Aaron's 499 - 4/26/09
Michael Waltrip finished 21st in the Aaron's 499, this afternoon's Sprint Cup race Talladega Superspeedway. His #55 Napa Auto Parts Camry was involved in two cautions, one where Mikey kept his car off the inside retaining wall to sustain no damage and a second where he was collected in a multi-car wreck. David Reutimann finished 26th after being penalised a lap under a late race yellow. Marcos Ambrose in the #47 came home 4th.
The Michael Waltrip Racing drivers all started near one another today. Mikey rolled off 31st, David 33rd, and Marcos 34th. Juan Pablo Montoya had won the pole.
"Got a copy on me?" someone came on the #55 radio at 2:07pm ET.
The call to start engines came one minute later.
"How you doing, buddy?" spotter Ty Norris was on the radio next.
"All set. Ready to go," Mikey replied.
"Ty, it's me," crew chief Bootie Barker said. "Do you hear me okay?"
"What's up, me?" Ty responded.
"Me is going to talk to you on the backstretch, okay?"
"What me needs to know is if he's taking two tires, four tires," Ty said he'd let Bootie know if Mikey slid his tires and needed more than they'd initially planned on.
"That sounds good. I talked to Michael about what we're going to do. He's pretty much up to speed." Bootie said he wanted Mikey's temperatures after a stretch.
"10-4."
Bootie wanted to go with 4600 pit road speed, with 4700 being too fast.
"Okay," Mikey replied.
Ty told Mikey his pit box was right near the Sprint tower.
"Yup."
A minute later, Bootie said, "You hear me? Hehe. I got ya." He told the team the easiest way to work anything out would be when Mikey's on the other side.
"All right, Ty, I'll tell you, that damn Dodge truck is in the way. When I see him, I'll let you know when I see him well, just to give you a good flavour. Still looking. Got the 14. Got Michael. Got Michael there. The outside line, I've got better. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Mike.
"Yup, 4600 and all that good stuff. Ron, you got to him about the B-blower, right?"
"10-4. I talked to him about the B-blower and the brakes," Ron replied.
"You still clear on the backstretch, bud?" Ty asked.
"You started out clear, but you got all staticky. When you started out, you were fine," Mikey replied.
"Okay, 10-4."
During pace laps, Scott Speed went to pit road, where his crew lifted his car. NASCAR held him a lap due to the impound.
Ty asked Bootie when he thought the first green flag pit stop would need to be at. Bootie estimated at lap 45.
"All right, bud, it's going to be one to go when you get around here," said Ty. "One to go."
"Michael, Travis Kvapil is in the 77, not Hornish," Bootie informed his driver.
"Already?" Mikey asked. Sam Hornish Jr, the driver of the #77, had the flu and was in the car at the start of the race. He had Kvapil on standby.
"I think so. Either way, it's going to be if it ain't. Just so you know who you're running around."
"What's the 82's issues?"
"Looks like they took a blanket off maybe the oil tank or something. They're going to hold them a lap, a penalty."
"77 hasn't dropped back, so they must be starting with Hornish," Ty said.
"Why did they not allow the 43's qualifying time?"
"Yeah, the 43 and 7 are going to the back. 82 a lap penalty. All right, buddy, you're going to be coming to the green this time. Coming to the green. All right, bro, pace car's off. Rolling. Green green green."
Montoya led the field to the green flag at 2:22pm ET.
"Everybody's rolling. Still outside. 00's coming to your bumper. Inside. The 8's still outside on your quarter. Everybody's with you. Still both sides, both sides. Clear low. Everybody's two by two."
Montoya held onto the top spot to lead the first lap.
"Still two by two. Got the 00 in your mirror. Three-wide there. Three-wide. Middle's covered. Still covered, still covered. Still outside, all the way to the top, all the way to the top. Three-wide. Clear right there. Clear behind the 13 if you want it. Last one now."
"I don't know if it's these tires or what, but it's shaking so bad, I can't see. Same thing as qualifying," Mikey reported on lap 3.
"10-4," Bootie replied.
"For some reason, the splitter's hitting."
"10-4. If both problems persist, we'll fix it first stop. Just keep me informed."
Mikey was 40th on lap 4, and David was no longer behind him.
Ty told Mikey that Tony Stewart in the #14 was pushing him.
"Neither one of them's hurting the performance, but it's just aggravating," Mikey added.
"10-4. All the way to the top. Got the 14 with you. You're all clear, whatever you need. One back to the 14. Pretty dicey up there, and you're in a nice spot. Got the 14 with you."
"I don't know if I'm in a nice spot or not. I don't know how I'd miss them all if it happened."
"10-4," Ty replied. "We'll figure it out. 87's still outside, all the way to the top. Got a run outside."
Dale Earnhardt Jr led lap 5, with Mikey 40th and David 30th. Then Montoya reclaimed the lead.
"Clear the 87. Clear clear. Both sides, both sides. Sitll there both sides. Still there both sides. Clear high if you want it, clear high if you want it. Temps okay?"
"So far, 290."
"Spin in front of you. Back it down, back it down. All over, back it down. All the way to the top line. Watch... oh, what the hell. Come on. We're okay. Ambrose tried to go up. Did he hit anything?"
"No, I didn't hit nothing, and I do need four tires, and I don't know if we ought to address this splitter or not."
Bootie called for packer, four tires, and fuel.
The first caution was on lap 7 when Matt Kenseth turned Jeff Gordon. Many cars were collected, including Max Papis, Elliott Sadler, David Gilliland, Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger, and Kasey Kahne.
"It will be 4600 when the pits are open. Real smooth," said Bootie. "Pits are still closed right now. Pits are still closed."
