SYLVANIA 300 - NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

NAPA RACING PRESS BOX FEATURING MICHAEL WALTRIP

MWR looked strong at Richmond with all three cars running in the top five. David Reutimann led for most of the race. That says a lot about your young organization, especially heading to one of your favorite tracks."I was really proud of all three of my teams. I knew we had cars that were going to be competitive in the race because of the way we practiced on Friday. Reutimann led the most laps in the race and that is the first time that one of our cars was able to accomplish that. He's now got two top-10s in a row. On Sunday, it was a little difficult for me because I have the tendency to look around a lot. I like to make sure I know what all is going on. I would come off of Turn 4 and would check to see if David was still leading. I really thought that it was cool to see him lead like that. His crew chief, Ryan Pemberton, has been one of the keys to our entire organization's turnaround. He's helping us go down the right road. Michael McDowell also did his job all day long. He got his team back in the top 35. Our NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota was also really competitive. Unfortunately right at the end, we had a left rear tire going flat and that cost us 10 to 15 finishing positions. I love Richmond. It's right up my alley. You can run high. You can run low. You can make time anywhere on it. That's a lot of fun and those same conditions will hold true for this weekend's track -- New Hampshire Motor Speedway. I expect another strong run for my organization at Loudon."

Now that the Chase has started, will your agenda change when racing against those drivers in contention for the championship?"Look at what David Reutimann did at Richmond. He was out there leading the race that everyone was talking about in regards to the status of who was going to make the Chase. Drivers like me, and drivers like David, we really could have cared less about who was going to make it in. We have a different agenda and that's to win the race. Our agenda doesn't change now that the Chase has started. Drivers are all the same. We only care about ourselves in this deal. What you will find in New Hampshire and the remaining races is you will have 12 guys who will be closely watching each other and there will be another 30 that could care less."

Does New Hampshire change much from June to September? "I don't think the track changes much at all because of the fact that in June, the heat really doesn't affect the track. New Hampshire kind of has a late summer. It has always remained pretty consistent as the temperatures begin to cool off. We had cloud cover the last time we raced there, and they are calling for similar conditions this weekend. I am looking forward to going back and improving upon the second-place finish I had in my NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry back in June."

How important is track position at Loudon?"New Hampshire is like a road course. You are going to want to pit as soon as you can in order to make it to the finish. You will see teams try to run 70 to 80 laps to the end of the race on the same set of tires. Track position is the key to having success at Loudon."

• NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip will qualify for his 716th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race when the 27th event of the 2008 season, the SYLVANIA 300, is held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.
• Waltrip will start in his 26th Cup race at the 1.058-mile track. His best start is 4th (July 25, 2004) and best finish is 2nd (June 29, 2008) in the NAPA machine. In total, he has one top-five and five top-10 finishes at NHMS.
• Waltrip has completed 7,082 of 7,372 laps (96.1%) at the track and has led a total of 78 laps in competition. His average start is 22nd and average finish is 23rd.
• Earlier this season, a fast NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry and good pit strategy enabled Waltrip to record his best finish of the season by scoring second place in the LENOX Industrial Tools 301. The event was shortened due to rain and washed out Waltrip's chance to challenge Kurt Busch for the victory.
• Waltrip has raced in three Nationwide Series events at Loudon. He has collected one top-five and two top-10 finishes. He has led 13 laps in Nationwide Series competition at the track.
• Entering this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, Waltrip is 30th in the driver points 32nd in owner standings. All three MWR teams are guaranteed a starting spot in the SYLVANIA 300. A total of 45 teams are entered at New Hampshire.