Gains one spot in owner points
FORT WORTH, Texas – The NAPA Racing team finished 31st in Sunday’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Waltrip and his crew overcame challenges including a spin on lap 28 due to a loose handling Toyota Camry. Their efforts to rally back resulted in a gain of one position in the owner points standings. Waltrip is guaranteed a starting position in next Saturday night’s event at Phoenix International Raceway.
“We did not have a good car,” said Waltrip, who started the race in 20th position. “In the last couple of weeks, our scheduled test sessions at Kentucky Speedway were rained out. That hurt us. We really needed that time to prepare for this track and improve our overall program.
“We are definitely ahead of where we were last year, but there is a lot of room for improvement. We still have more to learn about this new car.”
The opening laps of the Samsung 500 saw Waltrip run in the top 25. However on lap 29, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry spun out in Turn 4. The driver did his best to keep his car from sustaining damage. Crew chief Bobby Kennedy called his driver in for service to help tighten up the car. Track bar and air pressure changes were made. When the race resumed on lap 34, Waltrip was in 33rd position and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the leader.
Throughout the race, Waltrip continued to give feedback to his team. Unfortunately, the loose condition persisted. It prevented Waltrip from driving through the corners like he needed. The team made a series of pit stops for adjustments on laps 82, 111, 134, 177 and 178. Changes made during stops 177 and 178 helped the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota pick up track position. Kennedy came over the radio to give his driver encouragement as his lap times were equivalent to cars running in the top 15.
In the closing laps, Waltrip battled Mike Skinner and Sam Hornish Jr. for position. The NAPA Camry kept pace with Skinner, and easily held off Hornish to finish in 31st place. The result was hard fought, but was still disappointing to the driver and his team.
A green-white-checkered-flag finish resulted in a win for Carl Edwards, his third of the season as only 10 cars finished on the lead lap. Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer.
Next up for the Sprint Cup teams is the eighth event of the season, the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on April 12. The race broadcast will start at 8 p.m. ET on FOX and MRN radio.
Samsung 500 Unofficial Race Results:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/7/data/results_unofficial.html
Samsung 500 Lap-By-Lap:
http://www.nascar.com/2008/races/lapbylap/04/05/texas/index.html
NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Standings (Waltrip – 32nd):
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/data/standings_unofficial.html
NASCAR Sprint Cup Owner Standing (Waltrip -32nd):
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