Southern 500 - 5/9/09
The #55 Napa Auto Parts Camry burst into flames on lap 74, ending Michael Waltrip's run in the Southern 500, tonight's Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway. He finished 40th. The race is still in progress.
Mikey started 36th tonight, with David rolling off 21st and Marcos 10th.
"Bootie Bootie Bootie Bootie rockin' everywhere," spotter Ty Norris came on the radio at 7:26pm ET.
"Yeah, I'm rocking everywhere," crew chief Bootie replied. "How are you doing?"
"Sounds good."
"Ty, I can see, the what do you call them. Wreckers down there. I have a decent view of that one, the front one."
"Cool."
"Got a copy? Got a copy?"
"1, 2, 3. Everybody hear me?"
"All right, I got you."
"I got you all."
Bootie told Mikey he wanted to talk about his tachometre. "4442 is speeding. Let's say we go with a shy 44. How's that?"
Mikey agreed to it.
"Okay."
The mothers of the drivers in this race gave the call to start engines at 7:28pm.
"Okay, Michael," said Bootie, "you can go ahead and turn your brake fans on and your b-fans on."
"Okay, got you. On on. Over."
"10-4."
"That was awesome," Ty said. "The godaddy.com girl had to read a script to say, 'For the most famous words in NASCAR.' I think she said 'motorspohts. I think she got away with it."
"She must be from Virginia, where I'm from," Bootie replied.
"Yeah, she's got a little South Boston going on."
"Half one zero. Hello," it sounded like Bootie said after a long pause on the radio.
"Uh, everybody hear me okay out here," Mikey asked after more silence.
"Yeah, beautiful," Bootie replied. "How 'bout you, Ty?"
'Yeah, how bout you, bud?"
"Yeah."
"All right, brother," Ty said. "We're going to close you up. One to go. Long night."
"Michael, you and Ty have fun," Bootie said something about talking when Ty wasn't. "I'll give you lap times and stretch you out. You're the man."
"All right, buddy, pulling tight, pulling tight. Here we go. Coming around to the green."
Matt Kenseth led the field to the green flag at 7:36pm.
"All right, everybody's rolling. Be ready. Green green green. Everybody's rolling, everybody's rolling. Still inside, still inside. Still inside. Still there. Clear low, clear low."
Kenseth led the first lap. Mikey was up to 33rd. Joey Logano struggled.
"There you go. Still outside. Clear there, clear there. Whatever you want, whatever you want. Looking low, inside, the 83. Inside, the 83. You're clear behind him. 13 backing up up top. Closing up. Back outside. 44's still there. Clear there, clear two back. Still clear, clear. All right, inside on the 98. You're clear low, you're clear low if you need it. Still outside. Still there. Clear up. 98's going to peak inside. Just a peak. To your bumper cover, he's there. All by himself. Still there inside. Okay, crash behind you, crash behind you. Keep coming, no caution yet. Caution's out, caution's out."
Mikey was 32nd when the first caution came out on lap 4. Scott Speed had gotten into Max Papis in Turn 1, and both wrecked.
"Just doesn't feel real good yet," Mikey reported. "Real, really just hard to drive right now, but we'll figure it out."
"10-4, Michael. As far as your splitter hitting the track or anything goofy going on?"
"Nothing. I felt the splitter on the first lap maybe. I haven't felt it since. It's just hard to drive it. I don't know. It's like when practice started. It's jerky, like it's trying to go into the infield. But I've been in a bind, so we'll work it out."
Bootie called to stay out.
"220, 250."
"10-4." He talked about pulling tape and told Mikey to tell him if the temperature didn't come down.
"Well, just ask me, and I'll let you know if you ask me."
"Okay, 10-4."
"Everybody, one to go, one to go," said Ty.
"All right, Michael, turn your fan off."
"All right, bud, be ready. Pace car is going to be coming off. Leader's just now in 4."
Kensesth led the lap 8 restart. Mikey was 31st, David 25th, and Marcos 14th.
"Green green green. Everybody's rolling. 98's still tight on you. Clear half back. Outside outside outside. That 98's outside. Clear behind you. Come on down come on down. You're clear. No caution yet. No caution. Keep coming."
