March 1, 2007

BRISTOL, Tenn. – The NAPA AUTO PARTS team and driver Michael Waltrip completed a two-day Car of Tomorrow (COT) test at the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) today, the first official COT test session organized by the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. In anticipation of this morning’s rain-shortened session, NASCAR allowed the 50 teams in attendance to run until 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Waltrip concentrated on getting his No. 55 NAPA Toyota Camry up to speed and handling properly on the unique “bull-ring” configuration. A noticeably unique aspect of this test was the physical appearance of the COT cars, which are much “boxier” in design. Designed to be safer and more competitive than cars of the past, the COT also sports a front splitter and a rear wing.

Waltrip met with the media on Wednesday and had the following to say about the test and his NAPA Toyota:

What is your overall impression of the Car of Tomorrow:

“It’s just the car; there are really no tricks to it. The car will probably race better in traffic, and I think NASCAR should be really happy right now with what they’ve seen. There are no issues. We’ve got a good direction with our car and I think we will get better. About the only things different are the springs. Driver-wise it’s about the same, we just have more room to see out of the windshield.This car is different, and I like different. I get tired of looking at the same thing.”

Will the COT help even the playing field for Toyota as a new manufacturer?

“We’ll see. If you put that out in front of folks that know what goes on in this sport, you would almost have to say yes because there are not as many tricks that you can pull with the body, as far as twisting the body and changing the body around. But then I also think there are not as many variables in the suspension setups because you have that splitter that will hit the road if you get too goofy with it. I would cautiously say, yes, it will help us or any new team to compete.”

The Bristol test session was the third of seven scheduled NEXTEL Cup Series tests this season. Meanwhile, the first COT race of the season will be the Food City 500 at BMS on March 25. A total of 16 COT events are scheduled for this year, with the NEXTEL Cup Series drivers running the new car at tracks less than 1.5 miles in length, the two road courses, and the October event at Talladega Superspeedway.

Tonight the NAPA team heads home to prepare for next weekend’s UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Waltrip has respectable stats at the 1.5-mile desert speedway, with an average start of 15th and average finish of 22nd.

Testing Recap: Michael Waltrip

• Feb. 28 Morning Session: 52nd quickest out of 61cars. Waltrip’s Fast Lap: 16.304 seconds/117.689 mph. Quickest Lap in the Session: Denny Hamlin (15.706 seconds/122.170 mph)

• Feb. 28 Afternoon Session: 42nd quickest out of 67 cars. Waltrip’s Fast Lap: 16.106 seconds/119.136 mph. Quickest Lap in the Session: Denny Hamlin (15.779 seconds/121.605 mph)

• Feb. 28 Evening Session: 44th quickest out of 61 cars. Waltrip’s Fast Lap: 16.109 seconds/119.114 mph. Quickest Lap in the Session: Jimmie Johnson (15.727 seconds/122.007 mph)

• March 1 Morning Session: 47th quickest out of 53 cars. Waltrip’s Fast Lap: 16.156 seconds/118.767 mph. Quickest Lap in the Session: Denny Hamlin (16.156 seconds/122.411 mph) Please click on the following links for a complete rundown of each test session: