Notes & Quotes - David Reutimann MWR Media Tour Event - January 20,2010

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing

What are your thoughts about the 2009 season and your first Sprint Cup Series win?

“I think we turned a lot of major corners and overcame a lot of major hurdles to actually get to that point. I’ve still got some work cut out for us, but I feel really good about what we have going on at Michael Waltrip Racing. With the progress we made last year, we just need to keep making that kind of progress and those kind of strides to get us a little bit better.”

What has changed to give you confidence as a driver?

“I think we continue to refine our cars -- our cars made all the difference for us last year. There were a lot of different things, but our cars -- we showed up with a better piece when we unloaded. That in itself was a major, major difference. It’s not like we got done at the end of the season and covered them up. They’ve gone back, they’ve cut things apart and redone things. They’ve reworked the front clips and done different things to continue to make the cars lighter, which is always a struggle. I feel like with the engineering support we’re getting from within and from Toyota Racing Development (TRD) -- again, TRD has given us more horsepower and that’s always a plus. With the addition of Pat Tryson (Martin Truex Jr.’s crew chief) and Martin Truex (Jr.) bringing a whole new perspective to our organization and looking at things a little differently, I feel like we’re a little bit farther ahead. Plus, on top of that -- every year since I’ve been Cup racing I haven’t had the same crew chief the following year -- this year I have Rodney Childers, so we won’t have to try to figure each other out like I have in the past. I’m welcoming that -- it’s going to be a nice change.”

Will it be different without Michael Waltrip on the track every week?

“Michael (Waltrip) still wants to race. If Michael gets in the right situation, he can still win races, hands down, no doubt in my mind or anyone else’s in this organization. Hopefully, he’ll be able run the races he’s going to run this year and more, be able to accelerate and add some more sponsorship to run more races. It feels weird knowing -- that when we’re all out at California that Michael Waltrip probably will not be in the field with us, that’s a little bit different but hard to take because Michael is my buddy and he’s been awfully good to me and treated me awfully well. I want to see him happy. I know it was his decision to step back, but I know he’s going to miss it and we’re going to miss having him there.”

What do you think about NASCAR saying they’re going to let you guys drive?

“As a rule, you try to take pretty good care of drivers around you. You try to take care of one another. Sometimes, you mess up and you don’t take very good care of them. The main deal, -- what you have to do is put some of the responsibility back in the driver’s hands and try to look out for one another a little bit. NASCAR was in a no-win situation with those rules anyway -- they couldn’t win. At the end of the day, if one driver runs over another one, then that guy is mad at the other guy, but at least they’re not mad at NASCAR. The fans are asking for this, they’re asking for less policing of the racing and I think NASCAR is listening. I don’t think any other sport can say they’re doing this. There is no other major league sport that listens to the fans the way NASCAR does and makes changes. They asked for double-file restarts -- they got it. There’s a lot of things they’ve asked for and I think NASCAR is trying to accommodate them.”

Have you gotten over the disappointment of not making the 2009 Chase?

“Yes and no. If you look back at it, you’re really disappointed in the way things went. But, at the same time, it’s a new year, new season with some new sponsors on board, you have to put that kind of stuff behind you. For me it’s difficult because we came so far and accomplished so much. Getting in the Chase and running well would have been a really good end to the year to come as far as we did, but it didn’t work out for us so now it makes you that much more hungry to go out there and try to do what we were supposed to do last year.”

What do you think of possibly adding a spoiler back to these race cars?

“I think it’s probably a step in the right direction. I think it’s a positive. Nobody really knows how it’s going to make the cars feel or handle. We’ll have an opportunity, I’m sure to maybe test a little bit -- I don’t know this for a fact, but I would think NASCAR would let us go to a mile-and-a-half race track and try it. Get a little bit of a head start on what it’s going to be like. They’re not just going to throw us out there and say, ‘Okay, we’re changing the wing, see what happens.’ They’ll have a good idea about how the car is going to act and we’ll have a better idea when we go to the first race. I feel like it’s going to be a good addition.”

What areas do you need to improve upon for 2010?