Mikey really wanted four tires. "I slid them pretty hard. If I blow one, it won't be very smart."
"10-4. 4600, 4600." Bootie counted Mikey into his box. "Clean the grill, Chris. Clean the grill. Don't go anywhere, Michael. We'll get everything done here. Hold on one second. Good and clean there, Chris? Okay, nice and easy. 4600."
"All right, 4600 to the end. About eight or nine cars pitted as well, so we'll have plenty back there with us as well," Ty said.
"Man, this thing is shaking. I don't understand it," Mikey said.
"Me either. Damn," Bootie replied.
"It is shaking severely. I wonder who Bowyer is going to blame that on, considering I wasn't in it."
"I'm sure he's going to say you had something to do with it, mental force or something."
"Well, anybody, well I believe in karma and good people getting good things, so I know I'm a good person and I know he's a prick, so I'd rather be on my side than his."
"Yeah, he's a prick. You're damn right. And you're a good person. So if there's any justice in karma, it happens. Shelly stuck him at the go-kart track."
"Yeah, I heard about that. I'm going to lose my mental focus one day and..."
"Yeah, we'll fight. Don't worry about it. We're with you. As far as the vibration, I don't have a good answer for you. I don't know."
"Yeah, it did it in qualifying. It's definitely here, and I don't know what to say, other than it's just bad. Maybe it will clear out. I don't know."
"10-4. Ty, we'll top off before this goes green. Might as well."
Ty said he didn't know how it worked with the cars who were in the wreck.
"It don't matter. Just get gas," Mikey said.
"The 00, as well, has a vibration on two tires. They're going to change their tires and see if it goes away." Bootie said they'd swap tires if they still had an issue.
"I'd swap them again, because this is ridiculous."
Bootie said they'd top off and get four. "Hey guys, look at me right here."
"We'll see what they says. One to go."
Bootie said it didn't matter, it was clear on pit road. The #55 made a stop. "Michael, let's get a towel for him. Get a towel. Don't go away yet. Okay, 46 to the line, 4600."
"Who caused it?" Mikey asked.
"Looks like Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. They were four-wide, first off all. Looks like Gordon and Kenseth got into it in the second groove."
Mikey wanted to know if the 8 was involved. "I don't know what happened."
"The 33 is out. The 9, the 44, the 26, the 24, the 71, all those guys are in the garage," Ty reported.
"Michael, we will have a clear exit. The 71 was in front of us," Bootie added.
Ty said they'd be in front of all the people who pitted too early. He also reported that David would have to restart at the back. "Pretty hard to figure out where the back is, know what I mean?"
"It's fine. I'll just stay here until they figure it out."
"Keep coming. Pace car's off. There you go. You ready? Ready? Green green green. Outside only. Clear one back to the 39. All clear."
Martin Truex Jr led the restart on lap 14. Mikey was 19th, David 14th, and Marcos 12th.
"Clear one back to the 99 and 13," Ty continued. "39's two back. The 99's with help."
"It won't keep up with nobody," Mikey complained. "It's been that way since Friday when we unloaded it, so we didn't do anything to mess it up. We just brought it there this way."
"10-4. Clear two back, four back."
Mikey said something about giving "Reut a little shove" and it being messed up since then.
"Single file, bud. Five of you."
Mikey was 22nd, David 21st, and Marcos 11th on lap 15.
"Front car's still down there, the 43. Clear down, clear. Whatever you need. Still down there. Clear to the middle if you want it. Clear to the bottom if you want it. Three-wide there, three-wide. Still three-wide, three-wide. Middle's clear, middle's clear, all the way at the top. Clear one back to the 19. Both sides."
Mikey was 24th on lap 16. David was 20th, and Marcos was 16th.
"Still both sides. 16 still there. Both sides. Still both sides. High side's clear, high side's clear. Got the 98 on the bottom."
Montoya reclaimed the lead on lap 19. Mikey was 10th, David 23rd, and Marcos 22nd.
"Two by two. Got the 20 on the bottom. 88's still on the bottom, two by two. Still two by two, still two by two. Right in front of you, right in front of you. Outside's still clear, outside's still clear. Both sides, if you want it. Clear one back. Bottom side's closing. Inside, inside. Still two by two. Got the 18 and the 48 with you. Clear all clear."
Mikey was 7th on lap 20, with Kurt Busch leading.
"Right out in front of you. 18 jumped to the middle. Got everybody going with him. Inside. Got a little help coming. Two of them coming. Pretty stout up top."
Mikey was 8th on lap 21. David was 19th, and Marcos was 28th.
"Still three-wide, still three-wide. 43's got the 12 pushing him behind you. Still three-wide. Lot of help up top with you. Still three-wide, three-wide."
On lap 22, Mikey was 10th. Denny Hamlin now led.
"Still three-wide. Still got a lot of help, a lot of help. Middle lane coming. Still three-wide."
Jeff Burton took the lead on lap 23. Mikey was up to 6th, David 18th, and Marcos 28th.
"Still three-wide, three-wide. Still three-wide. Middle still got you covered here. The 11's not fast enough to be blocking everybody like that. Still three-wide, six deep. Still three-wide.
Mikey was 9th on lap 25.
"Still three-wide. Everybody has help. Still there now. All the way. You saw it. Nice job. You've got the 6 there now in your mirror. Still both sides, both sides. Still both sides, both sides. Clear high now, clear high if you want it. 11 three back behind you."
Mikey was 10th on lap 26.
"Okay, you're two by two. Still got that low line. 6 jumped up there. Nobody with him. They're all with you. Clear high past the 6. Still in your corner. Now you're clear, now you're clear. Great job, Mike. You're single file. No runs right now. How are your temps looking?"
