Waltrip confident after anxious moments

Waltrip confident after anxious moments
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- For three solid minutes, Michael Waltrip kept his eyes drawn to the tachometer on his No. 55 Dodge. When he saw it move slightly to the right, he knew he would be racing on Sunday.
Waltrip, who sits 36th in owners points, faced the very real possibility of missing the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, but his team showed up with a car that was considerably better than the one it ran at Daytona in February.

"[The team] just did good job in making up ground since Daytona on this car," said Waltrip, who qualified 21st with a lap of 185.971 mph. "I believe I can win the race now that I am in it. I just have that much confidence about it."

Waltrip said he knew he would make the show when he felt his car sail down the backstretch on his second qualifying lap.

"On the backstretch on the second lap, I saw about 40 more RPMs than I had all weekend and I just stared at it," said Waltrip, who turns 43 on Sunday. "I felt pretty confident when I saw that.

"I saw an eighth of an inch more RPM on the gauge with relates to 30 or 40 RPM. That doesn't lie. If you use the same gear and the tach moves over there, then you're going faster."

Waltrip did not spend any time this weekend in race trim, instead using Friday's two practice sessions running by himself. That method hasn't changed much since Waltrip's restrictor-plate dominating days with Dale Earnhardt Inc.

"I generally like to practice by myself when I am at Daytona and Talladega," said Waltrip. "My philosophy that if you can make my car faster, I know how to draft.

"I know what I need to feel even when I am by myself to get out there and mix it up with them in race trim. I am not worried about the fact that I didn't practice any."


Waltrip, who will move to a self-owned team with Toyota next year, has been racing in back of the pack for much of this season with a team that uses resources from Bill Davis Racing. He had had trouble qualifying all season, with six starts of 30th or worse.

Waltrip hasn't been able to recover from his qualifying problems all season. His best finish is 18th (Daytona), but he unloaded at Talladega with a fresh shot of confidence.

Talladega has always been a best friend of Waltrip, who won here in 2003.

"We have had a rocky road until this point in the season and we need to get after them," said Waltrip. "We can do that at Talladega."

Source: Nascar.com