“Pit road, there were times we struggled on pit road and lost a lot of time. You know how hard it is to make it up. That hurt us some. Me, as a driver, me personally making mistakes, that certainly hasn’t helped us. There’s sometimes that the feedback with Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and I -- I was asking for something and he didn’t quite understand how much I was asking for. That’s all part of having a new crew chief. We finally got past that. There were sometimes when our communication wasn’t what it was, not because he wasn’t listening to me or I wasn’t speaking clearly, but when I’m yelling and it’s loose, sometimes Rodney would make a small adjustment when he needed to make a big one or sometimes it would just be the opposite. That all comes down to him getting to know me as a driver and knowing what I’m saying when I’m saying it. When you talk about Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief) and Jimmie Johnson, Chad can probably tell by the tone of Jimmie’s voice how much he needs. Rodney and I hadn’t had that opportunity yet. Now, for the second year, we’ve got that. We had meetings during the off-season, we talked about a lot of things we could have done better. Rodney did a phenomenal job. If I had my choice to go down pit road and pick anyone, I’d still pick Rodney Childers -- he's the right guy for me.”

How much will Martin Truex Jr. and Marcos Ambrose push you to be better?

“They will push me a great deal. It’s very important to have teammates that push you. You want competition within, but you don’t want the competition to undermine what you’re trying to build. You have those deals where Marcos (Ambrose) is trying this or they’re doing this, that or the other thing. You want to do it a little bit better, you want to step up your game. It’s important to have it within your organization -- drivers that challenge one another to get better. Also, at the same time, having drivers that try to help, i.e., Marcos Ambrose tried to help me on the road courses. The guy spent a lot of time with me trying to help me do things. Hopefully Martin (Truex Jr.) will also help me, I think he will. There are situations where I can help those guys. If we do that, then at the end of the day we could be one, two, three -- as long as I’m the guy that’s in the one spot, I’ll be happy in that area.”

How has Toyota progressed since entering NASCAR?

“Since I’ve been driving in a NASCAR series, I’ve basically never been with anybody but Toyota. I’ve been with them since their first race and testing the Truck to Nationwide to Cup. I’ve been with Toyota the whole way and seen the growing pains. We had part failures and have all those things that you have as you’re growing and building a program around something. It’s been neat to see the persistence that they’ve had and the work ethic that they’ve had. Motor engineers and the guys that build the motors, coming and sitting down with you and explaining to you what they’re doing and what they’re doing to rectify a situation. I don’t think any other organization has that. Toyota is very in the forefront. They don’t make a lot of noise, but they keep you informed and always refining things. Those guys never, ever quit. Every time you look at a Toyota motor, something seems to be moved or different, trying to get the weight lower and do all the things they do. They’re always thinking about what to make, how to make their mouse trap a little bit better.”

Were you apprehensive to start with a company like Toyota?

“I think a lot of people don’t realize that Toyota is a very American company. If you’ve been on tour with them, and been to the truck plant in (San Antonio) Texas and the places in (Georgetown) Kentucky, where you can see it’s basically a big part of the fabric of America. Going in, NASCAR fans don’t like change a whole lot. They like the same thing -- they like what they’ve seen for a lot of years. I think there was some resistance early on. In the Truck series I noticed a little bit and as time has gone on, I think fans realize that Toyota is not trying to take over. They’re just trying to race and be a part of the program. NASCAR has allowed them to do that. I think they, and us at Michael Waltrip Racing, are happy to be a part of it.”

Do you review your races on tape or do you have a photographic memory?

“Sometimes we do watch the races, but for the most part we have a pretty good idea where things weren’t going like they should have and where we did things wrong and should have done them different. We generally go over those things in the Monday morning meetings, when things are still pretty fresh or sometimes on the plane flight home. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and I will sit together and (say) ‘This is what happened, this is what I was feeling when we changed that and it didn’t help. We went in the wrong direction.’ Rodney just writes things down and the next time we go back, you don’t make the same mistake if you did make a mistake. Sometimes you just try things and it doesn’t work. It’s not necessarily a mistake. It’s just the car didn’t react to it.”

What do you think about the addition of Pat Tryson to MWR?

“I think it’s important for any organization, a multi-car organization, to have drivers that challenge one another. We have Marcos Ambrose who is a separate team, but the same thing, we all work extremely well together so it’s just like he’s a teammate, because he is. I think it kind of raises the bar, so to speak, and I think the main thing is having a different crew chief that will look at things a little differently and Pat Tryson has won races with a lot of different kind of drivers, drivers with different backgrounds and mentalities. He gives a whole, fresh look to our organization and I think that helps us look in a different direction and find speed where we weren’t looking before.”

What do you think about Marcos Ambrose?

