David 38th in Pocono 500 by Kellyanne Lynch
10 June 2007
David Reutimann's #00 Burger King Camry finished 28th and one lap down in the Pocono 500, today's rain-shortened Nextel Cup event at Pocono Raceway. The duct work on the radiator came off partway through the race. Car owner Michael Waltrip and teammate Dale Jarrett did not make the race.
"How 'bout ya, Reut - Round Root?" crew chief Frankie Kerr came over the radio at 4:36pm ET.
Spotter Shawn Reutimann acknowledged. When Frankie asked him about the weather, he said it looked like it was dried out.
Frankie asked if he had heard from NASCAR yet if they were going to run under caution first.
"They haven't said anything yet," Shawn replied.
"You up there, Round Root?" a crew member asked.
"Yeah, man," Shawn answered.
"What's the sky look like?"
"Good."
"Don't look so good up there in 1 and 2, does it?"
"No, but that's all the stuff that was up here a little while ago."
"How 'bout ya, Dave?" someone asked a minute later.
"You guys got a copy?" David asked just after the call to start engines at 4:40pm.
"Yeah, how 'bout you there, Dave?"
"10-4, I got ya."
"Hey, Chris, you get those measurements for me?" someone asked.
"I'll get them right out," Mechanic Chris Myers replied. He came back with, "Four and an eighty and five and fifteen sixteenths."
"On the right?"
"10-4," Chris confirmed.
"You got me, Dave?" Shawn asked.
David acknowledged.
"They're talking about water seeping up in the tunnel turn and in Turn 3."
"10-4."
"So just keep that in mind, and I'll remind ya."
"Did they say anything about the pace laps or anything yet?" Frankie asked.
"Negative," was Shawn's response.
"All right, Dave, we're seven stalls from the last pit," Frankie said. "The 6 car is behind us, and the 13 car is in front of us. The pit boxes are plenty big. There shouldn't be a problem."
"10-4."
Shawn asked about Frankie's view for David getting onto pit road, and Frankie said it was fine. The two talked about where the committment line is.
Shawn said they would go green third time by. "They didn't say anything about green and yellow."
Frankie repeated the information about going green the third time around the track. "I'm thinking this weather is coming this way myself."
"That's a possibility," Shawn agreed. "It's hard to say."
"Pit road speed, Shawn?" David asked during pace laps.
"Have they turned the lights on yet?" Shawn asked.
'Yeah, I'm getting 4800 - 4800 and second."
Frankie said that was dead on. "Good job."
"He said he's at speed now, so check it again," Shawn said of the pace car driver.
"About 4800."
"What's the track look like to you?" Shawn asked his driver.
"It looks all right," David replied, "just a fair amount of water on the apron, down there by Turn 3, but they're rolling it away now."
Frankie pointed out their bright orange flourescent #00 pit sign and said his driver should be able to see it now that the trucks weren't on track. "Bruce, that weather heading this way?"
"All right, kids, have a good day here in the pits, and the race car's going to have a good day," Frankie said. "I know that driver will."
"I'm getting a lot of interference," David complained.
"I got the antenna on the box here. You're a long way away there, buddy."
"10-4."
"How about now? Can you hear fine now?"
"10-4."
"All right, look over here on your left, pal." Frankie pointed out the brand new pit sign. "Most of these cars are going to be dropping to the back, I believe."
"Think the track's okay or not, bud?" Frankie asked a moment later. "Shawn, does the race track look all right?"
Shawn told the crew chief that the safety workers was working on it but were worried about tunnel turn. "David, they're going to give you the two to go. They're wanting to know what you guys think."
David said not to worry about it. "Let me just see getting into 3 what I think."
"10-4," Frankie replied.
"Yeah, looks like they're still trying to get the entrance to 3 blown off. If they can get to that, then it should be fine," David reported.
"Right through there, David, I lose you when you're down on the bottom," Shawn warned his driver. "So keep that in mind if something happens to you there."
"10-4."
"I mean, just for a second." A moment later, Shawn added, "They'll give you a two to go again when you get here, and if you think the track is good, give them a thumbs-up.
"All right, it's going to be one to go, but it's going to be green / yellow.
"All right, next time by. It's going to be a green and yellow together.