"218," Mikey replied.
"10-4," Bootie said.
"Clear the 31. Clear."
Burton fell off the past dramatically.
"Clear one back to the 19. The 6 just got to him. Still clear two back. Looking outside, outside, outside. Still outside, outside. You're clear now. Whatever you want. Clear one back to the top. Clear one back to the bottom. Caution's off, caution's out, caution's out. Wave them off. Don't get run over. You've got one on your quarter panel there. Clear there outside."
The second caution was on lap 29 for debris. Mikey was 6th, David 18th, and Marcos 26th.
"Okay, Michael, you're going to have to go around the 2. He's four in front of you. We're going to get right sides. Fuel and rights. Chris, clean the grill. 4600 and second. Pump your brakes," Bootie directed. "Okay, stop him a little long now. Make sure you have plenty of room. There you go. Right sides and fuel. There you go. Now with the jack."
"All right, who's in front of us who we have to worry about, Boot?" Ty asked.
Bootie said they were good on exit but had to go around the #2 to get in. Ty pointed out the #15 coming in, and Bootie added the #39. The crew chief led Mikey into the box. "Right here right here right here. Good job."
Mikey came off pit road in 3rd. Kyle Busch was first.
"4600. We're in good shape here. Good shape."
Bootie requested the tires. "I want to see what come off." After looking at the tires, he added, "Michael, the right side still got the seam in it. Everything looks nice."
"All right, buddy, one to go when you get here. One to go," said Ty.
"Michael, can you hear me?" Bootie asked.
"Sure."
"All right. I just didn't hear you. Michael, did that take care of the vibration, those tires."
"Yeah, it seemed to."
Bootie said it was 1.4 inches off. "We don't have any other tires balanced on that machine, so we'll try to stay on top of it. It would be like you had a whopper on the right rear, it would be a bit much."
"Still not going yet, bud. Not going to go," Ty told his driver. "All right, bud. One to go when you get around. One to go."
"What is the amount of good cars left, Ty?" Mikey asked.
"32 on the lead lap, cars that we'd typically race, about 20?"
"Okay."
"Okay, bud, pace car's off. Rolling. Green green green. Clear two back, clear two back."
Kyle Busch led the restart on lap 35 with Mikey in 3rd.
"Still single file. The 17 and the 1 with you." Ty told him two cars were lining up on the outside. "17's with you. Still outside, still outside. Clear the 19. Still clear one car length back. Outside, outside. Outside, outside. Help's on the bottom with you. You're in good shape. You're all clear, whatever you want. Single file, five of you. 6, 88, 77 on the bottom with you, the bottom with you. Looking low, looking low. Inside, inside. He's got the help with him. 17 in your mirror. 17's got the 1 and a nice push here."
Mikey was 2nd on lap 36 but lost ground.
"You're all clear, all clear. 17 isn't clear yet. 17 is clear. More help with you, more help through the middle. Outside lines' got a lot of help now. Outside."
Mikey was 5th on lap 37.
"There you go. Good help right there. Still clear to the middle, if you need it. One back to the 6 on the bottom. Clear the 1, clear the 1. Clear one back to the 6, then they're three by three. All clear, all clear. Top line's coming back. The 1 and the 48. Inside, inside. 6. 88 coming to your bumper. Inside. Still outside. Both still outside. Clear high, if you need it. Back outside, outside. Both sides."
Mikey was 2nd on lap 39 until the break-out with Ragan.
"Four wide, four wide, four wide. The 1's all the way up top by himself. Three wide, three wide. Clear high if you want it. Still right there on you. Inside now, inside."
"I can't keep up with these ___, man."
"Got the 2 and the 1 all the way up top with you."
On lap 40, Mikey was 7th.
"Do you want to relax a little bit and work later, let us know. We'll find you a hole. Three by three. They're on top of each other in front of you. All right, everybody's cool. Got the 2 and the 1 with you."
Mikey did drop back through the ranks.
"Still three-wide, three wide. All lanes covered. 44's the last one, if you want to hang at the end of this pack."
"Temps, Ty," Bootie said.
"200, they're fine," Mikey responded.
"10-4."
Mikey was 17th on lap 42.
"Still 140 to go. You're in good shape. Inside now, inside. Wow, what a save, what a save. Hold on now, watch out."
"We didn't hit anything. That was some nice piece of driving, Michael."
"Well, I'm the one who put myself in that spot. I didn't see him."
Bootie called for four tires. "Take your time, Michael. Okay, guys, the tires might be flat, so we're going to have to pick it up."
Ty reiterated to take time.
The third caution was on lap 43. Mikey thought he'd cleared a car and spun down the track but held the car so he didn't hit anything, despite the fact he was headed for the inside wall.
"I'll do everything. Just calm down," Mikey said when Bootie was instructing him.
Bootie told Ty to tell him where the pace car was as the #55 team took their time on pit road. "Yeah, I see it. I see it. Okay, we're going to get four. There you go. Let's get four on it. We need to replace that left side splitter brace. Go ahead, Michael. Okay, one man come over and talk to me. Come here, Ron."
"I've got it, Bootie," someone said.
The #55 came back into the pits. Ty told the team where the pace car was.
"Look at it. It may not be separated. If it is, then send it home. Michael, you're going to be 100% when we get this done, okay?"
"Okay," Mikey replied.
"Turn 3, and they're going to give you one to go."
"I don't like that barribond. Don't do it, Andy."
"Turn 4, Bootie, Turn 4."
"Okay, we've got to go, boys. Go ahead, Michael."
"I just, I don't know. I get there to the front, and they just run me over. I'm so slow," Mikey complained.
