Michael Waltrip finished 23rd in the New England 200, today's Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway. His #99 Jani-King Dodge was two laps down.
The crew conducted a radio check at 3:06pm ET.
"Anyone here me?" Mikey asked. Both crew chief and spotter answered, and asked if he could hear them.
"Yeah, I hear everybody good," replied the driver.
His crew chief told him to run all the blowers today any time he ws told to.
"How many laps can we go before we need gas?" Mikey asked. His crew chief told him between 83 and 88.
Cars rolled off pit road at 3:10. Mikey would start 31st.
"Hey, Todd, do you hear me?" Mikey asked. "Did you hear me say how many laps?"
His crew chief said he had. Mikey said he hadn't heard any of those transmission. He determined pit road speed at 48 and 2nd. Mikey told his crew chief to be loud; he couldn't hear him well, and hadn't heard him at all at first.
His spotter drew Mikey's attention to the cones. He said the line to pit road was early, and to remember the stall had a black Jani-King sign.
"Okay, that's a good idea," Mikey said. He told his spotter he would just be looking for the #99.
The spotter noted that the pit box was five after the start / finish line.
The start of the race was delayed for spring rubbers on the track. "Won't go this time," his spotter said."
His crew chief told him he had done what he said with the track bar, and they would see how it worked.
Mikey told him to put air in the right rear if the car was pushing and move it as low as possible. He said not to cheat but to be on the edge.
At the start, the spotter warned to look out for "synchronised spinning" and said the start would be slow. He told Mikey who was inside and outside him, and Mikey told him to concentrate on what was ahead and not to talk about the rest.
The first caution came out almost immediately when Tracy Hines spun a car. Peyton Sellers' #131 received the free pass.
His spotter told him when pit road opened, but said he was sure they were staying out. Mikey was 28th at the time. He was told to put on his fans after the yellow flag period.
"Yes," the crew chief replied.
Lap 6 saw the restart, with Kyle Busch's #5 still leading. Mikey was all over Kenny wallace's #22 for position. David Green's #27 peeked inside on lap 9, but then slid back. Mikey was told to put on his brake blowers. Green again took a look on lap 11, and passed on lap 14. Now, Stacy Compton's #59 was looking; he got around Mikey on lap 15. Mikey was now 30th.
"It's tight off," Mikey reported, "And how about some fucking lap times or something?"
"I thought you didn't want to hear nothing," his crew chief replied.
Mikey said he didn't want to hear if someone was inside. "I didn't say anything to you," he told his crew chief. About the car, he added. "Thing's a piece of shit."
On lap 19, his crew chief said Mikey had run a 30.95. The leader ran a 30.10, and the rest of the leaders were in the 30's and 40's.
Clint Bowyer's #2 was in the lead on lap 21. The #99 crew chief continued to read off lap times.
"Should have left air out of the left rear also," Mikey commented around lap 24.
His crew chief said they could do both left sides, and Mikey agreed with the call. The crew chief continued to read off times.
On lap 32, Mikey peeked inside Mark McFarland's #88, and Stephen Leicht's #90 was able to catch him.
"I'd be embarrassed if I were Ray Evernham, and put my name on this motor," Mikey commented on lap 36.
"10-4," his crew chief replied. "Hopefully, we get a caution here."
On lap 39, the spotter said, "The leader is about five cars back. Keep coming.
"Three cars back. Three cars back."
His crew chief said the leader was the #2, and the #90 was behind him on lap 40. Bowyer looked low and put Mikey a lap down one circuit later. Leicht's #90 was looking inside for position.
"31.40," The crew chief gave the time on lap 44. "Leader running 30.70's."
"Yeah, I see him," Mikey replied.
"We'll work on this thing," his crew chief promised. He said the crew would make the car better, and noted they had a long way to go. He continued to read off times.
"Inside by a nose," the spotter said. "Clear."
Mikey stayed ahead of Leicht, but on lap 50, Leicht's #90 looked low again. The first and second place cars passed Mikey next.
Debris brought out the second caution on lap 155.
"Do everything we said," Mikey said. He wanted to raise the track bar to where it was yesterday. "The motor so bad, it's amazing."
His crew chief wanted to go four rounds on track bar. He told Mikey to turn off brake blowers and to leave on other blowers. The leaders pit, and Mikey was in the next time around the track.
"4800 to the line," his crew chief directed. "Five past the start / finish line."
When Mikey stopped, his crew chief told the team to pull the left front fender.
After he left, the driver asked, "Why was there no one there with the left rear tire?" He said he saw the changer on his knees for thirty seconds with no tire.
His crew chief explained that the tire had hit the jack man's leg.
Mikey said he thought they would be prepared for him to swing around the #01 in his box, but then said he shouldn't say that.
His crew chief said they had taken out air pressure from the left rear, and put in air in the right rear. The left front pressure was now at the minimum, and they had gone four rounds on the track bar. He added later that he had found build-up on the left front, and he hoped the changes fixed that.
The yellow flag had come out for a glove on the track. Kenny Wallace reported having seen it come from the #33 car. NASCAR brought in the #33 and found that driver Aaron Fike was missing a glove. He was held two laps.
"He looks like Mister Ed," the spotter commented, after relaying this information to Mikey.
Racing resumed on lap 61, with Bowyer in the lead.
The third caution came two laps later, and Regan Smith's #35 came to the pits with a crunched nose. Mikey's spotter noted smoke from John Andretti's #10, and said he thought Andretti had got into Smith. Todd Kluever received the free pass.
The crew chief said Mikey had gained two spots on the stop, and Mikey told him the car was still the same so far. The crew chief directed MIkey to run the engine fan.
