Waltrip ready for a dreamy ride

Ol' D.W. will finally get to realize his dream today.

In keeping with the television advertising campaign, in which he relentlessly pesters younger brother Michael about driving the No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine, Darrell Waltrip will finally get his wish when he gets behind the wheel of the 99 car in today's Goody's 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

``Every good ad campaign, there [Aaron's Dream Machine] has to be a payoff," said Waltrip, who owns a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team and does Nextel Cup race analysis for Fox Sports when he isn't appearing in commercials for Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership, fussing about driving his brother's Dream Machine.

``You can't continue doing the same thing over and over again if there is not a payoff somewhere," he said. ``This turned out to be a great opportunity because Martinsville Speedway is a track that I really like and it's a track everybody is comfortable with me going to and racing on. It made the ad campaign that much better.

``Obviously, after I get to drive it once, I'm probably going to want to try and drive it again somewhere."

Waltrip, a former NASCAR champion and winner of 84 career races, said he needed to get clearance from his wife and daughters to race at ``the family circle of approved tracks," adding, ``Well, [Martinsville] is the only one on the list."

That's because Martinsville has the fewest risks. ``Any time you get in a racecar or any time you get on the track, there's danger involved," said Waltrip, who recorded 11 of his Cup victories at Martinsville . ``There's always the unexpected that can happen. We're pretty confident when we go there. I know the track. I raced there so much through the years. I ran a truck there the past few years. I feel comfortable going there."

And so, when Martinsville was added to the Busch Series schedule, ending a 15-year hiatus, ``It just worked out for me to drive the car there," Waltrip said.

``I've wanted to drive the car," he said. ``The [ad] campaign has him sarcastically putting me off, but in reality, we knew that somewhere at one of these smaller tracks that I was going to get a shot to drive the car some time. I'm 59 years old and I'm not getting any younger. It's hard to stay in shape and keep your enthusiasm up unless I know that I'm going to get to race somewhere.

``I've been in the gym to work out a lot. I kind of maintain my weight. I think it's good for me to be able to get in the car or truck and race occasionally. It gives me something to really look forward to. I got to tell you, I would race every week. I would run a truck or do something every week, but my family doesn't want me to."

That is, of course, with the notable exception of Michael.

``It's been going on for about three years now," Darrell said of the Aaron's ad campaign. ``I've had to clean windows, caddie, mow yards, and deliver furniture. I've pretty much been abused any way my brother can think of. Finally, the pay off is that I get to drive the car at Martinsville Speedway. Once I run the car at Martinsville -- win, lose, or draw -- I've got a feeling it will create some more commercials of some nature. If my car's all wadded up, then there will be a commercial as to why I never get to drive it or something. We'll continue to have fun with that."

Seven races remain before the 10-man field is set for the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship, and, as the man on the bubble (10th in the points), Greg Biffle knows the approach he'll take leading up to the final cut. ``You just be careful," said Biffle, who finished third in Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway to climb 11 points ahead of Tony Stewart. ``A couple of times at Loudon, I had to get myself out of some positions I was in. When you end up three-wide going down in a corner, or you're racing with somebody that's not in the chase -- that you maybe feel like they might be driving over their head for those few laps you're around them. Sometimes it's better to get in line and wait it out than press the issue right then, so those are some things you do to be a little more cautious around who you're racing with maybe, and use the more patience." . . . Jeff Gordon, who was thwarted from recording his 76th career victory last weekend at NHIS, will attempt to tie the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth place on NASCAR's list of all-time winners tomorrow at Pocono Raceway. It is the same track in which Gordon was lucky to emerge relatively unscathed from a heavy wall impact in June. ``Well, it was certainly one of the scariest ones, because even though you're at Pocono, you know, you're carrying a lot of speed, but you have a long way to think about it," Gordon said. ``So it happened fairly early, but I had such a long time without being able really to get the car slowed down that, you know, the fear that's inside, how hard it's going to hit, is probably worse than when it actually happens. So it was very scary. But, you know, just after going through it and knowing how good of a job my team has done with our seats and our racecars, and NASCAR with the soft wall, it's also a real tribute to that hard work and success of the safety department." . . . As the race to the chase heats up, it seems every Sunday produces a controversy. Two weeks ago at Chicagoland, it was Gordon vs. Matt Kenseth. Last week at NHIS, it was Stewart vs. Ryan Newman and, oh yes, Michael Waltrip vs. the field. After Waltrip's run-ins with Newman and Robby Gordon, one crew chief warned his driver, ``The 55 is running like a bull in a china shop." As the cut nears, more drivers will be making more desperate moves on the track. ``You know, NASCAR has really narrowed up the box from the competition side of things," said Gordon, who climbed from 10th to ninth in the points last weekend. ``So it's just made it more intense, you know, for our sport."

Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. and car owner Roger Penske visited the White House this week. Hornish, though, acknowledged being tongue-tied when he met President Bush. ``There aren't too many people I come in contact with that I can't find the words to spit out of my mouth on what I want to tell them, but the president was one of them," said Hornish, who holds a lead over Scott Dixon (316-311) in the IndyCar Series points. ``I couldn't say everything I wanted to say. I thought, `Hey, dummy, you didn't say half the things you wanted to say to him.' He was very complimentary of us winning the Indianapolis 500 and the style in which we won. He said a small-town boy from [Defiance] Ohio was able to accomplish a dream, and seldom do people who have dreams like that get to accomplish them. It was a pretty big compliment." . . . Patrick Carpentier could be the next open-wheel driver to migrate to NASCAR, following in the footsteps of Paul Tracy (who has been trying to race on the Busch Series) and, most notably, Juan Pablo Montoya, the Formula One driver and former CART champion and Indy 500 winner who announced two weeks ago he would go to NASCAR with his old boss, Chip Ganassi. Carpentier was in Loudon last week making the rounds in the garage and pitching his services in hopes of having a ride for an anticipated Busch Series race next season in Montreal. ``I've always thought of myself as an oval racer," Carpentier said. ``I've always felt comfortable on them and I think NASCAR will be a great fit for me." . . . Ricky Craven, of Newburgh, Maine, will get behind the wheel of the Family Dollar Dodge fielded by FitzBradshaw Racing today at Martinsville, the same flat, half-mile track where Craven recorded the first pole of his Nextel Cup career in 1996 and the first victory of his Cup career in 2001. ``Martinsville is obviously a special venue for me, and I'm eager to race again in the NASCAR Busch Series," said Craven, who last drove in the Busch Series two years ago, spending last season toiling in the Craftsman Truck Series for Roush Racing. ``I'm looking for positive results this week."

Material from personal interviews, sanctioning bodies, race teams, sponsors, and track publicity departments was used in this report.