Michael Waltrip

“I'll always wear NAPA blue. I'm thankful they were a part of my life.”

“This is racing. There is going to be twists and turns. You're going to be dealt setbacks.”

“Everyone who has ever aspired to be a stock car driver wants to win the Daytona 500. If someone says that it's better to win somewhere else, then that tells me one thing for sure - they've never won at Daytona.”

“I do believe I'm not good enough to be a professional dancer. I believe that in my heart.”

“The computer systems that we have on our cars when we go test just blow my mind.”

“I act like I'm always in a good mood when I'm not, but it's my job.”

“I liked unique setups. Like when we started coil-binding springs or running soft springs, those things really felt good to me.”

“Anytime you're pushing the envelope as hard as you can to be successful at anything at life it's easy to go from hero to zero in a second.”

“Dale was just trying to get third. Maybe he was thinking that he could get a run on everyone coming out of Turn 4. But the race was over. Junior and I had pulled away, so there was no need to block. That always hurt me when people said he was blocking for me, because it almost felt like it was my fault that he died. But I don't think that anymore.”

“You can't take your win for granted. Your next win might be your last win or you might never get to your next win, so I can't imagine not being overcome with joy by winning and never taking winning for granted.”

“Well, my favorite memory of a president was in 1984. I was in the grandstands at Daytona, and maybe I was 20 years old. So just sort of down in Daytona, having a good time for the 500 - or for the 400 in July. And Air Force One lands on the back straightaway. It was President Reagan.”

“I don't understand why everybody can't remember how exciting the Daytona 500 has been over the years when Richard Petty and David Pearson and Darrell Waltrip ran just the three of them racing for the win. Why do you have to have 40 cars in a pack to say it's exciting?”

“I just feel so confident when I get in my race car that I'm going to do good, I'm going to win, I'm going to outrun everybody.”

“You have to think that if you're starting first instead of 31st you've got a better chance to win.”

“I am just so proud to be able to take my NAPA car, my NAPA Toyota, to the West Coast and race in front of the fans in Southern California.”

“I built my team with Dale in mind. He lives with me. He's part of who I am because I just appreciated who he was and how he went about things. People worked on his cars at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated before I got there. When Dale would walk by you could just tell people were thinking, 'these are Dale Earnhardt's cars.'”

“When you're not successful, people look at the driver and say, 'what's wrong with him?' and sometimes the drivers look back and wonder 'what makes you think you're not the problem?'”

“I would probably build somewhere between a half-mile and three-quarter-mile track. It would be sort of like Indianapolis Raceway Park. When I was a kid, that was my favorite track.”

“Once the race starts, it doesn't matter what you did yesterday let alone last year.”

“I love Daytona and Talladega. I'd like to think maybe I could quit one day running all the races and just run a few that I like.”