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May 30, 2008
Michael Waltrip Out Loud (5/30)
Last night on "Michael Waltrip Out Loud" Michael talked about a variety of topics including the past weekend's race at Charlotte. Although he was disappointed with his own finish, he was happy about David Reutimann's top ten finish and felt that it was a sign that Michael Waltrip Racing was moving in the right direction. Some fans have wondered about the issues that Michael has continually complained about during races this season and whether it's a question of Michael needing to adjust to the COT and the way it handles and be less fussy about what how he wants his car to feel. I think there is some truth to the idea that Michael, like many other veteran drivers, is having some trouble getting used to the COT. However, Michael indicated last night that there's some issues across the board for all three MWR teams, specifically a front end issue, that has been a problem for all the MWR drivers, not just him.
Apparently it was only at Charlotte that David and Ryan Pemberton hit on something that worked really well and they were going to apply that to what they did at Pocono testing in the hope that it would help all three teams improve their performance. Michael certainly seemed to be having a good test - he was 6th fastest in the final test session - so hopefully they will see better results going forward. Michael expressed confidence in how the next few races would go for him and his team since Dover, Pocono, Sonoma and Michigan are all tracks that he has raced well at. Michael told me once that Pocono is his favorite track so I'm especially hoping for a good result for him there!
Something interesting that Michael talked about that happened off-the-track was the promotion he did for Coca-Cola with Yao Ming, the basketball player. Michael said that he doesn't often encounter people who are taller than he is but Ming is a full foot taller. So he found himself thinking about whether the way he felt when he was talking to Ming is the way people usually feel when they're around him. He said that he often wonders about people's mindset when they're talking to him and whether they're looking up his nose. I've often wondered how Michael feels about his height. Based on what others who are very tall have said there's some great things about being that tall but also a lot of bad things too since most everything is made for those who are shorter. I would think any issues about being tall are even more magnified in the garage area since so many of Michael's fellow drivers are so tiny - not only are many of them very short, much shorter than he is, but a lot of them are also very thin.
In terms of meeting Michael, when I've been around him I've wondered what he's thought when he's looked down at me since I'm more than two feet shorter than he is, plus I only weigh about 100 lbs. So I'm significantly smaller. When I'm around Michael I definitely feel like a tiny ant! Because I'm not that tall I often encounter people who are taller than I am and I don't usually feel small, but with Michael because he's not only big in stature, he's also big in personality and presence, I have felt very little. In all honesty, Michael wonders if people are looking up his nose (can't say I ever have!) with Michael and others who are that tall I sometimes wonder whether they're looking down my shirt - it's not that I show a lot of cleavage or anything but it's almost unavoidable from that vantage point to see down my shirt if I'm wearing any kind of a v-neck shirt!
There was also some discussion at the end of the show about the driver's meetings and how Michael always used to ask funny questions to make people laugh. He thought one of the funniest times was years ago when he hit water barrels at one track and water went everywhere so at the track the next week he saw there were more barrels so he asked during the driver's meeting whether those barrels had water in them too. But the meetings aren't as casual as they used to be - as time has gone on the driver's meetings have gotten more formal and serious. So Michael has to be more focused on finding out about the various rules for the track and everything else so there really isn't time to think of funny questions.
Posted by silverdsl at May 30, 2008 09:28 AM