Goodys Fast Pain Relief 500-NAPA Martinsville Preview

Michael Waltrip Racing had two cars finish in the top 12 at Bristol. What does that say about your Cup program?

“I just love what Marcos Ambrose did. He was in the top five all day. We had post-practice meetings all weekend long. Both Marcos and David (Reutimann) had cars they loved. We struggled with our NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota. It never did handle right. I wiped one of them out during Friday’s practice. That mistake was pretty much on me. I think our back-up car may not have been as good as our primary car. What is a little bit confusing for me as a driver and owner is I am out there battling my car and I am mad as heck because it won’t do what I want it to do. Then when you compare it to our team’s other two cars, they are racing up in the top five. It makes it interesting, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Our organization has really grown. I really like the direction we continue to move in. We are racing forward and I am really proud of everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing.”

What does it take to be successful at Martinsville?

“It takes a special talent and technique to tickle that gas pedal. You have to be able to fly down into that corner, and let off the gas, and get on the brakes hard, and just tease the gas pedal to get going off the corner. Driving at Martinsville is controlled chaos. What we ask these cars to do and how we ask them to do it is not natural.”

How hard is Martinsville on brakes?

“There are two or three tracks that we go to that are hard on brakes. Martinsville is certainly one of those tracks. The more the teams cool the brakes, the harder the driver uses them. If your brake pedal feels good then you are going to challenge it a little bit more. In order to be fast at Martinsville, I think it is important to use your brakes hard on the initial hit and then get away from the brake pedal and let the car roll through the center. The better the driver can do that, I think the better his lap times are going to be and the better it is on the brakes.”

Martinsville has held its charm over the years. What makes it special to you?

“One of the things that I love about the place is you can go there and see firsthand one of the key places where NASCAR got started. The history is literally living with us. I especially like to go there and find a guy like Richard Petty or Bobby Allison and ask him about what used to go on around the track at Martinsville. I like to listen to his reaction on how it was and how it has changed and grown through the years.”

Michael Waltrip Fast Facts

NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip will start in his 731th NASCAR Sprint Cup race when he competes in the Goody’s Pain Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. He will start in his 46th race at the .526-mile track. His best Martinsville start is seventh, three times (Sept. 25, 1988, Sept. 23, 1990 and April 24, 1994), and best finish is third (April 9, 2000). During his career at Martinsville, Waltrip has earned one top-five and five top-10 finishes. His average start is 25th and average finish is 21st. Waltrip has completed 20,823 of 22,366 laps (93.1%) at the track and has led a total of 17 laps in competition. Entering this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, Waltrip is 21st in the driver and owner points standings. The standings are extremely close. The NAPA team is just 40 points out of the top 15 and 78 points out of The Chase. The NAPA is guaranteed a starting spot in Sunday’s race.