A shock broke in the #55 Napa Auto Parts Dodge this afternoon at Pocono Raceway, resulting in a 40th-place finish for Michael Waltrip in the Pennsylvania 500. He finished five laps down in today's Nextel Cup event.
Mikey started today's race from the 39th position, with Denny Hamlin on the pole.
The crew did a radio check at 2:02pm ET. The spotter talked about changing his radio from yesterday.
"Talk to me, Ross!" said crew chief Joe Shear Jr. They talked about who would be spotting where.
"You know all about the lap 20 competition yellow, right?" Shear asked. He said NASCAR would not let them get fuel earlier than that.
"I don't know what the wind does here, but it's really, really windy," noted spotter Ross. "It's blowing down the front straightaway."
"That's good. We should be hauling tail down Turn 1."
When the call came to start engines a couple minutes later, Ross said, "All right."
"One, two," were Mikey's first words on the radio.
"I got ya."
"I hear you good," Mikey said after a minute.
"Does anyone besides Dave hear me?" Mikey asked after another minute.
Shear told him he heard him loud and clear. He said he had put new brake pads on the car, so he wanted Mikey to work those and to put on all the blowers.
"In between the 19 and the 25 on pit road, I'm calling that two stalls in between there," the spotter announced.
"Okay," said Shear. "10-4."
"All right, pit crew boys. Y'all know the drill. We're going to pit on lap 20." Shear told the team to make sure all the lug nuts were straight and to enjoy the day.
The team discussed pit stall location.
"Whenever you get caught up, get pit road speed," Shear requested.
Mikey told them to talk to him on the front stretch; he couldn't hear them other places so well. "I basically got five grand and second.
"Yeah, that might be a little aggressive. 4800 and second."
The spotter warned about the wind being hard on the front straightaway and of Robby Gordon's #7 car.
"The 22 should have a good reading. He's right there by the pace car," Mikey commented. Dave Blaney's #22 was twelve rows deep.
"22's got 4800 also," Ross noted. He told his driver somebody was dropping to the rear for missing driver introductions. He then said it was Robby Gordon, but NASCAR was giving him his spot back.
"Pace car's pulling off. Ready? Ready? Green flag, green flag," Ross said at 2:16. "Start's good. The 32's outside.
"Another one's outside. You're all clear, right there.
"One outside," Ross continued on lap 2. "All clear."
Lap 3 saw Mikey fall to 40th. While Dale Jarrett dropped, Travis Kvapil and Scott Wimmer gained on him. Denny Hamlin held the top spot.
"Looks like it doesn't have enough lead in the front shocks," Mikey commented. He said the car had felt like it was handling well but was starting to push.
"All right, 10-4," Shear replied.
"It might not be that," Mikey said on lap 5, after passing back Wimmer for 39th. "Let me just see."
Passing Kevin Lepage took Mikey to 38th on lap 6. He passed Stephen Leicht's #90 for another spot on lap 7.
"57.30 with a pass," Shear reported.
"Might just be too much right front air," Mikey said a lap later.
"10-4," was his crew chief's response.
"88 half back, looking at you," Ross noted in regard to Dale Jarrett's #88 UPS Ford.
Elliott Sadler fell a few spots, allowing Mikey to pick up 36th on lap 9.
"57.30. You're about half a second off the 10th place man," Shear reported.
Ross warned Mikey that the #88 was inside. Jarrett passed on lap 10. Meanwhile, leader Hamlin had put a four-second lead on the rest of the field.
"58 flat," Shear noted.
"Think I'd like to take some air out of the right front if I can," Mikey told his crew. He also wanted to lower the trackbar.
Shear requested water and oil pressures on lap 12.
"205, 220. 70 on the oil pressure," Mikey answered.
"Maybe some more out of those left sides?" Mikey suggested on lap 14. "I don't feel anything goofy at all."
"10-4."
"That ought to be a pretty good lap right there," Mikey commented.
