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Michael Waltrip Slips and Slides
To 15th Place Starting Spot

Michael Waltrip

Waltrip and the Wood Brothers didn't know what to expect as they locked on a set of specially developed Goodyear rain tires. Waltrip has no experience in the rain and it took a few laps for him to get a feel for how the car is supposed to ride.

"I generally catch on pretty quick to new things I try, but this was pretty wild," said Waltrip. "It was really fun, but I never really got comfortable. The first few laps I was a little tense but I finally realized that you can't just drive it straight and expect it to hold. You have to "dirt track it" a bit and anticipate the slips and tire spins. When you expect it you can gas it harder and really work it through the corners."

Following the modified qualifying format that NASCAR implemented, Waltrip finished 15th with a lap time of 1 minute, 4.495 seconds. There were five drivers at a time on the 1.4 mile track for a total of three laps.

"I think NASCAR made a good call on the format, but I wasn't very happy with my lap. It was my fastest lap of the day but I knew it wasn't fast enough."

With dry conditions forecasted for tomorrow, Waltrip will be able to revert to his set up from last year.

"We'll probably run a couple laps in happy hour this afternoon but it won't help us much for tomorrow. We'll throw last years set up underneath the CITGO Ford and let her rip."

With a successful practice and qualifying session in the rain today, many were considering if this opens the door for implementing the rain tires during a points race, possibly Sears Point, CA., or Watkins Glen, New York.

"I definitely think NASCAR is considering it," commented Waltrip. "Mark (Martin) and Dale (Earnhardt) tested at Watkins Glen and Terry Labonte was at Martinsville so it could become a reality. I will say though, I'm not sure it's the best idea. Visibility is absolutely horrible, so putting 42 of us together would be tough to say the least."

Text By Racing PR
Images By Terry Callahan

Editors Note: The images displayed in this article (plus many more) can be viewed in the NASCAR Image Gallery.

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