NAPA extends sponsorship with Waltrip for '09 season

CORNELIUS, N.C. -- NAPA and Michael Waltrip Racing on Friday announced the extension of one of the longest sponsor/driver relationships in NASCAR history.

Michael Waltrip

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Waltrip will carry the blue and gold colors of NAPA Auto Parts for the ninth consecutive season, starting at the 2009 Daytona 500.

"I have celebrated my greatest racing moments wearing NAPA colors and we have enjoyed some wonderful on-track and commercial success," said Waltrip, the driver of the No. 55 Toyota.

"Both of my Daytona 500 wins were with NAPA. The launch of my own race team was with NAPA. We have been together so long. It's hard to think of one without the other."

Waltrip won the 2001 Daytona 500 in his first Cup Series race with NAPA. Waltrip has put NAPA in Victory Lane six times and has 21 top-five finishes and 43 top-10s.

In 2007, Waltrip launched his own team as part of Toyota's inaugural season in Cup competition and currently fields three Cup teams and one Nationwide Series team.