Shear told him it was a 56.70 and said Mikey was better than the three or four cars in front of him.
Mikey was cleared by Leicht for 36th on lap 15.
"58.25 with a pass," Shear noted.
"That's fifteen laps on your tires there. We'll be pitting on the competition yellow in five laps," Shear told his driver. He gave the lap time too.
"57.86," Shear gave the time on lap 17. Hamlin was six and a half seconds ahead of Brian Vickers in 2nd.
Mikey reiterated that he wanted less right front air pressure and to lower the trackbar.
"We're going to take care of you in a couple of laps," Shear assured him. "Hang in there."
"Well, I am," Mikey replied.
"Okay."
"58.10," Shear said on lap 21.
"40 car closed up to half back," the spotter reported.
"It's starting to push worse," Mikey commented.
Ross told him the caution was coming.
The competition yellow came out on lap 21.
"Good lap. 58.10."
"This thing either needs... the front springs are too hard, I'm afraid," Mikey commented. He told his crew to take off rebound on right front or "make some changes in other directions".
Shear wanted to change all four tires air pressure and drop track bar. Mikey wanted to drop it four rounds. Shear agreed with the call.
"Michael, when you get around here, the 25 is going to be in his box," Shear warned.
"Okay. I'll count seconds too. That's what I usually do," Mikey replied.
"Yeah, he's in second place, so there's a good chance
"I'll say he's gone, judging by the quality of these cars in front of me."
Shear asked if Mikey needed a drink. "Or are you good to go? Where are we, Ross?"
"We're between 2 and 3," the spotter replied.
"Do you need anything to drink?" Shear asked.
"Nah, I'm good."
"Checking up a little bit, if you see them," Ross warned.
The cars pit.
"10 away," the spotter said.
"5... come on in here, come on in. 4, 3, 2," Shear guided his driver to his box.
"Out to the wall, out to the wall, come on," Ross said. "Picked up one, guys. Good job."
"Yeah, it might have been a mistake on the trackbar, but if it is, we'll fix it," Mikey commented.
Shear said they would have plenty of time to fix it if it were. He reported no cambre issues on the tires, and he said the rubbers looked good. Mikey asked if there were more wear on the right front. Shear repeated the earlier information and said he would update him once they analysed tire pressures.
"Yeah, they're real hard. I don't think we'll have... I like this feeling better than I have all year. They're real hard," Mikey commented. He said he felt "a steady stopping power."
"Denny Hamlin is about a second and a half faster than the second place man," Shear said. He told him he wouldn't even bother telling Mikey how far off the car was from Hamlin's #11.
Racing resumed on lap 25. Jeremy Mayfield rear-ended Mikey on the start.
"Checking up in front of you," the spotter warned.
"I'm wrecked bad," Mikey reported. "I clobbered the wall. I don't know what I've got."
When asked about how bad the car was, Mikey said, "Can't tell. Have I got smoke?"
"No, no smoke," Ross reported, "and NASCAR says you look good on the outside of the track."
"Yeah, it's weird," Mikey replied. "Feels kind of normal, and I clobbered the wall."
"Guys, you can hardly tell from up here too," Ross observed. "I just looked with binoculars, and it doesn't even look pushed in."
Mikey dropped to last. "The cambre's okay. It's just slower."
Shear told him to ride it out, unless they saw smoke.
"I feel like I smell smoke, but if y'all don't see it, it doesn't matter."
Ross said he was looking with binoculars and didn't see any, and that NASCAR was checking every couple laps and didn't see any either.
Shear told Ross to get a good look on the inside when Mikey comes by.
Ross said they would need baseball bats to work on the front fender and spoke for a bit about what they could do with the car.
"Just wait for a caution, man," Mikey snapped. "I can't, I can't... I don't have time to listen to your story!"
"Well, it definitely changed the handling of it. I've got the grip, but I'm slower!" Mikey added after a minute.
"Caution's out. They're wrecking on the frontstretch. Two wrecking on the inside wall."