"All right, not going green yellow, not going green yellow. They're going to show you two to go, and then we're going to go racing," Shawn continued to give updates.
"Temperatures okay riding around here, bud?" Frankie asked.
"Yeah, it's only about 200," was David's reply.
"All right, it's gonna be one to go when we get here," Shawn told his driver. "All right, D-Reut, next time by, we're going racing, bud."
Frankie told him to get his tires warmed and his belts tight. "Have a good day, buddy."
Shawn gave David some last minute words of encouragement to use his head during the 400 laps and called the green as it came out at 5:04pm.
Pole-sitter Ryan Newman led the field to the stripe, and David was 23rd. Shawn immediately warned him that Carl Edwards was coming on the outside. David dropped a spot on the first lap of the race.
Also during the first lap, Denny Hamlin moved from 2nd into the lead. David was warned about a car inside on the left rear.
"88 coming back to the inside," Shawn noted. "Clear by four.
"Clear by three," Shawn continued. "26 inside, inside. Still there. Inside. Clear behind the 26."
Jamie McMurray passed David on lap 5, moving the #00 back to 25th.
"2 car right with you. 2 car looking inside, left rear corner. Inside. Clear behind the 2," Shawn directed. "Clear three back, back to the 40."
Kurt Busch's pass on lap 6 dropped David to 26th.
"Inside, 40 car inside," Shawn noted. "Inside, left rear corner. Inside. Clear behind the 40. 7 car inside, left rear corner. Inside, still there. Clear behind the 7."
Tony Raines, Robby Gordon, and Mark Martin all passed. David was 29th on lap 7. Shawn cleared the #00 behind Martin's #01.
"Inside. Inside, still there. Clear."
David lost a spot to Ward Burton on lap 8. "It plows on the throttle," he reported.
"I got the throttle," Frankie replied. "How's your temp?"
"It's fine." After a moment, he added, "Push in the centre."
"42 right there with you," Shawn noted. "42 looking inside, inside. Left rear corner. Inside, still there. Clear behind the 42.
"Inside. Clear behind the 41."
Lap 10 saw Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson get around the Burger King Camry.
"Clear low," Shawn observed. "Inside. 45 inside."
"Won't turn anywhere," David complained.
"All right, bud," Frankie acknowledged. "We'll get a caution here and get a stop."
Shawn said the #4 was inside. "Got one more coming. Clear behind the 66."
"Pathetic," David sighed. "It's okay on entry though."
"Clear by one, back to the 13."
By lap 12, the #00 was 36th.
"13 half a car back," Shawn warned. "Looking inside, inside, inside. Still there. Clear.
"Inside. Left rear corner. Inside, got some more coming. Inside. Still there. Clear.
"Clear by four."
Joe Nemechek passed on lap 15, dropping David to 37th.
"Inside, left rear corner. 15 car inside," Shawn warned. "Inside, still there. 10 car inside, left rear corner. Inside, still there. Clear behind the 10."
Lap 16 saw David in 39th after Paul Menard and Scott Riggs.
"Hang in there, bud. We'll get a stop here in thirteen laps," Frankie encouraged his driver.
"Inside, 6 car inside. Inside. Got one more coming inside."
"I'm gonna let him go," David said at the same time Shawn said, "Inside." Then the driver added, "I can't turn anywhere on the race track."
"All right, Dave, we'll get a stop here."
"It bounces so hard across the bumps, it loses the nose. I don't remember it being like that."
David Ragan and AJ Allmendinger had moved David back to 41st by lap 17.
"Clear by three," said Shawn.
"57.50," Frankie read off the lap time on lap 20.
"21 looking outside, outside. Outside, still there. Clear behind the 21," Shawn directed. David was back to 42nd on lap 21. "All by yourself."
"57.90," Frankie said on lap 22. "58.20."
"Keep digging, bud," encouraged the spotter. "They're talking about some debris, so you might get a caution. Keep digging."
"58.30."
Chad McCumbee pit on lap 25, allowing David to gain 41st. Others began making stops.
"All right, keep digging. Some of these guys are coming off to pit, so watch them."
"Won't turn on the throttle at all," David reported. "Won't turn in the centre either."
"All right, bud." Frankie said they would go two up on the track bar and take out two wedge on the left rear.
