Best Buy 400 - DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

NAPA RACING PRESS BOX FEATURING MICHAEL WALTRIP
What do you expect to see this weekend at Dover International Speedway?
“I expect to see an entertaining event because that track is so cool. You can run low. You can run high. As we saw last weekend, don’t think you can figure out what’s going to happen. There are just too many people teetering on a very sharp edge of setup. You can be really good and then you make one adjustment and you fall off the pace and vice versa. I think that is why you saw all the lead changes at Charlotte. I don’t expect it to be a whole lot different as people try and figure out exactly what kind of adjustments this car is asking for when you need to adjust it. I think it will be fun to see if there is a different complexion of the way the Dover race looks. Are the stars of this show, the same as last week? Or does a new cast come in a take over?”

In the past you use to take a specific concrete chassis to Dover. Is that the case with the new car?
“I don’t hear much about that this year. I know we are taking a car we have run in the past. I don’t think it is necessarily a concrete-chassis car. I think we understand now that cars whether they are at concrete or pavement tracks need to be stiff. If the front end of the chassis is stiff where it does not flex, then you can be more consistent with your changes.”

There are some people who believe it is tough to pass in this new car. Do you agree?
“I don’t believe passing is a problem with this car. The challenge is just trying to learn what works in this car. It’s not aerodynamics. Michael Waltrip Racing has been trying to go to Kentucky to test for months now, but the track has been wet or it’s raining. We just have not been able to test like we need to with the new car. It will be interesting to see if NASCAR looks at loosening up the test schedule for the rest of this year so that teams can continue to work and develop the cars. The more we can get track time, the more competitive the racing will get. We are a new organization in comparison to a lot of the teams, so we desperately need more track time.”

Are you surprised how close the points’ battle is within the top 35?
“Not really. It’s been that way for the last couple of weeks. There are 36 cars that are in good positions to be in the top-35 spots. While the NAPA team is barely in, we are one good finish away from being in up in the top-20s. You have to look at two things right now. You have to look at where you are right now. I am not pleased with where we are. And then we also have to look at where we could be. Right now, I feel as if the top-20s is a very realistic possibility. That’s what we expect.”

Are you impressed with Toyota’s strides?
“They have done a nice job of building on what they started. When we started this project in early 2007 to where we are right now, I say at 6,000 to 7,000 rpm where you are really down in the corner and are in need of having that power pull you off the turn, I’d say we have 40 to 50 more horsepower now. That just shows you the commitment and the progress that Toyota has made. The teams are also getting their legs up under them. They are learning what does and what does not work. It is a combination of what the teams are able to do and also the work that is going on out in California developing our engines. That’s been huge for us.”

How was your race on Sunday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway?
“We weren’t as good as we hoped. The car just did not handle right. We can’t seem to get the front end to feel the way I need it to feel. We struggled with that as a three-car team, but Ryan Pemberton and David got on to something that they really liked. David was really confident after the All-Star Race that he would have something to race with during the Coca-Cola 600. That’s really encouraging for not only David’s team, but for all three Michael Waltrip Racing teams. All three cars can download on what the No. 44 team did and understand what they did to make all of our cars faster at tracks like Charlotte, Atlanta and Texas. We currently have all three cars in the top 35 in points. I really do hate the fact that we have to hang our hat on that. David has now moved up to 26th in the drivers’ points after a couple of good runs. The No. 00 and No. 55 lost some ground in points on Sunday night with the people behind us, but we actually gained points on the people that were in front of us. We were able to close the gap. If we could just get a couple of good runs like we feel we are capable of, we will get ourselves out of the top 35 and racing for a top-20 spot. That’s our next goal.”

The 1.5-mile tracks have been a challenge to Michael Waltrip Racing, do you feel like the team is starting to gain on it after Reutimann’s top-10 finish?
“We finally have something that we can look at. We really didn’t have a direction before because we really couldn’t hit on anything. Now, David’s team and philosophy are starting to work. What they did in Charlotte worked. Now we can take that information and try to learn from it. We have some tracks coming up that I am really fond of. I love Dover. I love Pocono. I love the road course out in California. These are some tracks that I have always had success. I feel like what we learned on Sunday night and what we have coming up for tests and races, we should start posting results.”

You are currently testing up at Pocono Raceway. What are you hoping to learn?
“We look at springs and shocks. Those combinations are important. We saw some combinations work for David at the Coca-Cola 600. The loads are a lot different here, but the more we learn about these cars, a good setup may work somewhere else. We will explore all the information we got from Sunday night and just find out exactly how it will all work. We’ll look at what it takes to go fast at this specific track. The thing about the Pocono test is it’s not going to relate much to the other tracks. When you run at Charlotte, you can say that the combination may work at Atlanta and Texas. I think everybody is real curious to see what kind of setup it takes to do well at Pocono. Could some elements come from Charlotte? Who knows? We’ll soon find out.”

Michael Waltrip Fast Facts

• NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip will be competing in his 702nd NASCAR Sprint Cup race when the 13th event of the 2008 Sprint Cup season, the Best Buy 400, gets underway at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del.

• Waltrip will start in his 45th Cup race at the 1-mile track. His best start is 1st (June 2, 1991) and best finish is 5th (Sept. 16, 1990 and Sept. 15, 1991). He has two top-five and eight top-10 finishes at Dover. Waltrip has completed 16,898 of 19,904 laps (84.9%) at the track and has led a total of 30 laps in competition.

• Waltrip ran his first Nationwide Series race at Dover and won on Sept. 17, 1988. In total, he has raced in 19 Busch events at the Monster Mile. He has collected one pole, two victories (Sept. 17, 1988 and June 2, 1990), two top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He’s led 253 laps in Nationwide competition at the track.

• Entering this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, Waltrip is 33rd in driver and 35th in owner points standings. He is guaranteed a starting spot in Sunday’s race. A total of 46 cars are on the entry list.

NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip Dover Speedway Statistics

2008 NAPA AUTO PARTS PIT CREW
Front Tire Changer:                Shannon Myers
Front Tire Carrier:                 Chris Hall
Jackman:                              Scott King
Rear Tire Carrier:                  Dwayne Moore
Rear Tire Changer:                 Andy Thurman
Gas Man:                               Art Harris
Catch Can:                            Shawn Soules

EVENT FACTS
Best Buy 400

Event: 13 of 36

Track:Dover Int’l Speedway

Length: 1-Mile Concrete-Oval

Distance: 400 laps/400 miles

Date: Sunday, June 3

Time: 1:30 p.m.  ET
TV:FOX
Radio: MRN

2007 Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
2007 Pole: Ryan Newman

TELEVISION TIDBITS
Practice
Fri., May 30 at 11:30 a.m. ET
SPEED

Sat., May 31 at noon and
1 p.m. ET
SPEED

Sprint Cup Qualifying
Fri., May 30 at 3:00 p.m. ET
SPEED

This Week in NASCAR
Mon., June 2 at 8 p.m. ET
SPEED

To access the NAPA Racing media guide online, please visit: www.napasponsorship.com