Where everybody knows their game: the folks at Dale Earnhardt Inc. have mastered restrictor-plate racing. With Talladega looming, the team shares a few secrets

Sporting News, The, Oct 7, 2002 by Mark McCarter

This story begs for a prologue. Or at something along the lines of how an episode of a TV serial drama opens. You know the deal.

A deep voice rolls mellifluously through your speakers and says, "Previously on ..." whatever the show is. Then comes the series of quick video clips calculatingly designed to trigger your memory about past shows or else to catch you on up what wasn't recorded while your VCR blinked "12:00." Maybe it's a series of bad guys blowing away other bad guys on The Sopranos. Or a doctor on ER applying those electronic paddles to a victim's chest. Or a reminder of who recently has dumped whom and who has taken up with whom on some soap opera.

So, "Previously on DEI Kicks Butt on Restrictor-Plate Tracks." ...

Clip 1: Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads Michael Waltrip to the finish line last spring at Talladega.

Clip 2: Waltrip heads to the checkered flag, poking along under caution in July at Daytona as backstretch fans litter the track with a blizzard of seat cushions, bottles, cups and anything else not bolted down or breathing.

Clip 3: A gray, haunting image of the namesake of Dale Earnhardt Inc., a grin below a mustache below goggles below a helmet brim, and the reminder that he won 13 restrictor-plate races.

Clip 4: An opposing crew chief walks toward the garage area, scratching his head, literally and figuratively. "How did they do it? How can they keep doing it?"

Finally, Clip 5: Zoom in tight on Sterling Marlins face. Catch the impish smile. See the twinkle in his eye. Hear him offer a reassuring prediction: "Somebody (at DEI) will leave the motor room one day," Marlin says, "and everybody will find out."

Now begins a new episode.

It's almost Talladega Time. And though things are fresh and new and NASCAR drivers actually believe they can keep Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip from winning a restrictor-plate race--fat chance: They have won five of the last seven and finished one-two in three of them--at least one element of the domination will be removed after Sunday's EA Sports 500.

The Chevrolet that won the Pepsi 400 last July for Waltrip and has two runner-up finishes in plate races and a victory in a 125-mile Daytona qualifying race will be put out to pasture after Talladega. Chevrolet is introducing a new Monte Carlo in 2003. Crew chief Richard "Slugger" Labbe and Co. have been working on next year's No. 15 Chevy since July.

You'd think it would be like saying farewell to an old friend. But this is not a sentimental matter. Some teams have nicknames for their cars or at least know them by number. Not at DEI. "You try not to fall in love with any of them," Labbe says.

But how could you not? It's not merely that the car is a winner. It's a survivor. It has avoided the traditional big wreck at Daytona and Talladega. It has come through the last six restrictor-plate races needing little more than a car wash at the end. It has remained as timelessly intact as Dick Clark. Nice NASCAR formula: no wreck, no repair.

"So," Waltrip says, "... We've been able to run that car over and over, improve on it every time we've run it, learn from it, send it to the wind tunnel, find out more about what kind of setup it likes. We were very strong in Talladega in May. Then we won in Daytona. To take that same car back (to Talladega) in that same configuration just gives us tremendous confidence we should win that race."

Labbe says: "We're not afraid to cut on them and make sure they're fast through the corners. That's where the rpms are."

Waltrip says: "Restrictor-plate cars are very finicky and very sensitive. You can build on them and try to duplicate what you had, and sometimes it just doesn't work out. In our case, we've been very fortunate to keep that same car, not tear it up, and keep improving it."

It's not merely a comfort level with the car itself. Richie Gilmore is DEI's chief engine builder. For the last week or so, he has had the DEI dynamometers going nearly full-time with the restrictor-plate package. He's trying to find one or two more horsepower hiding somewhere in the motors. He's trying to make sure all the parts are sound and durable.

"It's tough," Gilmore says. "You can work on an open (non-restricted) engine and find four or five horsepower. You can work three months on a restrictor-plate engine and find one (horsepower). You've got to have guys in your shop that really just live for it and are dedicated and that don't let it beat them down."

For all the science and overtime hours involved, Gilmore admits sometimes it comes down to a hunch. It's gut feeling, not gauges.

"We have our favorite engines," he says. "Sometimes they're maybe not even the best-running ones on the dynos, but it's an engine we've won with. It's like an old pair of shoes. You've got confidence in it. It seems to run on the racetrack better. Just having a history with the piece ... is comfortable."

A driver's approach with the two restrictor-plate tracks is fairly simple. For the most part, it's three-plus hours trying to mash the accelerator pedal through the floorboard. Stand on it and hang on. But there are some discernible differences between Daytona and Talladega. The latter is .16 of a mile longer. Its banking is a smidgen steeper, and less precise handling is needed to enter the turns. The setup can be more forgiving.