"All right, keep digging, bud. Get all you can get here," Shawn encouraged. "Get all you can get, wave them off behind you. Come on. get all the speed you can get."
"Come, on, Dave," said Frankie as David pit on lap 28. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Oh! Right here. Wheels straight, bud.
"Go go go go go. Clear lal the way out, all the way out."
"4800 and second." "4800 and second, all the way out. 4800 and second to the cone. All right, go ahead and dig. Dig dig dig. Clear all the way out. Get all you can get here. You've got the 20 car half a straightaway back. He'll be the leader when this all shakes out."
Martin Truex Jr and Casey Mears both led during green flag stops.
"Keep digging. Doing a good job, bud," Shawn said.
"55.40," Frankie read off the lap time.
Stops cycled by lap 30, and Tony Stewart was in the lead. David was 41st. Hamlin took the lead one lap later, but Stewart reclaimed it right back from his teammate.
"Good job, bud," Shawn praised. "You're actually pulling away from those guys a little bit."
"55.60," Frankie noted. "Leader a 40.
"55.80, leader a 55.70."
"Keep digging, bud," Shawn said. "You're doing a good job. Catching the group in front of you."
"56 flat," Frankie reported the last lap time. "How's your temps?"
"Fine," was David's response.
"Working lap 32," Shawn said.
Frankie gave David and the leader's lap times. "Did we help you any?"
"Yeah, it's better," David replied. "Needs more of the same - more of what you just gave me."
"56.30," Frankie read off the lap time.
Lap 35 saw Hamlin reclaim the lead.
"Clear by twenty," Shawn noted. The next car in line was Hamlin. "Clear by ten."
"56.50."
Hamlin was all over David's rear fender on lap 37.
"Clear by two, back to the leader," Shawn warned. "Clear by one, looking to the inside. Leader looking inside, got a follower coming with him. 11 car inside, left rear corner. Inside, inside. Still there. Got the 20 car with him. 20 car inside. Clear behind the 20."
David lost the lead lap on lap 38.
"Got the 1 car about two back," Shawn noted. "1 car looking inside, inside. You'll be clear behind that 1, and you'll be clear by half a straightaway."
"I'm sorry, guys," David apologised to his team. "It just gets tighter and tighter and tighter."
"Fans on, bud?"
"Oh yeah. They're all on," David then reported, "No front grip." A moment later, he said, "In a matter of two or thre elaps, it just goes to the extreme."
"Just stay with it, buddy," Frankie encouraged. "Sorry about that."
"Clear by thirty," Shawn observed.
"Yeah, it's so bad through the tunnel turn now, it's about to hit the fence every lap," David told his team.
"Clear by twenty."
"Water temp's only at 180," David noted.
"Your water pressure?" Frankie asked.
"20."
"Clear by three, back to the 12. Got a run, coming to your inside. 12 car inside. Clear behind the 12," Shawn said. "Clear by two, back to the 5. 5 car looking inside. Inside. Inside. Clear behind the 5."
"Boy, Frankie, it's getting really bad, bud," David reported.
"All right, just hang in there." Frankie said they were close to another stop.
"Yeah, do something major, please." He asked a question.
"Say that again?" Frankie asked.
"I wanted to know if anyone else is left front corner bound."
Frankie said he knew the #8 and the #15 were but wasn't sure about others.
"Yeah, it just loses front grip big time, and the bumps are bad too."
"48 got a run, coming to your inside," Shawn noted. "Clear behind the 48.
"Clear by five, back to the 8."
Somebody passed David, and he asked Shawn, "Plannning on telling me he was inside sometime?"
"He just drove up inside you before I could say anything. He's driving up next to the fence and then driving inside of ya," Shawn noted. "Half a straightaway back to the next car."
Robby Gordon lost a left front tire and pit. Shawn warned David about the debris.
"No caution, keep digging," he said. Caution's out, caution's out."
The first caution was on lap 50 for Robby Gordon's debris. Tony Raines got the free pass back onto the lead lap.
Frankie called for a four tire stop. He wanted an air pressure adjustment and work on the left rear shock too. "Go half and half, all right? Raise the trackbar again." He wanted to go two on track bar, and take two out of left rear spring so both adjustments were not both on the right side.