“That guy is phenomenal. Marcos Ambrose is just a talent. Everybody says he’s a road course guy, but you take him to Bristol and he runs good. You don’t just take anyone to Bristol and they run well, that’s a tough race track. He does good at the speedways. The road courses, obviously he’s one of the guys to beat. He’s very, very close -- it wouldn’t surprise me to see Marcos Ambrose win some races this year. It wouldn’t have surprised me last year, the way he was running. He’s an extremely talented guy and I learned a lot from him.”

What do you think of the progress Toyota has made?

“The thing that can be aggravating about the process is that sometimes it’s slow because they are so methodical about testing things. They want zero failures. They’re not going to give us something -- even though you hear about this new cam configuration or whatever it is they’re working on, it’s going to be better but they won’t give it to you until it’s been tested thoroughly. As a driver, you’re like ‘Wow, that’s going to be better, give it to me like now. It’ll be okay.’ That’s the mentality you have, that’s not Toyota mentality. They want zero failures when it rolls out there. That’s what you get. When you get something, it’s been proven to produce and perform or it won’t go on the race car. That’s just how they do it.”

What do you think of racing in Daytona?

“I love it because I consider that to be my home race track. Being from Florida and going over and watching races and being part of that. Early on I was trying to figure out how I was going to get from the stands to the infield without having to jump a fence or hide in someone’s trunk. That was pretty unique. I love going to Daytona -- that place is very special to me. It’s a tough old race track. It’s not the most forgiving place you go to, but it definitely has character and is one of the more cool places we go.”

What do you think of the expectations others have for your season?

“I think it’s a blessing and a curse. Early on, it was like ‘Wow, the 00 car finished in the top-10.’ That was a big deal. I noticed toward the end of the year if we were running in the top-10, it was like ‘Good job.’ They expected that. That’s how it should be, they should expect that. A bad race for you needs to be a 12th-place finish, that needs to be a bad day and anything else than that needs to be a miserable day. That’s how you have to do it, because that’s how the guys who are in the Chase are doing. That’s what the 48 (Johnson) is doing. Jimmie Johnson ran 12th one day and you would have thought that was the worst thing that ever happened. It wasn’t that long ago I would have been doing a back flip, an impression of Carl Edwards after finishing 12th. It’s kind of strange how your perspective changes as you have more success.”

When was the first time you dreamed of winning the Daytona 500?

“I can probably remember running my first go kart and thinking about winning at Daytona. I was probably around six or seven years old thinking about that. My dad was a dirt car racer, so all I wanted to do was be like my dad. Daytona seemed like, although it was only a couple hours down the road, it seemed like an awful long way away.”

When did you feel you could someday win the Daytona 500?

“Not until I sat there and strapped in for my very first Daytona 500. In the Truck Series and Nationwide Series I got to race at Daytona, but the Daytona 500, that’s something altogether different. Going down there and having to qualify in and do all those different things. Even when we made it in the show, this still doesn’t feel real until they give the command to start engines. ‘We’re going to at least start the Daytona 500. We don’t know what else is going to happen, but we’re at least going to start it.”

NASCAR TO REPRESENT MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING LICENSING BUSINESS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 13, 2010) – NASCAR and Michael Waltrip Racing announced today a new partnership in which NASCAR will become the sole licensing representative for the race team. The agreement includes all driver marks within the Michael Waltrip Racing team, including David Reutimann, Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip, as well as young future stars Trevor Bayne and Ryan Truex.

With this agreement, NASCAR’s licensing business, headquartered out of Charlotte, N.C. at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, will utilize its assets to grow the licensed product business and provide retailers with new and more comprehensive product options for the MWR team, including track merchandise opportunities, e-commerce channels and national retail outlets.

“The depth of NASCAR’s licensing group is only matched by its collective experience,” said Ty Norris, Vice President and General Manager of Michael Waltrip Racing. “The licensing and merchandising world is dramatically changing for teams and drivers, and this partnership has positioned MWR properly for the future. Our on-track success has led to off-track demand. This strategic move will increase the offerings and value to our fans.”
NASCAR will also provide retail development, new business, marketing, public relations and media assets in expanding the licensed product portfolio that includes apparel, collectibles, novelty, gifts, headwear and other non-traditional licensing concepts.

