Jan. 15, 2008
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The positive momentum continued for driver Michael Waltrip and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team as day two of Preseason Thunder testing came to a close at Daytona International Speedway. Tuesday’s agenda included single-car runs in the morning session and both single-car and drafting runs in the afternoon. In the first session, Waltrip posted the second-fastest lap in morning practice (48.555 seconds/185.357 mph) as well as the sixth-fastest lap (48.823 seconds/184.339 mph) in chassis 55 and 55M, respectively. Dale Jarrett’s team was not far behind, as his No. 44A recorded the fourth (48.754 seconds/184.600 mph) and ninth-quickest times (44B: 48.866 seconds/184.177 mph). On top of the speed chart was Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR allowed teams to draft for the first time at 1 p.m. ET. Waltrip’s first lap was a single-car run, but after his lap appeared on the NASCAR timing sheet, crew chief Paul Andrews asked his driver if he had received some drafting help. “No, I didn’t even see anybody,” said Waltrip. Andrews was impressed with the NAPA team’s single-car time when compared with the top-10 times, which were recorded in the draft. Ryan Newman topped the timesheets with a best lap of 47.869 seconds/188.013 mph while running in the draft. Fastest among the Michael Waltrip Racing drivers was Jarrett in 13th with a time of 48.227 seconds/186.617 mph. Waltrip followed with the 14th-quickest lap (48.248 seconds/186.536 mph). The MWR times were recorded in the draft. After the afternoon practice session, Waltrip visited the Daytona International Speedway media center to talk to the media about his team’s performance during testing. Have you been surprised by the strengths the Toyotas have shown?
“I knew we would be really, really good because we knew what we had at Talladega in October and we got the pole there -- that pole probably needed an asterisk by it considering it was an impound race and some of the good cars didn’t worry as much about qualifying. In fact one of the bus drivers looked up at the board after qualifying and said it looked like they were lining up for the B-main because all the numbers up there were funny looking. But we know how much power we had then and we know what kind of aero we had then -- we came here with a little bit more of each and I’m not surprised at all.” Do you expect to see just as many Toyotas up front when we return for the race?
“It is skewed a little bit with the number of Toyotas that are up front this week, but I’m sure when we come back there will be a pretty good balance up front. A year ago Dale (Jarrett) and I were at the bottom of the sheet and we knew we had our work cut out for us to even be competitive. But I think what we know now is that we can be competitive and as a race car driver that is really all you hope for -- to have something you can race them with. I had a lot of fun in the draft today -- made about 20 or so laps in a row and the car was really good.” Next up for the NAPA AUTO PARTS crew is the final day of Preseason Thunder testing on Wednesday. Two more sessions are planned at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET. Both practices will be open for drafting.
| Jan. 15 Morning Session |
 |
| 1 |
88B |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
48.434 |
185.82 |
|
| 2 |
55 |
Michael Waltrip |
Toyota |
48.555 |
185.357 |
|
| 3 |
83A |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
