On Sunday, May 1st NASCAR's Michael Waltrip will compete in the Monticelloman Olympic Triathlon in Lake Monticello, VA., just hours after watching his two NASCAR Sprint Cup teams race Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.
The two-time Daytona 500 winner enters his first triathlon after competing in several marathons including the 2000 Boston Marathon. Sunday's triathlon includes a .9-mile swim course, a 24-mile bike course and 6.2-mile running course around Lake Monticello. The competition comes a week after Waltrip tested a Ferrari in France for the 78th running of June's 24 Hours of Le Mans - the world's most famous endurance race. He and MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman will join Rui Aguas as the three drivers in the No. 78 AF Corse Ferrari in the GTE class.
WHY WOULD A SANE PERSON ENTER A TRIATHLON? "They wouldn't."
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? "I use special events for motivation. For example, the Daytona 500, getting to race at Talladega, getting to race at Kentucky. I feel like it's a privilege for me to get to do those things. I just look forward to them so much, they motivate me, they inspire me. The triathlon is just a part of that. Keeping in shape, having boxes in your life that you always wanted to check and accomplish that. The marathons that I ran were just that. I didn't run marathons because I have a marathon body; I just ran them because it was part of me being a race car driver. It motivated me to stay fit and focused on a goal and being able to accomplish running on my feet for four hours. I just always believed there would never be a race on Sunday tough enough that I couldn't tackle. The triathlon is a part of that. It's wanting to be able to race my car when I get a chance.
WHICH LEG OF THE TRIATHLON GIVES YOU THE MOST CONCERN? "Swimming, well swimming and then time. I'm down to having just a couple weeks left and I really haven't swam at all to be honest with you. I can swim and I know that, but next week (daughter) Macy's coach at Southlake Christian where she is on the swim team is going to spend some time with me in the pool just to watch me and try to give me some tips on what I'm doing that is wasting energy. I feel like I'm a pretty efficient runner and I'm really comfortable with the bike. I haven't actually been on a bike that goes down the road. I've just been on the stationary bike, but I ride really hard and my last marathon I trained for I only went outside to run to verify what I was doing on the treadmill. I was confident that I was doing a good job on the treadmill pushing myself, and I'd go outside and run seven or eight miles just to see if I was helping myself."
HOW DOES ENDURANCE RACING COMPARE TO MARATHONS AND TRIATHLONS? "The 24-hour race is going to be physically demanding and it's really hot. You don't really realize how aerodynamic or how tight those things are filled up until you try to drive one on a 16-turn road course for two hours on a hot day with shifting and everything you have to do in that Ferrari."
Notes:
- Waltrip will also race in Thursday's Short Track Showdown late model race at Richmond to benefit the Denny Hamlin Foundation and in July's inaugural Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. In 2011, Waltrip won the truck race at Daytona and he's raced in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races at Daytona and Talladega.
- Waltrip and Mark Martin are the only drivers to win in four different decades in one of NASCAR's three top touring series: Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World trucks.
- Waltrip's book "In the Blink of an Eye" spent several weeks on the New York Times best-seller list in 2011 peaking at fourth. He's also performed standup comedy in the Michael Waltrip Comedy Garage shows at stops in Kansas City; Ontario, Canada and Las Vegas.
To learn more about Michael Waltrip visit www.michaelwaltripracing.com.
