Michael Waltrip's #55 Napa Dodge struggled with brake issues and a tight condition coming off corners in the Crown Royal 400, today's Nextel Cup race at Richmond International Raceway. He finished 31st, three laps down.
Mikey started today's race from the 30th position. He was the first one to speak on the team radio frequency. "Hello?" he said at 7:34pm ET.
"1, 2, 3," somebody answered.
"Perfect," Mikey replied.
"Got a copy yet?"
"Yeah, I got you." When the other person spoke again, Mikey said, "You sound good."
"Yeah, I am a god. A Shuti god."
Later, his spotter told him that his stall was close to where it had been the night before. Crew chief Larry Carter recalled that Mikey had the 36th box on pit road in the Busch Series race, and now had 37th tonight. He warned his driver about the rubber that would accumulate on pit road later in the race.
The field rolled off pit road shortly thereafter. At the time, the air was 74 degrees, with a track temperature of 86. As the pace car got rolling, the #55 team tried to determine pit road speed.
"I'm showing... 40," Mikey informed his crew. "Oh, shoot. They're all stopping. I'm showing 4800, I think." He said he didn't know why they all stopped.
The spotter said he was hearing two different numbers, and Carter commented that the 48 number sounded good.
Mikey wanted to go with 48. "I can't do 49, unless I run over the guy in front of me."
Carter told his driver to remember that tires can go away easily with the banking.
The spotter mentioned when the field was coming to one to go. One lap later, he reminded Mikey to check his belts. "Pace car's off.
"Ready? Green green green. Everybody's straight, everybody's straight."
Polesitter Greg Biffle led the first lap of the race. Mikey was 28th, and was being warned of a car looking to his inside. Biffle allowed teammate Mark Martin to lead lap 3, but took it back before the Roush racers hit the stripe again.
Meanwhile, on lap 4, Mikey lost a spot to David Stremme. The #55 spotter warned him that Jamie McMurray's #26 was coming and that he had a smoker in front of him. The #55 was 30th the next time around the track, after the #26 passed. Mikey got back around McMurray the nest time around the track.
"Still inside," warned his spotter. "Still inside by a nose.
Mike Wallace's #49 spun, bringing out the first caution on lap 8. Carter asked for water and oil temperatures.
"210 and 230," Mikey replied. "And I've got my car sliding out on exit." He voiced a concern that, if his crew chief were to fix that problem, he would spin out. He said he was losing the front end on entrance, but wanted to stay out on the track. Carter wanted to see how the car looked later, and said they may go up on the track bar. He also asked his driver to see if he wanted a rubber in the right rear. Mikey told him he wanted that rubber. He said he wanted air pressure in the right rear too, but knew he couldn't have it.
"Is it driving in okay?" Carter asked.
Mikey told his crew chief that the car was good getting into the corner and when he was in the middle, but that he "carries the front tires off the turns."
"All right, buddy," the spotter came in. "You're on one to go, one to go."
Biffle led the lap 12 restart, with Mikey running 29th.
"Everybody's straight," observed the #55 spotter. "All clear.
"Looking low. 26.
"Still inside, still there." The spotter added that Sterling Marlin's #14 was with him, along the inside line.
McMurray passed on lap 14, dropping Mikey to 30th. He was first cleared behind the #14, but then Marlin passed. Mikey was 31st on lap 15.
"Looking low," said the spotter. "Inside. Back to clear.
"Inside. Still there to your door.
"All clear," the spotter continued on lap 18. "Inside to your door, the 43."
Bobby Labonte got around the Napa Dodge on lap 19, moving Mikey to 32nd.
"Clear right there," his spotter noted, but moments later added, "Car in the wall. Caution out."
The yellow flag waved for the second time on lap 20. Scott Wimmer's #4 had cut off Jeremy Mayfield's #19, and turned across the nose of the #19 and into the wall. Carter mentioned adjustments he wanted to make.
"I'm with you, dog," Mikey responded. "Four tires." He said he didn't want to mess with the wedge or the track bar. Carter asked if he wanted a rubber. Mikey said he wanted to go two-and-two, because he couldn't see how they had time for all that. Carter determined they could go with a normal stop and could get four tires done. The spotter assured the team that he would let them know where the pace car was.