The spotter warned that the free pass car was coming along the outside, was blocked, but was then coming again.
Bowyer led the lap 66 restart. Three laps into the run, Kevin Harvick's #21 was all over the #2.
Meanwhile, on lap 71, Mikey passed Kenny Wallace. His crew chief told him to make sure the brake blowers were on now.
"30.70," he said on lap 73. "That's your fastest lap."
A couple laps later, Greg Biffle's #16 passed.
Mikey said the car was "a little bit better" on lap 76.
The fourth caution on lap 179 was Peyton Sellers' spin. SOmeone had turned him, and Kertis Davis' #0 got into Sellers' #31. Hines was also involved. Mikey's spotter said the #0 had almost flipped, and that he didn't know how Hines' #12 got involved.
"Plowing," Mikey reported. He said the car was not really any better.
The crew chief said they had two sets of tires left, but Mikey wanted to stay out for track position and see if they could go for the free pass. His crew chief said the #66 got it this time, the #88 was next in line, and Mikey was three back.
The pace car brought the field down pit road to avoild the wreckage on the front stretch.
The #99 crew chief said to look at engine temperatures, shut the brake fans, and pu on engine fans. He told him the leaders were pitting, and then that the #88 ad #77 in front of them stayed out.
Bowyer led the lap 85 restart.
Lap 86 saw the fifth caution. Jason Leffler had gotten spun when he slowed for the battling #21 and #20 of Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin.
Mikey said, if they got the free pass, he would close the right rear shock, raise the track bar, and put more air in a tire too.
Bowyer led the restart again on lap 89.
"Turn off engine fan now," his crew chief told him.
Mikey went three-wide to get ahead of cars off Turn 4. In Turn 1, a number of cars wrecked. Denny Hamlin had gotten into Reed Sorenson and spun him. Jamie McMurray and Stephen Leicht were also collected.
The sixth caution came on lap 91, and Mikey got the free pass.
Mikey told his crew to work on the car, do the adjustment with the rear shock, and put on four tires with air pressure changes. He didn't want to do the track bar adjustment.
His crew chief said they would probably get the extra man to bring him a water bottle.
Racing resumed on lap 94, with Bowyer leading. One lap into the run, Mikey got around Auggie Vidovich's #4. Two laps later, he passed Todd Kluever and Tim Sauter. In the middle of the following lap, he passed Biffle and Mike Wallace. His spotter warned him that Danny O'Quinn's #50 was slow in front of the #99. On lap 99, Mikey was on Kenny Wallace's rear fender, and he passed him half a lap later.
"Make sure your brake blowers are on," his crew chief said. "Good job."
The spotter announed they were at halfway.
Mikey dropped inside the #50 on lap 101 and got around him on the next lap.
"Plowing," Mikey commented on lap 106. "And the motor still sucks."
His crew chief said they would "give it another stab" the next time they pit and would free up the car.
Mikey was gaining on McMurray on lap 110 and passed him.
"It's plowing," Mikey reiterated. "But it's plowing nothing like it did earlier."
His crew chief said he could see that, considering the improving lap times.
Mikey passed Smith's #35 on lap 114. Smith was lapped, and he had no nose on his car.
Mikey began losing spots within the next few laps. Mike Wallace and Greg Biffle looked inside on lap 116, and both passed.
Mikey asked when the leader had to pit.
"We can go to 176," his crew chief told him.
"When does the leader have to pit?" Mikey repeated.
"Within 20 laps," the crew chief responded.
Mikey told him he needed to find out what the leaders were going to do, not just what their team would do.
On lap 129, the crew chief said the leader would be pitting in approximately ten laps and was about half a straightaway back.
"Leader in your mirror," the spotter said on lap 136. He said the leader did need to pit on lap 140.
Bowyer dropped inside on lap 138 but then slid back. He passed Mikey and put him a lap down before the end of the circuit.
His spotter noted that Todd Kluever was on their lap and was right behind them. Kluever's #06 was inside on lap 141.
The crew chief noted the #2 and #60 teams were putting on their helmets on lap 142. Green flag stops began when Boywer pit on lap 143. Carl Edwards' #60 became the new leader.
The seventh caution came on lap 144, after Mike Wallace spun Aaron Fike's #33. Bowyer received the free pass.
The crew chief called to raise the track bar a bunch and to work on the right rear.
Mikey pit, and the crew chief told the team to look at the right rear fender.
Carl Edwards' #60 was now the leader, and Leffler was sent to the rear of the field on the lap 149 restart.
Danny O'Quinn's #50 was in the wall, and Jamie McMurray's #64 had slowed. Mikey needed to pit to pull out the fender, and he reported that the tow had been knocked out.
"Do the best you can," his crew chief said. "47 to go."
His crew chief told him on lap 155 that he was still in 21st and to keep digging.
On lap 160, Mikey was cleared around Leicht. He was cleared around Kertis David one lap later.
"Leader's running in the 60's," his crew chief noted. "Good lap."
On lap 173, his crew chief said they had a whole group of people on the same lap if they could get a caution.
Mikey passed McMurray on lap 176, and Hines on lap 179. The #77 looked inside ten laps after that.
By the time ten laps remained in the race, the crew chief commented that the new left sides had looked like they had just given up.
McMurray was slow on the bottom on lap 193, and Bowyer passed with six to go. Carl Edwards went on to win the race.
The crew chief said he had appreciated the effort, and that he knew the car wasn't good. His spotter said the #1 of Mike Wallace had slammed Mikey into the wall earlier, just so they know.
Mikey commented that the car had pushed too much before getting off the radio.
Tune in tomorrow to the Lenox Industrial Tools 300. Coverage starts at 1:30pm ET on TNT.
