Gear trouble accounts for NAPA car.

"Racing at The Rock was disappointing," declared Michael Waltrip after his 33rd-place finish in Sunday's Subway 400 at North Carolina Speedway, adding to the disappointment of his dramatic Daytona exit.

"Our car ran really well," Waltrip continued, "It raced into the top ten, and we felt like we had a shot at finishing at least in the top ten - if not in the top-five. After 360-some laps, however, the rear end gear broke, although the NAPA crew repaired it quickly and got us back on the racetrack."

Upon further investigation, crew chief Richard 'Slugger' Labbe was able to discovered exactly what had ruined the #15 team's day - and what almost ruined their team-mate's day as well.

"Teeth broke off the ring gear and got wedged up inside the gear, making it vibrate," he revealed, "Michael brought the car in and we changed the gear, drive shaft and axles and the problem was corrected. After the race, the #8 team [driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr] pulled their gear apart for NASCAR's post-race inspection and found that their gear failed also.

"It's hard to be upset with the day when we ran as well as we did," explained 'Slugger', "Our over-the-wall team didn't have a pit-stop over 13.96secs - they were on top of their game and Michael was on top of his. It's a shame that we don't have a lot to show for our efforts at 'The Rock' but, on the other hand, we proved to ourselves that for the second week in a row we raced competitively."

"The performance was there," Waltrip recalled, "so I was pleased with the way the car ran. We were particularly fast early in the race and, even after our troubles, we were the best we had been all day at the end of the race. An unfortunate parts failure cost us a chance to have our first top ten finish of the year - guess I should have made sure that part was from NAPA.

"The pit-crew did an amazing job on pit-road. There was not one pit-stop in which we did not gain positions. They are awesome and we'll get a strong finish in Las Vegas."