"That's what they were saying about the 11. He kept blocking all the lanes, because he wasn't fast enough to be there. Truck's going to be up there in Turn 2."
"Was somebody calling me?"
"I was just telling you about the trucks. One to go.
"Hey, Mikey, it's DW up in the booth," brother Darrell Waltrip came on the #55 radio.
"Yes, big brother, how are you?" Mikey asked.
"Hey, man, we're in a break right now. We're going to ask you about your wild ride. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"Do you have any idea how that looked on TV?" DW laughed.
"I know when I got back going in the right direction, it looked pretty cool."
DW came back on.
"Yeah, bro, what's up."
"Do you have any idea how close you came to those two walls?"
"Yeah, I knew it was going in the wrong direction, but when it was going right, it was pretty cool."
DW said he knew Mikey had his eyes open, because he was wheeling it. "Great job, man!"
"Thank you. They stacked up in front of me." Mikey said he drove across his teammate's hood, not knowing he was there. "So we'll just drive up there and get some more."
Kyle Busch led the restart on lap 47. Mikey was 25th.
"There you go. That's the fastest horse in that stable. Still one outside."
Lap 49 saw Dale Earnhardt Jr take the lead. Mikey was 24th.
"There you go. The top line's moving the best right now. Still scattered on the bottom. 7's still inside, inside. Still there. That middle lane's got you covered. Clear there if you want it. Clear if you want it. That 07's a pig right there in front. Still clear outside. Still outside, still there. Three-wide, three-wide. Still three-wide. Third lane's got you covered. Four wide there. Got the 00 coming in there on your bumper. Back to three, back to three. Still three-wide, still three-wide. The 6, 00 with you on the bottom. Still three-wide, three-wide."
Matt Kenseth led lap 51. Mikey was 15th, David 20th, and Marcos 22nd.
"Still three-wide. Outside, outside. Still two by two, still two by two. Jeff Burton was trying to come up to speed in the middle of this pack. He's coming up the middle. Still both sides, still three-wide. Still the one line up the top. Clear behind that 43. Clear one back if you want it."
Mikey was 12th on lap 52 with Earnhardt Jr leading. He was 17th one lap later with David 16th and Marcos 22nd.
"You're clear, whatever you want. Clear the high side, up to the middle. Still one back. Clear the 07. All clear. Whatever you want."
Mikey was 16th on lap 54. David was 9th, and Marcos was 19th.
"83's still inside. Got the 77 coming to your bumper. Got the 2 with him. All clear, all clear. Got Team Penske up behind you. You've got all three of them." Ty said something about rim riding like this last year.
Mikey was 12th on lap 57. David was 8th, and Marcos was 21st.
Ty noted the #77 was up top. "His teammates hung him out. The 2 and the 12 behind you. Still outside. Everybody's up top. Everybody's hanging out up top. Outside, outside, outside. Got about eigh tof them up there."
"I hate doing that," Mikey said.
"Yeah, still out there. Spin right in front of you. You see him. Come on up, come on up. You're good."
The fourth caution was on lap 61 when Kurt Busch got spun across the track. He saved it from the inside wall too.
"I'm going to tell you, they're going to wreck doing that. You can't see, and when people start to let up, I got clobbered, and I was lucky I didn't wreck. It's dumb they do that. If you're first, I guess it works."
Ty said they were doing whatever they were talking about two or three times.
Bootie called for four tires and fuel.
"I don't know why they want to run up there 12, 13 in line and get wrecked. The only ones it's good for is the first two or three."
"All right, 55 in front of the 98, and we're just picking up the leader. Coming this time. 4600."
Bootie requested periodic temp checks so he could see when he should "squeeze the trigger" with adding tape.
"Yeah, I don't have any temperature problems. 190. You'd better squeeze it now before it goes away."
"The 2 wrecked."
"He's in his pits. He's in his pits right now. You'll have to go around the 2."
Ty said the #2 got spun in "that accordian deal" one lap after Mikey had realised it.
Bootie wanted to put tape on the nose. Mikey thought he wanted tape pulled. The team planned to tape the bottom, 24 inches. The #55 stayed out to lead a lap before coming into a clear pit road situation. "Okay, Michael. Stay, stay. Sorry. Get him another roll, in case he needs it."
Ty told Mikey to drive 4500 on pit road as he was the only guy there. "Let's not push it. The 14's back there with you. The 2's going to be back there with you. The 31. You're good."
"125 to go, Mike."
"That's a lot."
"I know."
"All right, pace car's off," Ty said. "You ready? Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling. All clear, all clear. Everybody's rolling. Got a slow one on the bottom. You're going to catch him off of 2."
Martin Truex Jr led the lap 65 restart. Mikey was 32nd, David 12th, and Marcos 9th.
"Slow one's on the bottom, slow one's on the bottom. 34's hung on the top off this corner. 78's still there, inside. There you go. Outside, outside. All right, you're all clear. Still single file. 13's still out there. You're clear now, clear."
On lap 67, Mikey was 28th. David was 16th, and Marcos was 6th. He was 25th two laps later.
"Still trying that top line there. Clear there, clear there. Outside outside outside, both sides, both sides. 78's going to be coming outside with him. You're going to be clear there, clear there. Clear there, ten back." Ty asked Mikey for his temps now that he had the tape on the nose of his #55.
"220 so far, good adjustment," Mikey replied.
"10-4," said Bootie.
Mikey was 27th on lap 70.
"Still outside. Still there, still there. Clear. There you go. 78's got a run on the bottom with the 14."
On lap 71, Mikey was 26th. David was 17th, and Marcos was 6th. The #55 was 27th one lap later.