The second caution came on lap 32. Clint Bowyer squished Tony Stewart against the wall, and after Stewart put his hand out the window, he came down the track. Bowyer spun and took out Carl Edwards.
Shear said they would roll the right front fender and send Mikey back on the track.
"If anything, my steering wheel is to the right just a little bit, and I've got a headache, because I hit that wall hard," Mikey told his team. "I'm just telling you hard I hit, and I'm amazed." He said he had more grip after the accident, and more of a vibration than before.
Shear told adjustments "if anything's dangerous, I want to know about it. Lean on the fender, because we have plenty of time." He told the spotter to keep track of the pace car.
"You can't just telling stories." Mikey told spotter Ross. He said just say they got it and talk under caution. "I know what you're trying to do, but I'm just telling you how to do it right. You can't be telling stories when a man's going into Turn 1 at 190 MPH." He told his spotter to be quick, say his spotter, and get off.
"You've got two and a half minutes," Mikey said, regarding how long they . He told them not to be in a hurry, just find out what's going wrong.
Shear said the vibration was from concrete in the wheel. Tony Stewart was black-flagged for agressive driving and held a lap, while Kyle Busch stayed long on pit road.
"When I hold my wheel where it used to be, it goes to the left. So I'm pretty sure it's towed in on the right front."
Shear told him the tires looked good and they would fix the tow after.
"Did somebody forget to tell y'all that it's not one to go, and we could be fixing it right now?" Mikey asked.
Shear told Mikey to pit and they would work on the tow now.
"Should have plenty of time. I don't see him yet," Mikey told his crew as they worked on the car.
Shear told the crew to hurry and get going on pit road.
"Still don't see him," Mikey said. "Okay, I see him. Better go."
Mikey said he felt that three pounds in left rear may be what he's feeling that is throwing off balance in the corners. He said he was feeling it before crash.
"I wouldn't have picked these shocks. They either don't have enough compression in them or gas in them or something," Mikey commented.
Racing resumed on lap 38. Ryan Newman led the field, and Mikey was 38th. Stewart drove past Newman to get back on the lead lap.
"56.70. That's quicker than about six cars in front of you."
"You got it," Ross said on lap 42. "Clear one back."
Passing Elliott Sadler took Mikey to 37th on lap 43. Two laps later, Jeff Burton took the lead.
"38's coming inside. I know you see him," Ross said on lap 45. Mikey was back to 38th on the next circuit.
"Maybe it could lose some more out of the left side tires," Mikey said. He wanted the trackbar back up and reported the car was a little tight.
"57.50. Twentieth place is 56.60," Shear reported on lap 48.
Mikey reported that, the further he went, the more he pushed due to the shocks.
"Michael, we've got another set of shocks out here," Shear told his driver. He said he would put them on when they get the chance and to hang in there.
"I feel good. I like the way it feels, but it's skating too much," Mikey reported. "I like the attitude."
Shear told his driver that, if he liked the attitude of the car, a wedge adjustment might help.
"Maybe more air out of the right front," Mikey replied.
"10-4 on that right front."
"58.23," Shear said on lap 51.
"We're working lap 50, Michael," Ross reported. "Leader's at the line now."
"Spotter's supposed to say 'that one's coming up from behind, Mike!'" Mikey complained on lap 52.
"58.30," Shear read off the lap time on lap 54.
"It's got a right front push, a right front push," Mikey said on lap 56. "A front end push on exit under the gas, and it's still bouncing too hard."
Shear said they would take whole pound out of right front, make air pressure adjustments, and planned to pit in about fifteen laps.
"How many?" Mikey asked.
"Fifteen." He read off a 58.42 for the lap time. He read a 58 flat on the next circuit.
"57.78. Good lap. I don't know what you did, but do it again for me here," Shear said on lap 58.
"I found me a groove!" Mikey replied.
"I say you did."
Mikey was up to 36th on lap 60. Shear told him his times ranked him 20th.
