NASCAR Cup

Michael Waltrip Still Motivated by Team's Potential

HARRISBURG, N.C. (July 6, 1999) - During the first half of the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, Philips Chevrolet driver Michael Waltrip caught many people by surprise. He and his new teammates at Mattei Motorsports showed a competitive fire ...

Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM

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HARRISBURG, N.C. (July 6, 1999) - During the first half of the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, Philips Chevrolet driver Michael Waltrip caught many people by surprise. He and his new teammates at Mattei Motorsports showed a competitive fire week-in and week-out that let everyone know they would be unwilling to settle for anything less than their best effort.

Although the first half of the season had its share of setbacks, Waltrip remains motivated and optimistic as the second half begins this Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Michael Waltrip at New Hampshire (career)...

Starts:          8
Top 5s:          0
Top 10s:          1
Ave. start:          23.25
Ave. finish:          25.00
Winnings:          $223,300
Best start:          9th ('95)
Best finish:          10th ('96)
1998:                  24th (race 1), 27th (race 2)

Michael Waltrip on...

...what he can take away from the first half of the season:

"The biggest thing is the fact that we've been competitive week-in and week-out. We've only missed it--where we didn't run respectably--basically in one or two races. And, we were basically a new team when the season started with new cars and a lot of new people. Even with that, we've been able to run respectably and competitively. That's the most important thing to me, and makes me look forward to getting another shot at most of these places a second time."

...overcoming first half setbacks:

"In the first half of the season, we had five finishes on 37th or worse, so knowing that, I'm OK with where we are in the points. I feel like our car is fast enough to pass the people that are around us and move up, so I'm not really worried about the points. That's a good feeling. In the past, I've been worried about them a lot. I used to dwell on them. But, I just don't feel that way this year. I feel more excited about the potential to run well on a given Sunday, as opposed to just trying to collect points. If we stay focused and keep doing what we're doing, the points will take care of themselves."

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