48.744 |
184.638 |
|
| 4 |
44A |
Dale Jarrett |
Toyota |
48.754 |
184.6 |
|
| 5 |
20A |
Tony Stewart |
Toyota |
48.758 |
184.585 |
|
| 6 |
55M |
Michael Waltrip |
Toyota |
48.823 |
184.339 |
|
| 7 |
40 |
Dario Franchitti |
Dodge |
48.843 |
184.264 |
|
| 8 |
83B |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
48.854 |
184.222 |
|
| 9 |
44B |
Dale Jarrett |
Toyota |
48.866 |
184.177 |
|
| 10 |
11B |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
48.893 |
184.075 |
|
| 11 |
11A |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
48.919 |
183.978 |
|
| 12 |
22 |
Dave Blaney |
Toyota |
49.018 |
183.606 |
|
| 13 |
22B |
Dave Blaney |
Toyota |
49.099 |
183.303 |
|
| 14 |
87 |
Jeff Fuller |
Chevrolet |
49.123 |
183.214 |
|
| 15 |
38B |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
49.138 |
183.158 |
|
| 16 |
12A |
Ryan Newman |
Dodge |
49.14 |
183.15 |
|
| 17 |
20B |
Tony Stewart |
Toyota |
49.142 |
183.143 |
|
| 18 |
6B |
David Ragan |
Ford |
49.16 |
183.076 |
|
| 19 |
10C |
Patrick Carpentier |
Dodge |
49.194 |
182.949 |
|
| 20 |
43A |
Bobby Labonte |
Dodge |
49.196 |
182.942 |
|
| 21 |
38A |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
49.249 |
182.745 |
|
| 22 |
66H |
Scott Riggs |
Chevrolet |
49.253 |
182.73 |
|
| 23 |
34A |
Eric McClure |
Dodge |
49.34 |
182.408 |
|
| 24 |
60B |
Boris Said |
Ford |
49.355 |
182.352 |
|
| 25 |
15A |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
49.367 |
182.308 |
|
| 26 |
9B |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
49.373 |
182.286 |
|
| 27 |
01B |
Regan Smith |
Chevrolet |
49.374 |
182.282 |
|
| 28 |
31A |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
49.403 |
182.175 |
|
| 29 |
26A |
Jamie McMurray |
Ford |
49.408 |
182.157 |
|
| 30 |
50A |
Stanton Barrett |
Chevrolet |
49.409 |
182.153 |
|
| 31 |
12B |
Ryan Newman |
Dodge |
49.419 |
182.116 |
|
| 32 |
6A |
David Ragan |
Ford |
49.423 |
182.101 |
|
| 33 |
21B |
Bill Elliott |
Ford |
49.428 |
182.083 |
|
| 34 |
77A |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
Dodge |
49.43 |
182.076 |
|
| 35 |
60A |
Boris Said |
Ford |
49.469 |
181.932 |
|
| 36 |
21A |
Bill Elliott |
Ford |
49.472 |
181.921 |
|
| 37 |
66C |
Scott Riggs |
Chevrolet |
49.486 |
181.87 |
|
| 38 |
77B |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
Dodge |
49.541 |
181.668 |
|
| 39 |
31 |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
49.546 |
181.649 |
|
| 40 |
9A |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
49.577 |
181.536 |
|
| 41 |
29A |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
49.58 |
181.525 |
|
| 42 |
26B |
Jamie McMurray |
Ford |
49.596 |
181.466 |
|
| 43 |
15B |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
49.627 |
181.353 |
|
| 44 |
49A |
Ken Schrader |
Dodge |
49.661 |
181.229 |
|
| 45 |
29B |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
49.702 |
181.079 |
|
| 46 |
09B |
Sterling Marlin |
Chevrolet |
49.758 |
180.875 |
|
| 47 |
01A |
Regan Smith |
Chevrolet |
50.013 |
179.953 |
|
| 48 |
09A |
Sterling Marlin |
Chevrolet |
50.013 |
179.953 |
|
| 49 |
43B |
Bobby Labonte |
Dodge |
50.053 |
179.809 |
|
| 50 |
49B |
Ken Schrader |
Dodge |
50.069 |
179.752 |
|
| 51 |
08A |
Carl Long |
Dodge |
50.41 |
178.536 |
|
| 52 |
57A |
Norm Benning |
Chevrolet |
51.4 |
175.097 |
|
| Jan. 15 Afternoon Session |
|
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Make |
Best Time |
Best Speed |
|
| 1 |
12B |
Ryan Newman |
Dodge |
47.869 |
188.013 |
|
| 2 |
01A |
Regan Smith |
Chevrolet |
47.968 |
187.625 |
|
| 3 |