Green flag stops began on lap 61 with a couple drivers who hadn't pitted under yellow.
"57.82," Shear read off the lap time.
Lap 62 saw Mikey pick up 35th.
"57.78."
"57.72."
Mikey was up to 34th with Mark Martin's stop on lap 65. Robby Gordon and Stephen Leicht dropped, advancing Mikey to 32nd.
"Caution's out. One in Turn 1 by the fence. He's rolling."
The third caution came on lap 67 when Kyle Petty lost a tire and hit the wall.
Shear wanted to make air changes, and to put a round of wedge out of the right rear.
"If it were practice, I'd definitely change them," Mikey said. "I know you can change one and then the other."
Shear said, if they were to change anything, they should change the right front.
"I'm just am curious, if you opened it up and you had more bleed," Mikey commented.
Shear said the nose on the #55 didn't look any lower than anyone else's, so he thought they had sufficiant bleed. They just needed "to doctor it".
"It's fine," Mikey said. He told his crew to free up the car with air pressures or take out wedge.
Shear called for one round on the left rear, four tires, and no shock change.
"Feels like to me, if you put some rebound off the right rear, it might help," Mikey commented.
Shear said the tires looked good; no chords were showing.
Mikey said he thought the cambre ought to be laid out more. "Watch the bounce of the left rear off the ground."
"10-4."
He reported that his tire and oil temperatures were both at 210. Shear told his driver to put heat in tires and take care of tires, and Mikey told him the adjustment to the tow had pushed up the wheel to closer than normal. Shear said they would get all they could, and work on a top 20.
"Well, we'll fight them all day long," Mikey said. "I mean, I can't help it if my buddy ran over me on the restart."
"For what it's worth, he said sorry."
"Yeah, everybody always says they're sorry. I said I was sorry when I wrecked Ryan Newman. Doesn't do any good," Mikey replied.
During stops, Carl Edwards had turned Tony Stewart on pit road as payback for getting wrecked earlier in the race. He was black-flagged and docked one lap. He had already been one lap down, so he fell to two.
"Pace car's pulling off. Ready? Ready? Green flag, green flag," Ross said on lap 72. "All good."
Jeff Gordon led the restart, but Ryan Newman took it immediately. Mikey was 28th.
"All clear, one back," Ross reported.
"Still out there," the spotter added on lap 74, when Denny Hamlin took the lead. He told Mikey that the #7 was there. "I know you see him, I'm just letting you know."
"I don't need an explanation. Just spot!" Mikey told Ross.
"Inside, on the corner, to the door.
"That's the 20 car, one back," Ross added on lap 76.
"Caution flag. There's a piece of debris on the front straightaway."
The fourth caution came on lap 77.
"That made the car - that wedge or something - that made the car way too tight. It's pushing," Mikey reported. "Put some air in the right front tire maybe? Leave the wedge alone, because it seems to make the wedge better." Mikey also wanted air in the right rear, and Shear said he would go with it.
"Did that push worse on the throttle?" Shear asked. "Can we raise that trackbar a round and see if it works any?"
Mikey suggested an air adjustment, and said lowering trackbar is what has helped them the most so far. Shear went with it.
"Need a drink, Mike?" the crew chief asked.
"No, I'm happy. Just water."
Shear let his driver know that Brian Vickers would not be in his box; he had just pit before this yellow. The front runners stayed on the track, and Mikey was among those who pit.
"One to go," Ross informed his driver. After a minute, he said, "Pace car's pulling off. Ready? Ready? Ready? Green flag, green flag."
Racing resumed on lap 80 with Hamlin leading. Mikey was 32nd.
"Everything's good on the start," Ross reported. "Clear one back."
"That's the best it feels, you know, when you go one lap," Mikey said after gaining 31st one lap into the run.
"32's a half back," Ross noted.
"Might be more," Mikey replied.
"I know it. You put four cars on him when I put my binoculars down."
"56.28," Shear read off the lap time.
