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Rookie remaining humble during warmup for No. 00 ride

By Mark Aumann
NASCAR.COM
January 29, 2008

LAS VEGAS -- Michael McDowell hasn't made a Sprint Cup start but don't confuse his lack of seat time in NASCAR's top series with inexperience.

McDowell's resume is plenty impressive: a go-karting national championship, Star Mazda rookie of the year and North American champion, a victory at Mexico City in the Rolex Sports Car Series, two Champ Car top-12 finishes at age 20, ACRA rookie of the year.

Fans may not recognize the newest face in the Sprint Cup garage -- hired by Michael Waltrip to drive the No. 00 Toyota when David Reutimann replaces Dale Jarrett in the No. 44 at Martinsville -- but McDowell hopes that will change quickly.

For now, he's just trying to get acclimated -- and figure out what time zone he's in.

"It's been a tough week for me," McDowell said during a break in Tuesday's test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "I did the [Rolex 24 at Daytona] over this past weekend and got here at 2 in the morning and then was back at the track at 6.

"I was pretty worn out [Monday]. I had never been to this place before. It's been a little bit of a learning experience."

McDowell's No. 1 priority this week is driving the team's fourth car. McDowell was 47th of the 75 cars which completed at least one lap in Tuesday morning's session. His best lap was 180.977 mph, quite a bit slower than Carl Edwards' quick lap of 184.256, but McDowell realizes that he's out here to run consistent laps.

"I'm here with the test team and we're running through a lot of big suspension and geometry setup stuff, more so than the other three teams," he said. "When you look at the board, there's all these guys that you grew up watching and you've always kind of dreamed of getting to this point.

"It's neat to watch, but at the same time, I'm here to do a job and so I'm concentrating on that. I'm trying to get as much information as we can over the next couple of days. We'll take that to California and see if we can't learn even more."

McDowell caught Waltrip's eye while driving for Eddie Sharp's ARCA team. That led to a three-race Busch Series audition at the end of the 2007 season -- including a best of 14th at Phoenix. McDowell apparently impressed the owner well enough to earn a promotion.

He said he hasn't sat down and compiled a list of goals for the season, but keeping the No. 00 in the top 35 would have to be high on that list.

"I really haven't sat down and said, 'This is what we want to accomplish,'" McDowell said. "It's kind of an open book right now. The first thing we want to accomplish is getting all three cars into the top 35 -- and that's something that will hopefully be done before I get in. If not, that's the goal.

"There's a great rookie class and I'd like to lead that class, if we're in a position to do that. I just want to learn as much as I can, stay out of trouble and earn the respect of the team and the other drivers in the series. Just build toward the future."

For now, McDowell's living his dream -- but he's well aware that reality may be right around the next corner.

"It's great to be here now but in three months, if I don't perform, I'll be gone that quick," he said. "I really haven't let it sink in that I've arrived, because I haven't arrived. I've been given an opportunity and I've got to prove myself in that opportunity before I can say I've arrived."

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Michael Waltrip Racing, Press Release

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 24, 2008) - March 30th is significant to Michael McDowell because he will make his long-awaited NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut with Michael Waltrip Racing in the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

"I can't believe the time is finally here," McDowell said. "I know I can't underestimate how difficult it is going to be. I can act confident and say it's going to be easy and jump in and do it, but we all know there have been a lot of great drivers that haven't been able to do it."

As the 23-year-old steps into the #00 Toyota Camry, Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership announces today that their partnership will continue with the Michael Waltrip Racing team through Richmond International Raceway.

"Aaron's has a longstanding relationship with Michael Waltrip Racing and I'm proud they will be with me for my Cup debut," McDowell said. "They were an associate sponsor for my Nationwide Series debut (11/3/07 at Texas Motor Speedway) and it is cool to have them as a primary sponsor this weekend. They have had a lot of success with Michael Waltrip Racing and I look forward to delivering a solid finish for them this weekend at Martinsville."

"We are thrilled to continue to be on the #00 for the next five races and help introduce Michael McDowell to the Cup side." stated Ken Butler, President of Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership. "We are proud to be able to extend our involvement in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Michael Waltrip Racing and look forward to having McDowell in the Aaron's Dream Machine especially at Talladega Superspeedway for our race, the Aaron's 499. I have seen Michael race in the ARCA Series last year and was impressed with his driving. I think he will do well at this level and everyone at Aaron's will be behind him 100 percent."

This may be McDowell's first race in the #00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry, but this is his second visit to the .526-oval.

"In October, I raced for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the biggest thing I learned is you have to be patient," McDowell said. "We got in a late race pileup and finished 30th, but I was able to complete 181 laps to gain some experience. This weekend, our goal is to finish every lap in the Aaron's Dream Machine and maintain a top 35 points position."

After Bristol Motor Speedway, all three Michael Waltrip Racing entries were locked into the top 35. McDowell is glad the pressure to make the race is no longer there.

"It's a relief that we are in the race, but we will still put pressure on ourselves to qualify well," McDowell said. "I do feel really comfortable about qualifying. I had nine poles in the ARCA RE/MAX Series last year and all the other series I've been in, I've been able to qualify pretty well. I'm ready to get going with my crew chief - Bill Pappas. He's new to the Series and his open wheel résumé' as a chief engineer is quite impressive. We look forward to learning and growing together to develop a solid program. We know we've got to make all the races and stay inside the top 35."

The Glendale, Ariz.-native has been extensively testing to prepare for his debut and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Raybestos rookie year.

"I started testing in the off season and did a lot of tests in November, December and January," McDowell said. "We tested in Caraway (N.C.) recently and I'm testing more this week before we head to Martinsville. There's no track you can test that can compare to Martinsville. You just have to look for trends that you can hopefully carry over."

To sharpen his skills, McDowell also competed in three NASCAR Nationwide Series events last year and the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. His success in the ARCA RE/MAX Series last year led to his ultimate opportunity with Michael Waltrip Racing.


"Michael Waltrip Racing had a program in place to develop drivers at Eddie Sharp Racing and I was racing there under my own deal," said McDowell, who finished second in the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship with four wins. "As we started having success, that led to the testing opportunities with Michael Waltrip Racing and then a few Nationwide races and then a truck race at Martinsville last year. After that, I started testing Cup cars for them and it led to where I am now."

Live coverage of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, March 30th begins at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on FOX and 2 p.m. Eastern on MRN Radio.


This Press Release and any images that are used,
are used with permission. Do not duplicate or
redistribute in any form without permission or credit.

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