Talladega , Alabama (October 10, 2006) – After starting 21 st in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Michael Waltrip avoided two major collisions in the No. 55 NAPA Dodge to earn a 14th-place finish, his best performance of the 2006 season. A controversial final lap advanced Waltrip two spots from 16 th position when race winner Brian Vickers spun out teammate Jimmie Johnson, who collected leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. The performance was Waltrip’s third top-25 finish on the NEXTEL Cup Series’ two restrictor-plate tracks this season.

When the green flag dropped, Waltrip opted to fade towards the back of the 43-car field to avoid any early dramatics. By Lap 8, and without any communication to his crew, Waltrip was cruising around the 2.66-mile tri-oval in 41 st position. “It’s a little loose,” Waltrip radioed on Lap 17. “It just sort of dances around back here, but I think I’m just picking up what’s left of the draft.” On Lap 21, while the lead pack began racing four-wide on Talladega’s newly paved surface, Waltrip posted a lap time of 48.482 seconds, the fastest lap on the track and nearly one second faster than the race leader.

The No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS team made its first pit stop on Lap 38 under green flag conditions. Currently in 38 th position, Waltrip drove on to pit road for new right side tires and fuel. Crew Chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. would not make a single mechanical adjustment to the No. 55 NAPA Dodge during the 188-lap event.

For the next 10 laps, Waltrip advanced methodically through the field to emerge in 24 th position on Lap 47. “A lot of my old moves don’t work anymore,” Waltrip joked with crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. “I need to learn some new ones.” “Keep it up, buddy,” Baldwin radioed. “(Jeff) Gordon just radioed his crew and said the same thing. We’ve got plenty of time. Just sit back until it’s time to go racing.”

When the first yellow flag flew on Lap 72 for debris on the track, Baldwin called Waltrip into the pits for his third stop of the day. “Mike, is there anything we can do to the car to help you out?” Baldwin radioed. “No, the car’s good,” Waltrip replied. “I’m just itching to get up front.” The NAPA crew serviced the car with four tires and fuel in just 15 seconds, and Waltrip restarted the race in 36 th-place on Lap 75.

At the halfway mark of the event, Waltrip was running in 19 th-place when Baldwin radioed, “We’re probably going to have to go one more long run before we get an idea of how far our fuel mileage will take us.” Waltrip dropped several spots in the ensuing laps to 29 th position. However, the No. 55 NAPA Dodge began stalking the lead pack with drafting help from the No. 14 and 41 cars. Waltrip’s run was aided by a caution on Lap 129, and while the leaders pitted, Waltrip led the race on Lap 132 to earn five bonus points.

Talladega Superspeedway continued its tradition of nail-biting collisions as “The Big One” occurred on Lap 137, collecting 10 cars. Waltrip’s spotter guided him surgically through a thick cloud of smoke and debris to remain in 20 th position unscathed. Baldwin made the call again for four tires and fuel. As NASCAR officials continued to remove debris from the track, Waltrip returned to pit road to top off on fuel and lined up 16 th for the restart on Lap 145.

Almost 30 laps later, a caution on Lap 173 gave the NAPA team an opportunity to fill up with fuel one final time. “I can get in there, but I can’t do anything other than get in the way, “Waltrip radioed. “I’m just trying to avoid the wrecks. People are starting to get a little antsy out here.”

With two laps remaining in the UAW-Ford 500, Waltrip was running in 16 th position, but as the leaders exited Turn 4 and took the white flag, leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. found himself being stalked by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers. Bump-drafting on the backstretch, Vickers hit Johnson entering Turn 3, sending Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet careening into Earnhardt Jr. The hit gave the win to Vickers.

Kurt Busch had the best view of the last-lap skirmish, running right behind the Earnhardt-Johnson-Vickers trio when the crash happened, and went on to finish third. Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. followed Busch across the start-finish line to round out the top five.

“We were all very confident coming into this weekend because we knew we had a very good chance to accomplish something better than our recent performances,” Waltrip commented on the NAPA team’s performance. “ Baldwin had the No. 55 NAPA Dodge set up perfectly. I don’t think we made a single adjustment to the car other than replacing the tires, and when I was on pit road, the crew did a great job of getting me out and picking up positions. Restrictor-plate tracks have become my favorite type of tracks over the years, and it’s nice to see us finish so well here at Talladega, where I got my last win.”

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will travel to Lowe’s Motor Speedway this week for the Bank of America 500. Coverage will begin Saturday, October 14 th at 7:00 pm on NBC and MRN.