Dover, Delaware (September 24, 2006)– Michael Waltrip and the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS team qualified 29 th for the Dover 400 Sunday afternoon and ran as high as 12 th in the early laps of the event before handling problems dealt the veteran driver a 28 th-place finish, four positions higher than the team’s finish in the Neighborhood Excellence 400 at Dover International Speedway in June.

NASCAR dropped the green flag early on the Dover 400 to avoid a rain delay, but the event would be slowed due to on-track collisions resulting in 10 cautions, the first of which came on Lap 2. By Lap 23, Waltrip radioed, “It feels like I may get a little skatey on longer runs. I’m good on entry and in the center of the turns, but it’s starting to push off when I exit. Still, it’s better than it was in practice.”

Relinquishing 16 th-place, Waltrip steered the No. 55 NAPA Dodge on to pit road under caution on Lap 49. Crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. made the call for the first of many adjustments to the track bar. Waltrip lined up 22 nd for the restart on Lap 51, and a few laps later, Baldwin radioed his driver, “Good job, man. You’re faster than a lot of those guys ahead of you.” The excitement was short lived, however, as the No. 55 NAPA Dodge became increasingly tight.

“I’m just real tight in the center now and I can’t make a run off,” Waltrip radioed to Baldwin during the yellow on Lap 164. Baldwin made the call for four tires, fuel, an air-pressure adjustment, one round up on the track bar, and one round down on the left rear wedge. Waltrip restarted in 30 th position, one lap down, on Lap 169.

By Lap 200 of the 400-lap event, the handling of the No. 55 NAPA Dodge had gradually deteriorated. “I can’t drive it,” Waltrip radioed. “You can’t touch the gas…it’s amazing. It needs a big change. It’s so right rear happy.” Waltrip returned to pit road for more air-pressure adjustments and a drastic change to the rear of the car, as Baldwin called for three rounds down on the track bar. By Lap 296, Waltrip was three laps down to the race leader and the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS team could not compensate for the car’s poor handling. With very few drivers on the same lap, Waltrip avoided collisions to post a 28 th-place finish in his 42 nd start at Dover International Speedway.

“Today was a tough one. We got ourselves in a hole early with going a lap down and that’s never good on such a short track. The No. 55 NAPA Dodge couldn’t make up its mind whether it wanted to be tight or loose, but Tommy and the team did a good job combating what the car threw at us. We’ll put this behind us and get ready for Kansas next week,” Waltrip commented on the team’s performance.

Jeff Burton found his way back to Victory Lane at Dover International Speedway after a thrilling late battle with Matt Kenseth. The win parked Burton in the lead of NASCAR's Chase for the championship and ended his 175-race winless streak. Carl Edwards finished second. Gordon moved up two spots in the Chase with his third-place finish. Non-Chase drivers finished fourth through eighth before rookie Denny Hamlin, who took ninth. Hamlin fell from second to fourth in the point standings. Even though he sat on the pole, Gordon failed to lead a lap and did not gain any bonus points. Ryan Newman quickly passed him and led the first lap of the race.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will travel to Kansas Speedway this week for the Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods. Coverage will begin Sunday, October 1 st at 1:30 pm on NBC and MRN.