Winning the Atlanta 500 was Jimmie Johnson. It was his second-straight victory and eighth of the season.
“We really had our hands full today,” explained Waltrip after climbing out of his NAPA Camry. “We fought our way back to an 11th-place finish. The team put in a lot of effort and I put us behind the eight-ball when I ran into the wall yesterday in practice. From that point on, our car just wasn’t right. It was nice to persevere and get a good finish. I knew I didn’t have the car I needed today, and that made me mad. It also made me determined to overachieve, and try our very best to get more than we deserved today. We did that.”
On Friday, the NAPA Racing team participated in practice as well as Bud Pole qualifying. In practice, Waltrip recorded the 22nd-fastest lap (29.487 sec./188.015 miles per hour). Then in qualifying, the driver picked up the pace (29.239 sec./189.610 mph) to earn the 24th-starting spot.
“It was everything I could have asked for,” said Waltrip after his run. “I must have left a little bit out there. It was free and good, but I probably just didn't get all it had. I needed to be a little bit better.”
“It's fun to see an organization make some progress. We've definitely done that. We fought through some really difficult, trying times. It was good to come back with the ability to survive, hang around and give ourselves a chance to turn this deal into something. It's just a real honor to be part of the Toyota team, with the support they've given me along with NAPA. It's been amazing.”
Winning the pole was Greg Biffle. His lap was 28.807 seconds (192.453 miles per hour). Rounding out the top-10 qualifiers were Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip Racing’s Dale Jarrett, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, David Stremme, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Elliott Sadler. A total of five Toyotas made the race. Besides Waltrip and Jarrett, Brian Vickers, AJ Allmendinger and Dave Blaney will start 14th, 31st, and 42nd, respectively. MWR teammate David Reutimann was 33rd fastest, however, due to NASCAR’s top-35 rule, he did not qualify for the race. Despite Reutimann’s setback, the rookie rallied back by winning Saturday’s Busch Series event at Memphis Motorsports Park --- the first of his Busch Series career.
On Saturday, Waltrip and the NAPA Racing team took part in two practice sessions. In the first session, Waltrip was 31st fastest (30.069 sec./184.376 mph). However, in the second session, the NAPA Camry experienced a problem when entering Turn 2. It broke loose, hitting the wall and causing damage to the right side. The A-frame, tie rods, crush panels, tail pipes, track-bar mount and ride-side shocks were damaged. Since the driver really liked his primary car, he asked not to have the back-up car brought out. Therefore, the team was given an extra hour after the garage closed to repair the car.
Then on Sunday in the opening laps of the Atlanta 500, Waltrip lost significant track position and a lap due to a very loose condition. The team battled back by making a series of adjustments on Laps 36, 41 and 60 under caution. Then on lap 66, the race was red flagged for an incident involving David Gilliland and Mark Martin. It was during this time that Waltrip came over the radio to say his NAPA Camry was 100 percent better. When the race resumed, Kurt Busch was the leader and Waltrip was 31st.
The next run saw Waltrip make big gains on the track. The No. 55 machine was just shy of breaking into the Top 25 when the caution flew on Lap 99. The crew went back to work to tighten up the car with an air pressure change. The race went back to green on lap 104 and Waltrip took no time to climb back into the Top 25. Then on Lap 132 and in 22nd place, the driver came over the radio to say he was loose, but the car’s overall balance was finally getting better.
Just 20 circuits later, a chance to tighten up Waltrip’s car came under caution when David Ragan wrecked. The pit crew went to work to adjust the air pressure. When the race restarted on Lap 154, Martin Truex Jr., was in the lead and Waltrip was in 19th place.
The second half of the race saw the NAPA team run comfortably in the Top 20. The driver’s complaint remained the same … the NAPA Camry needed to get tightened up. However, as the laps ticked away, the car picked up speed as well as positions on the track. Both driver and crew chief agreed, if the race remained green, their chances for a solid finish were good.
A tense moment for the NAPA team took place with less than 10 laps to go. That’s when Waltrip radioed in to say he believed his right-front tire was going down. As luck would have it, the caution flag was flown one circuit later after Johnny Sauter experienced a tire problem. The yellow allowed the NAPA team to pit for an air pressure change, bolt on four fresh tires and take on fuel.
The race restarted on Lap 322 with Denny Hamlin in the lead and Waltrip in the Top 15. However, as Hamlin was taking the green flag, he ran out of gas. The frontrunners got bunched up, but getting the worst end of the deal was Martin Truex Jr. He slammed into the back of Hamlin, ending his chances. Other drivers involved were Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray. Fortunately for Waltrip, he was able to come out unscathed.
A green-white-checkered-flag finish would determine the outcome of the Atlanta 500. Jimmie Johnson was the leader on Lap 327. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended the race when he lost a tire on the restart slamming into the Turn 1 wall. As before, Waltrip was able to dodge the accident and finish in 11th place.
Waltrip continued, “In our finishes, it’s three in a row in the top-20, and three in a row on the lead lap. If you do that once, you get lucky. When you do it three times, you’re doing something right. I think this NAPA team is doing something right.”
Following Johnson to the checkered flag and rounding out the top-10 finishers were Carl Edwards, Reed Sorenson, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers.
In the Toyota contingent, Brian Vickers claimed the top spot by earning 10th place, just ahead of Waltrip. AJ Allmendinger, Dale Jarrett, and Dave Blaney finished 16th, 19th and 38th, respectively.
In the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Championship, Jimmie Johnson closed in on points leader Jeff Gordon. Gordon remains in the lead, but just nine points ahead of his teammate.
Tomorrow the NAPA team will remain in Atlanta to take part in a two-day Car of Tomorrow test session to prepare for next season. Then on Thursday, the team heads to Texas for the running of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race gets underway at 3 p.m. ET on ABC and PRN radio on Nov. 4.
