Toyota Life Articles

Michael Waltrip is one of the acknowledged masters of restrictor-plate racing, with two Daytona 500 victories, one Pepsi 400 win and one triumph at Talladega Superspeedway to his credit. We sat down with Waltrip to learn his secrets and find out if he really can see the air rushing by his car at 200 miles per hour.

Q: Some drivers get restrictor-plate racing, while others don't. Was there a moment in time when you realized, "Hey, I know how this deal works?"
A: "I don't remember noticing it, but I just always have been good with it. From the first time I did it, I loved it and thought it was fun. I've always been pretty good at it. If you think about it, the great drivers are good at everything. Tony Stewart's won plate races, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s won plate races, Jeff Gordon's won plate races, Dale Sr.'s won plate races. Whatever the challenge is, the great drivers step up to it and just do it, whether it's a road race or a plate race. I just enjoy the challenge. It's the same guys you've got to beat in a plate race as in a normal race, you've just got to go about it a little bit differently than you do in a normal race."

Q: How different are Daytona and Talladega from one another?
A: "They're daylight and dark, pretty much. You really, really have to use your practice leading up to the race to get your car handling well at Daytona. You have to feel comfortable and good at that, whereas at Talladega, you just try to build ultimate speed into your car. You know it's going to handle well, you just have to make sure it's faster. Sometimes you'll compromise handling for speed at Talladega, and sometimes you'll compromise speed for handling at Daytona. It's two different mentalities."

Q: Do you have an instinct for the nuances of air flow?
A: "I think so. And I think that all the successful drivers who've been able to win at Daytona and Talladega have the ability to do that. And it's not so much seeing it as knowing where it's at and understanding by looking two cars ahead of you where you can best put your car to take advantage of the air that's coming off of them. That just comes with experience."

Q: At a plate race, how do you position yourself so you stay out of trouble?
A: "A lot of times, it depends on what kind of car you have. When you have a fast car, you want to be in the front. When your car is average and you find yourself racing for 10 laps to try to get from 20th to the front and you can't make it, sometimes you just have to take a break, fall back and make sure that if an accident happens, you can avoid it by being behind it. But the fact of the matter is, if you lay back to miss it, eventually you have to drive to the front. So, I don't like to spend much time in the back. I like to try to be toward the front. Just about any car, if it handles right at Daytona, you can get up toward the front, even if it doesn't have any speed. And at Talladega, you can use that big superspeedway to get in the right drafting line to get up to the front. Getting up to the front is possible. Sometimes you just have to play the game differently, depending on what kind of car you have."

Q: Is bump drafting a necessary evil?
A: "Oh, definitely. It doesn't only give you speed when you bump draft, it also gives the guy you hit speed. So, it just makes your line go forward faster. It needed to be addressed and I think it has been addressed somewhat and I can't wait to see how it works in these new cars, because the bumpers on them match up and they don't on the old cars."

Q: What do you do with 10 laps to go to make sure you win?
A: "With 10 laps to go, it's getting really serious. You want to be in the front, but you can't just snap your fingers and get there. Sometimes, they're three-wide and you might be running 15th. You might be in the 12th spot, but you're 30 cars behind because they're three-wide. You just work your rear end off to understand that it's time to go and you have to figure out a line to make a move to get to the front. It's all about putting your car in a position to where you can bump draft. You just have to do everything possible at that point in the game. To heck with strategy, it's time to get to the front."