Lap 10 saw Robby Gordon hit the wall. Mikey was 32nd, David 25th, and Marcos 15th.
"Clear two back, 66. Inside, 48 inside. Clear there, one back to the 71."
"Just real loose," Mikey reported.
"10-4," Bootie replied.
"Real skaty on the right front, loose on the right rear."
"10-4."
Mikey was 33rd on lap 11. He said something else, but it was filled with static.
"10-4."
"Still clear two back. All clear. Still there, still there. There to your corner. Clear clear."
"30.07," Bootie read off the lap time.
Mikey was 32nd on lap 15. David was 21st, and Marcos was 18th.
"30.10."
Lap 18 saw Jeff Gordon take the lead.
"You're doing a nice job. Clear two back still."
"30.19."
"I've got a real difficult front end," Mikey said.
"10-4," Bootie replied.
"I can't get in."
"Right outside, outside. Just hang on, buddy," Ty said. "You'll get it."
"Okay, guys, you see where we have damage on the right front."
Ty said he didn't see much body damage.
The second caution was on lap 22. Mikey had hit the wall and had spun.
"It's just treterous. Do I go around the leader? It's just the hardest car I've had to drive. It's got no side grip at all. Zero on the sidebite. I don't know. It's just really bad."
Bootie and Ty agreed they should pit with the leaders. After the stop, Bootie said, "Everything's good there, Michael. We made some adjustments for you, so everything's clear."
Mikey was now 42nd, one lap down.
Bootie asked if the temperatures inside the car had gone down.
"No, they're both way up there. 2, 250, 270 under this caution."
"All right, it's one to go, one to go. So just pull up," Ty said.
"All right. We'll get some tape next time, Chris," Bootie replied.
Jimmie Johnson, who didn't pit, led the restart on lap 25. Mikey was 41st, David 17th, and Marcos 26th.
"He did not pit for tires. Okay, buddy. Coming to the green. Still outside. 39's out there with him. Clear there, half back. Outside outside outside. Clear there, clear there half back. Clear there still, one back. Half back 16. Inside inside inside. Still there. Clear one back to the 17. Inside, inside to your corner. Clear two back to the 44."
Lap 23 saw Ryan Newman's #39 take the lead. On lap 28, Marcos hit the wall hard but the race remained under green.
"Looking low, inside. One looking low inside. Clear half back. Inside, the 1. He's got the 5 with him. Clear behind the 5, two back to the 26. One back. Inside inside. Clear there, half back. 18's on your corner. 18's looking inside. 2's coming with him. 2's down there with him. Inside inside, inside. Clear there half back. Inside, the 29. Clear there one back."
On lap 31, Mikey was 40th.
"All right, crash behind you. Keep coming. Crash behind you. Caution's out." Ty said. He noted the #55 was the free pass car.
Lap 32 saw the third caution for a multi-car accident. Casey Mears got into Brian Vickers, collecting Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger. The #55 received the free pass.
"So messed up. I mean, so messed up. I was so loose and so darty. I mean, I'm going to crash again," Mikey said.
Bootie said they'd pit the second time by."
Mikey reported good temperatures. He talked more about how bad his car was. "And the front end's wanting to jump into the infield. I mean, you ask me for feedback, you don't say anything about it. Both ends are as bad as I've ever felt."
Ty warned Mikey about work trucks on the track.
"Does that mean go or not?" Mikey asked.
Ty told him to then go around. The #55 pit for tires.
"I don't know what to do. I'm just trying to hang onto it. I knew I was going to wreck. This car is just so out of control."
Bootie said to do what he could with what he had.
"You've just totally got it where I can't enter a turn." Mikey said it was like it was in practice. "Except staying out of the way, I don't know what I can do. It took a long time to fix it in practice. I don't know what happened."
"10-4."
"I think Marcos' rear end is bent way out of whack. He needs to let me go."
"Yeah, 10-4. Pace car is off. Take it easy, take it easy. Green green green. Everybody's rolling. Still clear half back."
Newman led the restart on lap 39. Mikey was 37th, Marcos 36th, and David 16th.
Ty cleared Mikey low. Sterling Marlin went to the garage, where David Gilliland already was. Mears was also in the garage due to his crash earlier.
