Michael Waltrip finished 41st in the Coca-Cola 600, today's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. His brakes failed on lap 117.
Mikey started the race 43rd in a Dodge Intrepid that he had bought from Derrike Cope. His #55 Napa Dodge Charger had not qualified for the race, and although the purchased Intrepid bore the #55 as well as Mikey's sponsors, the accrued owners points went to the #74 team.
The first thing he said over the radio pre-race was, "I want to say hello."
"I got you loud and clear in the spotters' stand," his spotter replied.
"All right," the driver returned. "That's all."
Crew chief Joe Shear Jr said he could hear Mikey too.
"I hear good," was Mikey's response.
Shear told Mikey to make sure his brake fans were on, whether or not he needed them, as soon as he got rolling.
"Okay, Michael," his spotter addressed him. "Your first pace car's rolling. This time by.
"Okay, your pace car's starting to roll now."
Shear asked if Mikey could hear, and the driver said he could. "We can run thirty laps conservatively," the crew chief noted. he said they'd see where they were at after this first set, and again reminded Mikey to run the radiator fan as it was warm out today.
"All right, bud," the spotter observed. "They're at pit road speed when you get caught up."
Mikey determined pit road speed to be at 3800. Both spotter and crew chief repeated this figure.
"Okay, one to go when you get back around here," said the spotter.
"Did we change anything on the car after last practice?" Mikey asked.
"That would be a negativity," Shear replied. "We checked it over and we changed the seat." He said they had left the soft spring, and commented that new tires would go fast here. In the middle of the crew chief's talk, the spotter let the driver know that he would look ahead, as Mikey likes.
"All right, bud, coming to the green," the spotter noted. "Have a good ride."
His crew chief said he had rubbers he could put in the car later. "Have a good day," he added.
"Your pace car's gone," the spotter informed his driver. "Be ready... Green flag, green flag, green flag. Looks good. Nobody's coming."
Polesitter Scott Riggs led the field to the start of the race at 5:44pm ET. Mikey was running 43rd when a wreck erupted.
"Right in front of you! Stay low! Stay low!" As Mikey manuevered around the wreck, his spotter added, "Good job."
Shear told the crew to get ready to pit the car and top off the fuel tank, mentioning that they had nothing to lose.
The first caution came on lap 2 after Robby Gordon spun Dale Jarrett in Turn 3. Jarrett backed hard into the wall. He fell out of the race, and his departure advanced the #55 to 42nd. Mikey's spotter led the Napa Dodge high through the debris.
"I guess Robby Gordon wasn't listening to Mark Martin," Mikey commented on the radio. The crew chief agreed, and reminded his driver about the radiator fan.
"I've had it on, and it's 220," Mikey replied. Coming to one to go, he pit.
"Second gear, 3800," his crew chief reminded him.
"All right, here we come," the spotter added. "38 and second."
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Stop." After a handful of seconds, Shear shouted, "Go, go, go, go, go!"
"All clear," noted the spotter. "3800. All right, Michael. You're coming to the green. Pace car in Turn 3.
"Pace car's off... Stacking up a little. Ready? Green flag, green flag, green flag."
Riggs led the lap 5 restart, with Mikey running in 42nd. Three laps into the run, the Intrepid rounded Robby Gordon and Tony Raines for 40th.
"Leader 30.50," Shear noted. "31.30." He continued to give times throughout the run.
"Inside," the spotter said on lap 12. "Two of them. Clear all around."
Mikey got around Kenny Wallace for 39th on lap 13, but lost two spots to Robby Gordon and Tony Raines the next time around the track.
"I think we need to come off that right front air by 54," Mikey commented on lap 18.
"10-4."
The spotter warned that the #01 of Joe Nemechek was slow on the bottom. Mikey passed him on lap 19, which put him in 40th. Once again, Shear told Mikey to make sure his fans were on.
"They've been on," the driver answered. "Water temperature's 240."
"Okay. Just watch it."
The spotter noted that the leader was at the line on lap 24. Three laps later, he said, "Got one car between you and the leader. Still half a straightaway." Lap 31 saw Mikey as the first driver on the lead lap. Three laps later, he got lapped. He had just unlapped himself when the next caution came.
Tony Stewart lost a tire and slammed into the wall, drawing the yellow flag for the second time on lap 35. Mikey's spotter led him through the scene. Stewart was transported to a nearby hospital, where a broken bone was found in his shoulder.
"Okay, I think my trouble is..." Mikey trailed off. "I've got 240 water and 280 oil, so we need to cool it down some." He described the car as "vibrating it off the world", and asked for a bite or a trackbar adjustment. He wanted to go a minimum of 54 on the right front. Shear said he would go down two rounds on right rear spring, take off tape, and put on tires and fuel. Mikey said he wanted to stay on the track and get five bonus points for leading.
The leaders pit.
"So far, you're in good shape," the spotter said. "The only one is this 78. I think he and the 01 is a lap down."
Shear told him that Kenny Wallace's #78 was actually the free pass car. Ken Schrader and Elliott Sadler slowed to pit, but faked and returned to the track in front of the Napa Dodge.
"They acted like they were going to pit road," Mikey protested. "They weren't maintaining a reasonable speed."
"He's right, Joe," the spotter voiced. He said those cars had gone below the white line. Shear said he would talk with officials. Soon, Mikey was told that NASCAR was putting the #21 and #38 in front of him.