"Yeah, look at the grill, Frank." David said he didn't know if there were trash there, because after one lap, his temperatures had spiked.
"All right, pit road will be open this time. Make sure you give Gordon plenty of room behind you."
Leaders pit under caution.
"All right, this time. 4800 and second," Shawn told his driver. "4800 and second when you get here."
"All right, bud. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Here you go. Wheels straight, put on the brakes," Frankie finished. "Grill look okay, guys? Dave, all clear."
"4800 and second," Shawn reminded as David left his box.
"Get the rivets ready. The duct work's hanging down, he said," Frankie told the crew. He talked about needing to fix the duct work on the radiator. "They're not going green yet, are they, Shawn?
"The bottom of the grill's open, Dave. The duct work come apart on the radiator."
Shawn relayed the information, because David couldn't hear him at that part of the track.
"10-4. Coming to you this time," David said. When he pit, he asked Shawn if he should slow by the first or second cone. Shawn said the second.
"Get the barribond. It's gone. Need the barribond," said a crew member.
Shawn said the field just came off Turn 1. "Plenty of time."
Frankie said they were fabricating the replacement part.
"Coming through the tunnel turn," Shawn warned.
"Guys, we gotta go," Frankie told the crew. "Let's go. Go ahead."
"4800 and second," Shawn reminded David.
"That thing's gone - don't got a damn thing yet," said a crew member.
Shawn said to David, "All right, dig hard, dig hard. Field's coming off Turn 4."
Lap 54 saw the restart with Hamlin leading. David was 42nd, one lap down.
"All by yourself, bud. The field's just now coming through the tunnel turn," Shawn told his driver. He said they would get another caution and get caught up.
"Got a wreck down here in Turn 3. No caution. Caution's out, caution's out. Track will be clear when you get here," Shawn said.
Lap 56 saw the second caution when Greg Biffle moved up the track and ran into Dave Blaney. David Gilliland received the free pass.
"All right, come on, come on. They want you to hurry up so they can get the speedy dry out there," Shawn relayed NASCAR's message to David.
"All right, got the stuff made up here, guys, so we can start fabricating?" Frankie then told the crew,"Guys, work on the duct work. Do not change tires."
"It cooled back down to 220, so temperture-wise, it's okay," David reported.
Frankie said they still had a downforce problem. He and his driver discussed coming in early, with the lead lap cars.
"That's what I'm thinking, because the way I figure it, there's only one other car a lap down." David said, if they didn't take the time to fix it, they wouldn't get back on the lead lap anyway.
Frankie said something to David.
"What did he say, Shawn?" asked the driver.
"We're gonna come in this time, Dave, we're gonna come in this time," Frankie said.
"Gonna be quickie yellow, Frank," Shawn informed the crew chief. "It's going to be one to go."
"What do you say? Screw it and stay out there, bud?" Frankie asked his driver.
"Shawn?" David asked, likely unable to hear his crew chief.
"It's going to be one to go," Shawn replied. "He wants to know if you just want to say screw it and fix it the next time?"
David asked if they would have time to fix it.
Frankie said they should try to get by Ward Burton and get the free pass. Shawn pointed out two other drivers one lap down.
"Should we come in anyway and put tires on it?" David asked.
Frankie agreed. They pit and did that.
"Do we want to ride double-file, or do we want to stay in the back?" Frankie asked. "You got two cars you need to chase for your lap back."
"I don't care," Dave replied. "Do you want to come back up here? Let's try it."
"All right, come on."
Ryan Newman led the lap 59 restart. David was 40th and lapped. Two laps into the run, the #00 gained a spot from Bill Elliott. He needed to pass Allmendinger to be the first driver one lap down.
"Clear by five. Doing good, buddy. Keep digging," Shawn encouraged during the run. "Clear by five. That's Allmendinger right in front of you.
"Clear by one, back to the two."
The yellow flag waved for the fourth time for debris. Allmendinger got the free pass.
"Caution's out for debris, dang it," Shawn reported. "Caution's out, David, for debris."
"Sure."
"Got some weather coming. I don't know how far away it is."
"All right, we're going to stop here, guys," Frankie said. "How's your race car, buddy?"
"It's better," David responded. He said it really goes to the top side. He needed the duct work and for the crew to free him up some more in the centre and off the corners.
