Michael Waltrip Loses His Cool
When you watch the race on the dvr and fast forward most of the parts you don’t care about, you miss some of the good stuff. What in the heck has gotten into Michael Waltrip?
Michael Waltrip was allowed back on the track Monday, two days after getting his first taste of NASCAR’s harshest penalty.
After Casey Mears knocked Waltrip’s car into the wall late in Saturday’s race at Richmond International Raceway, Waltrip retaliated by ramming into the back of Mears’ car and pushing it several hundred yards.
NASCAR parked Waltrip for the final 58 laps, a penalty that cost him as much as 60 Sprint Cup points.
“I’ve never gotten parked before,” Waltrip said Monday during a break in testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “I read in the paper where people got parked, but I didn’t know how you did that. Now I do.”
As a Waltrip fan I must say I was shocked to hear about this. I have already deleted the race from my dvr, and I haven’t seen it, but I am stunned to learn he had such a reaction on the track. Get your head back in the game, Michael.
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Way To Go, Michael!
Wow. Toyota grabbed the top three positions for the start of the race, and Michael Waltrip captured the pole. Awesome!
Much-maligned Michael Waltrip finally had a bright spot in an otherwise dismal season when the Toyota driver won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
This is the fist race where NASCAR’s “Car of Tomorrow” is being used on a restrictor-plate superspeedway. The bigger, boxier car will be used at every race next year, including the 50th Daytona 500.
So with so much uncertainty regarding that type of car at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, the starting lineup is unusual to say the least with Waltrip’s speed of 189.070 miles per hour the fastest on the grid.
Waltrip had failed to qualify for 19 of the 29 Cup races this season.
“I felt confident yesterday that we would make the race,” Waltrip said. “I really didn’t think about the pole.”
It was just the fourth pole in 686-career Cup starts for Waltrip and his first top-10 start in 11 races in 2007.
Qualifying was definitely awkward to say the least. With the Car of Tomorrow in play, I don’t think the race will be nearly as exciting.
Turning Things Around At MWR
I was hoping Michael Waltrip would do something to light a spark under his teams. Let’s hope Dr. Warren is just the thing he needs to start making races, let alone running well in them.
Michael Waltrip Racing on Tuesday named Dr. Eric Warren as Technical Director for the multi-car Nextel Cup Series operation. Warren joins MWR with a decade of engineering experience in the motorsports industry.
“Eric brings a level of expertise that will help Michael Waltrip Racing become a major force in the near future,” team owner Michael Waltrip said. “He joins us following a successful five-year period at Evernham Motorsports.
“Under Eric’s leadership, they won 13 Cup races, with six of those occurring last season alone. He could have united with any team, but he chose us and we are fortunate and proud to have him here today.”
I’d work for Michael Waltrip any day. Of course, I’m not too sure how much help a web-tech geek type of guy would be on race day.
Gordon Captures Michigan Pole
Jeff Gordon saved the best for last to win the pole Friday for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup 3M Performance 400.
Gordon was the last car to make a qualification attempt at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway, and made the most of it by knocking Greg Biffle off the pole.
Gordon’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo was fastest at 189.026 miles per hour. That was almost a half-mile per hour faster than Biffle, who was the next-to-last driver on the track.
Why don’t I find this news surprising?
One thing I do find surprising is that Michael Waltrip qualified 11th. Way to go, Michael!