15B |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
47.976 |
187.594 |
|
| 4 |
29B |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
47.992 |
187.531 |
|
| 5 |
40A |
Dario Franchitti |
Dodge |
48.038 |
187.352 |
|
| 6 |
20A |
Tony Stewart |
Toyota |
48.043 |
187.332 |
|
| 7 |
22 |
Dave Blaney |
Toyota |
48.046 |
187.32 |
|
| 8 |
9B |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
48.093 |
187.137 |
|
| 9 |
83A |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
48.099 |
187.114 |
|
| 10 |
88A |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
48.109 |
187.075 |
|
| 11 |
31A |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
48.136 |
186.97 |
|
| 12 |
10B |
Patrick Carpentier |
Dodge |
48.17 |
186.838 |
|
| 13 |
44B |
Dale Jarrett |
Toyota |
48.227 |
186.617 |
|
| 14 |
55M |
Michael Waltrip |
Toyota |
48.248 |
186.536 |
|
| 15 |
43B |
Bobby Labonte |
Dodge |
48.253 |
186.517 |
|
| 16 |
6B |
David Ragan |
Ford |
48.255 |
186.509 |
|
| 17 |
66H |
Scott Riggs |
Chevrolet |
48.275 |
186.432 |
|
| 18 |
21B |
Bill Elliott |
Ford |
48.288 |
186.382 |
|
| 19 |
77A |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
Dodge |
48.337 |
186.193 |
|
| 20 |
09A |
Sterling Marlin |
Chevrolet |
48.345 |
186.162 |
|
| 21 |
34A |
Eric McClure |
Dodge |
48.434 |
185.82 |
|
| 22 |
11B |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
48.442 |
185.789 |
|
| 23 |
55 |
Michael Waltrip |
Toyota |
48.523 |
185.479 |
|
| 24 |
44A |
Dale Jarrett |
Toyota |
48.601 |
185.181 |
|
| 25 |
40 |
Dario Franchitti |
Dodge |
48.606 |
185.162 |
|
| 26 |
83B |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
48.724 |
184.714 |
|
| 27 |
22B |
Dave Blaney |
Toyota |
48.757 |
184.589 |
|
| 28 |
11A |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
48.78 |
184.502 |
|
| 29 |
10C |
Patrick Carpentier |
Dodge |
48.856 |
184.215 |
|
| 30 |
88B |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
48.858 |
184.207 |
|
| 31 |
38A |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
48.925 |
183.955 |
|
| 32 |
38B |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
48.952 |
183.854 |
|
| 33 |
87 |
Jeff Fuller |
Chevrolet |
48.969 |
183.79 |
|
| 34 |
21A |
Bill Elliott |
Ford |
49.055 |
183.468 |
|
| 35 |
20B |
Tony Stewart |
Toyota |
49.062 |
183.441 |
|
| 36 |
15A |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
49.092 |
183.329 |
|
| 37 |
77B |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
Dodge |
49.111 |
183.258 |
|
| 38 |
12A |
Ryan Newman |
Dodge |
49.12 |
183.225 |
|
| 39 |
6A |
David Ragan |
Ford |
49.122 |
183.217 |
|
| 40 |
43A |
Bobby Labonte |
Dodge |
49.15 |
183.113 |
|
| 41 |
01B |
Regan Smith |
Chevrolet |
49.186 |
182.979 |
|
| 42 |
29A |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
49.233 |
182.804 |
|
| 43 |
60B |
Boris Said |
Ford |
49.242 |
182.771 |
|
| 44 |
26A |
Jamie McMurray |
Ford |
49.345 |
182.389 |
|
| 45 |
60A |
Boris Said |
Ford |
49.396 |
182.201 |
|
| 46 |
50A |
Stanton Barrett |
Chevrolet |
49.471 |
181.925 |
|
| 47 |
9A |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
49.473 |
181.917 |
|
| 48 |
31 |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
49.514 |
181.767 |
|
| 49 |
26B |
Jamie McMurray |
Ford |
49.541 |
181.668 |
|
| 50 |
49A |
Ken Schrader |
Dodge |
49.576 |
181.539 |
|
| 51 |
09B |
Sterling Marlin |
Chevrolet |
49.797 |
180.734 |
|
| 52 |
49B |
Ken Schrader |
Dodge |
49.954 |
180.166 |
|
| 53 |
08A |
Carl Long |
Dodge |
50.192 |
179.311 |
|
| 54 |
57A |
Norm Benning |
Chevrolet |
50.466 |
178.338 |
|
|