Do you have to change mentality as a driver since you have gone from superspeedway and intermediate racing to a two-week stretch of short-track racing?
“I don’t think you do at all. It’s the same 42 guys that you are going to line up against. They are going to race you just like they do everywhere else. You have to bring your A game and you race every lap like it is the last one. That’s how NASCAR racing works.”
 
Bristol is the fifth race of 2009 which means after the race, NASCAR  locks in the top-35 drivers using this year’s owner points. What do you expect to see?
“It is certainly an interesting story that we have going on back there. You have the No. 71 team. Those guys have done a great job getting themselves into the top 35. Mark Martin is just barely in as well as Ryan Newman. Then outside, you’ve got Scott Speed. At Martinsville Speedway, he may have to qualify in on speed unless something good happens to him this weekend. It certainly is going to be fun watching the points standings play out.”

You have won at Bristol two times in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. What did it mean to you and your team to finish first?
“Winning at Bristol is special. It is awesome to get to stand in victory lane and feel over 100,000 people cheering. It’s quite a feeling to have because you know that you were just in an impressive car match. I was fortunate to win Bristol in my Nationwide car that we built behind my house. I think that win meant more to my guys than if we had won Daytona. It is a special feeling to have success at a place like Bristol.”

How has the track changed going from asphalt to concrete as well adding the progressive banking?
“It made the track raceable. It used to be that everyone from first through 42nd had to hit someone if you wanted to pass. It was bump and run. You couldn’t make up any ground any other way. Now, we have two lanes. If someone is running the bottom, you have an option to go up to the top and get around them. I am just a big fan of racing. I don’t like to see a bunch of cautions. It’s amazing now to see that we actually have green-flag pit stops at Bristol. We used to never see that. Now we do. We also get to run three wide at Bristol. That’s another thing that we used to never see. The racing is great now.”

Michael Waltrip Fast Facts

• NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip will start in his 730th NASCAR Sprint Cup race when he competes in the Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) in Bristol, Tenn.

• He will start in his 46th race at the .533-mile track. His best Bristol start is third, three times (August 26, 1995, August 24, 2002 and August 23, 2003) and best finish is fifth (April 10, 1994).

• During his Cup career at BMS, Waltrip has earned one top-5 and eight top-10 finishes. His average start is 23rd and average finish is 20th. Waltrip has completed 19,679 of 22,348 laps (88.1%) at the track and has led a total of 69 laps in competition.

• In Nationwide Series competition, he has two victories (April 3, 1993 & August 23, 2003), five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.

• The NAPA AUTO PARTS team is guaranteed a starting spot in the Food City 500. The team finished 29th in the owner points standings in 2008. Currently, Waltrip ranks 16th in the driver and owner points standings

NAPA AUTO PARTS Driver Michael Waltrip Sprint Cup Statistics – Bristol Motor Speedway
YEAR	START	FINISH
4/6/1986	24	32
8/23/1986	22	13
4/12/1987	23	13
4/10/1988	22	12
8/27/1988	32	31
4/9/1989	7	11
8/26/1989	11	32
4/8/1990	20	20
8/24/1990	27	9
4/17/1991	25	23
8/24/1991	31	25
4/5/1992	10	17
8/29/1992	22	14
4/4/1993	15	14
8/28/1993	24	10
4/10/1994	23	5
8/27/1994	28	7
4/2/1995	33	22
8/26/1995	3	15
3/31/1996	25	10
8/24/1996	6	6
4/13/1997	39	21
8/23/1997	33	25
3/29/1998	32	9
8/22/1998	12	16
4/11/1999	39	12
8/28/1999	14	37
3/26/2000	23	11
8/26/2000	19	19
3/25/2001	29	22
8/25/2001	40	39
3/24/2002	9	30
8/24/2002	3	22
3/23/2003	28	25
8/23/2003	3	42
3/28/2004	8	10
8/28/2004	36	27
4/3/2005	27	19
8/27/2005	22	15
3/26/2006	34	32
8/26/2006	29	16
8/25/2007	16	23
4/16/2008	40	23
8/23/2008	42	30

EVENT FACTS
Race: 5 of 36
Food City 500
Bristol Motor Speedway

Length: .533-mile oval
Distance: 500 laps/266.5 miles

Date: Sunday, March 22
Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
FOX, PRN, Sirius XM Radio

2008 Winner: Jeff Burton
2008 Pole: Jimmie Johnson

Notables
Sprint Cup Qualifying:
3:30 p.m. ET
Friday, March 20
SPEED

Sprint Cup Practices:
12 p.m. ET
Friday, March 20
SPEED

Tape Delay
1 p.m. ET Sat., March 7
SPEED

This Week in NASCAR
8 p.m. ET, March 23
SPEED