Nextel Cup veteran Michael Waltrip returns to the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona for the first time since 1992 with his new Bill Davis/Waltrip-Bawel Racing team thanks to his June 2005 Bud Pole at Pocono.
Although Saturday night's 70-lap race will be his first with the #55 NAPA team, double Daytona 500 winner Waltrip is out to give himself a fairytale start to his post DEI career.
"It's fun to be in the Budweiser Shootout," said Waltrip. "I'm just real proud that we were able to get a pole. I was real close in 2002, 2003 and 2004 to getting one and we got disappointed on several occasions. To finally get us a pole was fun, and now we will take the NAPA car and try to win the Shootout on Saturday night."
Although Waltrip's #55 Dodge will not start as one of the favourites in the 21-car Shootout field, the 2001 and 2003 Daytona 500 champion is quietly confident about his chances.
