By Kellyanne Lynch, mikeypower.com
16 February 2006
Pit strategy bit Michael Waltrip in the second Gatorade 150, a qualifying race for Sunday's Daytona 500. His #55 Napa Auto Parts Dodge stayed on the track when most pit under one caution, and pit when others didn't later in the heat. He crossed the stripe 19th.
After the call to start engines, the #55 spotter let him know that Dave Blaney had committed to work with Mikey. The green flag dropped at 5:19pm, with Carl Long dropping to the rear of the field after missing the drivers meeting. Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon led the first two laps before Bobby Labonte grabbed the top spot.
Mikey, who rolled off 23rd of 29 drivers, reported that he "really struggles on the start."
"Still no help behind you," the spotter repeated.
"How's your car, Michael?" crew chief Derrick Finley asked on lap 8.
"Good so far," was Mikey's reply. At the front of the field, Kyle Busch grabbed the top spot one lap later. That lap also saw Mikey getting help from the #109 Miccosukee Dodge of Mike Wallace, who helped propel the #55 into the 14th spot. Shortly thereafter, he lost that help. He fell to 17th on lap 13.
"Golly, this thing's really slow with no one around me," Mikey commented. "We'll keep it up and maybe get back up there."
"Michael, how's the handling?" Finley asked on lap 15.
"Perfect."
NBC pit reporter Allen Bestwick mentioned during the broadcast on lap 18 that Mikey was up to 14th but had lost the draft. He said the #55 car could not keep up with the others.
"10 coming to give you a little push," the spotter said on lap 20, referring to Scott Riggs' Valvoline Dodge.
"Car is so slow when you go down on the bottom," Mikey commented on lap 22. "It doesn't go anywhere."
"Michael, we're gonna pit in nine," Finley announced. "Be thinking about adjustments."
Mikey took a lap before making his suggestion. "Raise the track bar a little ways," he said. "Take a pound out of the left."
Robby Gordon's #7 Jim Beam Chevy got loose beneath Mikey and wiggled up the track. He and Mikey avoided one another.
"7 goes with the 32," reported the spotter. "You have no help now."
"All right, we will pit in five laps," Finley noted on lap 26, as Mikey rode 11th. "Five laps."
The spotter let Mikey know that he was getting help from Ryan Newman's #12, shortly before the yellow flag waved.
The first caution came on lap 27 after Joe Nemechek's #01 Army Chevrolet blew an engine. Stanton Barrett lost a tire and sustained significant sheet metal damage to his #195 around the same time.
"We have an opening in and out," Finley told his driver, in regard to the upcoming stops. All drivers pit on lap 29. David Stremme's #40 Lone Star Steakhouse Dodge stalled in its box, requiring his crew to push it back to life. Mikey took on four rounds of trackbar, as Mikey had asked. He came out 12th.
"Good job, guys," Finley complimented his team. "Michael, your right front looks beautiful. Not a chord showing."
"Well, that's good news," was Mikey's response. "It was giving the feeling it was gonna blow out, but I was going to worry about it."
Kyle Busch, who pit as the leader, overshot his box and lost time backing up his #5. Jeff Gordon picked up the top spot.
Racing resumed on lap 33, with Gordon in the lead.
"Got the 7 in line with you," the spotter said of help from Robby Gordon the next time around the track. "He don't have a lot of help either.
"7 doesn't have any help," the spotter continued three laps later. "The 10 car's fallen off."
Robby Gordon went side-by-side racing with Riggs, dropping help from the Napa machine on lap 39.
"There ain't nobody behind me," Mikey commented two laps later. "Maybe they'll come soon. I need help!"
"Got a single line coming behind you," the spotter mentioned on the next lap. "10's about three back now. Give you a big push, I hope."
The push was enough to enable Mikey to catch up with the lead draft by lap 43.
"Everybody's coming with ya," the spotter observed.
Lap 43 saw Mikey moving into the 9th spot. He was running 188.3280 MPH, 1.507 seconds outside Gordon in the lead. He gained two spots one lap later.
"12 trying to take the top and leave you hanging," the spotter reported on lap 45, just before Newman's #12 Alltel Dodge got back in line behind the #55.
"How's the car handling now, Michael?" Finley asked on the next circuit.
"Gets too tight a little bit," Mikey replied. "Not bad."
Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray lined up behind Newman. With their push, Mikey advanced to 5th on lap 50.
NASCAR brought out the second caution two laps later; Dave Blaney lost a left rear tire and went spinning.
"Just don't get run over!" Mikey's spotter warned.
Blaney's #22 Caterpillar Dodge did not touch another car and sustained little damage. Mikey said he would make the call as to whether he would pit when he got there, depending on who else made stops. He opted to stay on the track and was second, behind Jeff Gordon.
"Guys, I'm sorry," Mikey expressed regret for not pitting. "Well, we have a few behind which is what I was hoping for.
"What should I have done?"
"It's one of those crapshoots," Finley commented. "It could go either way. I think you did the right thing.
"If you think about it, you got the guy with the highest IQ staying behind you," Finley added, referring to Ryan Newman in the #12.
"Yeah, I know," Mikey replied. "That guy's smart! Have you talked to him?"
Racing resumed on lap 54.
"Got the 12 and 5 still in line with you, bud," the spotter mentioned two laps later. One circuit after that, he said, "12's not getting much help from the 5 right now."
Mikey advanced to 6th with three laps to go. A train of cars lined up to his outside. With two laps to the scheduled finished, Mikey had no help. He fell to 11th.
"41 trying to get to you," the spotter said of Reed Sorenson's Dodge.
"Big time spin behind you!" the spotter exclaimed.
The third caution came out just before the white flag. The field had gone three wide. JJ Yeley went up at the same time that Travis Kvapil went down, and the pair squished David Stremme between them.
"We gotta pass everyone we can to try to get a better starting spot," Mikey stated. "We're gonna put on four and see what we can get. He said the car wasn't handling well, as he was marked 10th. "I got pinned to the bottom. There was nothing I could do really.
"Needs a rubber in the right rear," he continued. "Might be fun to play with the trackbar. Y'all wanna get two? I don't care. You can make the call. I can't see anything. Spotter can make the call. See what we can get for tomorrow."
"I don't see anyone else coming," the spotter observed.
Finley opted to make a stop anyway. "Four tires, guys." The #55 pit. "The car shaking really bad?"
"Yeah," Mikey replied. "It does when you put on new tires. It did it before, and I just drove through it."
Mikey returned to the track 21st, and prepared for a green / white / checkered. He picked up two spots before the stripe. He finished 19th, and Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag.
"I don't know if it was a mistake to pit," Mikey commented on the cool-down lap. "But we learn. It doesn't matter. You make your pick."
Be sure to watch Mikey in Sunday's Daytona 500! Coverage starts at 1:30pm ET on NBC. He'll also compete in the Hershey's Kissable 300 on Saturday. Coverage begins at 1:00pm on TNT.
