LAS VEGAS – The NAPA AUTO PARTS team wrapped up its final day of testing Tuesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, successfully completing the first official shake down and evaluation of its intermediate-car program. Driver Michael Waltrip was very encouraged with the NAPA team’s results and enjoyed practicing on the newly reconfigured 1.5-mile track.

“I like the new Las Vegas a lot,” said Waltrip. “The thing I like about it the most is the fact that we are racing here for the first time and are able to run up high, right off the bottom. Every track that has been built recently, like Chicagoland and Kansas, has been given a bad rap for not having good racing and being built alike. That’s not necessarily the case here because the banking allows us to run in two or three different lines. That makes for good racing. It is really fast, and for a race-car driver, that’s always a good thing.”

Today’s practice saw Waltrip concentrate on race trim in the morning session. The NAPA driver’s fastest lap was 62nd-quickest (29.624 seconds/182.285 mph). His Michael Waltrip Racing teammates also turned in respectable laps, with Dale Jarrett the fastest out of the MWR stable with a time of 29.409 seconds (183.617 mph). His time was 29th quickest on the speed chart. Not far behind was rookie David Reutimann, whose fast lap of 29.554 seconds (182.716 mph) ranked him 49th fastest in the session.

The top-five fastest drivers in the session were Paul Menard (28.667 seconds/188.370 mph), Elliott Sadler (28.848 seconds/187.188 mph), David Gilliland (28.893 seconds/186.896 mph), Ricky Rudd (29.009 seconds/186.149 mph) and Tony Stewart (29.047 seconds/185.906 mph).

In the final session of the test, the NAPA crew switched gears and focused for the first time on qualifying set-ups. Waltrip moved up the speed chart considerably and recorded the ninth-fastest lap with a time of 29.007 seconds or 186.162 mph. His effort was the fastest among the Toyota teams. As for Jarrett and Reutimann, they finished 68th (Jarrett-29.742 seconds/181.561 mph) and 32nd (Reutimann-29.350 seconds/183.986 mph) of the 74 cars that turned laps in the session.

The top-five fastest times were turned in by Elliott Sadler (28.606 seconds/188.772 mph), Scott Riggs (28.828 seconds/187.318 mph), David Gilliland (28.850 seconds/187.175 mph), David Stremme (28.854 seconds/187.149 mph) and Johnny Sauter (28.867 seconds/187.065 mph).

Tonight teams head home to prepare for the season opener Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Speedweeks officially kick off on Thursday, Feb. 8 when the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup haulers enter the famed “World Center of Speed”. The first chance to see the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry on track at Daytona is Saturday, Feb. 10 as the team participates in two practice sessions before Sunday’s first round of qualifying.

Complete rundown of practice times: Morning Session | Afternoon Session