#00 Cup Practice, Live From Loudon by Kellyanne Lynch
30 June 2007
David Reutimann's #00 Burger King Toyota ranked 13th and 12th in practice sessions for the Lenox Industrial Tools 300, tomorrow's Nextel Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway. His Michael Waltrip Racing entry completed twenty-two laps in the morning session, turning the fastest on the sixth. David's 30.184-second lap at 126.186 MPH was 0.141 seconds slower than chart topper Jimmie Johnson's. In happy hour, he ran 40 laps. His best circuit being his fifth - a 30.135-second lap at 126.391 seconds which was 0.159 seconds behind fastest lap turner JJ Yeley.
David took to the track shortly after practice began this morning and turned a 30.40-second lap. After turning a 30.30, crew chief Frankie Kerr reminded him to put on his b-fans. He completed two 30.35's and a 30.45 next.
"One more lap, and then get a tire sheet, bud," Frankie told his driver.
David said the car started off okay but got tighter in the centre the longer he was on the track. It also got tigheter and tighter in the centre. When Frankie asked about the entry, David said the car was good on the throttle. Like in qualifying trim, he has to wait for it, but then it gets tighter and tighter in the centre.
Spotter Shawn Reutimann asked if those had been good lap times.
"Not bad," Frankie replied. "Maybe tenth or so."
"How do I get back to the pits here, Shawn?" David asked.
Shawn directed him. He said David looked good from where he was standing; the #1 car had taken "forever" to catch him. Thirty-two minutes remained in the session. He assessed that David had fifteen minutes left before he needed to get out of the car, then said twenty.
"Get Peanut to look at the shocks sheet," David requested, in regard to the rotation problem.
"3 and 4 look better than 1 and 2," Shawn noted. He said the #00 looked like it was losing ground to people in Turn 1.
"That's pretty much how it feels," David replied.
"You look good in 3 and 4."
Frankie called for the track bar to be raised a quarter inch and wanted to put tape on the nose. "One round right side," he added.
A crew member asked if the water temperature got any hotter.
"Nah, it didn't," David answered. He had twelve minutes before he needed to get out of the car and get ready for Busch Series qualifying. He was back on track at 9:24am.
"All right," Shawn directed, "you got the 13 coming by there. All clear, dude."
"Don't forget your fans, buddy," Frankie added.
When asked, David said he was at 60 for oil pressure. He ran a 30.40 and a 30.35.
"Yeah, all the track bar does..." David trailed off. "Won't cross over seams worth a darn." He said the track bar seemed to help the entry but not the centre and said the car felt loose over every bump.
He had time for one last run. He was in the garage at 9:30am.
"Try moving up more than that white line to get a better arc in Turn 3," Frankie advised.
"10-4," David responded. After running a 30.40, he said, "I'd love to arc it in on entry, if you get it not to wreck. That would be awesome." He had to chase his car up the track.
"All right," Frankie replied.
Bobby asked if the car were getting loose.
David described it as "unforgivign" on entry ever since they had unloaded. He said they could put in front bar, but it hurts the centre.
Frankie asked if they had time left. Shawn said they needed to stop now.
"Okay," Frankie replied. "Get him out of there."
David got out of the #00 and went to the #99 Aaron's Dream Machine for Busch Series qualifying He returned to the #00 for happy hour at 11:48am. Frankie read off the lap times: 30.50, 30.50, 30.30, 30.15, and a 30.10.
David said something that sounded like, "Frankie, your brother," but that's probably not what he said.
"Figures," Frankie huffed. "The final fucking lap." He read off a 30.40 the next time around the track and reminded him about his fans the next time around the track. "Another 30.40.
"30.40," he continued.
"That was a good corner through 1 and 2 right there," Shawn observed. "I don't konw what you did different."
"30.40, two laps in a row," Frankie noted. "45.
"All right, Dave. That's 15 laps. Go ahead and get a tire sheet, bud."
Shawn said he should try to get down pit road quickly at least one time to try a mock pit road stop.
"Okay," was the driver's response.
"All right, pal, what do you need, buddy?" Frankie asked.
David reported that his car was neutral from the center off but was "goofy" in the turns.
