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NASCAR WCUP: Improvement is top of the list for Michael Waltrip at Pocono

22 July 1999

HARRISBURG, N.C. (July 22, 1999) - Philips Chevrolet driver Michael Waltrip
knows a good season is well within reach if he and his Mattei Motorsports
teammates improve on their first half results. Pocono Raceway is the first
place on the schedule where Waltrip can begin that improvement. During the
Winston Cup Series' first stop there in June, Waltrip was spun into the turn
one wall 52 laps from the checkered and had to settle for a 37th place
finish at a track where he is accustomed to running well.


Michael Waltrip at Pocono (career)...

Starts:  27
Top 5s:  1
Top 10s:  3
Top 15s:  13
Ave. start:  21.85
Ave. finish:  19.11
Winnings:  $420,685
Best start:  5th ('91)
Best finish:  2nd ('88)
1999:  37th (crashed while running 14th)
Trends:  Posted 2 top 10s and 10 top 15s in last 14 starts


Michael Waltrip on...

...this weekend's race:

"This is an important race for this Philips team. It's the first time on a
non-restrictor plate track that we've been able to go back for a second
trip. We're heading back up there with a pretty good qualifying run under
our belts from the first time, and then a decent run in the race. The key to
making this a successful season is performing better in the second half than
we did in the first, and this week is a major step. The thing we have to
make sure during this trip to Pocono is to up our performance a notch. Learn
from what we did the first time there, and be better this time."

...aggressive driving:

"Sometimes you have to be aggressive and sometimes you have to be smart. You
just try to balance all that. This thing has gotten so competitive that
everybody tries to get every inch that they can every second. You can either
drive defensively and watch for that stuff, or you can just jump in there
with them. I don't mind being aggressive, but I also like to be smart.
You're not going to let anybody take anything away from you without making
sure you get it back from them. That's about what it amounts to. It's a deal
where if you feel like somebody ripped you off, then you say, 'Well, we're
not going to have that.'"

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