HAMPTON, GEORGIA (October 29, 2006) – After heavy rains resulted in the cancellation of Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, Michael Waltrip began Sunday’s Bass Pro Shops 500 in 39th position as the 43-car field lined up according to NEXTEL Cup owners points. The NAPA AUTO PARTS team was optimistic following a promising Happy Hour practice one day prior to taking the green flag on Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval, but a severe tire vibration kept Waltrip from placing among the top-30 finishers of the event. The result left Waltrip and No. 55 NAPA team still looking for their first top-10 performance of the season with three races remaining in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Championship.

At the early onset of the 325-lap event, Waltrip struggled with a loose race car as the No. 55 NAPA Dodge handled poorly in the sloping turns. However, a larger problem soon arose for the NAPA team as crew chief Tommy Baldwin was unable to communicate with Waltrip due to the veteran’s faulty radio. “Michael, you can hear me right?” Baldwin radioed Waltrip after several minutes of no communication. “Can y’all hear me?” Waltrip radioed moments later.

By Lap 75, Waltrip’s radio began working properly and Baldwin brought his driver down pit road six laps later during the event’s first caution. “On that long run, my tires were starting to shake so bad that I could hardly see,” Waltrip radioed his crew chief. Baldwin made the call for one (pound) down on the left rear tire and right front inner liner. Waltrip lined up in 27th-place for the restart on Lap 86.

Already one lap down, leader Jeff Gordon had worked his way to Waltrip’s back bumper and placed the No. 55 NAPA Dodge two laps down on Lap 131. “It’s still bouncing really bad,” Waltrip radioed. “It’s the right front tire going down,” Baldwin replied. “Come on in before you lose anymore ground.” Waltrip entered pit road under green flag conditions for four fresh tires and fuel.

Waltrip was running in 33rd-place on Lap 163, near the halfway mark of the event, at a lap time one second slower than the leaders. “It’s backing into the corner so bad right now. It’s hard not to spin out,” Waltrip radioed. “I can’t get rid of this vibration. The right front feels like it has too much camber and it’s just beating the wheel off.” A caution on Lap 170 allowed Baldwin to address the problems as he called for drastic air pressure, rear bar, and track bar adjustments.

Debris on the backstretch resulted in a caution on Lap 196. “I can barely drive it. I can’t get in the turn like I want and I’m plowing off really bad,” Waltrip radioed. He steered the NAPA Dodge on to pit road for air pressure adjustments and a full rubber in the right rear. “That felt like my right front tire was going to blow at any time,” Waltrip radioed before the restart.

On Lap 248, running in 34th position and two laps down, Waltrip radioed, “I’m pushing so bad now that I can’t turn it. It feels like we have a pair of Daytona springs in the front of the car. There’s no travel in it.” Baldwin replaced the car’s right side tires during the next caution, but the team was penalized for having eight men over the pit wall during the adjustments. Waltrip restarted in 39th-place, five laps down.

“That was better than it was in the last long run. I just feel like I don’t have any right-front travel,” Waltrip radioed. “It’s the tires,” Baldwin responded. “Everyone on pit road is having trouble with these tires.” In the waning laps of the event, the NAPA team was unable to correct the car’s vibration or its handling in the turns as Waltrip settled for a 33rd-place finish in his last ride in a Dodge Charger at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Stewart, who failed to qualify for the 10-race Chase for Nextel Cup after winning his second Nextel Cup title last season, held off Jimmie Johnson for his fourth victory of the season and second in the first seven races of the 2006 playoffs. Johnson got off to a slow start in the Chase and was eighth, 156 points behind then-leader Jeff Burton just four weeks ago. But a second-place finish at Charlotte followed by a win in Martinsville and second place here have put him right back into the mix for a shot at winning the one honor that has escaped him in his first four seasons in NASCAR's top stock car series. Chase contenders Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth fought it out for third place, with Earnhardt winning the battle by inches. Greg Biffle finished in fifth place.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will travel to Texas Motor Speedway this week for the Dickies 500. Coverage will begin Sunday, November 5 at 2:30 pm on NBC and PRN.