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May 1, 2007
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – Although he missed last week’s race at Talladega despite posting the 20th-fastest lap in qualifying, NAPA Racing driver Michael Waltrip remains optimistic that his season will turn around. Part of that optimism stems from a very productive Car of Tomorrow (COT) test session held last month at Richmond International Raceway. Waltrip and the NAPA team made significant progress on their COT program during the test, with the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry placing in the top-10 on the speed chart during two of the four sessions.
NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip:
Are you looking forward to racing at Richmond?
“I am. We had a really good test there and feel as if we gained on a few things to get a better understanding of the COT. We tried conventional setups and were pleased with the results, so we tried to engineer our way into something that might be a little more outside the box to see if we could make some of it work, too. We know a lot of things that have worked at Richmond with the regular car, and so we tried to pass some of it along to the COT to see if any of it would work. With everything we tried, we actually gained on it quite a bit. We are encouraged by what we learned and will keep building on it.
“Looking at our COT program, we have missed the three races by a grand total of eight-hundredths of a second. I was that close to being in all three of them. Hopefully, what we learned at Richmond will help us move up the speed chart.”
Earlier this season you said you were in favor of the top-35 qualifying format. Has your opinion changed?
“All I know is if we change it, it will end up hurting somebody else. Like I said before, we entered this year knowing what the rule was and dreaming that we wouldn’t be a part of it, but we are a part of that group. If we weren’t a part of that group, then somebody else would be out there complaining about it. I understood what the rules were when I signed up, and those are the rules I’m going to race under. I will say, I have talked to NASCAR about something I would have hoped might have been implemented by Talladega. What I would like to see is to qualify the top-35 cars first and then have the teams outside the top 35 qualify. It creates drama, and it’s everything a qualifying session should be because right there you’ll know who’s in or who is out. It happens on an even playing field. The main reason why I am pulling for that tweak in the current qualifying format is because I do not want to have happen to me what happened to some guys in Phoenix. Two of my cars made the race and I didn’t, but that was on me. But if we go to Charlotte or we go to Richmond and all the go-or-go-home teams are separated by an hour plus to go out and qualify, then the track cools off and those guys that drew late would have the advantage. The tweak needs to happen for competition purposes, and by the way, it will be fun to watch.
“To go one step further, I want to see what happened in Texas change. If qualifying rains out on Friday, set the top 35 by the rule book. Then save the rest of us for qualifying until you just can’t have a session at all. Qualify us Saturday morning, and if weather doesn’t work there, make an attempt after the Busch race. All I am asking for is a chance. Give NAPA and all the other sponsors out there a chance to go out on the racetrack and earn their way into the race. If you change the top-35 rule, it’s going to hurt somebody else, but if you change what I am saying, then what’s bad about it? Who gets hurt?”
Michael Waltrip Fast Facts
NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip will attempt to qualify for his 677th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race when the 10th event of the 2007 season, the Crown Royal 400, is held at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night.
Waltrip will attempt to start in his 42nd race at the .75-mile track. His best start is 2nd (Sept. 9, 1990) and best finish is 9th in the NAPA machine on May 14, 2005.
During his career at RIR, Waltrip has earned 2 top-10 finishes. His average start is 23rd and finish is 25th.
Waltrip has completed 14,586 of 16,393 laps (88.9%) at the track and has led a total of 81 laps in competition.
Entering this weekend’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event, Waltrip is 54th in the driver standings and 52nd in owner standings. The NAPA team will need to qualify for the Crown Royal 400 on time since the No. 55 car is outside the top 35 in owner point standings. A total of 50 cars are entered in the Richmond event. Of the entrants, 15 are go-or-go-home teams. Waltrip will be competing for eight qualifying spots.
Waltrip is a two-time Daytona 500 champion. He was victorious in 2001 and 2003.
NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip Richmond International Raceway Statistics
| DATE | START | FINISH |
DATE | START | FINISH |
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2/23/1986 |
21 |
25 |
9/7/1996 |
22 |
14 |
|
9/7/1986 |
19 |
14 |
3/2/1997 |
14 |
27 |
|
| 3/8/1987 |
14 |
12 |
9/6/1997 |
29 |
35 |
|
| 9/13/1987 |
7 |
19 |
6/6/1998 |
33 |
40 |
|
| 2/21/1988 |
26 |
31 |
9/12/1998 |
31 |
26 |
|
9/11/1988 |
6 |
12 |
5/15/1999 |
38 |
22 |
|
| 3/26/1989 |
22 |
13 |
9/11/1999 |
36 |
38 |
|
| 9/10/1989 |
9 |
23 |
5/6/2000 |
38 |
19 |
|
| 2/25/1990 |
23 |
27 |
9/9/2000 |
40 |
43 |
|
| 9/9/1990 |
2 |
14 |
5/5/2001 |
12 |
35 |
|
| 2/24/1991 |
15 |
17 |
9/8/2001 |
41 |
20 |
|
| 9/7/1991 |
31 |
30 |
5/5/2002 |
27 |
24 |
|
| 3/8/1992 |
7 |
34 |
9/7/2002 |
26 |
36 |
|
| 9/12/1992 |
23 |
33 |
5/3/2003 |
37 |
12 |
|
| 3/7/1993 |
26 |
23 |
9/6/2003 |
33 |
32 |
|
| 9/11/1993 |
15 |
19 |
5/15/2004 |
18 |
10 |
|
| 3/6/1994 |
5 |
31 |
9/11/2004 |
19 |
13 |
|
| 9/10/1994 |
20 |
26 |
5/14/2005 |
23 |
9 |
|
| 3/5/1995 |
35 |
23 |
9/10/2005 |
28 |
31 |
|
| 9/9/1995 |
19 |
28 |
5/6/2006 |
30 |
31 |
|
|
3/3/1996 |
35 |
36 |
|
|
|
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Crown Royal 400 Broadcast Coverage
Live coverage of the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway begins Saturday night, May 5 at 7:00 p.m. ET on FOX. If you can’t catch the race on TV, it can be heard on your local MRN Radio affiliate and Sirius Satellite Radio starting at the same time. Remember to check your local listings as dates and times of the race may change.
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