Today it was announced that Patrick Carpentier will drive for you next week at Infineon Raceway. What prompted your decision to do that?
“There are so many great road course racers competing in Sonoma this year, and as the owner and driver of the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota, I am in a unique position,” said Waltrip who has two top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in his NASCAR Sprint Cup road racing career. “If I see where I can improve my car’s performance then that’s exactly what I am going to do. I am a good road racer, but Patrick is a great road racer.

“I love being an owner and I want to get another win for NAPA. It will feel just as good if I get the victory for NAPA or watching from the pit box with Patrick driving the car. I appreciate NAPA allowing me to make these kind of personnel moves when I feel it is best for the team.”

What do you like about racing at Michigan International Speedway?
Michigan provides for a fun day of racing. You can go up high and run up against the wall or you can cut to the very bottom. You can expect to see people in the same car doing both things. Your car may work on the bottom, but then you may need to change things up and go up against the wall to find speed. You just have to drive your car and that’s what you love about the track as a driver – you can drive it anywhere. Sometimes you just have to adjust your line based on what your car is asking for.

“I like what we see during qualifying. It will be impressive as I expect to see speeds over 210 miles per hour heading into a corner. That’s hard to imagine but it’s true. It’s impressive considering the big, old car we race.”

How hard will Michigan be on engines?
“With the new gear rule that we run, the engines are not stressed as much as they used to be. In the past, we used to gear our motors for the back straightaway. We needed a lot of power down that short, back straightaway and it turned too much on the front side. Now, NASCAR has us in a box where we can turn our engines. You will see some failures on Sunday. It is inevitable, but I don’t feel it is a big deal.”

Michael Waltrip Fast Facts

• NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip will be competing in his 740th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race
  when the 15th event of the 2009 Sprint Cup season, the LifeLock 400, gets underway at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) in Brooklyn, Michigan.

• Waltrip has competed in 47 events at MIS. His best start is first (June 23, 1991) and best finish is fourth
  (June 16, 2002) in the NAPA machine. In total, he has two top-five and nine top-10 finishes at Michigan.

• Waltrip has completed 8,755 of 9,291 laps (94.2%) at the track and has led a total of 16 laps in competition. His average start is 22nd and average finish is 20th.

• Waltrip has raced in 11 Nationwide Series events at MIS. He has collected one win, two top-five and six top-10 finishes. He has led 68 laps in Nationwide Series competition at the track.

• Entering this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, Waltrip is 32nd in driver and owner standings. He’s
  less than 100 points out of the top-25 in the championship standings. He is guaranteed a starting spot in Sunday’s race.

 

NAPA AUTO PARTS Driver Michael Waltrip Sprint Cup Statistics - Michigan International Speedway

DATE	START	FINISH	DATE	START	FINISH
8/11/1985	31	18	8/17/1997	31	22
6/15/1986	36	22	6/14/1998	24	21
8/17/1986	29	32	8/16/1998	30	22
6/28/1987	15	39	6/13/1999	16	15
8/16/1987	28	20	8/22/1999	20	13
6/26/1988	34	28	6/11/2000	15	22
8/21/1988	28	7	8/20/2000	18	21
6/25/1989	28	16	6/10/2001	35	29
8/20/1989	22	31	8/19/2001	7	36
6/24/1990	16	21	6/16/2002	2	4
8/19/1990	34	30	8/18/2002	3	15
6/23/1991	1	34	6/15/2003	9	5
8/18/1991	21	9	8/17/2003	13	7
6/21/1992	41	27	6/20/2004	19	10
8/16/1992	26	22	8/22/2004	17	17
6/20/1993	10	37	6/19/2005	30	7
8/15/1993	28	16	8/21/2005	24	27
6/19/1994	11	8	6/18/2006	28	25
8/21/1994	10	14	8/20/2006	22	23
6/18/1995	24	12	6/17/2007	18	10
8/20/1995	25	11	8/21/2007	11	40
6/23/1996	20	32	6/15/2008	38	23
8/18/1996	10	25	8/17/2008	42	19
6/15/1997	38	16

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2009 NAPA AUTO PARTS PIT CREW

Shannon Myers	Front Tire Changer
Chris Hall	Front Tire Carrier
Tony Cardamone	Jack Man
Andy Thurman	Rear Tire Changer
Dwayne Moore	Rear Tire Carrier
Art Harris	Gasman
Shawn Soules	Catch Can
Ron Otto	Eighth Man
Mike Ellershaw	Hose and Sign
Craig Harper	Gas Runner
Mark Maloney	Second Gas Can