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July 10, 2007
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – Coming off an impressive qualifying effort at Daytona International Speedway – posting the fifth-fastest lap of 39 cars before rain washed out qualifying – Michael Waltrip and the NAPA Racing team are not letting Mother Nature dampen their spirits. Instead, they are reinvigorated by the solid effort as they head into this weekend’s event at Chicagoland Speedway. The NAPA crew is optimistic about its chances when they unload chassis 27 at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Waltrip steered that race car to a 10th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway last month.
NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip:
What are your thoughts heading into this weekend’s race at Chicagoland?
“It’s a really fun track to drive. It has aged well. There are two to three grooves of racing. A couple of years ago in the Busch race, my car was not working right. I stumbled up top and found a new groove. I ended up with a top-five finish. You will find that happening a lot this weekend.
“We are going to take back our Michigan car that we finished 10th in. We feel really confident about our chances of having another solid run. It’s fun to race at a place where we don’t usually go very often. It is also fun to see the passion of the fans that come to Chicago.”
What has the NAPA team done to prepare for this race?
“We’ve done a lot of off-track testing. We’ve done wind tunnel and seven-post testing. Seven-post testing is a machine that we strap our car to and have a computer programmed to run certain tracks. We’ve tested at Chicago before, so we have a track map. It allows us to simulate our car running around Chicagoland Speedway. We can work the car out at home. I feel confident with this car. It ran so well for me at Michigan, and it is aerodynamically sound. We also did some testing at Kentucky and Nashville. All those test sessions mean something to a place like Chicagoland. Even though Nashville is quite a lot different – it’s a mile and a third and it’s concrete – you can learn something. From there, you can put that information in the seven-post machine and see how it affects the Chicago setup. At the end of the day, we’ll get the ultimate track test when we practice for 90 minutes on Friday.”
Is it time to re-evaluate the Top-35 rule, especially when looking at what happened last weekend in Daytona?
“I feel confident that we would have made the race at Daytona based on the time we posted. Instead, we were sent home because of the rain. We knew the rules going into this thing. I saw those clouds up there and knew it was a possibility. NASCAR set the precedent a few years ago that qualifying had to get completed on Friday, so when the rain came, we knew what was going to happen. My only wish is to qualify all the “star” cars (those outside the top 35) together or make a commitment to get the star cars qualified. I feel my sponsors deserve that. For example, start the top 35 by points, but then let the star cars qualify at some point. We need to re-evaluate the top-35 rule. I remember being in the top 35 and thinking it was a great rule, but now that I am out of it, I don’t see it the same way. I would like to see it changed because it would obviously serve me better. It would help me out along with everyone who is and isn’t try to attract and retain sponsors. Soon, we are basically going to have 35 teams.
“Right now, the top 35 teams and the teams outside the top 35 are on two very different pages. Guys in the top 35 are all having fun at qualifying, and those of us on the outside are a mess. I can hardly breathe. I don’t know what was wrong with the old system. For the longest time, we were qualifying the fastest 40 cars and then had three provisionals. I’m not really sure what was wrong with that concept. I sure would like someone to explain to me why we couldn’t go back to that system. It seems a lot fairer than what we have now, especially for our sponsors.”
Michael Waltrip Fast Facts
NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip will attempt to qualify for his 679th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race when the 19th event of the 2007 season, the USG Sheetrock 400, is held at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.
He will be attempting to start in his seventh race at Chicagoland. His best start is 5th (July 14, 2002) and best finish is 5th (July 13, 2003) while driving the NAPA machine.
Waltrip has completed 1419 of 1609 laps (88.4%) at the track and has led a total of 2 laps in competition. His average start is 26th and average finish is 24th.
Entering this weekend’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event, Waltrip is 52nd in the driver standings and 48th in owner standings. The NAPA team will need to qualify for the USG Sheetrock 400 on time since the No. 55 car is outside the top 35 in owner point standings. A total of 49 cars are entered at Chicagoland. Of the entrants, 14 are go-or-go-home teams. Waltrip will be competing for eight qualifying spots, one of which may be used as a past champion’s provisional by Bill Elliott, if needed.
Waltrip is a two-time Daytona 500 champion. He was victorious in 2001 and 2003.
NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip Coca-Cola 600 Statistics
NASCAR NEXTEL Lenox Industrial Tools 300 Broadcast Coverage
NAPA Racing on the Tube
Waltrip and the NAPA Racing team will be featured on this week’s episode of “Survival of the Fastest”. It is scheduled to air Friday at 3 p.m. ET on SPEED.
NAPA Going ARCA Racing
Michael Waltrip Racing’s Josh Wise will pilot the NAPA AUTO PARTS ARCA RE/MAX entry at Kentucky Speedway on Friday. This race is scheduled to be televised live on SPEED at 8pm.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup USG Sheetrock 400 Broadcast Coverage
Live coverage of the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway begins Sunday, July 15 at 3 p.m. ET on TNT. It can also be heard on your local MRN Radio affiliate at the same time. |