"Work with that 7 there, see if he'll get to your bumper," Ty said. "7's here. The 7, the 99 right there with us. Okay, buddy, I think they're done running into each other up there, so we'll work our way back up there. That 7 just got a little heat issue. He was fine. He wasn't trying to go there."
"These bumpstops aren't running like they were. I don't know what is going on," Mikey reported.
"10-4."
Denny Hamlin was leading by lap 78. Mikey was still 27th.
"Still clear three back. Still clear three back. Clear four back, clear four back. Outside. Still both sides. Clear high, clear high. Still all the way to the bottom. All the way at the bottom, the 20. Clear low, clear low."
Montoya led lap 79 before Earnhardt Jr reclaimed the top spot. Mikey was 26th, David 11th, and Marcos 19th.
"Still outside, the 1. Still outside, the 1. Three by three, every lane has help. Still three by three. Outside, outside. That could have been ugly. You've got him outside."
On lap 81, Mikey was 14th. David was 18th, and Marcos was 13th.
"Still outside, all the way to the top. Still outside, all the way to the top. Clear to the bottom. Still both sides, both sides. You've got them all on the bottom. Keep coming, keep coming. Everybody saved it. No caution."
Earnhardt Jr and Brad Keselowski had made contact.
"Clear high if you want it. Clear high."
Mikey was 20th on lap 82. David was 11th, and Marcos was 16th.
"Still there. Still there. Clear clear. Whatever you want. Clear. Still clear. Whatever you need. Still there inside, inside. Clear there. Clear one back. Still three-wide. Back to two. All clear, all clear. Clear two back to the top."
Hamlin led lap 83 with Mikey in 19th.
Ty warned Mikey about two slow cars. "You've got the 88 and the 42 ganging up on the bottom. Both sides, both sides, both sides. Still there, still there. Both sides. All the way to the top."
Hornish Jr took the lead on lap 84, and David was 3rd.
The fifth caution was for debris on lap 85. Mikey was 19th, David 5th, and Marcos 15th.
"Caution's going to be out behind you for debris. There you go, there you go."
Bootie asked about temps.
"220."
"10-4."
"I don't know what's happened to the front of this car, but it's not like it started. Just like at Daytona. It just gives up. You've got something wrong."
"10-4." Bootie called for right side tires only.
"It's jumping around, and as slow as it was, it's making it slower."
Bootie asked Mikey to repeat, because two people were talking.
"It's slowing down just like it did at Daytona, and as slow as it is, it makes it slower."
Bootie told Mikey to go on the jack. "4600. Pump your brakes. Move the sign back a little. Move the sign." He led his driver to the box. "Clean the grill, Chris." Bootie asked if Mikey were hitting the splitter anymore.
Mikey said either the stops were deteriorating, or one fell out. He noted it was like it was in practice.
"Okay, guys, we're going to do four. We're going to do four."
"You might want to look at those bumps and see if there's anything staring at you."
"10-4. Chris. Just pull up your sleeve, Chris. No hurry, boys, just nice and smooth. Make sure everything's tight. 4600."
"One to go."
Bootie led Mikey back to his box. He said they'd have another look. "Okay, don't go, Michael. Don't go. Gonna make sure the grill is clean. Okay, Michael, 4600, all the way."
Ty told Mikey to drive 4500, because cars were just now in Turn 2. "Just now getting into 3. All right, there they are. Pace car's still on the track. All right, pace car's off. Be ready. Ready? Rolling. Green green green. Everybody's rolling, everybody's rolling."
Paul Menard led the lap 89 restart. Mikey was 33rd, David 5th, and Marcos was 18th.
"Still clear."
Denny Hamlin took the lead the first lap back.
"Still out there. The 7's still there. Clear clear. Still there, 87. Clear clear. Still all the way at the top."
Mikey was 31st on lap 90.
"Two more coming outside. Clear behind that 87 right there. Clear if you need it. Still outside outside. Low line if you need it. Clear to the top side. You've got one looking low. Up top with you now. Middle's clear if you need it. Both sides, both sides. Both sides."
On lap 91, Mikey was 30th. David was 3rd, and Marcos was 19th.
"Still both sides. Both sides. 88's still on your quarter, on your low side. Lost all your help behind you. Still both sides. Clear one lane up if you want it. Got the 19 with you in the middle. Clear clear. Nice job. Both sides, both sides. Both sides. The 09's back under you. Both sides. Clear low if you need it. Clear low if you need it."
Mikey was 25th on lap 92.
"Both sides, both sides. The low line's backing up pretty quick. Clear. Clear low if you want it, clear low."
On lap 93, Mikey was 19th.
"Still both sides, both sides. Still both sides, both sides."
Mikey was 16th on lap 94. David was 2nd.
Ty warned Mikey that David Ragan was still low on the bottom. "There you go. The 07's still there, slow on the bottom. Both sides, both sides. Still both sides. Still there."
Mikey was 15th on lap 95.
"Clear up right there if you want it, if you want it. Both sides, still both sides. Still both sides. 87's got you covered outside. He's right there in front of you. Still both sides, still both sides."
On lap 97, Mikey was up to 14th.
"Still both sides, bud. He's right there with you. Still both sides. Clear low past the 14. Clear low. Still got one outside though. The top side and the middle. Nothing on the bottom right now. The bottom's trying to form up. The 18's there. Now he's on your bumper. Two by two. Still two by two. 14's outside, outside. Still two by two."
Mikey was 15th on lap 99. One lap later, Mikey was 18th.
"Still outside. Have you covered. Still two back in the middle, the 19. Still outside, the 19's still with you. Still outside, outside. Still outside on your corner. Still there."
On lap 101, Mikey was 13th.
"A little help coming, the 47. Clear behind the 47 if you want it, if you want it."