“NASCAR is very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Michael Waltrip Racing. We feel confident that we can leverage our resources to provide them with a comprehensive solution that addresses all of their licensing needs, including a complete merchandise and retail strategy, as well as additional exposure for their team and sponsors,” said Blake Davidson, managing director of licensed products for NASCAR. “There is a ton of opportunity with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010, especially given Michael’s historic career and their strong driver pool of David, Martin, Trevor and Ryan.”

About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for one of North America’s premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport – holding 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S. and is the No. 2 rated regular season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and 20 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.

NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,) four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. Also, part of NASCAR is Grand-Am Road Racing, known for its competition on road courses with multiple classes of cars. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City and Toronto.

About Michael Waltrip Racing From its 140,000-square-foot shop in Cornelius, N.C., Michael Waltrip Racing fields Toyota Camrys in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Waltrip, David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. as well as a NASCAR Nationwide entry for Trevor Bayne and a Camping World East Series entry for Ryan Truex. The team also maintains JTG-Daugherty’s No. 47 Toyota Camry driven by Marcos Ambrose. MWR began more than a decade ago as a modest family-owned NASCAR Nationwide Series team in Sherrills Ford, N.C. and has posted five NASCAR Nationwide victories. In 2007, MWR served as a flagship team for Toyota Racing Development, USA’s entry into both NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide competition. Reutimann earned MWR its first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in May 2009 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. MWR announced the formation of Diamond-Waltrip Racing with majority owners Gary and Blake Bechtel for the 2010 season. The NASCAR Nationwide team will help develop young drivers for MWR’s Cup effort.

Waltrip To Race In The Dubai 24 Hour Sportscar Race

CORNELIUS, N.C. – With more than 1,000 races in a quarter-century’s worth of NASCAR experience, you would think it would take a lot to get Michael Waltrip excited about an off-season race.

But Waltrip can’t wait for his first foray into the world of international sports car racing when the two-time Daytona 500 champion competes in the fifth-annual Dubai 24 Hour sportscar race at the ultra-modern Dubai Autodrome on January 14-16.

“I love racing cars,” said Waltrip. “The Daytona 500 is the ultimate race for a NASCAR driver to win. But how cool is it to go to Dubai on the other side of the globe and race a Ferrari? I never thought I’d have a chance to be part of such a unique experience.”

The Ferrari Waltrip refers to is a Ferrari F430 GT2 of the AF Corse team co-owned by Rob Kauffman who will be sharing driving duties with Waltrip, Marcos Ambrose, Rui Aguas and Niki Cadei.

Kauffman is also a co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing which fields NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries for Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann. The Waltrip team has a technical alliance with Ambrose’s team JTG Daugherty Racing.

Waltrip and Kauffmann tested the Ferrari at the ACI Vallelunga circuit in Italy. Success at the test led the pair to review options for sports car races around the world before deciding to race in Dubai.

The 3.5-mile track at the Dubai Autodrome is one of the most modern in the world; it is also one of the most challenging, as it has a combination of high-speed straights and technical corners.

The race expects to start about 80 GT and touring cars.

“I have always thought of myself as a pretty good road racer,” said Waltrip owns two top-five finishes in NASCAR road races. “But, this is different. This is an endurance race. This is 24 hours, not the normal three-hour NASCAR race.”

Race fans can track Waltrip’s progress during the race on his Twitter account MWR55 and watch video updates at www.youtube.com/24hafcorse

“I can’t Twitter while I’m competing during a NASCAR race, but I bet I can during this one,” said Waltrip who plans to keep fans in touch with in-race updates during driving breaks. “While I am on the other side the globe, I don’t plan on leaving my fans hanging.”

Track action starts on Thursday, Jan. 14, with practice, qualifying and night practice. The 24-hour race will start on Friday Jan. 15 at 2 pm.

Waltrip Prepares for Dubai 24 Hour Endurance Race

By Jeff Gluck (special contributor to MWR.com)

Michael Waltrip, meet His Highness the Sheikh.

Those aren’t two people who usually run in the same circles, but there’s a chance such an introduction could take place next week when Waltrip travels to Dubai to race sports cars.

Yes, the Kentucky kid who became a two-time Daytona 500 winner and NASCAR team owner is about to make his first foray to the Middle East.

And he couldn’t be happier about it.

“I can’t wait to see how it all goes,” said Waltrip, his voice sounding enthusiastic and excited over the phone. “I’m just really honored to get the chance to see it.”

Waltrip, along with fellow NASCAR competitor Marcos Ambrose, Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner Rob Kauffman and two sports car regulars, will enter the GT2 class of the 24 Hours of Dubai sports car race in a Ferrari.