Frankie asked if the brake guy had checked temperatures while the #00 was sitting on pit road for the tire sheet.
"Yeah, he's checking them right now," David replied.
Somebody said the car looked as good as anyone in Turns 3 and 4.
"Randy, are you in the garage or outside?" David asked.
"Outside," the same person responded.
David asked Randy to look at the nose of Martin Truex Jr's #1 car, because it looked up on the straightaways.
"Ty Norris, ladies and gentleman," David said a minute later. "You can keep your seats."
He went back out on track at 12:05 and turned a 30.60, 30.55, 30.65, and a 30.65. Frankie asked about the car.
"What did we do to it?" David asked.
Frankie said they'd worked on the rear shock.
David reported that the car didn't rotate through the centre of the turns. He said the adjustment didn't do anything except maybe make the car a little tighter.
Frankie called for a shock change and told the crew to put the slugs down. Randy noted that the nose looked "a tick higher that time."
Frankie wanted another 25 in the left rear dam. Somebody said they still hadn't done the front bar like they'd talked about.
"Okay, Adam," Frankie replied.
Adam asked if they were going to work ont he spring too.
"No sir, no sir," Frankie answered. "We're close now. It's not like throwing darts at it."
They had approximately thirty minutes remaining in practice.
"We have another set of tires ready, bud," Frankie said. "Flash, give me a hand."
The #00 was back on track at 12:18am. David ran two 30.55's.
"30.37," Frankie said the next time around the track. "Keep doing that."
"I let it get too free that lap," David replied. "I don't know exactly what I did, so that's the problem."
Frankie told him to run one more lap. "That was a 60." The next time around the track, he told David he had run a 30.55 and told him to come back to the garage.
David said he thought he went into Turn 1 above the seam and stayed up there longer, and that's how he got faster.
"All right, kid," Frankie acknowledged.
David said that last adjustment seemed to make the car turn on the bottom a little quicker.
"Way better," Frankie replied. He wanted a track bar adjustment and then tires after running a few laps with that bar. The team talked about putting fuel in the car after the run and then putting on the new tires.
"The nose looked better the last time out," Randy noted.
"Thank you, Randy," Frankie said. "Hey, Randy, are you going to let a common criminal like me back in?"
A moment later, Frankie addressed the driver. "A fraction, and you're a hero." He said David was close to Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart as far as pick-up.
David went back out at 12:27pm and was cleared after Kurt Busch's #2. he ran a 30.50, 30.40, 30.50, and a 30.40.
"It seemed... Maybe..." David trailed off. "You know, much more stable on entry, much more stable on exit." He said it was much better on entry while not much worse in the centre.
Frankie called for a spring change. Thirteen minutes remained in practice. A crew member said not to worry about shock travels.
David told his crew chief that when the car starts to cut, he can go back to the floor whereas he couldn't. "The exit stayed the same but more stable on exit. Rear end didn't dance around so much on exit."
"Frankie, your car looks as good as anyone's on the race track," someone said. "Nose could come down an 8th."
"Thank you," Frankie replied. He told the crew to go up a half on the left rear.
"Remind us to get military binoculars for everyone," someone said.
The team had ten minutes left in practice. Bobby Kennedy asked if David had tried to do something with the wheel that he had suggested.
"Worse," David replied.
"10-4," Bobby replied. "Thanks for the info." Bobby said the car looked the same as it had been all day but it's getting better. It's still losing in the centre and off of Turn 2 but was as good as anyone in Turns 3 and 4.
"It's been pretty impressive, actually," Frankie commented. "Hey, Dave. You're down on air again, just like you're starting a restart."
David went back on the track at 12:38pm and turned a 30.30, 30.15, and a 30.40. Four minutes remained in practice.
"What do you think of the left rear spring?" Frankie asked.
"It ain't made it better through the centre, I can promise you that," David responded.
He turned a 30.50.
"That was a good corner there, Dave," Bobby commented.
David went back to the garage at 12:44. He asked if he should drive it all the way in, and a crew member said yes.
"Good practice, guys," Frankie praised the team. "Good practice."
"Good job today, guys," David added. "Thanks."
Shawn warned his cousin to be careful around a turn in the garage area.