| | Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Although it wasn't the victory he had hoped for, Darrell Waltrip's 11th-place finish in the Brickard 400 was something to build on.
The 53-year-old racer has gone through a difficult final season that he has dubbed his "Victory Tour." Instead of wins, Waltrip, who last won in September 1992, has been struggling to break out of the back of the NASCAR pack.
"We wanted a weekend where people said, 'D.W. was there,' " Waltrip said.
He got it.
The three-time Winston Cup champion's best previous finish this season was 22nd two weeks ago in Pocono, and his biggest moment of this last year of racing came Thursday when he barely lost the pole position to Ricky Rudd.
During Saturday's 400-mile race, he overcame a 24-second pit stop to earn his best finish since a fifth-place showing in Fontana, Calif., in the spring of 1998.
"It was a great weekend for us, qualifying well and got off to a great start," Waltrip said. "When you're way far behind, you have to start taking little steps, and that's what we've been doing. Like (crew chief) Larry Carter said, the fun meter was way, way up. People will remember this was D.W.'s last race (at
Indianapolis). I'm going to miss it."
Waltrip was 16th after 44 laps when he pitted during a caution period. His stop seemed to take forever, while the rest of the leaders were getting in and out in between 16 and 18 seconds.
By the time Waltrip left the pits and completed his next lap, he had faded to 29th.
Waltrip shrugged when asked why the pit stop by his Carter-Haas
Motorsports crew took so long.
"I never asked. When you have something not go well, the driver has to be real careful. He can just hurt the (team) morale so much when you start raising cain.
"They were probably just trying a little too hard on that pit
stop. I just knew we had a good car, and I felt we'd work our way
back."
Once the green flag came out, it was like the Waltrip of old, the man who won 84 races and was a contender every week. He slashed
through traffic, passing cars every lap or two and moving toward
the front.
Eventually, his Big Kmart Ford settled into the 11th spot.
"I wanted to pass the (No.) 32 car (Scott Pruett) for a top-10 finish, but I can't complain. It was a wonderful day."
Bobby Labonte, who started the race third and wound up winning,
was happy for Waltrip.
He proudly displayed a Waltrip autograph on the brim of his
green Interstate Batteries hat while celebrating his victory.
Labonte had ridden with Waltrip on a parade lap prior to the
race.
"I told him, `It's an honor to be riding with you, sir."
Labonte said. "He signed my hat and I'm proud of that. The fans
were cheering, and I knew they were cheering for him in his last
ride here and not for me."
Waltrip was ecstatic over making up for his lost time on the
track.
"We fell back a little bit on that pit stop. We fought our way
back. I passed a lot of cars. The fun meter was way up there
today," he said. "It was great to run that well at Indy. You
couldn't pick a better place, here and Daytona _ that would be the
only place."
Although Indy is a basically a new stop for NASCAR, Waltrip said
he's leaving it with fond memories -- including the roar from the
crowd following his qualifying run.
"This is one of my better race tracks," he said. "Seven years
I've been here, and I'm going to really miss it. I've never had
fans treat me the way these people do. They feel my pain and I feel
their love.
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