/noticias.info/ Michael Waltrip and the No. 55 NAPA team scored their second top-20 finish of the year in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It wasn’t the performance the Owensboro, Kent., native had hoped for in his sponsor’s back yard, but in the end the 20th place finish met the teams early season goal.
The cold weather that the team dealt with in Las Vegas, Nev., last week followed them to Atlanta for Bud Pole qualifying under the lights at AMS. Waltrip posted the 24th fastest lap for the second straight week, picking up nearly .700-seconds from his best practice time. Kasey Kahne won the Bud Pole with a time of 28.720-seconds and an average speed of over 193 mph.
Mother Nature must have felt like she was going easy on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series with just cold temperatures, so she added a little moisture into the mix on Sunday morning. The rain that fell washed out all track activities forcing the race to Monday morning.
The radar cleared 24 hours later and although cloudy skies left everyone wondering if rain was eminent, the field took the green flag on-time to start the Golden Corral 500. Waltrip battled a loose NAPA Dodge for many of the opening laps of the event. On lap 14, the NAPA team found out just how sideways the No. 55 was. “It’s taking everything I have to not spin out every lap,” radioed Waltrip. Ryan Newman brought out the day’s first caution when he spun his Alltel Dodge in turn four after contact from Denny Hamlin. It was the opportunity the NAPA crew needed. They made adjustments to the air pressure of the tires and also to the trackbar. Waltrip restarted in 32nd position.
Golden Corral 500 Final Results
1. Kasey Kahne
2. Mark Martin
3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
20. Michael Waltrip Dodge Dealers Dodge
AAA Ford
Budweiser Chevrolet
NAPA Dodge
The loose condition that plagued the car during the early laps never did get better. The NAPA car struggled to grip the track and Waltrip told crew chief Derrick Finley to try anything to fix it. “It’s just won’t handle at all,” Waltrip said. “It’s like we have no downforce.” The No. 55 fell back to 37th position in the middle stages of the race. Finley threw multiple adjustments at the car in hopes that one might stick and help the handling. In the end, the only thing that helped the car was the NASCAR veteran behind the wheel. Waltrip stayed on the edge of control and used his 21 years of experience to steadily pick off positions. The “double nickel” took the checkered flag in the 20th position. Kahne won the Golden Corral 500 by holding off Mark Martin. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished third.
“I’m proud of the effort and proud of the team,” said Waltrip. “I was barely able to hang onto it all day long. But thankfully I was able to hang onto it and turn our run into a 20th place finish. If we can do that more (finish in top-20), I’ll be happy. The main thing is the team never gave up, nobody quit and everyone just worked real hard to get the best finish we could.”
The top-20 finish moved Waltrip up two positions in the season long point’s standings. He now sits in 29th place, 360 markers behind leader Jimmie Johnson. He is only 79 points out of 20th.
Next week the NAPA team heads to the high-banked Bristol Motor Speedway. The race can been seen next Sunday on FOX and heard on PRN Radio and XM channel 144 at 1 p.m. ET. Check local listings for exact times for your area.
