Waltrip Posts Seventh-Place Finish

Atlanta, GA. (March 21) - Michael Waltrip qualified in the back and drove to 
the front in the Golden Corral 500 at
Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday. Waltrip started 37th and after avoiding a
ten-car pileup on the first lap, was in the 17th position by lap five.
Despite lacking grip in the front tires on entry to the turns, Waltrip
continued to pick of positions, climbing into the top 10 by lap 25. 

 

"We needed to be a little better entering the corner," said Waltrip.
"Once I got in there I could run with anybody."

 

During the course of the 325-lap event, Waltrip fell out of the top 10
on pit road on two separate occasions. During a stop on lap 161 a pit
road speeding penalty forced Waltrip to restart at the tail end of the
longest line, in 15th position. Waltrip muscled his way back into 11th
by the next stop. The caution came out while Waltrip was running back
inside the top 10 on lap 233, and a lengthy pit stop forced Waltrip to
restart 15th. Again Waltrip answered the challenge by driving up to 9th
position by the next stop.

 

"This team has been working so well together and with a lot of respect
too," said Waltrip. "I have been on both sides of the fence and these
guys trust me and believe in me. They know that we can be successful
together. The team is right on par. We lacked one little notch
today of where we needed to be."

 

During the closing stages of the event the Chevy was pretty much
dialed in, requiring only minor air pressure adjustments during the
final stop on lap 295. The team gained a position on pit road on
that final stop and Waltrip claimed two more spots in the final 30 laps
to finish the day in the seventh position. Waltrip's seventh-place
finish gained him eight spots in driver's points.

 

"It feels like we knocked the monkey off our back and went in the
direction we needed to go.  All these tracks coming up are our kind of
tracks.  We'll be testing in Texas and in Martinsville over the next
couple of weeks so that we can keep up the top 10 finishes."

 

Elsewhere on the track Carl Edwards edged Jimmie Johnson in a photo
finish at the line to earn his first NEXTEL Cup victory one day after
posting his first Busch Series victory at the same track. Greg Biffle,
Mark Martin, and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five. Despite having a
strong car, DEI teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in 24th after going a
lap down early in the running. Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip occupy the 26th
and 27th positions respectively in NEXTEL Cup points.