Fort Worth, Texas (April 9, 2006) – The seventh event of the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season was a frustrating one for Michael Waltrip and his NAPA Racing team. The No. 55 Dodge was either tight in or loose off, no matter what adjustments were made throughout the 334-lap event. Waltrip finished in the 26th position, three laps down to winner Kasey Kahne, and remains in the top-35 in NEXTEL Cup points standings heading into the off-weekend.

It was a struggle for the Waltrip-Jasper Racing team from the start of the race weekend at The Great American Speedway. Slow times in practice due to rough times getting off the corners spilled over into qualifying. Waltrip could not post a lap fast enough to make it into the race on time, and was forced to take the second to last provisional to start the 500-mile race.

The outlook for Sunday’s race was much better after Waltrip let his crew know that the NAPA car had been the best it had been all season after Happy Hour practice. That looked to be true once the green flag dropped to start the Samsung/Radio Shack 500. Waltrip picked up 13 positions before the first green flag pit stop on lap 58. Loose off the corners, Waltrip-Jasper consultant Larry Carter went with four tires, fuel, and rear air pressure adjustments to see if it would help.

Waltrip went a lap down during the green flag pit stop cycle, but looked to get it back after the first caution flag of the day on 64. With little green flag laps on the tires, and Waltrip seemingly faster on older tires, Carter gave the call to stay out for the next restart to see if the track position would help. At first it gave Michael an advantage, but eventually he went a lap down to the leaders at lap 72.

“It’s not turning,” radioed Waltrip on lap 81, “We need to do something with the air pressure”. A lap later the caution flew giving the NAPA team another chance to work on the car. This time they went with another set of air pressure adjustments in addition to four tires and fuel.

The NAPA car restarted in the 27th position on lap 89. Waltrip immediately radioed that the changes made the car worse and it was time for something more drastic. That opportunity came on lap 145 after the caution flag flew for a tire on the frontstretch. Waltrip, sitting 28th, was tight into the corners, so the crew went with major air pressure adjustments and pulled a rubber out of the left rear spring. Waltrip restarted in the same position he came in on lap 151.

It didn’t take long for Waltrip to realize those adjustments weren’t going to do the trick. “The back end is sliding and the front end is worse,” said the two-time Daytona 500 champion. He was now tight in and loose off the corners, but luckily a caution on lap 160 gave the team more time to work on the car. The seven men over-the-wall put the spring rubber back in, and then made a track bar adjustment to see if that could fix the problem. Waltrip restarted 29th on lap 164.

Over the next 90 laps, Waltrip came to pit road three times for several air pressure, track bar, and wedge adjustments, but nothing was really able to help the car turn better through the corners. The tight in and loose off conditions persisted throughout the remainder of the race. Waltrip eventually went another lap down with less than 100 laps to go after doing everything he could to stay ahead of the leaders.

The one bright spot for Michael and the No. 55 NAPA team was that they were able to avoid trouble and stay out on the racetrack throughout the afternoon. That enabled Michael to pick up valuable positions as cars wrecked around him. When the checkered flag flew, Waltrip came across the line in the 26th position, three laps down to winner Kasey Kahne. The top-30 finish keeps him in the top-35 in NEXTEL Cup point’s standings heading into the off-weekend.

Kahne, the pole sitter, made a pass for the lead by Tony Stewart late in the race and was able to hold off contenders for his second victory of the season. He becomes the 11th different driver to win a spring event at Texas Motor Speedway.