Mikey stopped under the caution. He said a couple drivers looked like they had gone over the committment line, and he wanted to know if they got penalysed. He said he wanted to be sure he understood the rule. Carter said he hadn't heard anything yet. Mikey added that the car was "real good" in the centre of the turns.
"10-4," Carter replied. "We'll see what this air pressure does for you here."
Racing resumed on lap 24. Biffle led, and Mikey ran 39th.
"It's pushing severely," Mikey commented, seven laps into the run. Four laps later, he said the car was pushing like it had in Vegas. He wanted another caution so they could add "twenty rounds of bite."
"10-4," Carter replied. "The change did nothing for you. Correct?"
"Yeah, it made it worse."
His spotter told him to try to get all that he could; the leader was about three-quarters of a straightaway behind him.
Kevin Harvick took the lead on lap 50, at the same time that Mikey passed Kasey Kahne for 38th; Kahne had lost a cyllander. His spotter warned him of a car inside.
"Larry, I don't think it was the air pressure adjustment," Mikey told his crew chief. "It's better than it was."
"The leader will be looking low," said the spotter on lap 57. "Clear, clear.
"Looking low. He's looking.
"Still there."
Mikey was still 38th on lap 58; however, he had lost the lead lap.
"Clear to the 6," the spotter said on lap 63.
"Lots of room behind that 6," Carter added.
"Inside, inside," the spotter continued. "All by himself."
Tony Raines spun, drawing the third caution on lap 66. Mikey was the first driver one lap down, and received the free pass back onto the lead lap.
"All right, boys," Carter addressed the team. "Let's... we're going to be the lucky dog here."
Mikey said the car was getting better at the end of the run. He still had an "incredible plow" at the beginning. Carter told his driver the lap times had been bad. He said he wanted to put on four fresh tires and go down on the right rear the second time. The leaders pit, and Biffle was the first one off pit road.
"We gotta clean that grill, guys," Carter told the crew. He cleared his driver to the box.
"The 19 got in the first accident," his spotter mentioned once Mikey was back on the track. He said Mayfield's #19 had been below the minimum speed earlier.
Biffle led the field to the lap 72 restart. Mikey was 37th. Harvick took the lead two laps later, two laps before the spotter noted cars checking up in front.
"Spin off four," his spotter announced. "Back it down, back it down."
Jeff Green's #66 spun in front of the field, causing the yellow flag to wave on lap 80.
Mikey said the car was a little faster, but "real, real loose." He suggested going down on the track bar, getting four fresh tires, and making a wedge adjustment, but asked what his crew chief thought.
"Where is it loose?" Carter asked.
Mikey said it was the same as before. The quarter inch down had improved it, but the car got sideways. He said they could leave it, if Carter wanted.
Carter wanted a spring and track bar adjustment.
"Sounds great," Mikey replied. Then he commented, "I think his car is on fire."
"Yup," his spotter replied.
Mikey said he thought the spotter of the car he was looking at had just told the driver about it. He commented that he couldn't see how you can burn off the breaks, because you can't use them in the corners. "It doesn't have a very good braking package, for some reason.
"Were those lap times any faster than the start?"
Carter said the times were one-tenth to one-tenth-and-a-half faster this run. Looking at lap times, he assessed that Mikey could have been running comfortably in 20th. Mikey thought, as bad as the car pushed, it wasn't getting worse. He said he thought they could get the car balanced.
"Did someone lose a gear?" he asked.
"I don't know," Carter replied. "I smelled that a while ago."
"The 17... I think something punctured their oil pan."
Carter told Mikey to drop down his visor if it were up; speedy dry was all over the track. "That 96 car was the lucky dog, and he got spun out by the 88," Carter noted. "That was a little FYI."
Harvick led the lap 92 restart, with Mikey in 34th. The yellow flag immediately waved for the fifth time two laps into the run when Kevin Lepage's #61 lost an engine. Lepage slid down the track and tapped his nose into the inside wall.
"All right, pit road's finally open," the spotter said after a few laps. "We're staying out, right?"
"Hey, Larry," Mikey addressed his crew chief. "Give me some lap times between me and the leader every now and then." He said he wanted those times when the cars were strung out. Carter said he would.
"One to go," the spotter noted. "Finally." After a minute, he asked, "Can you still hear me clearly? You keep breaking up."
