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Sept. 17, 2007
LOUDON, N.H. – The loose condition that plagued the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry in practice for the Sylvania 300 was still present during qualifying, and the ill-handling car spun out on the exit of Turn 4 during the final lap of driver Michael Waltrip's qualifying attempt.
Waltrip did an impressive job of keeping the NAPA Camry off the wall, but his best lap of 30.313 seconds (125.649 mph) was not fast enough to make the field for Sunday's race at New Hampshire International Speedway. He was classified 47th of 49 drivers.
"Our NAPA Camry was really loose in practice earlier today, but we had improved it a lot by the end of the session," said Waltrip. "We thought we had a good race car, but we weren't sure we had a good car for qualifying. We were still loose, and I knew I'd have to really drive through that. It's a shame that we couldn't get the NAPA car in the show here at Loudon, but I'm pleased with the job David (Reutimann) did today."
Waltrip's Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, rookie David Reutimann, qualified for Sunday's Sylvania 300 after recording the 20th-fastest lap. Reutimann toured the 1-mile track in 29.577 seconds (128.776 mph). Teammate Dale Jarrett recorded the 44th-quickest time (30.064 seconds/126.690 mph) and did not make the race.
In addition to Reutimann, fellow Toyota drivers Dave Blaney and A.J. Allmendinger qualified for Sunday's event with fast laps of 29.488 seconds (129.164 mph) and 29.991 seconds (126.998 mph), respectively. Blaney will start 10th, while Allmendinger will start 39th.
Clint Bowyer earned the Bud Pole with a time of 29.206 seconds/130.412 mph. Rounding out the top-10 qualifiers were Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, and Dave Blaney.
Live coverage of the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway begins Sunday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. EDT on ABC. It can also be heard on your local MRN Radio affiliate at the same time.
Sylvania 300 Qualifying Results:
Practice 1 Results:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/27/data/practice1_speeds.html
Qualifying Results:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/27/data/lineup.html
Next Up:
Dover 400 at Dover International Speedway on Sept. 23
2006 Winner: Jeff Burton
2006 Pole Winner: Jeff Gordon
Television: ABC at 1 p.m. EDT
Radio: MRN
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