Michael Waltrip ranked 41st in second Nextel Cup practice at New Hampshire International Speedway, in preparation for tomorrow's Lenox Industrial Tools 300. His best lap was a 30-254-second circuit at 125.894 MPH, and he was 0.750 seconds behind session leader Reed Sorenson.
Practice began at 8:40am ET, and Mikey was on the radio four minutes later. Because there were too many cars on the track, he couldn't take out his #55 Napa Auto Parts Dodge yet. Mikey asked what kind of times they were running. Crew chief Joe Shear Jr said Sorenson had the fastest lap with a 29.90.
"All right," Mikey replied.
Shear noted that fastest lap times were coming on lap 6 or 7.
With a hole after Elliott Sadler's #38, Mikey took to the track at 8:48am. He ran a 30.46 on his first lap.
"00 is a half back, trying to look inside," the spotter noted.
Mikey reported that the front end wouldn't turn off the end at all, and said his water temperature was 190. He felt that the front end traveled better than it did yesterday.
"Yeah, we got the valiance good all the way around," Shear replied. He said they needed to work on the rear of the car. He also wanted to move the track bar and change the right rear shock.
Mikey wanted to put the other half back while the car was up in the air. "Did I travel the front bar, or did I stay straight?"
Shear said it stayed about the same, and with Mikey in it, it was approximately half more.
Mikey added that the car was pushing in the centre and pushing off. "Hey, um, Tom, are you listening?" he asked. He asked the crew member what would be the possibility of making a shock with more stack and more shift.
"You got a copy, Tom?" Shear asked, but he didn't get a reply.
"And I'm talking on the compression side," Mikey added. He said they could try different things and see what happened.
"I don't mind being your test dummy," the driver added. "And if I say anything that don't make any sense, you just tell me."
"About 40 minutes left, guys," the spotter noted. "4-0."
Mikey was back on track at 9:02am, and was cleared behind Travis Kvapil's #32. He turned a 30.56-second lap.
"That made it loose," Mikey reported. He said it was loose and still pushing bad, and it had no front grip. He wanted to lower the right front track bar. He said the track bar was just too high.
Shear told the crew to get travel, and that they would lower the track bar and look at the front springs. He later asked to take out wedge. When Shear talked about all the adjustments they'd made, Mikey told him just to get it all figured out.
The #55 was back on track at 9:12am and was told to follow out Jeff Green's #66. Shear read off a 30.62, 30.59, and a 30.66. He said the computer didn't give him a lap time on the last one.
"My brakes are starting to vibrate more than they should," Mikey reported. He said the balance was good, so he didn't know why he was so slow.
Shear told him to bring in the car and get tire pressures.
Mikey said it felt like both front shocks could use rebound; the front end wasn't staying down. Shear said they were building more shocks.
"It was pretty good, but it was still slow," Mikey added. He said the car didn't stay down, the rebound was too much, and there was nothing he could do. He said that it would be important to know what the travel and springs look like.
At 9:18, Mikey returned to the track. He came right back in with brake issues. Shear said they weren't using the left front of the car enough. Mikey noted that the temperatures weren't a problem, and they needed to find out what was.
"Make sure the front end is not doing all the stopping," Mikey advised.
He was back on track at 9:26am. He turned a 30.63, 30.44, 30.38, 30.35, and a 30.34.
Mikey said the carberator was better, and the car "didn't feel quite as crappy on the bottom". He said everything was better, and he wanted to go for time sheets. Ten minutes remained in practice.
Mikey asked his crew to lower the track bar and put "a whopping shock" in the right rear.
Shear asked if he could feel the frame hitting the track hard.
"Yeah, and it doesn't matter," Mikey replied. He wanted to go another step on the front rebounds. "Let's quickly get a right rear shock and do a track bar adjustment and have a plan for the next practice."
"Outside, outside," his spotter warned, as Mikey left his box and almost made contact with Jeff Burton's #31. He was back on the track a 9:32am. He was right back in.
Shear wanted to take out wedge.
"You don't know what it'll do until you try it out," Mikey replied. "How much time, Ross?"
The spotter said five minutes remained in practice. Mikey commented they were leaving something off, but they had no time. Shear said to make the change.
With approximately two minutes left, Mikey came back on the track and turned a 30.45-second lap.
Mikey reported a 200 and 230 for water and oil pressures. Practice ended at 9:40am.