How exactly Waltrip came to drive a Ferrari in the United Arab Emirates is a story that began, predictably, far from the NASCAR world. After all, there aren’t too many Sprint Cup regulars who have ever even been to the Middle East, let alone raced there.

In the spring of 2008, Waltrip traveled to Italy to visit Kauffman, who had bought half of MWR and become the team’s co-owner the previous fall. Kauffman, who splits his time between various countries, showed Waltrip a couple Ferraris from the sports car team he fields in Europe.

“We took ‘em out driving one day and I said, ‘We should race one of these suckers,’” Waltrip said. “They were so fun to drive. I guess there’s a speed limit, but if you’re driving a Ferrari they don’t seem to care how fast you go. It’s really funny, because people get out of your way. It’s like people respect that car.”

So when it came time to talk with Kauffman about Waltrip’s 2010 plans – including the semi-retirement from Sprint Cup racing – Waltrip brought up the idea of driving a Ferrari again.

Kauffman agreed to let Waltrip give it a try, so the 46-year-old returned to Italy last September. He left Richmond and flew to Rome for a two-day test at the Autodromo di Vallelunga.

“I basically had one goal on the plane on the way over there, and that was I wasn’t the one that crashed the Ferrari,” Waltrip said. “The funny part was, the race car driver in me started coming out after four or five laps and I forgot my goal of trying not to wreck the car and I started trying to see how fast I could go. That’s pretty typical, I guess.”

But Waltrip didn’t wreck the car – he said he never even spun out or went off the track – and posted competitive times with a factory driver by the end of the test.

Waltrip said he was amazed by how scientific and technical the cars were. Drivers can adjust brakes and traction control from inside the vehicle, and a quarter-turn of adjustment makes a difference where it might take three or four turns for a similar change in a Cup car.

At first, he said they considered running the Rolex 24 at Daytona. But Dubai seemed like it would be a “unique experience,” Waltrip said.

“I have my eyes wide open,” he said. “I really don’t know what to expect, from something as simple as how practice is formatted or how much time we spend at the track.

“I’ve been studying the race track – I wanted to make sure I knew where all the corners were. I felt like that would probably be pretty important.”

Waltrip is also excited about a trip to the Arab world – an area of which he said he knows little but has been curious about.

"As far as going to that country and learning about their culture, I’m really excited about it," he said. "I’m just going to learn and look. I picked Dubai because of the country itself, but after our test and how good Rob did in his race, I’m really looking forward to trying to win. That would be the ultimate."

If this race goes well, Waltrip said he and Kauffman could even try the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he said would be "amazing."

Not that this trip isn't amazing in itself.

“One of the Daytona 500 winners is going to get to compete in a Ferrari in Dubai,” Waltrip said. “I don’t take that responsibility lightly, and I’m going to do my best to represent the NASCAR world with trying to win the race.”

Waltrip Ends Season With 30th-Place Finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Michael Waltrip closed out his final full season of driving the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota with a 30^th-place result in Sunday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The two-time Daytona 500 champion finished 32^nd in the owner points standing. It guarantees his new driver, Martin Truex Jr., a starting spot in the first five races of the 2010 season.

“Unfortunately we struggled all weekend with our NAPA Toyota,” said Waltrip who qualified for Sunday’s race in 39^th position. “It’s a little sad. We just kept working on it. My crew chief Gene Nead made some good calls and we were able to stay on the lead lap until the last lap or so. I am happy that we hung with it like we did, but sad at the result.”

The opening laps of the race saw the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota run extremely loose. The first opportunity to pit came under green flag conditions on lap 50. Waltrip entered the pits in 34^th position for a service that included four fresh tires, wedge and the addition of fuel. He returned to the track to find the car still on the loose side. The challenge caused Waltrip to lose a lap to the leader, Kevin Harvick on circuit 61.

Waltrip’s teammate Marcos Ambrose, who passed Jimmie Johnson to take the lead for four circuits, brought out of the first caution after a tire went flat. The NAPA pit crew used the unfortunate opportunity to work on the car. They made wedge, air pressure, and packer adjustments. The No. 55 returned to the race in 38^th position.

