NASCAR star Michael Waltrip recalled one of his first go-arounds at Sonoma's road course — although it didn't go quite the way he planned.
Waltrip, in town for this weekend's Toyota/Save Mart 350, remembered NASCAR's earlier visits to Wine Country.
"We saw lots of cars going into the dirt and it was pretty easy to roll," Waltrip said of the 2004 race. "During qualifying, I got off the track and rolled over and over and landed near that smelly pond that was up there. My crew was already getting the backup car ready and I said 'I think that's a bad idea. ... I think we can put some tape on this car and fix it up and be OK.' ... I started 40th but finished 4th with a car that had more tape than paint on it."
"You're lucky you didn't end up in that pond," joked Sonoma Raceway President Steve Page during Thursday's press conference.
Waltrip shares the track record for greatest overall improvement in position from start to finish (36 laps) with Terry Labonte.
Waltrip never won at Sonoma as a driver, but went to the Winner's Circle as a car owner in 2012 with Clint Bowyer.
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