WALTRIP KEEPS GOING AT BRISTOL DESPITE WRECK

Hard Work Pays Off With a 30th-Place Finish and Gain in Points

BRISTOL, TENN. - The NAPA Racing team rallied back from a mid-race accident triggered by Casey Mears to finish 30th in Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Waltrip, who started 42nd, was on an impressive roll after picking off 26 positions in the first 45 laps. However on lap 216, Mears cut in front of Waltrip for the second time in the event. This time, Mears' contact with the No. 55 caused a multi-car crash that brought out a red-flag condition for clean up. Fortunately for Waltrip, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota was repaired in the pits and was able to continue on. Despite the disappointing finish after a strong start, the NAPA team was able to persevere and gain one position in both driver (30th) and owner (32nd) points' standings.

"That was twice that he did that to me tonight," said Waltrip, after Mears climbed out of his damaged car and acknowledged to the media that a miscommunication with his spotter caused the crash. "I don't understand that man, but at least he's got a good ride for next year.

"We did everything in our power to have a good run tonight and get as normal of a finish as possible. My NAPA Toyota was tough. My guys did a great job with damage control. They kept us going so we could get as many points as possible. While it was not the finish we deserved, we earned points and it paid off."

When the race started, Carl Edwards and David Reutimann paced the field. But it was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was right in front of Waltrip, that captured all the attention as he passed several cars before taking the green flag. The move was illegal and NASCAR black flagged the popular driver to serve a pass-penalty, which put him one lap down. Waltrip on the other hand, quickly made his way up through the field by earning it. By lap 44, the NAPA Toyota was in 26th place and two-tenths quicker than the leader, Edwards.

Ironically, Waltrip started to lose his track position shortly after Mears clipped Waltrip coming out of Turn 1 shortly after lap 65. Mears' contact caused the NAPA Camry to hit the wall between Turns 1 and 2. By lap 81, Waltrip was in 33rd place. Three laps later, he lost a lap to the leader. When the first caution of the night waved on lap 97 for an accident involving Martin Truex Jr. and AJ Allmendinger, Waltrip said nothing about the contact with Mears. Instead, he cited too much air pressure in the right front tire as the reason for losing speed. Crew chief Bobby Kennedy called for an air pressure change along with the sheet metal being pulled out from the right front fender on lap 99. Four fresh tires were also changed along with bolting on fresh tires. The fast stop allowed the team to return to the track in 31st place while Kyle Busch was the new leader.

Waltrip found the air pressure adjustment made during the first stop not to his liking. His NAPA Toyota was still too tight. Another chance to work on the car came under caution on lap 202. In 13.6 seconds, wedge and air pressure changes were completed along with changing four tires and adding gas. Waltrip was back on track in 33rd place, but just 10 laps later Mears clipped Waltrip again in Turn 1. The accident damaged the cars of Clint Bowyer, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson and Sam Hornish Jr. NASCAR put out the red flag for over 12 minutes to clean up the track. Once the race went back to yellow, the NAPA team repaired the car in the pits with the most service being completed to remove the front splitter and repair the back of the car. Waltrip was able to take the green flag on lap 222 in 31st place, five laps down.

For the remainder of the Sharpie 500, the NAPA team turned their race into a test. Since the car was wrecked, the team worked on ways to fix a severe push. The team's persistence ended in a gain of one track position while fans were treated to Edwards and Busch trading paint on and off the track. However, it was Edwards who faired the best. For the second week in a row, he passed Busch for the victory. It equated to his sixth win of the season and a guaranteed birth in the Sprint Cup Chase. Rounding out positions three through 10 were Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and David Ragan.

As for Michael Waltrip Racing, David Reutimann finished 25th after an impressive second-place qualifying effort. Mike Skinner, subbing for Michael McDowell, scored a 28th-place result.

"My car was really fast in the start of a run," elaborated Waltrip. "But as the air pressure built in the right front tire, it caused us to get way too tight. We struggled with it even after the car was wrecked. It wasn't a total loss. We learned some things about this new car. My NAPA guys did one heck of a job in the pits so I see our night as a good warm up to next weekend in Fontana. We are taking a new Gen-3 NAPA car and I am looking forward to 12 good weeks of racing left in our season."

The NAPA boys will be spending Labor Day weekend out west for the running of the Pepsi 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on Sunday night. Race coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and MRN radio.