Crew chief Gene Nead kept Waltrip out on the track after the second yellow flag was thrown on lap 101. The strategy put the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota back on the lead lap. The strategy paid off as the race was slowed eight laps later. During the caution, Waltrip was on pit road for the addition of spring rubbers on lap 110. The race went back to green on lap 112 with Waltrip in 36^th and Kevin Harvick in the top spot.

At the halfway mark, fans were treated to a heated battle between Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart. It resulted in two on-track altercations. The first saw Montoya having to go behind the wall for repairs after Stewart caved in his fender. It cut down Montoya’s tire and sent him in the wall to bring out a caution on lap 116. Then as Waltrip was pitting with the frontrunners, several cars got bunched up when entering pit road. Elliott Sadler did not see what was happening and crashed hard into the back of the No. 43. Waltrip sustained minor damage to the nose of his car. The NAPA team fixed the nose and made a toe change on laps 118 and 120. Waltrip returned to the track in 32^nd place.

The next 20 laps saw the NAPA Toyota respond to the changes. This time is was extremely tight. Another chance for Nead to get a better balance for Waltrip happened on lap 155 after Montoya spun out Stewart. The driver of the No. 42 was cited for rough driving and penalized two laps. The rest of the field was on pit road for service. The NAPA crew removed spring rubbers and changed the track bar and wedge. Waltrip restarted in 31^st and Denny Hamlin was the new leader.

Two more services for Waltrip were completed on laps 196 and 216. The NAPA Toyota was extremely loose on the final run, but Waltrip liked the feel of it in comparison to the tight condition. The No. 55 driver was able to pick up one more position before Hamlin took the checkered flag to claim his fourth victory of the season. During Hamlin’s victory lane interview, he congratulated Waltrip for his 25 seasons in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and appreciated the positive influence he has had on his career.

Meanwhile, the night’s biggest winner was Jimmie Johnson who finished fifth. He made history by winning his fourth straight championship. It also put his car owner, Rick Hendrick in the records books. Hendrick is the first owner to have three drivers finish in the top-three positions in the points standings.

The top-10 finishers of the race were Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and AJ Allmendinger. As for Waltrip’s teammates, David Reutimann and Ambrose, they finished 15^th and 35^th.

Crew chief Pat Tryson who will lead the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS team next season guided his team to a fourth-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings. Truex’s top-10 finish at Homestead resulted in his 23^rd-place finish in the standings.

The NAPA AUTO PARTS team will now focus on getting ramped up for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. All the action begins at Daytona Speedweeks for the 52^nd running of the Daytona 500 on February 14. Both Waltrip and Truex will be behind the wheels of NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyotas. The Great American Race will air on FOX, MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Unofficial Results:

http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2009/36/data/results_unofficial.html

Lap By Lap:

http://www.nascar.com/2009/races/lapbylap/11/22/lap.by.lap.homestead/index.html

Ambrose reflects on first full season in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heading into season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Marcos Ambrose has his backpack packed for his journey from America to Launceston, Tasmania, Australia as soon as the checkered flag falls on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. For Ambrose, his season has somewhat exceeded his JTG-Daugherty Racing team’s expectations as they currently sit 18th in the championship standings with four top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

“On Monday after Homestead, I have a 3:50 p.m. flight to Australia and I can’t wait to get home because my family is already there,” Ambrose said. “It’s just been a great year for the No. 47 Little Debbie® JTG-Daugherty Racing team in the Cup Series. We didn’t expect that we would be in position to finish in the top 20 in points because we were just hoping to finish in the top 30,” Ambrose said. “We have exceeded our expectations and we have been very competitive. We have seven top-10 finishes, but were so close to having more. We had at least three 11th-place finishes that with a bit of luck would have been top-10s. But, it doesn’t really matter. We’ve done plenty this year.”

Ambrose’s flashes of brilliance occurred at a variety of tracks, not just road courses. In addition to finishing third at Infineon Raceway and second at Watkins Glen International, he finished fourth at Talladega Superspeedway, 10th and third at Bristol Motor Speedway, sixth at both Pocono Raceway and Daytona International Speedway. In 35 starts, he’s racked up 15 top-15 finishes.

“Our team is growing and our results this year prove that,” Ambrose said. “I’m a lot more confident as a driver and secure in myself that I can do the job. All those things will play a part. You can’t guarantee you are going to move forward. It’s a challenging world we live in. We are very focused on understanding that not every step is going to be forward and sometimes you may take a step backwards.”

The Australian driver knows there are no guarantees in this business, but he feels his JTG-Daugherty Racing team will be able to build a strong case for a spot in the Chase in 2010.

