Charlotte, North Carolina is the home of many of NASCAR's top teams and is considered the hub of the NASCAR industry as a whole. Therefore the 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway holds a special place in the hearts of many of the sports top drivers.
Michael Waltrip is among the number of drivers to hold a special place in their heart for the high banked, high speed and often unforgiving Lowe's oval not least because it was the site of his classic 1996 victory in 'The Winston' but also because it was the site of his Cup Series debut all of 21 years ago.
Since making his debut in NASCAR's top tier on May 26th 1985 Waltrip has missed but a handful of races and has qualified for 646 of the last 648 Cup Series races dating back to the start of the 1986 season. But while the current driver of the #55 NAPA backed Dodge owned by himself and Doug Bawl and prepared by Bill Davis Racing has many reasons to remember Lowe's, the fact that he spent his formative years trying to beat his brother Darrell stands out the most.
Although Waltrip has just two (non championship) wins at LMS, brother Darrell earned six in his career and while the chances of Waltrip bettering his second place finish from the 2004 Coca Cola 600 this weekend are slim, the popular veteran feels that he and his #55 team can achieve a good result.
"Charlotte is a place I always enjoy racing," says Waltrip, who currently lies 35th in the drivers standings but only 36th in the team championship, meaning he will have to qualify for Sunday's Coca Cola 600 on speed. "It's close to home. All the guys that work so hard on the cars in the shop and don't travel get to come over to the track and see that hard work in action. We ran second in the 600 in 2004. We won the All-Star race several years back and I have won the Busch race there a couple of times, so this has been a good track for me. Anytime you go somewhere where and run well you are optimistic about your chances.
"I ran second in the Coca-Cola 600 two years ago and I ran third in the 600 in 1990 right on Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace's bumper, so I understand what it takes to be successful in the 600," added Waltrip, who crashed out of last Saturday's All Star Challenge. "We had hoped to get a car running well enough in the All-Star race so that when we returned for the 600 it made us better."
