After coming from the back of the pack, Michael Waltrip finished 11th in the USG Durock 300. His #99 Aaron's Dream Machine spent 83 laps in the top 10, and 3 laps in the lead of today's Busch Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
The race went green at 4:18pm ET, with Carl Edwards leading the pack. Because his #99 Aaron's Dream Machine was 44th of 46 cars in qualifying, Mikey required owner's points to make the field. Auggie Vidovich's #4 and Clint Bowyer's #2 started at the rear due to unapproved changes to their car, and Mikey rolled off 41st.
Mikey was up to 37th when the first caution came on lap 2 for Denny Hamlin's spin. Kyle Busch's #5 and Martin Truex Jr's #88 also sustained damage.
After a brief caution, the #99 spotter said on lap 5, "Green this time."
Racing resumed the next time around the track, with Edwards leading and Mikey in 37th. One lap into the run, Mikey picked up two spots as Kurt Busch's #39 shot into the top spot; Edwards had bobbled. Busch led lap 8, as Mikey continued in 35th.
The #99 spotter warned of a car on the outside, and Bowyer passed the next time around the track. Lap 10 saw Mikey lose another spot to Denny Hamlin.
"Inside," said the spotter on lap 11, as his crew chief read off a 33.40 lap time.
Cale Gale passed, dropping Mikey to 38th on lap 12.
The Aaron's Dream Machine began gaining ground. One lap later, it got around Kevin Lepage for position, and on the next circuit, rounded Ashton Lewis Jr for another spot. Mikey now rode 36th. Lap 15 saw him gain another position to Jerry Robertson.
Kyle Busch's spin drew the second caution on lap 16. With the drop of the #5 of Busch, Mikey picked up 34th. He told his crew chief he could stay out but did pit for a trackbar adjustment to tighten up the car. The top three drivers stayed on track, and Mikey picked up 26th during the exchange.
"Pace car's coming off," Mikey's spotter told him as the green flag returned on lap 20. Kurt Busch led the field, with Mikey in 25th. He gained a great deal of ground throughout the following run. Getting around Jason Leffler two laps into the run advanced him one spot. The #99 picked up 23rd on lap 24 to Johnny Sauter, and 22nd the next lap to Todd Kluever. Mikey bounced up to 20th two laps later when he passed Cale Gale and Clint Bowyer. Bowyer and Gale got back around him the next time around the track.
"He's down there with you," the spotter warned. "Inside."
Lap 28 saw Mikey get around Gale once again for the 21st spot.
"Inside, clear low now, now clear," the spotter observed a couple laps later. Mikey got around Burney Lamar for 20th on lap 32.
Edwards was gaining on Kurt Busch for the top spot. He looked under on lap 37 and hung to his inside. The pair ran side-by-side, and Edwards crossed the stripe ahead of Busch on lap 38.
Meanwhile, Mikey had picked up 19th. Jon Wood was warned of Mikey and Kasey Kahne coming. Mikey passed on lap 41, gaining 18th, and then got around Kasey Kahne three laps later for 17th. Mikey picked up a spot from Paul Menard on lap 52, and three laps later, he picked up another to Reed Sorenson. He was now 15th.
Mikey bounced up to 12th as Greg Biffle pitted early for a scheduled green flag stop; Biffle was needing more grip and felt that he would lose more if he stayed on track. Dave Blaney pit the next time around the track, allowing Mikey to gain 11th.
Edwards gave up the lead for a stop on lap 64, relinquishing the top spot to Jeff Burton. Mikey picked up 10th. He was 7th on lap 66, as cars continued to make stops. Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Stewart pit, advancing the Aaron's Dream Machine to 5th on lap 67.
Jeff Burton stopped on lap 68. Matt Kenseth picked up the lead, and Mikey was up to 4th. Stewart's team struggled to get fuel into their #33, as JJ Yeley lost a cyllander.
Passing Kevin Harvick took Mikey to 3rd on lap 75. Casey Mears pit on lap 79; the Aaron's Dream Machine was up to 2nd. When Kenseth pit on lap 81, Mikey picked up the lead. Reports of a smoking car in the tri-oval came over radio frequencies, and Kyle Busch went to the garage. Gilliland was assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road.
Mikey pit at the end of lap 84. Bowyer led a lap before making his stop, and John Andretti received a penalty for a roll-away tire.
Edwards had the lead back on lap 87, after stops had cycled. Mikey was running 12th, and passing Reagan Smith on lap 90 advanced him a spot. He was back in the top 10 the next time around the track, when he got around Yeley.
