Abbondanzieri, reserve keeper for Brazil's Internacional, said on Sunday he was quitting the game after winning a string of titles with Boca and helping Argentina reach the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals in Germany.
"Motor racing? I like it a lot, it's a passion of mine," he told reporters before a training session with South American champions Internacional.
"I've been to races, I've driven, all on the quiet. I'm only talking now because football is ending (for me)," Abbondanzieri said laughing.
"It's a different sort of adrenaline, it's all or nothing."
"I'm enjoying every day as if it's the last because it's coming to an end... I don't think I'll feel sadness because I did all I wanted to achieve and I know what life I want to lead after football, I'm ready," he said.
"It's logical that with Boca I'd have liked to say goodbye in a packed Bombonera but that's football... I had to come to Inter where I've been treated as a Brazilian like them."
