Loudon, New Hampshire (July 16, 2006) – Nestled in the White Mountains of the northeastern United States, the Lakes Region of New Hampshire is known as a popular vacation spot, but for many of NASCAR’s top drivers the LENOX Industrial Tools 300 was no day at the beach. Over 101,000 fans witnessed 11 cautions on the 1.058-mile oval at New Hampshire International Speedway, the last caused by a collision between Michael Waltrip and Robby Gordon on Lap 303. After an “overtime” two-lap sprint to the checkered flag Kyle Busch won his first race of the 2006 NEXTEL Cup season, and the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS team was dealt a 36th place finish.

After qualifying 39th for his 23 consecutive start at New Hampshire International Speedway, Michael Waltrip and the No. 55 NAPA Dodge climbed to 32nd position before the first caution flag waved on Lap 20. The caution allowed interim crew chief Buddy Sisco to communicate with Waltrip regarding the car’s condition. “I seem to be a bit better than the people I’m around. The car drives pretty decent. It’s a little tight right dead in the center,” radioed Waltrip to his crew chief. The pair decided to stay out and gain track position. The move placed Waltrip in a race-high seventh position.

On Lap 74, Waltrip steered the No. 55 NAPA Dodge onto pit road for the team’s first green-flag stop. The NAPA Dodge took on fuel, four tires and air pressure adjustments. “Either it’s running out of gas or we’re blowing up. The fuel pressure seems to be fine. It’s running and all of a sudden not running…it’s the same thing that happened to us in Darlington,” Waltrip radioed moments later. However, the problem seemed to be a mere hiccup as Sisco radioed, “You ran a 30.85 the last time by. That’s the fastest lap you’ve run all race.”

The NAPA AUTO PARTS team made another round of air pressure adjustments on Lap 92 after Tony Stewart hit the wall. A chain reaction occurred on the restart on Lap 94 as the race leaders checked their brakes causing Waltrip to run into Ryan Newman’s bumper sending him spinning up the track and eventually into the NEXTEL Cup garage. “He started going and stopped all of a sudden. I couldn’t see anything else.” Waltrip radioed.

At the halfway mark of the event, Waltrip was in 38th position and two laps down to the race leaders. When the next caution flag waved on Lap 187, the NAPA team lowered the air pressure in the right front tire and raised the track bar four rounds. Waltrip quickly picked up four positions on the restart as the car began picking up speed, but on Lap 220 Waltrip radioed to his crew chief that his brakes were failing.

A caution on lap 234 allowed the NAPA team to inspect the brakes and take wedge out of the left rear. On Lap 244, Waltrip radioed his crew after scraping the wall, “It’s so loose I can hardly drive it and we’ve got no brakes. It’s good in the center, but I’m sliding when I enter the turn.” However, it appeared the NAPA Dodge was beginning to come around again as Waltrip climbed to 33rd position on Lap 282. “This seems to be the best we’ve been,” he radioed.

Race leader Kyle Busch appeared to have the third victory of his career all wrapped up before a crash involving Brian Vickers and rookie Clint Bowyer brought out a caution flag on Lap 298, just three laps from the scheduled end of the Lenox Industrial Tools 300. With a number of drivers concerned about running out of fuel even before the extra laps, including Busch, the race was extended even longer when Michael Waltrip ran into the back of Robby Gordon on Lap 303. “I just got brake checked,” Waltrip radioed as the television broadcast began showing the collision involving the two drivers a year ago.

The last restart finally came on Lap 307. Carl Edwards passed Denny Hamlin for second place as Hamlin ran out of gas on the final lap of the event. The race ended too soon for Edwards as Kyle Busch took the checkered flag. Edwards settled for second place followed by Greg Biffle, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five.

Waltrip slipped one position to 36th in NEXTEL Cup driver points heading into next week’s contest at Pocono Raceway. Coverage for the Pennsylvania 500 will begin at 1:30 pm on TNT and MRN.