Racing at Le Mans in a Ferrari is right turn for Michael Waltrip

 

Getting to race a Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a privilege that I'd never dreamed I'd have, and it was a tight squeeze traveling to France to make it happen. I was committed to being on Speed's broadcast of the Camping World Truck Series race Saturday at Kansas Speedway, and I had to make several connections in order to arrive in France just in time for a driver briefing and media day. I'm going to miss Speed's truck broadcast Friday from Texas, but in the meantime, I get to something that is one of the biggest races in the world.

I'm very excited. It's a unique racetrack that's nestled in a town. I tested there about a month ago, and it's like literally driving to the end of the street and making a right turn in a Ferrari — in France. It's like one of the neatest feelings I've ever had in a race car other than the first time I took to the banking of Daytona or the first time at the Brickyard. This ranks up there with those types of feelings. There's so much history with this event. I ran 10 laps in testing, and I think I smiled every time I took the right turn down the street in my Ferrari.

There probably will be more than 200,000 at the event, and I won't notice how large the crowd is when I'm in the car. But when I'm out of the cockpit, it'll be neat to observe the crowd while my teammate Rob Kauffman runs the car. That's really cool. You have to understand this event is as much about Rob as it is me — maybe more.

In my book this year, I explained my passion for Daytona and how I grew up dreaming of it. Well, Rob grew up dreaming of racing at Le Mans. He was passionate about it. He was in his driveway in New York rebuilding Fiats and Datsuns and dreaming about racing at Le Mans. So I'm glad he got to experience it, and I get to be there right beside him.

Rob spent a lot of time on a simulator driving the track and learning it. He has a day job as an investment banker and works for a living. That's intense. Yet he found time to train on the simulator and really be in peak physical fitness. It's probably the best he's ever been. He works out hard and is focused hard.

That inspired me to do the same thing. I didn't feel I did a very good time preparing I'm not a Gran Turismo 2 guy. I didn't run any laps on a video game, but I studied the layout and watched video. I've driven the simulator now, and it's so different. It works. It shows you where the track goes, you feel the hills and the action. I've got the track in my brain. I ran some reasonable times. We're happy. We're ready.