Ross warned Mikey of a car on the inside. "A couple more coming. There's two inside now. Two inside. Still two. Now just the 88, low. You're all clear. Clear by one."
Mikey was still 31st on lap 85 but had lost and gained to others. Jarrett had dropped but Kyle Busch had passed.
"49's sneaking up on us. Inside corner," Ross said on lap 86. Kevin Lepage and Dale Jarrett dropped Mikey to 33rd on lap 87.
"That wedge adjustment has made it plow. I've seen that happen a hundred times," Mikey commented.
"Okay, 10-4."
"90's coming by on the bottom," the spotter observed. "Back in there.
"32's coming too. He's at the door. Crashing up there. Crashing up there, up by the wall."
Lap 89 saw the fifth caution when Dave Blaney bumped Dale Earnhardt Jr and wrecked him. Earnhardt Jr became the second driver out of the race, after Petty.
"Yeah, he was crashing for a long long time here, and then you finally said something," Mikey replied. He wanted work on the track bar, to put wedge back in, and maybe go the other way with the last adjustment. "That hurt it so much when you did that. Your air must be good, because I can turn my fastest lap my first lap."
Shear said the wedge wasn't the problem. He wanted to raise the track bar.
"Raise it up more. I don't care. Let's stop farting around," Mikey said. "It's pushing.
"What happened to the 8?"
"He got turned by somebody," Shear replied. "Can't tell on the big screen."
"It looked like a bumpdraft, but he missed," Mikey commented. "He couldn't even hold onto his going straight." He said the 22 was the one who did it.
Ross commented that Earnhardt Jr's spotter Steve Hmiel was fighting with the 22 team spotter.
Shear said they couldn't get all the adjustments in one stop.
"All right, I'll be right back in," Mikey told his team. "Y'all fix it... if you can."
"Michael, be careful. Don't slide the tires," Shear said when Mikey returned to pit road.
Mikey scraped the wall under yellow. The #55 would have to return to fix the hanging metal before the restart. Mikey wanted more compression in the right front shock, and Shear said they would do that under the next stop.
Lap 93 saw the restart. Dale Jarrett led, and Mikey was 37th. Hamlin took the top spot immediately, and Mikey gained two spots.
"That 10 car's coming," Ross warned.
"He's got a lot of power," Mikey commented.
Mikey passed Jimmy Spencer on lap 95, and Shear read off a 56.45.
"I'm pretty good on that run," Mikey commented. Ross told him he was putting car lengths on those behind him.
Riggs passed, moving Mikey back to 35th on lap 97. Mayfield was coming, and David Stremme was with him. Mayfield passed on lap 98.
"You've got two of them inside. Now you've got none," Ross reported.
"It's pushing in the right front, bad," Mikey commented. He talked about needing air pressure adjustments. "Maybe you could say 10-4 or what you say?"
"10-4," Shear replied.
Ross warned of a car inside.
"Maybe you could give me roughly thirty more horsepower," Mikey added to his wishlist.
"I'll work on that," Shear said.
"40's in there too," Ross said. "He's in there, on the bottom."
"Halfway," Mikey commented. He was 37th on lap 101, after Travis Kvapil passed. He lost another spot to David Stremme the next time around the track.
"Where are my laps?"
"57.30."
"Just a little tight," Mikey commented on lap 106. "Same direction."
"10-4."
Greg Biffle pit on lap 108; he thought he had a tire going down. His stop bumped Mikey up to 37th. Meanwhile, Biffle lost the lead lap.
"57.66."
Mikey was warned about Carl Edwards' twice lapped #99 coming inside.
"57.80," Shear read the lap time on lap 113. "20th place ran a 57 flat."
"Leader's start / finish line now?" Mikey asked on lap 117, after Shear read off a lap time.
"Okay, I'll give it to you next time by. I didn't want to bother you when you where in the middle of the corner," Ross replied.
Shear told his driver they would be pitting soon and asked what Mikey needed help with.
