After making what Michael Waltrip called an 'acceptable' start to the 2006 season, the new Waltrip-Jasper/Bill Davis Racing team stumbled badly in California, leaving this Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 as something of a crunch event for the double Daytona 500 winner.
A faulty spark plug caused Waltrip and the #55 NAPA team no end of problems during the Auto Club 500 in Fontana, a race in which Waltrip finished 36th, and after a disappointing pre-season test at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway, this Sunday's race will be a major indicator as to whether or not the team are succeeding in the goals they set for themselves following that test.
After posting the 49th fastest lap in the final day of the test, Waltrip told everyone involved that the test was unacceptable, even for a new team. Since leaving Las Vegas, Waltrip-Jasper Racing has set a series of smaller goals, starting with improving every week and finishing in the top-20.
"Daytona was acceptable," said Waltrip, regarding the first race of the 2006 season. "We ran up-front, got in the top-five and finished in the top-20. Certainly we were disappointed with our finish. We thought we could do better than that, but we didn't. The problem (bad spark plug) at California was disappointing. But we saw a great amount of improvement from the test we had in Las Vegas with our California car in January, to the actual race itself."
The overall improvement the team showed at California gives Waltrip confidence that he can be competitive at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track that Waltrip really likes.
"Ever since the first race, I thought Las Vegas was a track you could really race on," Waltrip said. "It's lost a lot of grip which has slowed the cars down a lot, but that's fun for a race car driver because that means everyone is sliding around and we're all egotistical enough to think we can slide around better than the other guy."