Mikey was back to 18th on lap 102. He was 22nd one lap later. He's looking low. Inside, inside. You're clear clear. One back to the 98. Still outside, outside. Outside, outside. Got you covered there, bud. I'm going to try to work around that 13. He's got some stuff coming off the right side. Outside, outside. You're going to have two slow ones on the bottom when you come around Turn 3. Slow one all the way to the bottom, all the way to the bottom. Top side's closed up, 39's there."
Lap 106 saw Mikey move back to 24th. He was 26th one lap later.
"Still two by two. Clear low, clear low."
Mikey was 20th on lap 108. One lap later, he was 19th.
"Still outside. Got the 41 with you. 19's still on your outside, outside. Outside, outside. Outside outside outside. 09's going to be up there also. Still outside, the 09. Still outside, outside. Still there."
On lap 110, Mikey was 22nd. David was still 2nd, and Marcos was 24th.
"Inside. Clear there, whatever you want. Outside outside outside. Outside, outside. The 82 gets there, he'll be the last one. The 98 dropped off. Still outside. 16 all the way to the top side. Clear if you want it. Clear whatever you want, two back."
Lap 112 saw Earnhardt Jr take the lead. Mikey was 20th, David 3rd, and Marcos 25th.
"Clear high, clear high. Somebody cut a tire there, so."
On lap 114, Reed Sorenson hit the wall and went to pit road. The race remained under green. Mikey was 15th, David 10th, and Marcos 22nd.
"Both sides, both sides. Clear high. Inside, inside. The 09 coming to your bumper with help, with help. Inside. Real slow one on the bottom, 98. Jamming up. 77's shooting up the middle. It will be clear one back up top. Inside, inside, inside. All the way at the bottom."
Martin Truex Jr took the lead on lap 115. Mikey was 17th, David 18th, and Marcos 22nd.
"Both sides, both sides. Still both sides, both sides. Still both sides. You've got three cars stacked up behind you, trying to push. Clear low if you want it, clear low if you want it. Inside, 34 coming by himself. Clear the 34. Looking low, looking low. Three wide, three wide."
Mikey was 20th on lap 117. David was 12th, Marcos 22nd.
"Still three wide, two of them up top. Stay down stay down stay down stay down. You're fine. 19 up against the wall there. No caution yet. Still three wide, three wide. Still outside outside. Outside the 82. Still outside, bud. Still outside. Both sides both sides. Outside. Behind the 19 if you want it, if you want it."
Mikey was 19th on lap 119. David was 4th, and Marcos was 18th.
"Still there on your corner. Clear the 11. Clear clear. Still clear on the bottom. Got the 11 down there, trying to help. Still clear inside. Clear up behind that 82 if you want it. 11's trying to come. Outside now, outside. 14, 78 on your bumper."
Mikey was 21st on lap 120.
"Still three wide, three wide, three wide. Clear low. Got them both sides. Clear top side, the 14's still on the bottom. Clear all clear, whatever you need. Clear clear."
"We'll be pitting in eight laps," Bootie said.
"Still on your corner, on the bottom. Clear high side. Did you say something, Bootie?"
"Pitting in eight laps."
"10-4."
Brian Vickers led lap 122. Mikey was 16th, David 18th, and Marcos 20th.
"Got one sneaking on the bottom. Got two all the way to the bottom getting into 1. Middle lane, just the middle lane now. The 6 all by himself. Clear the 6, clear. Clear the 12, clear the 12. 87 still outside. Still two by two. Caution's out for debris, caution's out for debris."
The sixth caution was on lap 124. Truex Jr was back in the lead, and Mikey was 17th.
"All right, Michael. I'll tell you what, guys. We're going to get four right now so we'll be ready for the end, okay?"
"Okay. It's sliding the right front a little bit, but it's also bouncy. Can't work a whole lot out."
"10-4. All right. 4600. Make sure you have brakes. You're going to have to go around the 2. Clean the grill."
"Get a tear off," Mikey added.
"10-4."
Cars hit pit road under yellow.
"Yeah, I got you. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. There you go. Hit your sign. Shift when the right side drops," Bootie directed. "One lane one lane. All the way. 77 up your ass. There you go. Watch them both sides. The 00, there you go. Come on up. Yeah, Paul, just in case anything happens, I'd go get them, just in case. Nice stop, guys. Very nice stop. All right, Michael, we have 63 to go. We're about 20 laps short of our window, so we'll have to do one more stop."
"It will be one to go when you get here," Ty said.
"Great pit stop, y'all. Great job!" Mikey praised his team.
"10-4," Bootie replied.
Mikey had come off pit road 12th. David was 10th, Marcos 22nd, and Kyle Busch led.
Busch led the restart on lap 128.
"Pace car's off. Be ready. Green green green. Clear two back, clear two back. A run inside, inside. He's got some help. All right, it's back to single file. One more slow on the bottom. Clear all clear. Three wide, three wide. Middle lane's closing up, closing up. 88 inside. A lot of help on the bottom. Nice job. Still inside. All clear right now. The top side is going to have the biggest run. Middle's closing. You're still clear, you're still clear. All lanes."
On lap 130, Mikey was up to 3rd.
"Outside, the 16 behind you. On your quarter, outside. Outside, outside. All the way to the top. 83's still there, still there. Clear up if you want it, if you want it. 11's still outside on your quarter. Still there, still there. Clear. Coming to the outside again. Middle lane. Outside. Up top, middle lane outside. Three wide three wide, still three."
Lap 131 saw Mikey in 4th.
"Two wide now, two wide. Three-wide. Still three-wide. You're clear. 16's outside, outside. Looking outside. Big push coming from the 17, coming to your bumper. Still three wide. Clear to the middle. Got the 17 and the 14 with you on the bottom. Clear the 6. Outside now, outside."
