Waltrip Posts 27th-Place Finish in Coca-Cola 600
 CONCORD, N.C. Lowe’s Motor Speedway continued to elude the NAPA Racing team. Despite challenges in handling, Michael Waltrip finished the 400-lap event just outside the top-25 by crossing the finish line in 27th during Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600. Waltrip’s teammate David Reutimann scored Michael Waltrip Racing its first top-10 finish of the season by finishing in 10th place.
“For some reason we can’t seem to figure out
what it takes to be competitive on banked,
1.5-mile ovals like Lowe’s Motor Speedway,”
said Waltrip who started the Coca-Cola 600 in
29th position. “Our night was disappointing, but what was encouraging was all three of our cars were in the ballpark in setup. David Reutimann was able to take his car and make it very competitive. We’ll go home and strip that car down to figure out exactly what it had and what was different so that we can apply it to all three cars.”
The first half of the race saw Waltrip’s Camry loose entering the corners and then tight off. Crew chief Bobby Kennedy made a series of track bar and air pressure adjustments on laps 51, 63, 119 and 163. During this time, the driver was running in the top 35, and at times, producing lap times that were competitive with the rest of the field.
Lap 184 saw the fourth caution of the night come out after a wheel fell off Brian Vickers’ car. The NAPA pit crew made a shock adjustment and track bar changes. Four new tires and more fuel were also a part of the service. Waltrip returned to the track in 32nd place and encouraged his team to keep working on the car because a respectable finish was still in their grasps.
A debris caution on lap 224 allowed the team to go back to work on the NAPA Camry. Wedge and a spring rubber change were completed along with making a four tire change and adding fuel. Adjustments made during this stop seemed to help Waltrip. He believed his car was finally responding favorably as he raced drivers Clint Bowyer, Scott Riggs, Travis Kvapil, Casey Mears and Michael McDowell for track position.
The closing laps of the Coca-Cola 600 saw Waltrip move up into 28th position. The NAPA Camry ran mostly tight coming off the corners. The team’s final time to make adjustments to the car occurred on lap 331 under caution. Spring rubber and wedge adjustments were completed. The adjustments made the NAPA Camry extremely loose for Waltrip, but he was able to hold on to pick up one more spot on the track to finish 27th, three laps down.
“I was real happy with the NAPA team’s effort as well as mine behind the wheel,” continued Waltrip. “We worked our butts off. We were able to salvage a decent finish when it could have been a lot worse. All and all, it was a little dissappointing race in some areas, but certainly encouraging in others.”
Winning the 600-mile event was Kasey Kahne, who also won last week’s Sprint All-Star Race. Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Carl Edwards and Reutimann.
Michael Waltrip Racing’s rookie driver McDowell earned 32nd place in his very first race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series makes a stop at the Monster Mile – Dover International Speedway. The Best Buy 400 gets underway on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. on FOX television network and the Motor Racing Network.
Coca-Cola 600 Results:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/12/data/results_official.html
Coca-Cola 600 Lap-By-Lap:
http://www.nascar.com/2008/races/lapbylap/05/25/lap.by.lap.coke.600/index.html
NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Standings (Waltrip – 33rd):
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/data/standings_official.html |