“We want to win a race and make the Chase,” Ambrose said. “Sure, it’s a lofty goal, but I think it’s achievable with our No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota if everything goes well. I think we are worthy of it and can do it. We know we gave away 300 points before the Chase started and we were about 200 points behind in the end.”

Before he looks ahead to 2010, Ambrose is ready to tackle Homestead-Miami Speedway with his No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota and close the book on the season. Last year, Ambrose completed 222 laps and finished 42nd after sustaining damage to his machine in the 267-lap event at the 1.5-mile oval.

“We were in a crash," Ambrose said. "I’m hoping to end the season on a better note this time. I'm ready for a fresh start. It’s been a long year and I’m pretty tired. I’m not starting to wilt, but I feel the effects of the season. I’m looking forward to refreshing my mind and body by getting back into training and forgetting about going in circles for a while. I’m looking forward to joining my family in Australia and starting a new year in NASCAR.”

Live coverage of the 267-lap event on Sunday, November 22nd begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Marcos Ambrose, No. 47 Little Debbie(r) Phoenix Preview

PHOENIX, Ariz. (November 11, 2009) – Sunday’s race was a heartbreaker for Marcos Ambrose as he fell from second to 15^th-place when the No. 47 Little Debbie® Chocolate Cupcakes Toyota ran out of fuel in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Still the JTG-Daugherty Racing driver ran in the top-five, which gives him confidence heading into the final two races of the season starting with Phoenix International Raceway.

“We have Phoenix and Homestead (Miami Speedway) left to make an impression,” Ambrose said. “As a group, we’ve come so far and we’ve got a lot of speed. Looking back at Texas, I take some responsibility because I didn’t slow down enough to save fuel. We ran out with a lap and a half to go. It was stressful and a hard call. It depends on a lot. How much fuel did they get in on the last stop? Did they get it full or not? Were the reads during the day accurate? Also, speeds picked up at night and we burned more fuel with the denser air. A lot of things were going on and a lot of guys ran out of fuel at Texas.”

Ambrose has the luxury of sharing information with two teammates David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip through the technical alliance at Michael Waltrip Racing that has been extended for two years. Reutimann ended up being in the same boat as Ambrose in Texas. Because the two are in similar equipment and have similar driving styles, they are able to work together and provide feedback to the teams.

“David is just a great guy and in my opinion he is just not rated like he should be because he’s one of the best drivers I’ve ever seen,” Ambrose said. “I’m in very similar equipment to him. We talk with each other and we share knowledge with one another. We are becoming quite good friends. You need to have that to have a successful team. You’ve got to be friends to work well together. Mutual respect is important. When I first came in to work with the MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) guys, they really didn’t know what I was all about. As time has evolved, we are working better together and we have a better bond. We trust each other, which is important on and off the track. I think it is working out great for us.”

It’s obvious something is working right for the JTG-Daugherty Racing team. Heading into Phoenix, Ambrose has four top-five, seven top-10 and 14 top-15 NSCS finishes. The Australian driver also came close to his first career victory at Watkins Glen International with a runner-up finish following a victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series the day prior.

“As a group we’ve come so far,” Ambrose said. “We’ve gained a lot of speed and I’ve gained a lot of confidence and knowledge. We do need to learn to win as a team and we’re not quite there yet. We have got to turn a good team into a winning team and that’s just eliminating mistakes. We are not crashing cars. We are finishing races when we can. We are seeing where we are lacking as a team and we are going to work hard on that in the off season.”

Ambrose has two shots left at victory in his first full-time season as a Cup competitor before the off season.

“To win at Phoenix or Homestead would be really something,” said Ambrose, who finished 14^th at Phoenix in April and 18^th last fall. “Phoenix is a bit of a challenge. We’ve ran in the top-15 there, but I don’t think we have had the car we needed to mess with the frontrunners. We are taking a different setup this time with more grip. Hopefully, we can hit it like we did at Texas. You just never know in these races.

“Phoenix is a tough track,” Ambrose continued. “It’s rough and an older track. It’s got a few cracks that can mess up the handling through Turns 3 and 4. We want to run well there and finish our season out strong. In the mean time, I don’t want to ruin Jimmie Johnson’s race that’s for sure.”

Live coverage of the event on November 15^th on ABC begins at 2:30 p.m. ET. MRN and Sirius XM Satellite will also carry the event.