Mikey told his spotter he could hear him fine.
Racing resumed on lap 104 with Harvick leading. Mikey was 33rd, and his spotter warned him that Scott Riggs' #10 car was looking low. Riggs passed, dropping Mikey to 34th on lap 105.
"One looking inside," the spotter said three laps later. "Inside, inside."
Tony Raines got around the Napa Dodge on lap 110, and Jimmie Johnson passed one lap later. Mikey was warned of the slowing #4 car on lap 114, when he passed Johnson for 35th. Mikey picked up 34th from Casey Mears on the next circuit.
"Clear three back," his spotter noted. "Nice job here."
Carter gave lap times on lap 119.
"I can't hear you," Mikey commented. "You have to do better than that." He drove outside Raines and passed the #96 for 33rd on lap 123. Getting around David Stremme one lap later advanced him another spot, but he lost it when Raines got around him again on lap 127. Johnson looked to pass him again, and did on lap 128. Mikey was 34th.
"All right, the leader's about half a straightaway back. Get in that rhythm," his spotter said. He warned his driver of a car inside on lap 136, one lap before David Stremme dropped Mikey to 35th.
On lap 142, Kevin Harvick's #29 was two cars behind the #55 Napa Dodge. Mikey lost the lead lap on lap 144, but stuck with Harvick.
"Keep him in sight," the spotter advised.
As more people got lapped on lap 152, Carter asked, "Do you feel loose?"
"Just pushing and loose," Mikey replied.
"10-4."
"Looking low, looking low," his spotter noted on lap 154. "Inside." He was warned of Wimmer's slowing #4 on the bottom two laps later.
"Nice job hanging in there, buddy," his spotter said. "Nice job."
"Maybe just pushing a little bit too much, Larry," Mikey said on lap 166. "Pushing."
Eleven laps later, his spotter warned Mikey of a car that was slowing and going to pit. As the #16 went to pit road, the #55 spotter asked, "How much longer for us, Larry?"
"About twenty laps," Carter replied.
"How much farther 'til we pit, Larry?" Mikey asked.
"Two-zero," the crew chief responded. "Twenty."
Although Mikey gained a spot when Biffle pit, he lost it on lap 181 when Jeff Green passed. He was back to 34th when Jamie McMurray made a stop.
Clint Bowyer spun Carl Edwards when Edwards' #99 was pitting, bringing out the sixth caution on lap 186. Carter wanted to go up two rounds on the track bar and adjust the left rear air pressure. Mikey didn't want him to do too much; he voiced concern that he would spin out.
"Just do wedge and leave the track bar alone," Carter told the crew.
Dale Earnhardt Jr led a lap under yellow, and Mikey pit the next time by.
Harvick led the lap 191 restart, with Biffle and McMurray restarting in front of him at the tail end of the lead lap. Mikey was 36th and still lapped. He passed Jeremy Mayfield two laps into the run, but got passed by Kyle Petty seven laps later. Mike Wallace got around the Napa Dodge on lap 203, moving Mikey to 37th.
"Uh, I'd say yeah," Mikey said on the radio on lap 316. The context is unknown. He passed Mike Wallace for 36th on lap 219.
On lap 226, Mikey went a second lap down. Mayfield got around him two laps after that. Jeff Gordon slowed and went to the garage with no power on lap 229, and the #55 gained a spot with Gordon's drop.
Kurt Busch pit with a flat tire on lap 257, allowing Mikey to pick up another spot. Busch was penalysed for pitting outside his box, and he had to serve a second penalty when he sped off pit road following his stop-and-go.
"Spin in Turn 4," Mikey's spotter announced. "Spin in Turn 4."
Martin Truex Jr's #1 had spun, drawing the seventh caution on lap 262. Tony Raines spun independently behind the #1. Carter commented that Mikey was wearing out the right rear. His driver said the car was plowing.
"So that deal made it push?" Carter asked.
"Yeah," Mikey replied. "Like a pig."
Carter wanted to put wedge back into the car and go up two rounds on the track bar.
Mikey told his crew chief he wanted to hear lap times; he hadn't heard them in a while. Carter said he would do his best, but it was a pain to do so. "But we'll give it to you, boss man." He complained that it was hard to hear when the cars crossed in front of pit road.
