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Sunday's Results Misleading for Waltrip & Team

1 June 1999

Officially finishing 37th didn't tell the whole story for Philips Racing Team

CONCORD, N.C.  (June1, 1999) - Many times in sports, the final results of a
contest are not indicative of the way things really went.  Sunday night's
Coca Cola 600 was just that type of event for Michael Waltrip and the
Philips Racing Team.

Waltrip battled hard for more than 500 miles Sunday, putting himself in a
position to earn a solid top 15 finish after starting 26th.  But, with about
50 miles left in NASCAR's longest race of the year, Waltrip's engine let go,
sending him to the garage to watch his spot in the final standings plummet
to 37th.

Needless to say, it was a hard pill to swallow for a driver that had spent
the late stages of the race reeling in positions with lap times that were
equal to that of eventual race winner Jeff Burton.

"Everybody's going to blow up," said Waltrip.  "It's just the timing of
blowing up that kills you.  It's just disappointing to run all day long, and
have the car as good as we had it, and then blow up."

The finish dropped Waltrip to 17th in the Winston Cup point standings after
12 events.  The loss of three spots in the standings added to Waltrip's
disappointment following the race.

"Like I said before, everybody is going to blow up.  But we've just not run
good enough to afford something like this yet.  We needed to be better."

 Waltrip and the team will look to rebound this weekend when the series
heads to Dover Downs for 400 punishing miles on the high-banked mile oval.

Al Larsen
Mattei Motorsports