New cars have Waltrip back in hunt for 'Chase'

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Some will point to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s statements at Dover a month ago as the fire that lit Michael Waltrip's team.

But Waltrip insisted Thursday at Daytona International Speedway that the turnaround of the No. 15 team is a much simpler matter.

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Dating back to last year, Waltrip was one of the hottest drivers in NASCAR at the end of the season.

"We started 2004 thinking we would be championship contenders," said Waltrip, who qualified second to Jeff Gordon for Saturday's Pepsi 400, three spots ahead of Earnhardt Jr. "A couple of wrecks messed that up, but mainly what messed that up was performance. We weren't able to run right."

He's not kidding. His best finish in the first five races was a 23rd at Atlanta. After 10 races, Waltrip was 30th in the points.

But instead of pointing fingers, the team decided the cars needed to be changed. Wind-tunnel tests proved the cars were good, but they weren't good for Waltrip. So crew chief Slugger Labbe -- a "genius when it comes to those cars," Waltrip said -- went to work on the machines.

"Richmond was the first race for a new body, a new aerodynamically balanced body," Waltrip said. "It was the first race for a new engine combination that Richie Gilmore and those guys put together.

"We've run it ever since then, and with the exception of the wreck at Pocono, we haven't been out of the top 10."

	Waltrip will share the front row with Jeff Gordon to start Saturday's Pepsi 400. Credit: Autostock

Waltrip was 10th at Richmond, second at Charlotte, sixth at Dover, 10th at Michigan and fourth last week at Sonoma. The lone hiccup was a 33rd at Pocono, where Waltrip was punted by Rusty Wallace in the closing laps.

Waltrip and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team has climbed all the way to 18th in the Nextel Cup points standings.

"It's real rewarding to see a team do an about-face," Waltrip said. "We know what we did, and we know why it happened."

And there's no reason to believe it won't continue. After all, this is a restrictor-plate track, on which Waltrip and teammate Earnhardt Jr. have been dominant.

The DEI duo has won 10 of the last 14 plate races, with Waltrip winning four of those. Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. seem to have a knack for working well together in restrictor-plate races, but Waltrip said that's a function of having good cars.

"We don't ever talk about it," Waltrip said. "We just know how to do it, and we have fast cars. Please don't every underestimate the importance than the fast-car part. I would venture to say that because of our equipment, it makes us look a lot smarter than we are."

But Waltrip said they do know how to work the draft.

"I will tell you that I think I can draft better than anybody out there," Waltrip said. "I think I know how to put my car in places and set my car up that lets me take advantage of such a good racecar.

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"But we just always wind up in the same places, and that's because we both are good at what we do. We get our cars up there where they belong."

The two drivers were together late in the most recent plate race at Talladega, but after getting pushed to the front by Waltrip, Earnhardt Jr. ducked in another line, and Waltrip fell back.

"Everybody made a big deal about Dale Jr., in the lay person's eyes, hanging me out at Talladega," Waltrip said. "But I didn't see it that way. I pushed him to the lead, and we ran out of steam. He is very smart and very in-tune to what's going on. Instead of both of us falling back, he did what I would've done. He got over and got in line."

That messed Waltrip up, but with five laps to go, there's no time to wait for a teammate -- or anyone.

No hard feelings, Waltrip said.

"We're good," Waltrip said. "We understand what it takes to be successful. We'll work hard at doing that Saturday night."

Another good finish would go a long way in helping Waltrip get closer to the top 10 and put him in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Waltrip is 281 points out of 10th heading into this weekend's race, but he's crunched the numbers and knows it's possible to make it there.

"It might be a bit of a stretch to think that we can even make the top 10," Waltrip said. "But with runs that we had at Charlotte and at Sears Point, we're certainly geared toward that and believe it can become a reality."

If they do make it, Waltrip will be a man to beat. Just like Saturday night.