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NASCAR WCUP: Waltrip hoping hard work pays off at NHIS

15 September 1999

HARRISBURG, N.C. (Sept. 15, 1999) - After three tough weeks in a row, it
could seem difficult for the Philips Racing Team to find a silver lining in
its results.  But, driver Michael Waltrip is leading the way to that silver
lining, making sure his teammates know their efforts will soon be rewarded
with a strong finish.  Their next opportunity comes this Sunday at New
Hampshire International Speedway, and Waltrip is focused on making the most
of that chance.


Michael Waltrip at New Hampshire (career)...

Starts:  9
Top 5s:  0
Top 10s:  1
Top 15s:  2
Ave. start:  21.55
Ave. finish:  24.33
Winnings:  $283,250
Best start:  8th ('99 - race 1))
Best finish:  10th ('96)
1999 (race 1):  19th


Michael Waltrip on...

...his outlook heading to New Hampshire:

"We're going to Loudon pretty optimistic overall about the way we can
qualify and the way we can race, based on the way the car performed at
Richmond.  That may sound strange, because everybody looks at the Richmond
results and wonders how we can say the car performed well.  But, we
definitely had a top 10 car Saturday night, and that's not something I'll
say unless it's true.

"When we came in to the shop Monday morning, we all realized that we
finished 38th and we all realized that a gear broke.  But, racing is a lot
about momentum, and the guys on the team know we had a car capable of
running up front.  That is the type of thing that motivates them to keep
working hard all week.  They know they prepared a car for me that I could
run to the front, and they know that I took that car and could have gotten
it there.  They all feel very good about that.  It's very important to take
the positive things with you, even when the overall result is not what you
want, especially when it's out of your control."


...the car the team will run at New Hampshire:

"We know this particular Philips Chevy we are taking to Loudon is a great
car.  It has qualified really well the other two times we've run it (eighth
at New Hampshire, fifth at Indianapolis), but it hasn't run that well in
either of those races.  Getting it to perform well in the race is part of
the process and part of the growing and learning we do as a team.  We have
to figure out what that car wants in order to race well, and we think we
turned that corner last week at Richmond."

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