Michael Waltrip Racing off -weekend quotes

Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

WALTRIP ON LE MANS: “Le Mans is a circle with a whole bunch of quirky turns stuck in the middle of it like a chicane and then two lefts and a right. That means one thing, there is going to be a whole lot of speed. Every time you get to a corner you’re going to be hauling ass. The challenge for me is learning the circuit. There are a lot of turns, there’s very few places where there is just one turn. It’s like you get there and there are three or four turns right when you get there and then you fly down another mile or so to hit another set of turns.

RACING WITH FASTER PROTOTYPES: “I went to Portugal and tested with the (Le Mans prototypes) on the track so I’d have that experience. They’ve toned the LMP cars down a little bit. They’ve taken some power away from them. Being out there with those guys is interesting because every time I’ve raced in my life I’ve been in equal cars and when I started racing the road race stuff I was passing cars that were slow, and that was really hard because you couldn’t predict where they were going. Now, I’m going to be in the slow car and I don’t want those LMP guys thinking ‘I don’t know where he’s going’ so what I’ve been told and what I learned in Portugal is to just run and they will find a way around you. That’s what my goal will be, to just to sort of figure it out. We’re going to get there on Friday just to ride bicycles around the track again to try to look at it and learn it. It should be a great experience.”

TRUEX ON OFF WEEKEND: “I am going to enjoy the weekend off by doing absolutely nothing. I know that doesn’t sound very exciting, but with the amount of traveling we do during the season, I’m in favor of staying home if Sherry will let me. Sherry says we’re staying home. I’ve checked out the weather forecast and it’s looking ideal for fishing. They’ve been biting good, so I’m all about doing that right now. I’ve also got some R/C boat projects in the works. Home on the lake is where you will find me. I’m looking forward to it. It will be a great way to recharge and get ready for next week’s Goodyear Tire Test in Indianapolis and the launch of NAPA’s Ultimate Tune-Up promotion. The guys are wrapping the Richmond car now and the Ultimate Tune-Up paint scheme is looking sharp. I think the fans will like it.”

David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota

Photo by: Motorsport.com / ASP Inc.

REUTIMANN ON OFF WEEKEND: “I’m going to Nashville to run a Nationwide race for Rusty Wallace. No sense in having an off-weekend, you know. When you enjoy racing there is nothing better. The opportunity presented itself where we could run Nashville. I really, really like Nashville a lot. That’s one of my favorite race tracks so hopefully we’ll be able to go there and run well. Rusty gave me a call and asked me if I would be interested in maybe doing something and I was like, ‘Yeah.’ Heck, to drive for Rusty Wallace would be a cool opportunity. They are going to take a third car there and maybe do a little experimenting on the thing. Just trying some different setups and stuff like that and hopefully be able to make all of the cars better. Not that I’m going to have anything to do with that -- they are just letting me drive. Those guys are working really, really hard.”

-source: mwr