"michaelfan@..." <michaelfan@...>
wrote:From: "michaelfan@..."
To: michaelfan@...
Subject: Michael Waltrip Fan Club
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 09:22:42 -0400


st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }


Napa Racing





SEASON-ENDING RACE PLACES WALTRIP 20th OVERALL



Homestead, Florida (Nov. 21) -- Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at
Homestead-Miami Speedway marked the conclusion of the 2004 season and the end of
Michael Waltrip’s fourth season as the NAPA AUTO PARTS driver.



Waltrip secured his 24th top-20 finish of 2004 by finishing 17th in the Ford
400, concluding the season with 10 top-10 finishes and three top-five finishes.
For the first year since he started with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Waltrip did not
win a race, ending a three-year win streak.



The team ran mid-pack on the 1-mile oval, jockeying between 15th and 22nd for
most of the day. The NAPA car found itself on a different pit cycle from the
leaders for a while, propelling the car as high as fourth. Gas mileage kept the
No. 15 team from staying on the odd pit cycle. Waltrip finished 17th, falling
one position in the final point’s race to 20th.



“Our year was inconsistent,” Waltrip explained. “We had some really great races
and had fast race cars, but did not perform up to our own expectations.
Obviously 20th is not where we think we’re capable of running, but I feel like
our team is focused enough to put 2004 behind us because we are right on the
edge of getting what we want. We survived the long race Sunday and now we have
some time to regroup and get revved up for 2005 where we’ll look for luck
combined with consistency.



The Ford 400 had 14 cautions for 79 laps and 14 lead changes. Roush Racing’s
Greg Biffle beat Chase contenders Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon to the finish
line to secure his third Cup win of his career. Meanwhile, Biffle’s teammate,
Kurt Busch, clinched the championship title by eight points over Johnson with a
fifth-place finish.



Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 23rd in the Ford 400 finishing fifth in the point’s
standings.



Waltrip joins his family in the Bahamas to relax and celebrate Thanksgiving
before returning home in time to attend the NASCAR NEXTEL CUP banquet in New
York City, N.Y. During the off-season, Waltrip will continue raising money for
OPERATION MARATHON while training for the Las Vegas Marathon which he will run
on January 30th. Testing for 2005 will begin the first of January.








Waltrip’s 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Performance Chart

Event

Start

Finish

Laps Completed
Laps LedPrize MoneyDriver Points
Daytona International Speedway

9

38

72/200

0

$246,193

49 (38th)

North Carolina Speedway

33

33

379/393

0

$92,481

113 (39th)

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

14

37

163/267

1

$100,431

170 (38th)

Atlanta Motor Speedway

15

23

321/325

0

$93, 591

264 (36th)

Darlington Raceway

39

35

181/293

0

$88,291

322 (37th )

Bristol Motor Speedway

8

10

500/500

0

$110,796

456 (34th)

Texas Motor Speedway

41

20

333/334

0

$124,981

554 (33rd)

Martinsville Speedway

37

15

500/500

0

$95,706

677 (31st)

Talladega Superspeedway

2

12

188/188

13

$112,301

809 (30th)

California Speedway

17

32

245/250

0

$101,831

876 (30th)

Richmond International Raceway

18

10

400/400

55

$110,581

1015 (30th)

NEXTEL All-Star Challenge

8

4

90/90

0

$90,400

Non-points race

Lowe’s Motor Speedway

12

2

400/400

0

$254,456

1185 (24th)

Dover Int’l Speedway

8

6

399/400

0

$123,611

1335 (20th)

Pocono Raceway

22

33

166/200

0

$89,621

1399 (24th)

Michigan International Speedway

19

10

200/200

0

$103,846

1533 (22nd)

Infineon Raceway

39

4

110/110

0

$147,646

1693 (18th)

Daytona International Speedway

2

13

160/160

57

$118,331

1822 (18th)

Chicagoland Speedway

39

9

267/267

0

$129,556

1960 (18TH)

New Hampshire Int’l Speedway

4

6

300/300

0

$110,481

2110(16th)

Pocono Raceway

11

36

100/200

0

$88,121

2165 (17th)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

28

20

160/160

0

$164,856

2268 (18th)

Watkins Glen International

18

20

90/90

0

$92,366

2371 (17th)

Michigan International Speedway

17

17

200/200

1

$97,421

2488 (17th)

Bristol Motor Speedway

36

27

481/500

7

$105,961

2575 (17th)

California Speedway

21

23

250/250

10

$115,606

2674 (17th)

Richmond International Raceway

19

13

399/400

0

$96,836

2798 (16th)

New Hampshire Int’l Speedway

16

9

300/300

39

$103,956

2941 (16th)

Dover International Speedway

5

16

397/400

0

$96,671

3056 (16th)

Talladega Superspeedway

14

25

188/188

7

$98,786

3149 (16th)

Kansas Speedway

26

11

267/267

0

$79,075

3279 (16th)

Lowe’s Motor Speedway

6

28

319/334

0

$91,991

3358 (16th)

Martinsville Speedway

30

19

500/500

0

$92,131

3464 (16th)

Atlanta Motor Speedway

40

14

325/325

1

$113,081

3590 (17th)

Phoenix International Raceway

19

17

315/315

0

$91,006

3702 (18th)

Darlington International Raceway

17

33

336/367

0

$91,756

3766 (19th)

Homestead-Miami Speedway

24

17

271/271

0

$89,881

3878 (20th)

Total/Avg.

20.2

19.2

94.6%

191

$4,245,690

3878 (20th)



FORD 400 (Race #36)



Top- five finishers: 1. Greg Biffle

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Jeff Gordon

4. Tony Stewart

5. Kurt Busch



Dale Earnhardt Inc.: 17. Michael Waltrip

23. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

32. Martin Truex



Championship Standings



Top Five: 1. Kurt Busch

2. Jimmie Johnson -8

3. Jeff Gordon -16

4. Mark Martin -107

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr -138



Dale Earnhardt Inc. 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -138

20. Michael Waltrip







Michael Waltrip Fan Club











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