September 7, 2007

RICHMOND, Va. – It all came down to the final go-or-go-home car of John Andretti to determine the fate of NAPA Racing driver Michael Waltrip during today’s qualifying session at Richmond International Raceway. Unfortunately, Andretti picked up on his second lap to run a 21.932-second lap versus Waltrip’s 21.969-second effort. The deficit of .037 of a second will cause the NAPA Racing team to sit out Saturday’s running of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, despite turning in the 43rd-fastest lap.

Waltrip and the NAPA Racing team have made significant improvements since they began the 2007 season with new manufacturer Toyota. Since qualifying for the June 3 race at Dover International Raceway, the NAPA team has made 11 of the last 14 events.

Winning his 10th career Bud Pole was Jimmie Johnson with a lap of 21.378 seconds (126.298 miles per hour.) Rounding out the top-10 qualifiers were Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler and Bobby Labonte.

Five Toyota teams qualified for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Fastest of the group was Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann, who will start 24th. A.J. Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Dave Blaney and Waltrip’s teammate Dale Jarrett qualified 27th, 28th, 29th and 32nd, respectively.

Live coverage of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway begins Saturday night, Sept. 8 at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ABC and on your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Starting Lineup: http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/26/data/lineup.html

Practice 1 Results: http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/26/data/practice1_speeds.html

Next Up:
Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 16
2006 Winner: Kevin Harvick
2006 Pole: Kevin Harvick
Television: ABC at 1 p.m. EDT
Radio: MRN