Frankie told crew member Cody to go down on the front air pressure and take another half out of there. He wanted another round and half in the right rear wedge as well as four tires. "We need to have a good stop, guys, be up there for the lucky dog."
David wanted to know if they were going to wait until they get back on lead lap to get work done in the nose.
"We're going to have to," Frankie replied. "One lap more, and we'd have had it back from the 84."
David asked Shawn to repeat the information. After he did, the spotter said they had one to go and a quickie yellow.
"6 car is going to be coming in behind you," Frankie warned.
"Looks like we might be coming back in the fall."
"All right, Dave. We're going to pit this time. Gonna be 4800 and second," Shawn said. "4800 and second."
Leaders also pit under caution, as Frankie counted David into his stall.
"9 car's outside, 9 car's outside. One lane," Frankie warned when David came back on track.
Shawn told David to go ahead and line up beside the leader. "All right, you'll be racing the 21 and the 70, and you're a lot faster than them. All right, going green here this time. Going to the green. 21 coming up behind you.
"Pace car's off. Be ready. Green green green."
Racing resumed on lap 67 with Jeff Gordon leading and David in 39th. Shawn warned David of cars coming to the outside, including Elliott's #21 for position.
"Good job, bud. Go beat that 21," Frankie said after Elliott passed and dropped David to 40th.
On lap 71, Ryan Newman took the lead.
"Clear by one, back to the 29," Shawn observed. "Looking inside, inside. Still there. Inside, 29 inside. Inside, still there. 5 car coming with him. Clear behind the 5, now clear by ten. 31 coming to the inside. 2 car trying to follow. Clear by two. 2 car looking inside, all clear. Clear by one. 2 car looking inside, inside. Inside, still there. Clear. Clear by three. 21 on the outside, about three cars up. Cleared by one, got the 11 car right there with you. Inside, left rear corner. Clear. Clear by one, back to the 2. 2 car inside. Inside, still there. Clear. Inside, inside. Still there. Clear behind the 2. Got the 99 right there behind you, got the 48 right behind him. Clear behind the 48. 07 coming inside, inside. Clear behind that 07. Got about twenty car lengths behind that 07. Inside, still there. Clear by five. Clear by three. Clear by four. Clear by five. Clear by one. Got the 43 coming inside. Clear behind the 43, got the 18 right there behind you. 18 looking inside, all clear. Left rear corner inside, still there. Clear behind the 18. Clear by twenty. Clear by twenty; you've got no pressure.
"Clear by eight, back to the 42," Shawn continued. "42 looking inside, inside. You'll be clear behind that 42. Clear by ten, back to the 9. Clear by five. 9 car right there with you. Looking inside, inside. Still there. Clear behind the 9. Clear by ten."
"Bud, it just gets so tight over time," David reported.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, buddy," Frankie apologised. "It's just got no downforce. We gotta get that worked out."
"I'll tell you what get it right on the next stop, or I'm going to hit you over the head with it," David stated. "Is that a deal?"
"Clear by ten," Shawn said after a pause.
Jeff Gordon pit on lap 83.
"Doing a hell of a job here. Sorry," Frankie replied. "That duct work won't work, so go ahead and hit me." A moment later, he asked, "Hey, how's your brakes for future reference?"
"What's that?" David replied.
"How's your brakes?"
"Oh, they're good."
"Clear by two, back to the 10," Shawn noted. "10 car inside, inside. Inside, all clear. Inside, left rear corner. Still there. Clear behind the 10. Clear by ten. Clear by four. Clear by one, back to the 88. 88 coming inside. Inside, still there. Still there, inside. Clear by four. Clear by one, back to the 40. Inside, all clear. Inside. Inside, still there. Clear behind the 40."
Jimmie Johnson lost his left front tire.
"There's a blown tire off of Turn 1. No caution. Keep digging," Shawn warned. "The 41 right there with you, the slow car getting into the tunnel turn. Clear. Clear by three."
Many cars pit on lap 91.
"45 right there with you," Shawn noted. "Inside, 45 inside. Still there. 41 coming inside."
Hamlin picked up the lead when Newman pit on lap 92. David was 40th.
"26 looking outside, outside. Still there. Still there, outside." Shawn walked over something the crew chief said. "What was that, Frank?"