"So it's okay to act like you're going to pit?" Mikey asked. "I did that at Bristol, and they penalised me. Why the hell is it okay today?"
Mikey pit after leading a lap and was 39th when Riggs led the lap 40 restart.
The third caution came on lap 49 when Ryan Newman spun. Mikey was up to 38th at the time.
"Right in front of you," the spotter said. "Stay low, stay low. Good job."
Mikey drove along pit road to avoid the #12.
When he pit with the leaders, his spotter noted, "ten away."
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Stop. Give him some water, guys. Give him some water."
The spotter said they had plenty of time. Shear told his team to pull out fenders and give Mikey something to drink.
Mikey may have run over a cone when dodging onto pit road. Shear asked the crew how the valance looked, and after a pause, told his driver they'd said okay. The spotter said he didn't see smoke, and asked if the tires were okay.
"They're fine," Mikey replied. When Shear asked him how he liked the raised trackbar, Mikey said he needed to run it before he knew how it worked.
Jeff Gordon led the lap 53 restart. Mikey ws 38th, but lost a spot four laps into the run.
"I don't know what's wrong with it," Mikey said during the next circuit. He said the front end locks up. His car wiggled on the low side, and slid up the track. Nemechek's #01 passed on lap 60, dropping Mikey to 40th.
"Inside. Nice job!" his spotter said. "Inside 78. After him, you're all clear."
Shear asked what the car was doing now.
"Just what it's doing from the start," Mikey replied. He said the car locked up in the front end in the centre of the turns.
"Wrecking in Turn 2, Turn 2," his spotter warned. "Stay high."
Kurt Busch spun, bringing out the fourth caution on lap 68. Shear suggested adjustments, and Mikey expressed that those plans were a good idea. He said he liked that somebody was thinking outside the box, insitead of just raising the trackbar. He told his crew chief the sway bar felt "loaded up" or "chained" in the turns. He said, once he came off the turns, he was fine. He told his team to do anything; it was almost wrecking.
"Don't think you can do anything wrong," Mikey added.
When Shear made suggestions, Mikey said he needed a pound out of the left front too. The #55 pit, and Shear told the crew to get the driver some water. Mikey asked that he get water every time he pits, mentioning that it was "awfully hot" in the car. Shear agreed, saying the crew shouldn't have to wait to be told.
Jimmie Johnson led the lap 71 restart. Mikey was 36th.
"Pace car's gone," the spotter noted. "Stacking up a little bit. Stacking up." One circuit later, he added, "Inside. Two more. After the 78."
Travis Kvapil, Scott Wimmer, Elliott Sadler, and Kenny Wallace all passed. Lap 88 saw the #55 getting back around Wallace's #78 for 39th.
A fan blower on the track led to a debris caution on lap 93. As the yellow flag waved for the fifth time, Mikey said the car was "killer loose". He wanted the track bar all the way down on the right and to close the right front a little more. "I'm just going to spin out."
Shear called for four tires, air pressure, and right rear adjustments. He also wanted to close the left front shock and to make that track bar adjustment. Shear asked if Mikey wanted room for both shocks. The driver said he wanted them both closed. Mikey made his stop when pit road opened.
As Mikey returned to the track, Shear asked Mikey why he was the only one below the white line, and not above it.
"I don't like the rest of these people," Mikey answered.
Shear replied with an, "Okay."
Mikey was 32nd when racing resumed on lap 97, with Scott Riggs' #10 leading. Jeff Green took the top spot one lap into the run, as Mikey lost a position to Terry Labonte. The #55 fell to 36th the next time around the track. Brian Vickers hit the wall on lap 100, but continued. Mikey lost a position to Sadler on lap 103, but regained 36th by getting around Tony Raines.
"Inside, the 7," his spotter warned. "By himself."
Robby Gordon's pass moved the Napa Dodge back to 37th.
Mark Martin took the lead on lap 111, but Green took it right back the next time around the track.
Paul Menard's #15 spun, bringing out the sixth caution on lap 113.
"Spin off of 4," Mikey's spotter warned. He said there was a lot of smoke.
"It's doing the same," Mikey noted. He said the tires vibrate through the centre and backs off in the turns. He felt that no adjustments had worked yet, and that he needed something else. He wanted a rubber in the left rear to help drive up off, or he wanted something that hadn't been done yet. Shear went with Mikey's suggestion, and the leaders pit.
"Seemed like it's not doing as bad as at the start," Mikey commented. He said it was still doing hte same, and that his car had never felt like this before. Tires chattered in the centre, and nothing significantly addressed the issue.
Martin led the lap 116 restart, with Mikey in 36th.
"Outside," the spotter noted. "After the 38."
Brian Vickers passed on lap 117, moving the #55 to 37th. The spotter noted a great deal of smoke coming from the Napa Dodge.
"What happened?" Shear asked.
"Whatever I explained happened to the front end just happened," Mikey replied. He was on pit road on lap 119.
"Something's wrong with the front brake,a nd something happened up there," he said. He spent a while on pit road with the hood up before going to the garage. Shear told the crew to put hte car up on jack stands on lap 124 to see if there was anything they could do to fix it. The Napa Dodge never returned to the track.
Tune in to the Neighborhood Excellence 400 presented by Bank of America next week at Dover! Coverage starts Sunday at 1:30pm ET on FX.
