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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 11, 2008) - Michael Waltrip and his NAPA AUTO PARTS team were in the hunt for a solid finish in Sunday's running of the Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y., until the No. 55 NAPA Toyota was relegated to a 39th-place finish after getting caught up in a multi-car accident on lap 83.
Waltrip was among nine cars that suffered damage as a result of an on-track altercation involving teammate Michael McDowell and David Gilliland. The duo made contact coming out of Turn 11. Driver Bobby Labonte suffered the worst damage. Fortunately, he walked away from his car, but was airlifted to a local hospital for further evaluation and was later released. Other cars involved in the melee were Max Papis, Dave Blaney, Reed Sorenson, Sam Hornish Jr., and Joe Nemechek.
Waltrip radioed to his team that he was OK after the incident. "We got lucky. I just bounced off of somebody. It looked a lot worst than it actually was. I just need a push."
He and the No. 55 NAPA Toyota sat patiently on the track during the 43-minute red flag as NASCAR cleared the debris. Once the yellow flag waved, Waltrip was pushed to the Cup garage where the NAPA AUTO PARTS team started to repair his machine. Crew members cut the middle portion of the nose off of the car in order to quickly replace the radiator as well as put on four fresh tires on the NAPA Toyota. The team rallied and got Waltrip back on track as the white flag waved.
Up until the point of the wreck on lap 83, Waltrip had been working hard to get the NAPA Camry into the top-25. He had overcome having to start at the back of the field due to an engine change after missing a shift in practice on Saturday, and utilized smart adjustments and strong pit stops to try and work his way through the 43-car field.
Despite the team's unfortunate result, the NAPA team maintained their position in the point standings. The team currently sits 32nd in driver points and 33rd in owner points.
"My NAPA guys did one heck of a job fixing the car for me," said Waltrip after the race. "We've got to finish races, and that's what we tried to do today. We got caught up in a wreck. I appreciate how my guys worked hard to get me back out there. We'll keep digging. This bad-luck streak will come to an end."
The winner of the Centurion Boats at The Glen was championship points' leader Kyle Busch. His victory was his eighth of the season which now includes both road-course events on the circuit. Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Tony Stewart, Marcos Ambrose, Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Kurt Busch.
As for Michael Waltrip Racing, McDowell finished in 25th place despite the damage caused by the incident. David Reutimann rallied back from an early spin to score 33rd place.
The next stop on the Sprint Cup Series is the 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo at Michigan International Speedway. This is the 23rd race of the season. It will get underway next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN and Motor Racing Network radio.
Centurion Boats at the Glen Results: http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/22/data/results_unofficial.html
Centurion Boats at the Glen Lap-By-Lap: http://www.nascar.com/2008/races/lapbylap/08/10/watkins.glen/index.html
NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Standings (Waltrip - 32nd): http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/data/standings_official.html
NASCAR Sprint Cup Owner Standings (Waltrip - 33rd):
Owner Points Following Race # 22
Watkins Glen International
Centurion Boats at The Glen
UNOFFICIAL - Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 8/10/2008 @ 5:42 PM Eastern
| Pos | Owner | Car # | Points | Ldr | Nxt | PPos | G/L |
| 1 | Joe Gibbs | 18 | 3254 | 0 | | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Jack Roush | 99 | 3012 | -242 | -242 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 48 | 3010 | -244 | -2 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | Rick Hendrick | 88 | 2985 | -269 | -25 | 2 | -2 |
| 5 | Richard Childress | 31 | 2945 | -309 | -40 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | Rick Hendrick | 24 | 2754 | -500 | -191 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Joe Gibbs | 20 | 2744 | -510 | -10 | 9 | 2 |
| 8 | George Gillett Jr. | 9 | 2713 | -541 | -31 | 7 | -1 |
| 9 | J D Gibbs | 11 | 2689 | -565 | -24 | 10 | 1 |
| 10 | Jack Roush | 16 | 2689 | -565 | 0 | 8 | -2 |
| 11 | Richard Childress | 29 | 2670 | -584 | -19 | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | John Henry | 17 | 2628 | -626 | -42 | 13 | 1 |
| 13 | Richard Childress | 7 | 2606 | -648 | -22 | 12 | -1 |
| 14 | Mike Dee | 6 | 2539 | -715 | -67 | 14 | 0 |
| 15 | Teresa Earnhardt | 8 | 2439 | -815 | -100 | 15 | 0 |
| 16 | Roger Penske | 12 | 2424 | -830 | -15 | 16 | 0 |
| 17 | Teresa Earnhardt | 1 | 2419 | -835 | -5 | 18 | 1 |
| 18 | Dietrich Mateschitz | 83 | 2418 | -836 | -1 | 17 | -1 |
| 19 | Walter Czarnecki | 2 | 2269 | -985 | -149 | 19 | 0 |
| 20 | Geoff Smith | 26 | 2231 | -1023 | -38 | 20 | 0 |
| 21 | Ray Evernham | 19 | 2159 | -1095 | -72 | 22 | 1 |
| 22 | Richard Petty | 43 | 2121 | -1133 | -38 | 21 | -1 |
| 23 | Floyd Ganassi | 42 | 2117 | -1137 | -4 | 25 | 2 |
| 24 | Doug Yates | 28 | 2071 | -1183 | -46 | 23 | -1 |
| 25 | Mary Hendrick | 5 | 2070 | -1184 | -1 | 24 | -1 |
| 26 | Max Jones | 38 | 1979 | -1275 | -91 | 26 | 0 |
| 27 | Teresa Earnhardt | 15 | 1883 | -1371 | -96 | 27 | 0 |
| 28 | Michael Waltrip | 44 | 1833 | -1421 | -50 | 28 | 0 |
| 29 | Chip Ganassi | 41 | 1785 | -1469 | -48 | 30 | 1 |
| 30 | Teresa Earnhardt | 1 | 1784 | -1470 | -1 | 32 | 2 |
| 31 | Robby Gordon | 7 | 1770 | -1484 | -14 | 31 | 0 |
| 32 | Bill Davis | 22 | 1767 | -1487 | -3 | 29 | -3 |
| 33 | Michael Waltrip | 55 | 1682 | -1572 | -85 | 33 | 0 |
| 34 | Roger Penske | 77 | 1674 | -1580 | -8 | 34 | 0 |
| 35 | Dietrich Mateschitz | 84 | 1669 | -1585 | -5 | 37 | 2 |
| 36 | Rob Kauffman | 0 | 1661 | -1593 | -8 | 36 | 0 |
| 37 | Joe Custer | 66 | 1638 | -1616 | -23 | 35 | -2 |
| 38 | George Gillett Jr. | 10 | 1469 | -1785 | -169 | 39 | 1 |
| 39 | Jeffrey Moorad | 96 | 1433 | -1821 | -36 | 38 | -1 |
| 40 | Kyle Petty | 45 | 1426 | -1828 | -7 | 40 | 0 |
| 41 | Barney Visser | 78 | 1344 | -1910 | -82 | 41 | 0 |
| 42 | Glen Wood | 21 | 1241 | -2013 | -103 | 43 | 1 |
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