"Come in this next lap," Frankie said.
"Pit this time, David, pit this time," Shawn relayed to the driver. "Pit this time. Get all you can get, bud. 4800 and second when you get here."
"All right, bud, here you go. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Come on. Here you go here. Wheels straight, put on the brakes," Frankie said. "Go go go go go."
"4800 and second, all the way out," Shawn added. "4800 and second all the way to the cone, then dig hard. Dig hard. You have two coming to your outside there. Clear after that 6."
Johnson went to the garage.
David was 39th after his stop, two laps down. Hamlin pit, and Edwards was in the lead.
"Is it raining?" Frankie asked.
"I can't tell," Shawn replied. "Yeah, but they're talking down the back. I ain't that far away." He said NASCAR was trying to go to halfway, which was six laps away.
Shawn warned David that the #99 in front of him was on old tires. He told him that was the race leader and to get by him if he could. "Clear by ten. Slow cars coming off on the inside. Inside, clear."
"Carl's coming in this time," Shawn reported. "Clear by ten. The #99's pitting this time."
Edwards pit on lap 98, putting David back one lap down. Gordon took back the lead.
"Outside, still there," Shawn said. Static came over the radio before he said the #21 was for position. "Frank, we gotta work on that radio down there. I don't know whose it is. Y'all still have me down there?"
Frankie said he did.
"Halfway next time, halfway next time. Keep digging, bud," Shawn encouraged. "Clear by twenty."
Lap 101 saw Johnson returning to the track.
"Clear by fifteen," Shawn said. "48 coming off pit road on the bottom. Clear.
"Still with me there, David? Still hearing?"
"Yeah," David replied.
Frankie said what it had to do with.
"Well take that thing out. That's all I hear down the straightaways." Then Shawn told David the #48 was right there, five laps down. "Inside, inside. Clear behind the 48."
Passing Allmendinger by lap 103 moved David into 38th.
"Raining down the back," David reported.
"10-4. It's starting to rain down the back?"
"Just before the dog leg there, yeah."
"Caution's out for rain, caution's out for rain," Shawn replied.
"The 12 was passing the 24 when the caution came out."
"Is it raining pretty good back there, Dave?"
David started describing the rain in Turns 1 and 2. "Hang on, I'll let you know."
"No, you can see it, David, right where you just said. It's coming hard."
"All right get some paper towels and get the car cover ready. They'll red flag this thing or whatever they're going to do."
"What place are we running in anyway?" David asked.
"Pit road's going to be open, Frank. Are we staying out?" Shawn asked.
"Well, it's pouring right now," David replied."Then it lightens right up when we get to the tunnel, just that one spot."
Frankie wanted to know if they should pit, because Bll Elliott was the only one on their lap. He said they sould just make sure they don't get a lap down but would have time to work on the duct work under caution.
"Are we one lap down or two?" Shawn asked.
"We be one lap down, I think. Yes sir, according to your board."
"Yeah, it's flooding man," Shawn commented. "We're not going back green. Look at the screen."
"That don't look good," Frankie replied. He said to stay out.
"Yeah, it's pouring in the middle of Turn 1," David commented. "Pouring, dude, like big gime."
Shawn said they needed to keep their position.
"Have a little faith in me, Shawn, would ya?" David said.
"Don't be looking for that cushion up there."
Frankie said they were on the cushion all day.
"What place are we in?"
"P 38, bud." Franke said, as bad as they were on the last run, they were faster than a bunch on the lead lap. He told the crew, "Umbrella for the driver if you can."
"You guys walked all over each other," A crew member said.
The cars went to pit road.
"Paper towels, car cover, umbrella for David, if you can," Frankie instructed. "Look like that rain is going to blow by, Shawn, or not?"
Shawn said, "I think it's done over there. They just have to figure out if they can dry it."
"They're talking now about no car covers," Frankie stated.
"No car covers," Shawn replied. "No car covers. They're going to wait to see what it does."
"As slow as it's moving, Shawn, we're going to be there for a while."
Shawn agreed. "I don't know what they're thinking. It's starting to rain down on pit road now."
"Make sure you've got all your fans on, Dave, so you don't kill the battery."
"All right, over the cars, you can cover the cars," Shawn said. "Frank."
"Yeah."