"If the 1 didn't just block me to keep me from passing, I don't even know why they say that in the driver's meeting," Mikey said when Truex Jr blocked him for the lead.
Ty agreed with Mikey. "Clear up if you want it. Clear two back. Still clear, whatever you want, bud. Still clear."
Mikey was 6th on lap 134. Kyle Busch was leading.
"Way up top is coming. Middle of both lanes is both coming. Three by three, three by three. In the middle, keep rolling. Clear to the middle now, clear to the middle. You've got the 17 down to the bottom with you. Clear up top."
Elliott Sadler led lap 135. Mikey was 5th. David was 14th, and Marcos was 25th.
"The good line's on the bottom with you. Inside now, inside. Three wide."
"I'm just a frickin' road block, man," Mikey said. He was 9th on lap 136. David was now 5th.
"Clear high, clear high. Inside, inside. 18's looking in the middle, looking in the middle. Back up behind you. Still three wide, three wide. No holes. Three wide. Still three by three."
Mikey was 12th on lap 138. David was 7th, and Marcos was 17th.
"Still three by three," Ty said.
Kurt Busch led lap 139. Mikey was 15th, and David was 3rd.
"Still three by three, still three by three. The 18 and the 83 up top with you. Two by two, two by two."
With 48 to go, Denny Hamlin pushed David to the lead but passed him before the stripe.
"Three wide, three wide. Two on the bottom."
Kurt Busch then went to the front with Earnhardt Jr pushing.
"Got the top line in the middle line now. No low line. Inside inside. Right in the middle."
Casey Mears led with 47 laps to go. Mikey was 15th.
"Clear all the way to the bottom,b ut you have two slow ones, two slow ones off of 2. Both sides, still both sides. Still outside. Clear low."
Mikey was 17th on lap 142. David was 10th, and Marcos was 14th.
"Still three by three. Everybody's got help. Still three by three, bud."
Jeff Burton took the lead after coming back from three laps down with 45 laps to go. Mikey was 11th, David was 10th, and Marcos was 23rd.
"Still three by three. Still three by three, four by four in some places."
On lap 144, Dale Earnhardt Jr led. Mikey was 16th. David was 9th, and Marcos was 18th.
"Two by two here. You've got a slow one off this corner. Clear low. You still got him outside. Two by two, two by two. All right, be careful. They're about getting run over here."
"Okay, guys, we're going to take two tires. Go on the jack," Bootie said.
The seventh caution was on lap 147 for debris from a caution light. Earnhardt Jr led, Mikey was 21st, David was 9th, and Marcos was 14th.
"Okay, we're going to do two tires, Ty. We're going to do two tires. Don't slide the tires."
Ty noted the pace car hadn't picked up the field yet.
"The 2 is doing gas only. You are running 21st, he's running 3rd. So you're going to have to watch it. Around the 41 - 55, 41. Oh yeah, we got it, Ty. This is going to be our last stop, unless something happens."
Ty told them to be tight. "We're talking three seconds, four seconds of fuel."
"Boys, let's do this right, and we'll get it. Okay, the 2 is going to be coming out. We're going to have to watch and talk to each other. Got you, Michael. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4. Here's the 2. Come around the 2. 3, 2. All right, we might as well get four. Let's get four."
Kurt Busch was the first off pit road in the #2. Jeremy Mayfield stayed on track to lead under yellow.
"One lane, one lane, one lane."
"I ain't having a very good day on pit road," Mikey said. "Maybe I can make it up to you, make it up to you out here."
"It's okay, it's okay." Bootie pointed out that Mikey had a lot of laps too.
"The temperatures have been about 230 in the traffic."
"Okay, that's a little too warm for me. Ron. Okay, Michael, come on. We're going to get a little bit of tape off."
"10-4."
"Yeah, all right. Might as well plug it to your right. 4600, Michael. 45, 45. Get you cleaned off there. There you go, I gotcha. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. Don't slide them. Nice and easy. Okay, boys, you all good? Come on, Michael."
Ty noted they'd done what they said they'd do to help the #2, but the #2 were in their box longer than they'd said.
"Yeah, y'all said three seconds, and there was no way I could get in front of him in three seconds. It didn't work. I don't know. Y'all making great stops. It's just not working out for us."
Bootie said they'd make it up.
"Reut was speeding on pit road. He was running 3rd. He has to go to the back of the line. Ready? Green green green."
Kurt Busch led the restart with 38 laps to go. Mikey was 31st, David 30th, and Marcos 14th.
"Clear."
On lap 151, Mikey was 30th.
"That 7 is coming back to get you here."
At the front of the field, Kurt and Kyle Busch were battling for the lead. Kurt held it across the stripe with 36 to go.
Mikey was 28th two laps later, when Kyle Busch took the lead. David was pushing him, and they were off the lead draft. They were running together but with nobody else. Marcos was 16th.
"Just lock right in here. Maybe we can get up there," Ty said. "That was a pretty good shove right there. Tell us what we have right there, Bootie."
Bootie said they'd picked up, although it depended on the lap. Sometimes, they gained when cars shuffled, but then David had to drop back because he was too hot.
"All right, here he comes again. He may be too hot to do it, but we'll see. That pack's coming to you. That pack's coming to you."
"That's definitely faster, Ty. I just know he can't maintain it for so long."
"How many to go?" Mikey asked.
"24," Bootie replied.
"Have I got something on my grill, Ty?"
"I'll take a look this time. They're talking about some debris in Turn 1. They haven't confirmed it yet. Let me get a look at it this time."