"Still there. Clear clear."
On lap 44, Mikey was up to 35th. He had passed Dave Blaney. David was 15th, and Marcos was 38th. By lap 47, Mikey was 34th by passing Tony Raines. Blaney went to the garage.
"Still out there. Clear if you need it, three back," Ty warned. "Still there. Still there to your corner. Clear clear. Goo job, man."
"30.33," Bootie read off the lap time. "30.11."
On lap 52, Mikey was 33rd. He had passed Scott Speed.
"I can't hold my right front at all. I'll spin out," Mikey complained.
"10-4. Just keep it under you. You're doing fine," Bootie replied. "30.18.
"30.40."
"Still there. Still there. Still on your quarter. Clear. All right, one back to the 7. He's been catching us pretty quick here. The leader's off of 4."
On lap 58, Mikey was 32nd. He got around Scott Riggs.
"30.78.
"30.30.
"30.51.
"47.
"30.40.
"30.36.
"30.65.
"Paul."
"Still out there. He's going to let you go. Clear all clear."
"30.85."
"The leader's the 39. He's ten back, thirteen back."
Mikey was 31st on lap 68. Marcos was two laps down in 36th while David was 15th.
"30.69."
"Two back to the 39. Inside, inside. Going to be clear two back behind him. He'll be looking low. Inside, the 9. Clear behind him."
On lap 71, Mikey lost the lead lap.
"30.64.
"30.77."
"I just can't turn left. Other than that, I'm fine."
"10-4. I know that you're doing all you can. 54."
Jimmie Johnson made a scheduled green flag stop on lap 75. He had not stopped under caution.
On lap 74, the #55 burst into flames.
"Whoa whoa whoa, guys. Major issues," said Ty as the yellow flag waved. "We have detonated big time."
"10-4. Okay," Bootie replied.
"Hold onto it, M-Dub, if you can."
"Ty, talk to me. What's going on. I just heard you say detonated."
Ty said he saw it blow up as big as he ever saw. "Michael's parked on pit road. He's out."
"Yeah, I see fire everywhere. Okay."
"Definitely going to have to go back to the garage, guys. Whatever happened to it, looks like the back end dropped out on it."
"Yeah, definitely."
"Where do you want to go, Ron?" Ty asked. "To the garage or behind the truck?"
Ron said to take it to the garage.
"10-4."
"I'd just like to know what the hell happened," Bootie said. "Do you know what I'm saying?
"That's the biggest I've ever seen, Ty."
"Me too. I was... amazing."
"Here she comes, boys," a crew member said.
"She might as well go to the truck, Ron. What do you think?" Bootie asked.
"There's shit leaking everywhere," Ron replied. "Let's make sure we have everything sealed up right before we do."
"It's a rod knocked out of it, Scott said. What do we do want to do? Fuck, we'll push it."
"Still got to get the camera and stuff, wherever they're at."
A crew member said they'd get it sealed up the best they could so it wouldn't leak all over the truck.
Someone talked about sending six scuff tires and fourteen stickers to David's #00.
"You heard what they said, guys. When we're done, we just roll it out," Bootie said.
"Guys, do not peel the lugnuts off yet. I'm still on tires right now."
Someone else said they needed the tech box off the generator. "Can you run that generator in here?"
Mikey was interviewed when he came out of the infield care centre.
"At first, it was scary, because it got up in flames pretty big. But when it slid, it was less." Mikey then talked about how good his Napa Adaptive One brake pads were. He said they had a bad practice yesterday and had spun earlier, but the spin didn't cause the fire as he hadn't turned over his engine when he spun.
The pit reporter noted the I Love You Mom stickers he'd worn on his shoes, as shown from the foot cam inside his car. But when the camera panned down to his feet, Mikey wasn't wearing any shoes.
"Macy would be proud," Mikey said. "I don't have any holes in my socks."
Next weekend, Michael Waltrip Racing will compete in the NASCAR Sprint Showdown, a qualifying race for the Sprint Cup's nonpoints All Star race. Coverage starts Saturday at 7:00pm ET on Speed. The Nationwide series is off next weekend.
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© 2009 Kellyanne Lynch, in association with Cyber Speed Design. All rights reserved.
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