"The 8 car and the 15 coil bound the right front. They said they're not smart enough to cover the right front. That's what Steve Hmiel said." A moment later, Shawn said, "They're going to try to dry it now."
"Frankie, if we do go back, make sure we fix that right front valve," said a crew member. "The bottom's gone." The crew member said some other things but said, "The barrabond's gone."
Something soft was said over the radio.
"Come back on that?" Frankie asked.
"Frank, they're talking like they're going to go back. So I don't know if you want to get him in to fix that thing."
Frankie said, as long as they didn't go back to green right away and they had time to fix it, they could as they were only one lap down.
"The shaker screen is hanging down, and there's shit all over it," a crew member said. He talked about problems with the barribond again. He said all their duct work has a metal strap that's welded in, and this one doesn't have it.
"They've got all the jet dryers out there, out in Turn 1. They're going to blow it one way, then come back and blow it the other way," someone said.
"Is he in or out of the car?" Frankie asked.
"He's out."
Frankie said they would work on building the piece under caution and asked if they were.
"I think we've got the piece made." He said he just hooked up what they had on the crash cart. "I think it will be all right."
"As long as we don't put that bar through the radiator, it'll be fine," Frankie replied.
The crew member said they needed to get it rivetted right, or it would blow off. They talked about screwing the piece to the nose and rivet to the back to guarantee it doesn't get into the radiator.
"I have a feeling we're going to get wet again," Shawn said.
Frankie addressed the crew member as Dwayne - Dwayne Bigger, the rear tire changer.
"Hey, Frankie, can I look at this thing?" Dwayne asked.
"You can look at this thing all you want," said the crew chief.
"Just don't touch."
"Look. Don't touch. You can draw pictures, if you want."
"Yeah, it's starting to rain again over there," Shawn commented.
"It's 7:15 right now. That back straightaway will be dark around 8:15, if you know what I mean," Frankie replied.
"10-4." Shawn said the sun was trying to peak back out.
The crew continued to talk about how they could attach the new piece. They talked about what rivets to use.
"They're talking about forty-five minutes," Shawn said.
"Forty-five minutes for the rain?" Frankie asked.
"To get it dry." Shawn said he'd been talking to Steve Hmiel, who said they had tried this adjustment but were not able to get it work.
"It's a lot cooler right now," Frankie commented.
"10-4."
"I think they're going to call it," Shawn said.
"What makes you think that there, buddy?" Frankie asked.
"Because he just asked the 43 to call him downstairs, and they're talking about making an alternate victory lane."
"Perfect."
"The alternate's already done," somebody said.
"Yeah, it's starting to rain down the back real hard, they said," Shawn observed.
Frankie asked the spotter for an update.
"Yeah, now we have one leaking fuel."
Frankie commented on the rain.
"They lost everything they had done just then."
Static followed.
"Somebody's radio's running wide open there," Frankie said.
"10-4."
"That was me," a crew member admitted.
"Just saw lightening."
Frankie commented on the stops being thirteen twenties and thirties. "Good job." He said maybe they would be over-the-wall crew of the week but said everyone wasn't on the radio to hear the compliment.
"Got your radio on there, brother?" Frankie asked.
"Hour and fifteen minutes they said is how long it'll take to dry the track," Shawn said.
"What's it look like there, Shawn?" Frankie asked.
Shawn said he was wanting to go down the ladder off the spotter stand.
"Are you afraid lightning's going to strike, burn you to hell?" Frankie asked.
"Big enough target," somebody commented.
"Hey oh, listen what I say," Shawn sang the Red Hot Chili Peppers song.
"You don't even know the words."
"That's Nate's words - the words of Nate. Shotgun that sucker," Frankie laughed.
The race was called on lap 107 of 200 at 7:34pm, and Jeff Gordon was declared the winner. David finished 38th, one lap down.
"What are they hollering? Did they call it?" Shawn asked.
"Yeah, buddy," Frankie replied.
Next weekend, Michael Waltrip Racing goes to Michigan and Kentucky for the Nextel Cup and Busch Series races respectively. Coverage of the Nextel Cup's Citizens Bank 400 starts Sunday at 12:30pm ET on TNT. The Busch Series' Meijer 300 begins at 8:00pm on ESPN2.