"THE PUSH IN THE RIGHT FRONT!" Mikey replied. "Skaty in the back, a lot better than we started with the tire pressures. Just too tight."
Shear told him his plans.
"OKAY!" Mikey replied. "Tell me on the front straightaway what you're going to do, please."
Shear said he would raise trackbar two rounds and make air pressure adjustment.
Mikey gained 36th when Dale Jarrett made a scheduled green flag stop on lap 119. He gained another one lap later.
"16 coming back on new tires," Ross reported. "Two back."
Robby Gordon pit with a flat left rear tire.
"That is the leader in your mirror," Ross said on lap 122. Mikey had gained 35th to Gordon's #7 after losing the spot to another. "Five back.
"One back.
"Here he comes. Second's at the line now. He's way back."
Lap 124 saw Mikey lose the lead lap. He was still 35th.
"All right, Michael, bring it in for four tires next time by," Shear told his driver on lap 125. He said he would move the trackbar two rounds and would do four tires and gas.
"One lane, one lane. The 07's outside. Go, clear, out to the wall," Ross directed as Mikey left pit road.
Other drivers made scheduled green flag stops at the same time.
"They're all pitting. You're all clear, five back," the spotter noted.
Jimmie Johnson pit on lap 128.
"I felt like I went to hell after that pit stop. Wow!" Mikey exclaimed. "It's the most ridiculous adjustments I ever felt."
Shear said they went up on the left and right rear.
Mikey told them not to talk to him when he's in the turns and that they had thirty seconds to talk to him on straightaways.
"Still plowing the front end off, spinning out getting in," Mikey commented.
Stops had cycled on lap 130, and Mikey was 38th and still lapped. He reported that the car was still "bad".
"57.24," Shear read off the lap time.
The radio hung after Ross said a lead lap car was coming.
"SOMEBODY FIX THE RADIO!!" Mikey exclaimed.
"We're working on it," Ross replied.
"Everyone shut their radios off except for Mike," Shear told the team.
They did, and the problem fixed itself. "Yeah, inside, I know," Mikey said.
Ross said somebody's button must have stuck.
"This car is just really really messed up," Mikey complained. "This car won't stick at all."
Shear said they would go back to the last set of adjustments.
"The front is pushing worse than it has all day, and the back is driving like it's on a dirt track," Mikey said on lap 136.
"57.61," Shear read off the lap time.
"Outside, the next one's ten back," Ross reported on lap 139.
"58.10."
The sixth caution came for debris in Turn 3 on lap 151. Robby Gordon received the free pass.
"Okay, here's what you did. You just totally totally unhooked the back and didn't help the front one iota," Mikey told his crew. He said the car was really skaty.
Shear called for four tires and fuel, and told the crew to go down two rounds on the trackbar. He asked a crew member to look at the exhaust during the stop.
"Buddy, if we can get this front end where it falls down and travels good, we might have too aggressive shocks on it," Mikey told Shear. He said the car has been too bouncy and harsh from the start.
Shear thought a right front adjustment would help.
Ken Schrader led under caution when he didn't stop. When he did, Hamlin took the top spot.
Mikey told his crew they had done a good job with the stop, and Shear told him not to give up.
When NASCAR extended the caution by a lap, Mikey asked if they were in their fuel window to pit now. Shear said no. "I'd feel good to get 35 laps on it."
Racing resumed on lap 156. Hamlin led, and Mikey was 39th and lapped. One lap into the run, the #55 gained three spots.
"I'm up to 36th, going for 35th," Mikey commented.
Ross told him a car was coming back but then that Mikey was cleared.
Lap 158 saw Mikey pass Stephen Leicht for 35th. Jeff Green was looking to pass but then fell back.
"Making a run on you, on the corner. You've got them all by a half," the spotter noted. "Back in there."
Mikey was up another spot on lap 159. He was 34th. He lost a spot to Jeff Green one lap later.
Ross told Mikey that he saw cars coming on the lead lap and that he knows Mikey sees them.
"Quit saying I know you see them! Just spot!" Mikey complained.
