Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Earnhardt would have expected Waltrip to win

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 10:05 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

It seems perfectly logical to Michael Waltrip that all three of his NASCAR Winston Cup victories have come at Daytona International Speedway.

The historic 2.5-mile superspeedway was as special to the late Dale Earnhardt, Waltrip's friend and car owner, as it is now to Waltrip. Waltrip said he believes each time he drives his No. 15 Chevrolet into Victory Lane at Daytona, he honors the memory of the man who revived his career by hiring him at Dale Earnhardt Inc. prior to the 2001 season.

"What's cool is when you're at DEI, you understand that Dale wanted fast restrictor-plate cars," Waltrip said after his second Daytona 500 victory last Sunday. "That was his gig; he knew it took a fast car to have success here.

"People just have a little bit more bump in their step when they get ready to come to Daytona. They knew they better have (because) that's what Dale would expect. So many times his presence is felt at (the shop) to where people are still motivated and driven by Dale's ... presence."

Waltrip had not won a Winston Cup points race in 462 career starts when Earnhardt hired him in the winter of 2000 to drive a third DEI car. Waltrip justified Earnhardt's faith by winning his first race in the No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet -- the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt died in a crash on the final lap of that race.

"I had so much fun in the winter of 2000, 2001 getting ready to drive for Dale," Waltrip said. "He used to say, 'You'll win in my cars -- you better win in my cars, my cars are good.' I was just in awe of the fact that it worked out for me to get in such a great ride.

"Dale might have been the only one big enough in this world to get me this ride. Anybody else might not have been able to pull that off ... I'm not thinking very many people could have (gone) to NAPA and explained to them that they wanted to start a new team and put (me) in the car and have them buy it."

Had it not been for Earnhardt, Waltrip said he might still be searching for his first Winston Cup victory.

"I might have struggled along for a long time," Waltrip said. "I was good enough to start 462 races (and) I always finished decent in the points. A team never did better after I left; they always did worse."

The Winston Cup Series is in Rockingham, N.C., this weekend for the Subway 400 and then heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend for the sixth annual UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.

"This will probably be my last event at the Bullring," said Busch, who will compete in selected ARCA and NASCAR Busch Series races this year for Hendrick Motorsports. "I would like to make a prestigious show and try for the victory. There are a few people from Hendrick coming down to watch. Hopefully, I can make it an exciting night for them."

The KB Home Showdown presented by the Southern Nevada Dodge Dealers includes the 100-lap Super Late Model feature, a 30-lap IMCA Modified race and two 20-lap Legends Cars races. Spectator gates open at 6 p.m., qualifying is set for 6:30 and racing will begin at 7:15.

FIA recently introduced a variety of new rules for Formula One this season, including restrictions and regulations on telemetry, radio communications and post-qualifying service to cars, banning of traction control, launch control and automatic gearboxes starting midway through the season, and the requirement that cars must start races with the same fuel load and tires they had after qualifying.

In a joint statement, the two teams accused FIA president Max Mosley of trying to "dumb down" Formula One and contend the changes could increase the safety risk for drivers.

The Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas race will be the first competition ever held for autonomous robotic ground vehicles. The official announcement of SCORE's involvement is expected to be made Saturday during a competitors conference in Los Angeles.

The DARPA Grand Challenge, which will be held March 13, 2004 in the desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, is being staged as a research project for the U.S. Department of Defense. Teams will compete in the elapsed-time event and the team whose remote vehicle most quickly completes the course in less than the prescribed time will receive the $1 million cash prize.

Additional information on the event can be found at www.darpa.mil.