by Darrell Waltrip

Comment

Mark is one of those guys that can feed off positive attitudes, but also someone that can turn negative on you in a heartbeat. He knows I love him, so I kid him all the time about being Eeyore. Eeyore is the famous Winnie the Pooh character that always has the black cloud over him. Mark has been that way in the past.

So I was concerned that Mark didn't realize what he was getting himself into with running all the races again.

I have been watching Mark these first eight races because I was curious to see how he was going to handle the adversity. Trust me, he's had some adversity. He's run well and had chances to win races but a blown motor or two and a blown tire or two always seem to ruin his day.

I was afraid Mark would get down and start second-guessing himself and his decision of a full-time deal. But I think the thing that kept Mark motivated during the adversity is that he always seems to have a fast car. A fast racecar makes a driver happy — I don't care how old you are. When you have a fast car, you know you can win. It takes a fast car to be successful. It takes a great driver to drive a great car to be really successful.

So Mark's cars have been fast. He's been winning poles, and he has been fast in practice. But finally, this Saturday night at Phoenix, that crew put it all together. He wins the pole, dominates the race and gets the win. It's his first Cup win since 2005.

After his performance Saturday night, you can say my concerns were unfounded. I can now see him being a real championship contender.

You have to be able to win races these days to win the championship. You just can't go out and get top-10 finishes anymore. In that No. 5 car, Mark could get a top-10 finish every week with his eyes closed. But again, these days you have to be able to win races to bring home the championship. If you are going to beat Jimmie Johnson and that No. 48 car, you have to win.

So when I say I am sorry Mark, I am saying I am sorry I doubted you.

The thing that kept ringing in my ears four or five years ago was something that happened at Charlotte. It was back when Mark was driving for Roush and it was during the Charlotte Fall race. Mark had some problems that year and was running OK but not great. During a conversation with his crew chief at the time, Pat Tryson, Mark came on the radio and said, "Pat, I just don't think I can do this anymore." It almost brought tears to your eyes when you heard him say it. He had that "I'm tired and worn out" tone in his voice.

I think the partial schedule helped Mark in a number of ways. It gave him a break to spend time with the family. It gave him a break to kind of recharge his batteries. But I think it also gave Mark a chance to realize how much he loves and missed racing.

I think this is Mark's greatest opportunity to win a championship since his early years with Jack Roush. Mark is the greatest driver to ever be in our sport that has never won a championship. So I am just hoping and praying for Mark that he can keep up a lot of positive energy. It would be awesome for Mark to win a championship for himself, Rick Hendrick and the No. 5 team.

One of the things that Rick wanted was to put someone in that No. 5 car that could make it a winner and a championship winner. If you look at the last few weeks, you can now say that he has the right man for the job.

Oh by the way

I thought Saturday night's race was great. There was a lot of bumping and grinding. It was short track racing but at high speed. It was an exciting race to watch and an exciting race to do.

The thing that has bothered me for two years is how the car that gets out in clean air can just drive off and leave everybody. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car was junk all night long. He stays out on a pit stop and gets the lead and then he opens up something like a six-second lead on the field just because he was up front.

If you know anything about racing, you know when you see that happen, it's about aero. That tells you there is an aero deficiency in that car. People have been begging NASCAR to let them take these cars to the track and let them work on them. Raise the rear wing up an inch or so. That will allow air to go under it as well as over it. That would increase rear downforce. There are other changes that could be done that wouldn't hurt the integrity of the car.

The one thing that is major but really not that major is to raise the splitter up. Raising it up will allow these guys the chance to have the front end travel a little more.

I've been told that the development that they have done with the Nationwide car has made it 100 percent better than the current Cup car. It doesn't have bump-stops, it has a spoiler on the back and it's got a better front splitter. It's just a whole better designed car. It's like they took the car we got now and fixed it.

NASCAR has just got to open up its eyes and ears and listen, plus be willing to compromise a little on this car to make the racing better. It doesn't matter how great a broadcast we do, it doesn't matter how great a race we have — if we don't have a good product on the track, then it's hard to sell.

Right now, the product on the track is lacking. It doesn't have to be totally re-done. It just needs to be worked on.

It doesn't have to be thrown away and started over again. It just needs to be worked on.

Oh by the way, too

312 laps around that joint was the perfect length. It kept the intensity and excitement up. NASCAR needs to look long and hard about shortening up a lot of things. The season, the Chase and the races all need to be shortened. Things drag out so long that it's hard for fans to keep their interest.

All told, I think the race Saturday night showed us three things.

You are never too old to win a race

NASCAR needs to look at shortening some things up

The COT needs some work

Saturday night was a great night for proving a lot of things.

One final, "Oh by the way"

This was Mark's first Cup win in a Chevrolet.

You know what is really neat about that? Mark's win came in a Chevrolet Impala. My dad drove a Chevrolet Impala.