Coca-Cola 600

May 28, 2006
Concord, NC

Derrike updated us for this weekend. He said, "We are getting ready for Charlotte. The team has had a week off to prepare, and it looks like we will have a fresh Dodge engine from Joey Arrington. We have not had the opportunity like most all of the other teams to have some test time on the new pavement at Lowes Motor Speedway. We will only have approximately an hour and a half to get it sorted out. We are taking the same car that we had at Darlington. I am hoping that we can get the car to run fast enough with the setup that we are starting with. A lot of the other teams seem to have this coil binding process perfected which allows the car to keep the same attitude around the entire racetrack. We just have not had the chance to test anywhere that would enable us to get a feel for what we need to do for that. I am really excited about getting going! We want to make it four in a row, and then prepare for Dover and Pocono. I am really pleased with our efforts to this point so we just need to keep the intensity and stay focused and continue to make good decisions. I will update you on Friday after qualifying. Wish us luck."

In the first practice, Derrike was 45th fastest with a time of 30.600 and speed of 176.471.

In qualifying, Derrike produced a fastest lap of 29.696 and speed of 181.343. At the end of the round, the #74 Dodge was in 39th position. But because of points and such, NASCAR put Derrike in 43rd position.

After qualifying, Derrike said, "We had a great evening! We worked very hard trying to get the car to come around. We were very tight and were having trouble with getting the front end to grip. But we made a number of adjustments before qualifying and with the cooling of the track somewhat I was able to drive the car pretty hard. I actually overdrove the car and made it push a bit, or I think it would have gone faster yet. There was certainly more left in the car. Joey Arrington tuned the engine up before qualifying and we put more gear to it and it responded well."

Over the night, since Michael Waltrip did not make the race, he bought his way into Derrike's seat of the #74 Dodge. This means that Derrike will not be driving the car and most likely the #74 Dodge will be converted into a #55 NAPA Dodge.

Derrike was to start the race in 43rd position until Michael Waltrip bought the ride.

Derrike had this to say Saturday evening. "As you know by now everything was finalized this afternoon about 4pm. Both crews worked together to get Michael and the car in a position to make both practice sessions. I was not there to watch practice and am waiting to hear from my crew chief on how things went. NASCAR mandated that our engine had to stay in the car to start the race. So, that is all there is. This was purely a business decision on Ray McGlynn's part to further our team for future races that will hopefully allow us to race more and be more competitive. I look forward to Dover next week!"