The third caution came on lap 96. Tracy Hines had gone up the track in the corner, as Tim Sauter went up a bit too. Hines crunched his nose into the wall. Some drivers, including the leader, chose to pit, and Todd Kluever received the free pass back onto the lead lap.
The #99 crew chief told his driver he was thinking about what he could do to improve the car and to get up there with the leaders. He considered if they have an issue.
"I don't know. It might be my fault," Mikey replied. He mentioned qualifying.
Edwards led the lap 101, with Denny Hamlin restarting at the tail end of the lead lap in front of the race leader. Kurt Busch scrambled to the lead as Hamlin blocked the field. The yellow flag returned for the fourth time immediately on lap 102 for debris on the frontstretch. Hamlin was given back the lead lap, and Paul Menard received the free pass. The Aaron's Dream Machine was 6th.
Mikey reported that his car was "too loose right now", and that they might want to pit. "That might be this set of tires."
"Okay, let me know. I have some room to drop that left front," his crew chief replied.
Edwards' #60 led the lap 105 restart, with Mikey in 6th. Busch's #39 took to the lead immediately along the outside, and Mikey fell to 8th on lap into the run; Mears and Kenseth had passed. Reed Sorenson and Kevin Harvick passed on lap 108, dropping Mikey to 10th.
The fifth caution came on lap 109 for Elliott Sadler's #90 scraping the wall. Bobby Labonte received the free pass.
Lap 112 saw the restart. Kurt Busch led, and Mikey was 10th.
The yellow flag waved for the sixth time on lap 122. Paul Menard was turned by Denny Hamlin and spun into the infield. Jamie McMurray also sustained damage, after Stacy Compton's lapped car spun him. Dale Earnhardt Jr went to pit road, first concerned about a flat and then about liquid coming down the right front post and for smoke in the car. Tony Stewart received the free pass.
Racing resumed on lap 127. Kurt Busch led, with Mikey running 12th.
The yellow flag returned for the seventh time on lap 130; Burney Lamar's #77 got loose and spun. Many drivers made stops. Mikey asked for them to check his right front fender. "Don't be jacking with it too much," he requested. He said it had been good during the last run.
The green waved again on lap 133, and Mikey was 10th. On lap 139, his spotter warned that Bowyer's #2 was looking inside. Bowyer passed the next time around the track, but Mikey regained 10th to Junior one lap later. He was warned that the #21 of Kevin Harvick was looking inside. Harvick and Sorenson passed, dropping the #99 to 12th on lap 142.
Kasey Kahen spun, drawing the eighth caution on lap 152. He got too high in the groove and spun into the grass. Johnny Sauter received the free pass, and the leaders pit. Casey Mears picked up the lead, while Mikey moved up to 7th. The top 3 had stayed out, and the next six either took fuel only or two tires.
Racing resumed on lap 157 with Mears leading and Mikey in 6th. Four laps into the run, the #99 was up to 5th. Carl Edwards looked inside and got around, dropping Mikey back to 6th one lap later. Kurt Busch was all over him next, and moved him back another spot on lap 165. The next time around the track, Mikey was 8th; he'd lost a position to Sorenson.
Lap 170 saw the nineth caution for debris on the backstretch.
"It all gone to push," Mikey reported. His crew chief wanted to take the cap off the right rear. Mikey noted that Kenseth was just about to pass him, so he wanted to pit for right side tires. His crew chief also wanted to make a trackbar adjustment, going up on it by one half a round. The #99 was marked behind the #17 of Kenseth. Martin Truex Jr received the free pass, and Mikey made his stop. He attributed his recent problems to either the track heating up or a bad set of tires.
Mears' #42 led the field to the lap 173 restart. Mikey was 13th. Four laps into the run, he gained a spot to Dave Blaney's #32. NASCAR black-flagged Paul Menard's #11 for going too slow on lap 186.
"Keep digging," the #99 crew chief said. "You'll have 13 to go at the line."
Casey Mears won, as Mikey came in 11th.
"Good job, brother!" the crew chief praised his driver. He asked if anything had been wrong with the car that they could improve for tomorrow.
"Nothing wrong," Mikey replied. "I just got my car too tight somehow. I guess we got real loose on that one set of tires. If you think how I was at the start of the race, I was good. I was just a little free.
"That was fun," he added. "I know I could have finished a lot better." He said the car had been really tight. "It had been the way it worked out."
"Well, we got 11th out of it," his crew chief noted. "Thanks for looking up, that's all I can say. Thanks, pit crew."
Mikey commented that his motor had sucked, and that he didn't even gain when he jumped the start.
Coverage of the Nextel Cup's USG Sheetrock 400 begins tomorrow at 3:00pm ET on TNT.
