June 1 , 2007

DOVER, D.E. – Michael Waltrip and the NAPA Racing team will start 23rd for Sunday's running of the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway. Waltrip's lap in his Car of Tomorrow Toyota Camry was 23.953 seconds or 150.294 miles per hour. The lap earned him a spot on the inside of row 12, just behind teammate Dale Jarrett who will start 22nd.

"It didn't feel all that great because I was really loose but I knew I had a lot of leg in it," said Waltrip after his qualifying attempt. "I knew I was going faster than I was in practice. I'm thankful for the fact that we brought a car here that when we unloaded it we could tune on. There's been too many times when we showed up with a car that was out in left field, and we had to try to get it competitive. But today we unloaded and were competitive. That's the difference.

"We work so hard and we understand the challenges and we knew something good would happen eventually. This is good. I'm real thankful for all the help and the support we've gotten. I think we'll continuously get better. It's quite a position to be in, and knowing you've been close so many times and rolling out there, I can't explain it. When your heart and soul is into something it is so hard to get it heading in the right direction. It is really tough to take. But, I've always been good at Dover. I won my first Cup pole here and I won my first Busch race here - I've always liked Dover."

For the second week in a row, Ryan Newman claimed the Bud Pole for the 400-mile event. His fast lap was 23.541 seconds (152.925 miles per hour). Rounding out the top-10 qualifiers were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle.

A total of five Toyota teams qualified for the Autism Speaks 400. In addition to Waltrip and Jarrett, Jeremy Mayfield will start 20th, followed by Brian Vickers in 24th and AJ Allmendinger in 43rd. Unfortunately, Michael Waltrip Racing driver David Reutimann did not make the race as he turned the 45th-fastest lap in qualifying.

On Saturday, the NAPA AUTO PARTS team will participate in two practice sessions. Then, on Sunday, live coverage of the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway will begin at 1:00 p.m. EDT on FOX. It can also be heard on your local MRN Radio affiliate and Sirius Satellite Radio starting at the same time.

Autism Speaks 400 Qualifying Results:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/13/data/lineup.html

Practice 1:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/13/data/practice1_speeds.html

Weekend NASCAR NEXTEL Cup TV Coverage:

Saturday:
10:00 am Nextel Cup Practice Dover (LIVE) - SPEED
12:30 pm NASCAR Live! Dover (LIVE) - SPEED
1:00 pm Nextel Cup Final Practice Dover (LIVE) - SPEED

Saturday:
10:00 am NASCAR Now - ESPN2
11:00 am NASCAR RaceDay Dover (LIVE) - SPEED
1:00 pm Nextel Cup Race Dover - FOX