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COUNTDOWN TO DAYTONA: MASTERING THE DRAFT

There are few, if any, drivers who are more comfortable or more successful running 190mph, inches apart from cars on all four sides, than Michael Waltrip, an acknowledged master of the high-banked superspeedways.

Waltrip, who this year will scale back to a part-time driving schedule in the No. 55 NAPA Toyota Camry, has two Daytona 500 victories to his credit, as well as a victory in the summer race at Daytona International Speedway and one at Talladega Superspeedway.

Daytona and Talladega, of course, are the two longest high-banked oval tracks on the NASCAR circuit, as well as the only two places that NASCAR uses horsepower-sapping restrictor plates to keep the cars from lapping in the 220mph range.

Succeeding on the superspeedways requires an ability to use the aerodynamic draft to maximum advantage, and to run patiently in close quarters all race long – two skills Waltrip excels at.

But Waltrip will be the first to tell you that the two tracks are not the same, Talladega being a place where you run wide open all race long, while handling is much more critical at Daytona.

“I think at Daytona it's a lot different than Talladega,” says Waltrip, who won the “Great American Race” in 2001 and ’03. “It’s always been that way. I've been fortunate to figure out how to make my car handle well and run with my foot on the floor the majority of the race. That's how you have success at Daytona. Now, the way it has worked lately is you position yourself all race long, then there's a caution with 15 or 20 to go, and it's whoever is the bravest, or luckiest, or can get in the right line.”

A critical part of success, of course, is managing the draft, the air currents that pull a leading car up to the bumper of the one directly in front of it. There are also huge aerodynamic side forces on the cars as they race through the corners.

Understanding the draft and using it to your advantage are essential, and something Waltrip knows very well.

“All the successful drivers who’ve been able to win at Daytona and Talladega have the ability to do that,” he says of draft management. “And it’s not so much seeing it as knowing where it’s at and understanding, by looking two cars ahead of you, where you can best put your car to take advantage of the air that’s coming off of them. That just comes with experience.”

Then there’s a little thing called the “bump draft.” Basically a trailing car gathers momentum and literally slams into the car ahead of it, which makes them both gain speed. But misjudge a bump draft and you can cause as massive 190-mph pileup.

Waltrip is not a big fan of bump drafting because he’s seen it misused too often, but NASCAR has allowed it back on the menu for 2009, so he recommends caution – and saving it for when it really counts.

“You never know and you can’t tell every second who’s back there,” he says. “You never know if you’re going to get a huge shot in the back or you’re just going to get a tap. I just have an opinion that anybody that bump drafts for the first 170 laps is being dumb. Why chance it? What are we doing? The last 15 or 20 laps you can do all you want. Maybe they are doing it to rehearse for the big finish. Some of them need some rehearsing.”

But the big thing Waltrip will be looking for in next month’s Daytona 500 is to get his NAPA Camry handling as well as possible. And he likes to play the role of frontrunner.

“It's important at Daytona to be in tune with your car, getting where it will handle so you can drive it the way you want to drive it,” says Waltrip. “You need to be able to look in the mirror instead of the windshield to get to the places you need to be. Obviously, if it's not handling right, you can't do those things. It's all about how the car's handling in my mind. Just about any car, even if it doesn’t have any speed, if it handles right at Daytona, you can get up toward the front.”

And on Sunday, Feb. 14, up front is where to look for the No. 55 NAPA Toyota Camry and Michael Waltrip in the Daytona 500.