cup champion.  44 Cup Series wins.  First winner of the “Winston Million”.  Two-time Daytona 500 champion.  Three-time Southern 500 winner.  2002 Brickyard 400 winner.

LAST HURRAH: Elliott had a late-career renaissance with Evernham Motorsports, taking the flagship Dodge team to victory lane several times between 2001-2003.  After a ninth-place finish in the season points standings in ’03, he retired from full-time driving.

FINAL YEAR(S): From 2004 through 2012 Elliott drove for a slew of different teams, most-notably Evernham and Wood Brothers Racing.  Driving cars of wildly varying qualities, he failed to notch any top-ten race finishes during this time, although he remained valuable for his past-champion’s provisional starting spot.  He retired completely after 2012 to focus on developing his son Chase’s career.

DID HE HANG ON TOO LONG?: Yes, but only overall.  Elliott’s resurgence with Evernham was nothing short of miraculous, and he left full-time driving on-top.  If it weren’t for his various part-time appearances this could have been perfect.

Dale Jarrett: Nascar Hall of Famer Retirements—Who Hung On Too Long?

Unlike other sports, Nascar can see drivers compete well into their 50’s.  While this allows for some pretty cool stories and added fan memories, it also can lend itself to some drivers staying active well past their prime.

With Jimmie Johnson being just the latest driver to announce his retirement from Nascar (effective the end of the 2020 season), I wanted to take a look at drivers who voluntarily retired from the sport to see if they hung on too long or left at just the right time (or maybe even a little too soon).  By “voluntary retirement” that means I’m not including anyone who was killed or seriously injured while driving.

Instead of looking at EVERY driver (even though interest in an analysis of Kevin Lepage’s latter years could be quite high) I’m limiting it to Hall of Fame inductees—for now.

(Drivers listed in order of their Hall of Fame induction)

NOTE: Those inducted primarily or exclusively for achievements outside of driving (team ownership, crew chiefing, etc.) will not be considered.  Cup performance is all that’s considered for this piece.  Also, the more modern term “Cup Series” will be used instead of Grand National, Winston Cup, etc.

Dale Jarrett

DRIVING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 1999 Cup Series champion.  32 Cup Series wins.  Three-time Daytona 500 champion.  Two-time Brickyard 400 winner.  First driver to win for Joe Gibbs Racing.

LAST HURRAH: After a dip in performance in 2003, Jarrett bounced back with two 15th-place points finishes in 2004 and 2005—the latter of the two featuring his final Cup race win as well.

FINAL YEAR(S): After a winless 2006 Jarrett left Robert Yates Racing for the brand-new Toyota team of Michael Waltrip Racing.  With UPS sponsorship and his past-champions provisional in tow, Jarrett was unable to overcome an early-season penalty and failed to qualify for a slew of late-season races.  He would run the first five races of the 2008 season (plus the all-star race) before retiring, failing to notch a single top-ten race finish for MWR, then go into broadcasting.

DID HE HANG ON TOO LONG?: Yes.  Jarrett’s winless 2006 was probably the best sign that it was time to retire, and his year-plus with MWR was a disappointing end to a popular driver’s successful career.

Rusty Wallace: Nascar Hall of Famer Retirements—Who Hung On Too Long?

Unlike other sports, Nascar can see drivers compete well into their 50’s.  While this allows for some pretty cool stories and added fan memories, it also can lend itself to some drivers staying active well past their prime.

With Jimmie Johnson being just the latest driver to announce his retirement from Nascar (effective the end of the 2020 season), I wanted to take a look at drivers who voluntarily retired from the sport to see if they hung on too long or left at just the right time (or maybe even a little too soon).  By “voluntary retirement” that means I’m not including anyone who was killed or seriously injured while driving.

Instead of looking at EVERY driver (even though interest in an analysis of Jeff Green’s latter years could be quite high) I’m limiting it to Hall of Fame inductees—for now.

(Drivers listed in order of their Hall of Fame induction)

NOTE: Those inducted primarily or exclusively for achievements outside of driving (team ownership, crew chiefing, etc.) will not be considered.  Cup performance is all that’s considered for this piece.  Also, the more modern term “Cup Series” will be used instead of Grand National, Winston Cup, etc.

Rusty Wallace

DRIVING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 1989 Nascar Cup champion.  55 Cup wins.  “King of the Short Tracks”.  Runner-up finish in his first Cup start.  Legendary rivalry with Dale Earnhardt Sr.

LAST HURRAH: Wallace went winless for two years (although still contending) before revisiting victory lane at Martinsville 

in 2004.  Later that year he’d announce his retirement effective the end of the 2005 season.

FINAL YEAR(S): Although Wallace went winless in his final season, he would still manage to finish eighth in the final points standings.  Rusty then went immediately into broadcasting, where his contract forbid him from racing any sort of part-time schedule.

DID HE HANG ON TOO LONG?: Obviously not.  While Wallace was getting up in age, he was still a contender despite the sport entering arguably its most talent-rich era of the mid-00’s.  Wallace has since said that he regrets retiring so early and wished he had raced at least two more years.