Mikey said he knew he was wearing out his right rear, but the car was pushing. Carter acknowledged that he'd seen Mikey "dirt tracking it".
Harvick led the lap 266 restart. Mikey was 34th. He passed Tony Raines seven laps into the run for 33rd, but lost the spot to Kyle Petty one lap later. Raines dropped him to 35th on lap 281.
"Got a big smoker behind you," the #55 spotter announced.
Truex Jr's smoking #1 brought out the eighth caution on lap 288. Mikey told his team he was loose in and plowing off. "Really not good, maybe the worst it's been all day."
Carter wanted to put the air pressure back.
"I know I'm crazy," Mikey voiced, "but listen. I turned this rear brake screw to the back, and I still don't have rear brake." He said the car was loose. It had tightened, but then got loose again. "Get creative," he asked his crew, regarding adjustments. He wanted them to make an aggressive change, and said the brakes don't make sense.
Carter told the crew not to worry about the gas, but to put the wedge back in and to put four to five rounds out of the track bar.
"Maybe Monday we can find out what's wrong with the brakes," Mikey said to his crew chief, noting that brakes have been an issue all season.
"Yes, sir," Carter replied. "I would agree."
"My main issue is what it's been from the beginning," Mikey stated. "Plowing with gas on." He said he was busting his ass. He told his crew to just keep trying, and they'd learn from this race.
Racing resumed on lap 293 with Harvick leading and Mikey in 34th, two laps down. He passed Mayfield on lap 296 and Raines three laps later. On lap 315, he lost a spot to Mayfield, and he lost another to Raines on the next circuit. He was now the last driver two laps down. At the front of the field, Earnhardt Jr was all over Harvick for the top spot.
On lap 302, Mikey said the adjustment had made the right front too stiff in the corners. He said he was good getting into the corners and in the middle, but that the car was driving straight coming off.
Harvick and Earnhardt Jr raced side-by-side for the top spot on lap 324. Kyle Busch dropped inside Earnhardt Jr's #8, allowing Harvick's #29 to take a more solid grip on the lead. As the three battled, Denny Hamlin got around them all and took the top spot on lap 331.
Four laps later, Hamlin was in Mikey's rear view mirror. Mikey went a third lap down on lap 337.
The nineth caution came on lap 347 when Robby Gordon cut down a tire and hit the Turn 1 wall.
"That was worse, Larry," Mikey commented. "That didn't work."
Carter wanted to take a pound out of each left side tire. Mikey also asked for a windshield tear-off. Jeff Burton and Mark Martin made stops before pit road opened, and earned penalties. Carter warned Mikey not to pit on the lap after Burton and Martin did, but to wait one more lap for the leaders. He asked if Mikey ever saw excessive temperatures.
Mikey said he hadn't. He had thought he saw water on the windshield, but the temperature was only at 220.
Carter wanted to put on four tires, raise the track bar, and add fuel. He said that Mayfield, Raines, and Kurt Busch were all on his lap.
Kyle Busch led the lap 353 restart. Mikey was 33rd, three laps down. At the front of the field, Earnhardt Jr challenged Kyle Busch along the inside and took the lead on lap 357.
Scott Riggs drove up and into Brian Vickers, spinning both out. Riggs drove in reverse to leave the scene and nearly ran into the #55. The tenth caution came on lap 387.
"That was better," Mikey commented. He said he would be better if they went up on the track bar. He then said they had no reason to pit, but if Mayfield did, they could.
Carter wanted to put a couple pounds in the right rear if they pit, but also said that, if Mayfield stayed out, they would too.
"If we pit, put a couple pounds in the right rear," Mikey replied.
"Gotcha covered."
"19 pit," the spotter noted. "Stay out, stay out."
The race continued on lap 391. Earnhardt Jr led, and Mikey was 31st. The yellow flag returned two laps later for the eleventh time, after Jeff Burton got into the backstretch wall. He bounced off Mark Martin a few times and spun.
Earnhardt Jr led the lap 394 restart. Denny Hamlin attempted to pass along the inside, but did not reach the #8. Earnhardt Jr won the race. Meanwhile, Tony Raines passed a couple laps from the end. Mikey crossed the stripe 31st.
Coverage of the Dodge Charger 500 begins next Saturday at 6:30pm ET on FOX.
