Michael Waltrip Racing.

Budweiser Shootout at Daytona

• Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota— started 17th and finished eighth.
• Martin Truex Jr., NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota—started first and finished 19th
• Michael Waltrip, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota — started 20th and finished 25th
 
Clint Bowyer Race Summary:  No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer finished eighth in Saturday night’s wild 75-lap Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. Bowyer overcame a variety of challenges early in the race but put himself in position to restart the race in third for the green-white-checkered finish. Although he couldn’t battle for victory in the two-lap shootout it was an impressive showing for Bowyer in his first race with Michael Waltrip Racing. The highlight came when Bowyer made a spectacular maneuver in turn four on lap 74 dodging several spinning and one overturning car to move from 11th to third place. In the early going Bowyer raced at the front of the field, but a lap 31 spin through the infield dropped him a lap behind the leaders. He returned to the lead lap on lap 55 and restarted 15th with 15 laps remaining. Bowyer and his team will now concentrate on qualifying and racing in the Feb. 26 Daytona 500. 
 
Bowyer Notes:
• Started 17th and finished 12th in the first segment and eighth in the final 50-lap segment.
• Battled overheating problems in the early going of the race.
• Spun through the infield grass on lap 31 while running about fourth.
• Moved from 11th to third in a turn four multicar accident with two laps remaining lap 74.
• Lost lap returning to pit and restarted 20th. Regained lap on lap 55.
• Made spectacular move avoiding accident on lap 74 jumping from 11th to third. 
 
Bowyer Quotes: “That was an interesting race to say the least. The pack racing is back and that gives the drivers a little more control and adds a lot of excitement for the fans – and that’s the biggest thing – the fans wanted pack racing back and NASCAR listened and delivered. We learned a lot tonight about our 5-hour ENERGY Toyota and I thought we might have had a shot there at the end, but we lost our momentum on that last restart and that was it for us. We have a couple things to work on, but I’m confident we’ll be right where we need to be for the Daytona 500.” 
 
Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary:  No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished 19th in Saturday night’s 75-lap Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver raced with the leaders throughout the evening leading three times for seven laps. It appeared the NAPA Toyota would battle for victory, but the night ended on lap 54 in a multi-car crash. Truex raced in third when the second and third place cars of Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose spun in front of him collecting the No. 56 and several others in the accident. Truex started on the pole and finished 14th in the 25-lap first segment. The NAPA team now concentrates on qualifying and racing the Feb. 26 Daytona 500. 
 
Truex Notes:
• Started first and finished 14th in the first segment and finished 19th in the final 50-lap segment. 
• Race ended in a multicar crash on lap 54.
• Led three times for seven laps and looked like one of the fastest cars in the 25-car field.
• Started first after random drawing on Friday night. 
 
TRUEX QUOTE: “This is the Bud Shootout so the guys are going to take a lot more chances here than they will in the Daytona 500. The racing was fun and I think it was a good show. I enjoyed myself. It’s just a shame that our NAPA Toyota is on the trailer. We had a good car and it was really fast. Proud of the work my guys did to come down here. We picked up a bunch of speed from last year at the plate tracks and here even testing. They did a good job and we’ll come back here this week and work hard and hopefully have a better Daytona 500.”
 
MICHAEL WALTRIP SUMMARY: No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Michael Waltrip finished 25th in Saturday night’s 75-lap Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. Waltrip raced mid-pack on lap nine when several cars at the front began spinning. Waltrip, racing near the wall, had no place to go to avoid the wreck. The damage to the No. 55 was too great to continue ending the race for the Michael Waltrip Racing team. After a mandatory visit to the care center, Waltrip spent the rest of the race in the Fox Hollywood Hotel. 
 
Waltrip Notes:
• Started 20th and finished 25th.
• Collected in a lap nine accident severely damaging the No. 55.
• Waltrip drove the No. 55 in Saturday’s Shootout & Mark Martin will drive the No. 55 in the Daytona 500.
• Martin sat on Waltrip’s pit box Saturday night with Crew Chief Rodney Childers
 
WALTRIP QUOTE: “Clint Bowyer and I were talking before the race started and he said, ‘You don’t want to be up high, because there ain’t nowhere to go.’ I just saw them start spinning and stayed high and ran into someone. It was crazy. I caught on fire and everything. I ‘Twittered’ before the race started that I was going to share the track with the greatest drivers in the world. I think it proved right there that even great drivers sometimes run out of room.”
 
RACE NOTES
• Kyle Busch edged Tony Stewart by .013 seconds - the closest finish in the race’s 34-year history.
• Marcos Ambrose, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.
• The 75-lap race saw a 10-minute break at lap 25 and a 50-lap sprint in the final segment.
• The race featured 24 lead changes among 13 drivers; ten of the race’s 25 cars finished on the lead
  lap.
• Five cautions slowed the race for 22 laps for an average speed of 128.281 MPH.
• Although there were several hard crashes, there were no injuries.
• The race lasted an hour and 38 minutes in front of an estimated crowd of 82,000.