Stepping up to the plate: hard work, exhaustive testing and the skills of drivers Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have helped Dale Earnhardt, Inc. seize control of restrictor-plate racing

Sporting News, The, July 8, 2002 by Mark McCarter

"We got our program to where it is ... because Dale Earnhardt made the financial commitment," Norris says. "He paid for it personally to have extra employees in the fab shop and extra guys in the engine shop."

Some Earnhardt genes didn't hurt, either. Dale Jr. made his debut in 2000 and has won six Winston Cup races, three at restrictor-plate tracks.

"He takes after his dad a lot on superspeed-ways," Jeff Gordon says.

Norris says: "Dale wanted us to be great everywhere. I will tell you this: Daytona meant a lot to him.... He knew what it meant for him to win there, and I know he wanted his company ... and his drivers to all have that same feeling. I think that Daytona is a place (where) we will always strive to be superior."--M.M.

... Motors

Richie Gilmore was 10 the first time he tinkered extensively with a motor. It was summertime in Rochester, N.H. "I was bored, and I took my dad's snowmobile engine apart," he says. "I was going to make it better."

Gilmore, who heads up DEI's engine program, has had considerably more success as the years have gone by. He has been involved with five Daytona 500 victories. He has a solid resume from Hendrick Motorsports, and now at DEI, where part of its staff works solely on motors for the four races at Daytona and Talladega.

"We have one guy, Rich Yancy, who lives for it," Gilmore says. "He works seven days a week on restrictor-plate motors. That's his one priority in life, to win every restrictor-plate race we go to"

Such single-mindedness must be tempered with patience. There may be, as Waltrip suggests, a science to what goes on at DEI. But the foundation of science is trial and error.

"You try 10 things, and you get one thing out of it," Gilmore says.

For all the hard work and science, all the Winston Cup teams are incredibly even. Witness the qualifying speeds in April at Talladega, where only 2.961 mph separated qualifier No. 1, Jimmie Johnson, and No. 36, Ken Schrader (the last driver not to use a provisional).

"It's mainly 90 percent, 95 percent racecar," Earnhardt says, "but those last 10 laps it's more driver because you have to make the right decision. You can't be foolish."

So, at some point, it comes down to the ...

... Men

"If you had your choice of everybody out there, there are three of four guys you'd put behind the wheel (at Talladega and Daytona), and we've got two of them," Norris says.

Earnhardt has three of his six career wins in restrictor-plate races. He seems to have inherited his late father's remarkable skill in the draft.

"I like restrictor-plate racing because it's so hard to pass," Earnhardt says. "I'm probably not the most physically strong guy in the field, but when it comes down to making decisions under those circumstances, I think I'm the best out there."

Waltrip's only Winston Cup points win came in the 2001 Daytona 500, in which he received drafting help from Junior. Waltrip returned the favor in the summer race at Daytona and this April at Talladega. Some might question the roller derby-style blocking tactics, but with the inability to make a strong last-lap pass because of the plates, Waltrip could have fallen deep in the field had he left the draft and even cost Earnhardt the win.