Bootie told Mikey to do something with his radiator fan, but the transmission cut off the end of what he said.
"Can't see anything white. If it's black, I can't see it," Ty informed his driver. "20 to go.
"They're racing now. Maybe somebody will make a mistake. Four there riding up on the top. 18 to go. Crashing over in 4, crashing over in 4, crashing over in 4."
"I got real hot, y'all, and I don't know why," Mikey said.
"Okay. No problem. Come on in then. Don't come in now, of course." Bootie said they'd clean the grill and come back out. He called for no tires.
The yellow flag waved for the 8th time. Matt Kenseth was leading lap 173. He'd just passed Kyle Busch when Kyle Busch got really loose and wrecked. Truex Jr also wrecked; David Ragan spun him out.
Mikey wanted four tires. He also wanted fuel.
Bootie agreed with the call. Once Mikey approached on pit road, he saw the debris on Mikey's grill. "Same thing, Michael. Don't go until Chris gets it cleaned. Okay. 4600, 46."
"Did he get the grill cleaned?" Mikey asked.
"Yes. Big piece of paper across it. You had a whole roll of toilet paper on your butt. I guess someone threw it out of the porta-john, and it ended up on us. You're going to have 13 laps when it goes, Michael. 13 to go."
"Hey, are they scoring the 00 one lap down?" Ty asked.
Bootie said yes. "And it's the biggest load of horse shit."
Mikey said he didn't need to worry about the 00 right now.
Kenseth led the restart with 13 laps to go. Mikey was 28th, David lapped in 33rd, and Marcos 6th.
"Still on your corner, still on your corner. 18, the 00, and the 1. 77 jumped up behind the 1. Still clear up there. You're clear there, clear there, clear there. Clear low. Whatever. Clear up behind him, clear up behind him."
"I don't know what's wrong with this car, but it's a mess," Mikey said with 12 laps to go. Clear to the middle. That's the 41. Clear behind the 71. Both sides, both sides. Clear low. Three by three. Still three by three. Got the 1 down there with you."
Newman led with ten laps to go. Mikey was 24th.
"Middle's coming up with the 18. Middle. Three wide, three by three. Still outside on your quarter, still on your quarter. The middle if you want it. Both sides, both sides. Still both sides, both sides. Both sides, both sides. It's going to be 9 to go. Both sides. Clear high, clear high. Stacking up there. Keep rolling. Inside, inside. In front of you. I don't have a clue. Keep coming. We're still going straight. We got some of it. I don't know if we got a ton."
Bootie told the crew they had left front damage.
"The steering wheel's good. Just help me with the body," Mikey said. He asked his crew to work down the hinge.
Bootie asked Ty to watch the pace car. "Do not knock anything loose, okay."
"Pull some tape, and spray some water, or something."
Bootie told Mikey to put on his brake fan.
"The fan's on, man!"
"Okay, Michael, I've got it."
The 9th caution was with 8 laps to go. Denny Hamlin had rear-ended Montoya, and he collected a number of cars. Mikey had dodged right and got away from the brunt of the force but did get damage. Martin Truex Jr, Robby Gordon, David Stremme, Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmie Johnson, and Bobby Labonte were collected.
Bootie told the crew to change right side tires and to change the left splitter brakes.
"I smell no smoke, and it drives fine. So if you can just knock it out, it will be all right."
After they made the repairs, the #55 went back on track.
"Is it one to go? I mean, is it going to be?"
"No," Ty replied. "It will probably be a couple more, at least."
Bootie told Mikey to come back in, when he got caught up. Mikey wanted to pit earlier than that. Ty said they'd have a lot of time, so Mikey pit again without getting caught up.
Bootie wanted the crew to just make sure the splitter wasn't dragging. After one last look, the #55 car was sent back on track. Bootie told his driver he should be good to go if something stupid didn't happen.
"All right. Anything you want to stabilise to make me go faster?"
Bootie didn't want to attach anything, because he thought it would fall off.
"All right, going to be four to go when we get restarted," Ty said. "All right, pace truck's off. Be ready. Ready? Get rolling, get rolling, get rolling. Green green green."
Ryan Newman led the restart. Mikey was 22nd, David lapped in 26, and Marcos 7th. Newman's teammate and car owner Tony Stewart inexplicably dropped like a rock on the restart.
"Still outside, the 17. Clear clear. The 42's down there with you. Still clear two back, two back. Outside, outside. 17 and the 11. Clear there, clear there. Whatever you want."
Mikey was 21st on lap 186.
"Two to go, two," Ty said.
On the white flat lap, the 09 pushed the 99 into the lead. Mikey was back to 22nd.
"Inside, inside. Two of them. White flag, white flag. Spun in front, spun in front. Stay down, stay way down, stay way down. Get all the way up. All the way up."
Brad Keselowski passed Edwards coming off Turn 4 of the last lap. Edwards tried to push the #09 behind the yellow line, and Keselowski clipped him. Newman in 3rd hit the #99 sideways, flipping Edwards into the air and into the catch fence hard. Edwards got out of his car and ran across the start/finish line on foot.
Bootie praised Mikey for coming in 22nd after that.
"Just make sure they don't put the 11 in front of me, because he passed after the wreck," Mikey said. NASCAR agreed, and therefore, he was 21st.
"Okay, Ron, get with an official."
Marcos finished 4th, and David finished one lap down in 26th.
Next weekend's races will take place in Richmond, Virginia. Coverage of the Sprint Cup's Crown Royal 400 begins next Saturday at 7:00pm ET on FOX. The Nationwide series' Lipton Tea 250 airs the day before at 7:00pm on ESPN2.
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© 2009 Kellyanne Lynch, in association with Cyber Speed Design. All rights reserved.
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