Waltrip Moves to 34th Position in Owner Points Standings
BROOKLYN, Mich. – The NAPA Racing team turned in an impressive performance during Sunday’s LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Throughout the 200-lap event, driver Michael Waltrip ran comfortably in the top-15 and was on mark for a top-10 finish. Unfortunately on the final lap, Martin Truex Jr. made contact with Waltrip causing him to spin and finish in 23rd place. Although the result was disappointing, it moved the NAPA Racing team up two positions in the owner points standings to 34th place. Waltrip is now guaranteed a starting spot in next weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.
“This race sort of sums up the year we have been having,” said Waltrip, who started the LifeLock 400 in 36th position after rain cancelled Coors Light qualifying. “We had a top-10 car that finished 23rd because of a bunch of unfortunate circumstances. Mainly a crash and a last lap spin on the final lap got us. Martin Truex Jr. ran out of tires and ran into the wall off of Turn 4 when I was passing him on the inside. He jumped right in front of me. It was just tight racing on the last lap.
“We have so much hope and for some reason, we are not able to close the deal. At Talladega, we were coming to the white flag and going to win the race and we break. Phoenix, we ran out of gas and that hurt us. You look back at how many positions we have given away, it is disappointing. Michigan was not different. We really ran well today and had to settle for 23rd place.
“We just have to keep working on the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota. We have a long way to go when it comes to being competitive on a consistent basis. Today was the first time on a banked track where we have been really good. Bobby Kennedy, Andy Graves, TRD and all the Michael Waltrip Racing folks worked really hard to provide me with a unique setup for this race. We’ve never tried it before. It did a lot of good things for me so I look forward to Chicago, Kansas and other similar tracks this summer. Hopefully, we can build from what we learned.”
Toyota driver Kyle Busch led the 43-car field to the green flag, but the action quickly slowed for Dave Blaney who spun in the backstretch on lap three. Waltrip radioed in to say his NAPA Toyota was pretty good so crew chief Bobby Kennedy had the crew bolt on four fresh Goodyear tires and add fuel. Waltrip resumed the race in 40th place.
Waltrip’s next green-flag sequence saw him battle a loose-handling car. Despite the challenge, the driver worked his way up through the field and by lap 27, he was in 22nd place. Kennedy also notified his driver that his lap times were well within the top-10 when green-flag pit stops began to occur. The crew chief chose to keep his driver out until he posted the top spot to pick up five valuable bonus points. Then it was on to pit road on lap 42 for a very small air pressure adjustment, four fresh tires and fuel. The service took just 13 seconds. The fast stop enabled Waltrip to compete in 18th place when he returned to the track.
The NAPA Camry became the class of the field at the 50-lap mark. The driver’s only complaint was that his car was a little too tight off the corners. So, another small air pressure change was completed on lap 81 under green while Waltrip ran in the top 10. The race action soon slowed on lap 92 for debris. Waltrip notified his team that the last adjustment loosened up the car, but it was a little too loose on entry and tight off the corners. Kennedy chose to make no adjustments during the team’s third service of the race which took just 13 second to complete. The NAPA Camry took the green on lap 97 in 10th place, with Carl Edwards the leader.
The third caution of the LifeLock 400 happened shortly after the halfway mark on lap 102 when Kurt Busch spun on the backstretch. Waltrip radioed in to say his car was evil in traffic, but once things got sorted out, it was just a tick loose in and perfect off the corners. Another fast stop for a small air pressure change, four tires and fuel was competed on lap 103. The race resumed on lap 106 with Waltrip in 13th position and Edwards still in the lead.
The next green-flag run saw Waltrip battling Kasey Kahne for 13th position. The duo went back and forth for the spot. Waltrip felt his car was not as good as the team’s run in the fourth segment, and Kennedy felt the increase in track temperature may have been the culprit. On lap 141, the NAPA Camry was back on pit road for a minor air pressure change, four tires and fuel. The fast stop had Waltrip congratuating his crew for a job well done as he raced in 12th place.
On lap 146, Waltrip experienced a close call with Bobby Labonte. The driver believed he ran over some oil on the track, which was being reported, and it caused him to make contact with Labonte. Waltrip pitted two times under the caution on laps 148 and 150 to make sure everything was OK with the right front of his car. The race went back to green on lap 151 with Jimmie Johnson as the leader and Waltrip racing in the 23rd spot.
The final 50 laps had Waltrip conserving fuel. Calculations indicated that Waltrip would be three laps short if the race went caution free. To conserve fuel, Waltrip slowed down his pace considerably. Then with two laps to go, Sam Hornish Jr. spun to bring out the caution. Waltrip took advantage of the opportunity to take a splash of fuel to prepare for a green-white-checkered-flag finish. The race restarted with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the lead and very low on fuel. As for Waltrip in 16th position, he was ready to pick up the pace as he had his sights on a top-10 finish. As he was about to make a pass on Martin Truex Jr. coming out of Turn 4, Truex hit the wall and made contact with Waltrip. Waltrip spun out and had to settle for a 23rd-place finish.
“The next race is unique. It is a road-course race,” continued Waltrip. “We have always been really good on those types of tracks. We have good finishes to show for our efforts over the years. I am optimistic about what we will have at Infineon and then gear up for Loudon where I hope to setup like we did at Phoenix and Richmond where we ran really well. Daytona is not too far away and I feel very confident that I can win that race. We’ve got some good races coming up. We will keep digging and hope for the best.”
Winning the 400-mile event was Dale Earnhardt Jr. It was his first Sprint Cup points victory of the season. Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray.
Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann and Michael McDowell finished 35th and 37th, respectively.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series competes at its first road-course event of the season at Infineon Raceway. The race broadcast coverage gets underway on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT television network and the Performance Racing Network.
LifeLock 400 Results:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/15/data/results_unofficial.html
LifeLock 400 Lap-By-Lap:
http://www.nascar.com/2008/races/lapbylap/06/15/michigan/index.html
NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Standings (Waltrip – 34th):
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/data/standings_unofficial.html
NASCAR Sprint Cup Owner Standings (Waltrip – 34th): |
