Sept. 24, 2007

DOVER, Del. . – Michael Waltrip and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team persevered to finish 15th in Sunday’s running of the Dover 400 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The finish was impressive as Waltrip started 43rd and remained very competitive despite experiencing a power-steering problem and a loose-handling Toyota Camry.

Meanwhile, winning the 400-lap event was Carl Edwards. However, after post-race inspection, Edwards’ car was found to be too low in the right rear of the car. The No. 99 team will keep the victory, but penalties are expected to be announced later in the week.
 
“We had a lot of promise early in the race -- we were really running fast,” said Waltrip after climbing out of his NAPA Camry.  “Then we had a power steering issue -- then we had handling issues.  I really don’t know which had to do with which -- I know the power steering was a big issue because that makes you drive the car weird, and maybe I didn’t adjust right for that. All in all, we were competitive all day and fast early so we can take this, be positive, and have a good feeling about what we did here today. We weren’t very good here in the spring so this is a great improvement for us at Dover.”
 
On Friday, the NAPA team practiced 29th quickest with a time of 23.797 seconds or 151.280 miles per hour. Then during Bud Pole qualifying, Waltrip was en route to a top-25 qualifying lap when his car wiggled loose coming to the white flag costing some time on the track. When all was said and done, his lap of 23.945 seconds or 150.345 miles per hour was 37th on the speed chart. Due to NASCAR’s top-35 qualifying rule, Waltrip lined up 43rd for Sunday’s Dover 400 despite being faster than drivers David Gilliland, Paul Menard, Kenny Wallace, David Stremme, Robby Gordon and Clint Bowyer. Winning the Bud Pole was Jimmie Johnson. His fast lap was 23.261 seconds or 154.765 miles per hour. As for Michael Waltrip Racing, all three Michael Waltrip Racing teams made the race, as David Reutimann qualified 13th and Dale Jarrett earned19th.
 
The NAPA team’s main focus on Saturday was to find a good balance for Waltrip while running on used tires to help simulate race conditions. Since all the teams outside the top-35 in points, including the NAPA team, used all of their new tires on Friday to prepare for qualifying, the NAPA team’s practice times were slower on the speed chart in comparison to the teams locked into the top 35, who practiced on fresh tires. In the first practice, Waltrip recorded the 41st -fastest lap (24.907 seconds/144.538 miles per hour). In the second, he was 35th (24.727 seconds/145.590 miles per hour). Knowing he spotted the other teams raw speed for a lap or two due to running on the older tires, Waltrip really liked the way his NAPA Camry turned through the corners and anticipated a good run on Sunday, especially since a consistent pace would pay off. Denny Hamlin, on fresh tires, was fastest in both Saturday sessions. 
 
Jimmie Johnson led the 43-car field to the green flag on Sunday afternoon. Waltrip managed to work his way up to 39th position when the first of 13 caution flags flew on lap 13 after Johnny Sauter experienced a problem on the frontstretch. During the yellow, Waltrip told the team he was a little loose mainly in the center of the turns, but all and all, the NAPA Toyota Camry seemed fine. The team chose not to pit, and when the green flag waved on lap 18, Waltrip was in 20th and Denny Hamlin was the leader.
 
Eight circuits later saw Kenny Schrader have an accident on the frontstretch. This time the NAPA team chose to come down pit road on lap 22 for a track bar change to help tighten up the car. When the race restarted on lap 25, Waltrip was in 36th and Hamlin remained in the lead.
 
Debris was the culprit on lap 55 to bring out the next caution. Since the No. 55 team was sharing a pit with the No. 07 team due to Dover only having 42 pit boxes, Waltrip stayed out on the track to enable Clint Bowyer to complete his stop. Due to NASCAR’s rule, Bowyer was able to pit first, since he was in front of Waltrip in track position. The slight inconvenience enabled Waltrip to lead one lap (lap 56) and gain five valuable bonus points. When the NAPA Toyota visited pit road, competition director, Bobby Kennedy called for a track bar adjustment since Waltrip needed help in turning the car through the center of the corners as the team’s Camry was now too tight.
 
The race resumed on lap 59 with Waltrip in 39th place. The NAPA Camry was competitive, and the pit crew was finally in its own stall after taking the pit vacated by AJ Allmendinger’s team since his engine expired. The next opportunity to improve the No. 55 machine came during the fourth caution of the day. Kyle Petty and Denny Hamlin got together in Turn 2 on lap 76. With the caution back out, Waltrip came over the radio to say his car wasn’t bad, just a little loose, and a little tight. Air pressure was the main course of action as the NAPA crew went to work on lap 78. Unfortunately during this service, a tire from another team bounced into the NAPA pit box striking gas man Art Harris. Harris was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Good news soon followed as Harris was treated and released. Bob Tracey, gas man for Dale Jarrett’s team, substituted for Harris for the remainder of the race.
 
During the next green-flag sequence, the air-pressure change worked. Waltrip quickly climbed into the top 20. The NAPA driver was very pleased with his car and when the competition yellow was thrown on lap 149, the pit crew did their gas man proud, picking up two spots in the pits after changing four tires and taking on fuel. Waltrip took the green in 15th place and Matt Kenseth was the new leader.
 
Shortly after the half-way mark, Waltrip brought his NAPA machine in for service on lap 206 under caution. The crew made an air pressure change and took on fuel. As before, another fast stop under 13 seconds gained Waltrip two more positions on the track. Waltrip moved into 13th place, and Kenseth remained the leader as the green flag was thrown on lap 212.
 
Waltrip made his way to 11th position on the rundown when Jamie McMurray brought out the seventh caution of the Dover 400. This time the driver came over the radio to report he had no power steering. The steering issue proved to be a challenge for Waltrip when the green flag waved on lap 236. Waltrip managed the loss, and only dropped five positions by the time the team had to pit under green on lap 310. Air pressure and wedge adjustments were ordered to help loosen up the car. Plus, power-steering fluid was added to help alleviate the steering problem.
 
Meanwhile, with less than 100 laps to go, the NAPA team kept up the pace to run just outside the top 20 despite the loss in power steering and a loose-handling condition. The driver also dodged three accidents. The biggest was a multi-car accident involving Kurt Busch on lap 387. The aftermath damaged the cars of Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs, Ryan Newman, J.J. Yeley, Reed Sorenson, Bobby Labonte, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Green. The race was red flagged for 12 minutes and when it resumed, Waltrip came in for four fresh tires to make it to the end, relatively unscathed in 15th place.
 
Following Edwards to the checkered flag were top-10 finishers Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya.
 
A total of five Toyota teams participated in Sunday’s race. In the MWR stable, rookie David Reutimann finished 18th and Dale Jarrett scored 41st after experiencing an engine problem. Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger also raced finishing 16th and 43rd, respectively.
 
As for the Chase, Jeff Gordon takes over the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship points lead. He is two points ahead of driver Tony Stewart. Unofficially, 10 points separate the top-five.
 
Next week Waltrip and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team head to Kansas Speedway for the running of the Kansas 400 on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. EDT. It will be televised live on ABC and MRN radio

Dover 400 Results:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/28/data/results_unofficial.html
 
Chase for the Championship:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/data/standings_unofficial.html
 
Next Up:
Dover 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. EDT
2006 Winner: Tony Stewart
2006 Pole Winner: Kasey Kahne
Television: ABC at 1 p.m. EDT
Radio: MRN