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Saturday, February 24 Waltrip: We'll Celebrate Later Associated Press ROCKINGHAM, NC -- Michael Waltrip's victory in Daytona also was the first of his Winston Cup career, ending a string of 462 losing efforts. With the death of his car owner on the last lap, his victory celebration was muted and then cut short. Since then, most of the fan and media attention has been directed at Earnhardt, and that doesn't bother the younger brother of three-time champion Darrell Waltrip a bit. "My personal thinking is that when this weekend is over, and we've raced, then next week we can talk about winning the Daytona 500," Waltrip said. "It's just my personal preference to let this week be the week that we just talk about Dale and what he meant to all of us." Yates Relates Robert Yates can understand fellow car owner Richard Childress' decision not to ever run a black No. 3 car again because of its link to Dale Earnhardt. Like Childress, Yates had a driver die when Davey Allison was killed in a helicopter accident in 1993. Yates said he wanted to stop using the No. 28 Allison had made famous, but didn't because a relative of Allison asked him to keep it on the car. "When a family member asks you to continue to run it, you feel like they have the strongest vote and idea," he said. "But it wasn't the easiest thing to do." Yates left the number, sponsor and paint scheme exactly the same when the car returned to the track and it still looks that way today, with Ricky Rudd as the driver. But Yates said by keeping the exact car, it was more difficult to heal. "It would have been much easier to just go out and start you a new identity and try to build your business differently," he said. "It's not been the easiest road and I would like to take credit for not making that decision." Yates also said he wouldn't have minded retiring the No. 28, as fans asked him to do. Fans have also pushed for NASCAR to retire Earnhardt's No. 3, but the sanctioning body doesn't retire numbers. Spark Plugs Bobby Labonte is the defending champion in Sunday's race.... Dale Jarrett, who will start 18th, has finished seventh or better, including a win here last fall, in 11 of his last 12 starts at The Rock.... In the past five races in Rockingham, Fords have won three times and Pontiac and Chevrolet once each. The last victory here by a Dodge was by Richard Petty in the spring of 1977.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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