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HAMPTON, Ga. – The NAPA Racing team boasted some of the fastest laps in Sunday’s Atlanta 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Michael Waltrip started 29th and raced his way into the top 10 in just 85 laps. Unfortunately, two rear-tire failures triggered by contact with the wall culminated in the team’s 37th-place finish.
“This race gave us so much hope and so much promise,” said Waltrip after the race. “But it ended up pretty crappy.”
Waltrip’s day started with many media and special sponsor recognitions as the two-time Daytona 500 champion was celebrating his 1,000th NASCAR start. Waltrip was even surprised by his 11-year-old daughter, Macy, who flew down to spend the special day with her father.
Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green-flag start as the line up was set by points after rain canceled qualifying on Friday. By lap 26, Waltrip was turning the fastest laps on the track. He told his team that he was a little better than everyone else, and he was right.
The team’s first pit stop to give the front end of the NAPA Camry more right-front grip came under green on lap 90 for an air pressure change along with four fresh tires and fuel. The pit crew busted off a 13-second stop to return the NAPA Toyota to 13th position on the track. As before, Waltrip was as fast as the new leader, Carl Edwards. The NAPA Camry’s handling enabled Waltrip to climb into the top 10 before the caution was thrown on lap 110. This time, Waltrip needed a little help as the car became too tight, too soon. Crew chief Bobby Kennedy added a track bar adjustment along with an air pressure change to loosen up the car. The NAPA Toyota went back on track in 11th place. Greg Biffle was now in the top spot.
The team’s first major hurdle to overcome happened when Waltrip’s radio would not work. Waltrip did not let it deter his move to the front as he made it up to ninth place without any assistance from the spotter. He communicated to the team with hand signals so the team would know about the car’s handling. The chance to fix it came when the caution came back out on lap 131 after Kasey Kahne spun in Turn 4. Two pit stops (laps 132 and 133) were needed to change out Waltrip’s helmet and radio harness. The race went back to green on lap 136 with Waltrip in 20th and Matt Kenseth in the lead.
Despite the change out, Waltrip’s radio still did not work. Waltrip, though, persevered to pick up 19th place. Then on lap 156, Waltrip made an impressive save coming off of Turn 4. A few laps later, he brushed the wall. The driver got his rhythm back and three laps later, he was back recording lap times faster than the leader.
The team’s first setback happened on lap 168. The NAPA Camry had a right rear tire go down. Waltrip was forced to pit under green. He returned to the track in 36th position, two laps down. Since Waltrip pitted out of sequence, he gained one of his laps back when the leaders started to pit on lap 185. The NAPA team was back running in 19th and in contention for the Lucky Dog, but a loose-handling car continued to challenge Waltrip. On lap 207, the NAPA Camry once again made contact with the wall. It caused the right rear tire to blow out. Debris from the tire caused significant damage to the No. 55. It relegated Waltrip to 25th position after the team made extensive repairs on laps 209, 210, 211, 212 and 213.
Waltrip battled several more on-track issues that cost the team some laps. With just 25 laps to go, the NAPA Camry was 41st, six laps down. Then on lap 303, Jeff Burton got into the back of Dave Blaney. The contact caused a multi-car wreck. The cars of Reed Sorenson, Juan Pablo Montoya and Joe Nemechek were also involved. Their loss was Waltrip’s gain as their cars were taken to the garage giving Waltrip positions through attritition to cross the finish line in 37th.
“We were all right up top for awhile until we got too loose,” Waltrip elaborated. “I just couldn’t maneuver around anymore. I had a spotter, then I didn’t have a spotter due to radio problems. I was able to get myself up to ninth, but then an adjustment made on a pit stop made the NAPA car way too loose. That’s when we started having problems. We had such a good car for the first half of the race and then it all went downhill.
“We’ve also been trying to figure out what this car needs in the front end and I think we’ve figured it out. We should have a shot at another top-10 run at Texas since it is very similar to Atlanta. I’m looking forward to next weekend that’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, Carl Edwards went on to back up his Nationwide Series victory in Memphis on Saturday with the win in the Atlanta 500. He passed Denny Hamlin on the restart with just 15 laps to go to claim the checkered flag. It was his seventh win of the season.
Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, David Ragan, Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle.
Waltrip’s teammates David Reutimann finished 28th and Marcos Ambrose scored 29th.
Coming up, the Sprint Cup Series visits Atlanta’s sister track, the Texas Motor Speedway next Sunday. Broadcast coverage starts at 3 p.m. Eastern on ABC and the Performance Racing Nework.
Atlanta 500 Race Results:
Atlanta 500 Lap-By-Lap:
http://www.nascar.com/2008/races/lapbylap/10/25/lap.by.lap.atlanta2/index.html
NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Standings (Waltrip – 29th):
NASCAR Sprint Cup Owner Standings (Waltrip – 29th):
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