"2 inside, 2."
Sterling Marlin passed, dropping Mikey to 36th on lap 161.
Mikey reported that the car wouldn't turn.
The spotter replied, "One peaking inside - the 49 car. Back in line."
Mikey fell to 38th on lap 163.
"Now I think I broke a shock," Mikey told his team. "Did y'all get that right front nice and tight?" One lap later, he added, "It's broken or it came off. I'm going to have to pit this time."
"Okay, guys, go under the hood," Shear told the crew. "Try to find out what's going on."
"Outside, that's it," Ross directed Mikey to pit road. "Here we are, guys."
The crew found a shock off in the back. Shear asked if the trackbar broke, and told the crew to put more tires on the car.
"Something is broke," Mikey said.
Shear said they would put left side tires on it and see what happens.
"Something's broke."
Shear said Mikey would be ready to go back out. "Hold on, Michael. We have a broken shock."
"I told you that ten minutes ago."
"Hey, guys, watch yourselves. They're pitting behind us," Ross warned.
Mikey was four laps down in 40th when he returned to the track on lap 168.
Shear asked if fixing the shock helped Mikey any on lap 170. Mikey did not respond.
"56.91," Shear read off on lap 174.
Green flag stops had already begun when race leader Hamlin pit on lap 176. Kurt Busch picked up the top spot. Others followed suit.
On lap 178, Kurt Busch pit. Bobby Labonte got the top spot.
"Nooo!" Mikey exclaimed. "Got one blowing up, on the back!"
The seventh caution was for Scott Wimmer's #4, which lost a tire. He scattered debris, and fire erupted under his car. Travis Kvapil got the free pass.
"Caution's out, bud. Debris in the short shoot," Ross added.
Shear said he was driving a bit better with the right rear shock on. A piece had come loose on the old shock.
"Still doesn't drive right. If I were you, I'd change the left side shocks," Mikey said. "And lower the trackbar and let some more air out of the left front and right front tires."
Shear told him they couldn't take out more air.
Mikey wanted to do the opposite of what they did on the wedge.
The lead cycled back to Denny Hamlin when Labonte pit under yellow. Mikey also made a stop.
"You sure did pick a good pit," Mikey commented. After the stop, Mikey said he wanted to come back in and see if they beat the leader off for practice. "In case it matter sometime."
Shear told the crew to make sure everything was tight and that all four pins were in there.
"We're on to one to go," Ross noted. "Here we are, guys."
Racing resumed on lap 185. Hamlin led, and Mikey was 40th and five laps down.
"Inside coming," the spotter said two laps into the run.
"Ahhh!" Mikey exclaimed on lap 192.
"99's one back with a run," the spotter noted. Edwards' #99 was one lap ahead of the #55. "Inside. He let you go.
"Here he's coming again. Inside corner."
"57.38," Shear read off the lap time.
Wimmer's #4 picked up another flat on lap 194.
Denny Hamlin went on to win his second Pocono race in a row. Mikey was 40th, five laps down.
"That was a pretty good lap, wasn't it?" Mikey asked at the stripe.
"Ah, it was a 57.50," Shear said.
"I wanted to run faster than the lap before."
"I like your attitude."
"Is anyone down at the trailer with a bottle of water and a rag? If not, and someone could get one, I would greatly appreciate it."
"I'm in good shape. Y'all just take care of yourselves. I have to hurry to catch up to Mark Martin."
Shear told his driver to have a good trip home.
"Okay, y'all too. Thanks for the effort. This seat is so comfortable. I didn't even think about my poison ivy." When Shear brought up the earlier incident making a long day longer, Mikey said the car wasn't that great before then anyway.
Nextel Cup is off next weekend. Watch Mikey at the Brickyard in two weeks! Coverage of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard begins August 6th at 2:00pm ET on NBC. He may compete in next week's Busch Series race at Gateway International Raceway. That race airs at 8:00pm ET next Saturday on TNT.
