Brickyard 400 - 7/26/09
Grass in the grill of the #55 Napa Auto Parts Camry caused Mikey's car to overheat and for his engine to expire with 15 laps to go in the Brickyard 400, this afternoon's Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. David Reutimann finished 8th after spending all day in the top ten. Marcos Ambrose's #47 was 22nd.
Mikey started today's race from the 23rd position. David rolled off 5th, Marcos 11th.
"Got a copy?" a #55 crew member came on the radio at 2:10pm ET.
"Bootie Barker, Bootie Barker, do you have a copy?" spotter Ty Norris asked.
Crew chief Bootie responded.
Ty asked about pit road speed.
"Second gear 4900, first 76," Bootie replied, and he repeated this.
"76, 49, right?"
"10-4.
"You got a copy, Michael?" Bootie asked. He said something about brake fans and pit road speed that was full of static. "Michael, are you good with 49?"
"Yeah. That's easy," Mikey responded. "I'll just keep it shy of five, so that's cool."
Ty told Mikey to look just to his left to see his pit stall.
"Yup, got it."
"From where I'm sitting, Bootie, I can't see whose stall is whose. I just see the Napa canopy," Ty said he'd need Bootie to tell Mikey what's five or ten away.
Bootie said five away was Marcos. "That's the best I can do for you, but I can see pretty good this week. I've got no poles or nothing."
"UPS looks like it's about ten away, then it's around the 17."
After a long pause on the radio, Ty noted, "You're at pit road speed. Okay, let me know when you can't see him anymore."
"10-4."
"Yeah, I can see him right there. We have a lot of blind spots, but we can do the best we can."
"It's worse than usual, Ty, with y'all's radio. It's the worst it's been," Mikey said.
Ty said everyone in the #55 camp was saying this.
"Michael, I'll try to talk with you on the front stretch, but I can see you either way," said Bootie. "Yeah, I can pick him up right there, Ty."
"10-4.
"It's pushing two to go when you get to the line," Ty added after a pause. "Okay, buddy, you'll be two to go, two to go. Not one to go."
NASCAR set the field on another pace lap to clean up debris from the pre-race festivities.
"All right, bud, it's going to be one to go here. One to go. Pull your belts tight. Have a good solid start. Get us some track position. 160 laps is a long way to tune on it," Ty said.
"Good luck, Michael," said Bootie. "We're with you."
"10-4," Mikey replied. "Y'all be careful in there. I'll see you in a little while."
"10-4."
"Be ready now," Ty said to his driver. "Rolling. Green green green."
Mark Martin led the field to the green flag at 2:28pm ET. Mikey was 23rd, David 5th, Marcos 11th.
"Still outside. Still outside on your corner. Still there."
"Still out there, still out there. Clear clear," said a second spotter.
Robby Gordon spun in Turn 4, drawing the first caution on lap 2. He may have slid on oil. Elliott Sadler was reportedly smoking, and NASCAR blackflagged him. Mikey was 22nd, David 6th, and Marcos 10th.
"Spin behind you. No caution yet. Caution's out. Clear two back. Caution's out. Nice start, M-Dub."
"She's a little free," Mikey reported.
"Okay, 10-4," Bootie replied. "You need to turn on your radiator fan under caution. I'm sure you're aware of that already."
"P22, buddy. If anybody peels off, you'll be on the outside. If they don't peel off, you'll be on the outside. Bootie, you guys are closer to track level. If you see any debris. Looks like there's a lot of wrappers or papers or something. Keep track of the grill."
"Absolutely. 10-4."
"Buddy, one to go, one to go. You'll be up behind that 24."
Martin led the lap 5 restart. Mikey was 22nd, David 6th, Marcos 10th. Elliott Sadler was in the garage with a leak.
"Pace car's off. Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling. Clear one back up top. Still inside. Got another one inside."
"Still inside," said the second spotter. "Inside, inside. Three-wide. You're on the outside. See you in the trees. Still inside. Clear clear. Clear all around."
"Clear one back. Still clear."
Mikey was 23rd on lap 6. David was 5th and Marcos 9th. Montoya was in the lead.
"Outside, outside. Still there. Clear clear," the second spotter noted.
"Still out there. Still there. Still there. To your quarter. Still outside on your quarter. Still there."
"Clear clear. Two by two. Pulling away."
Mikey was 25th on lap 7. David was 6th, Marcos 12th.
"53.96," Bootie read off lap times.
"Still there, still there. Clear clear," the second spotter said. "Clear by two."
"Good job. Last lap was a 53.74. 53.19.
"53.71."
On lap 10, Mikey was up to 24th.
"53.65."
Scott Speed pit around lap 12. He thought he was losing a right rear tire after he'd brushed the wall.
"53.65.
"53.56. Good lap.
"54 flat.
"53.86."
"One back to that 20. He's been charging there. Ten back to the 2. He's also been coming. Nice lap, bud. Still one back."
"54.46."
"Looking inside. He's there, he's there," the second spotter noted. "Clear clear."
"Ten back to the 2. He's been the only other one who's coming."
"You're doing good, man. Keep digging. Let's see what we have here. 54.32."
On lap 20, Mikey was 25th. Joey Logano in the #20 had passed him.
"Car's got a run. You're going to be looking low. Clear one back behind him."
"It's loose. It's pretty loose in the back. It's pretty good in the back."
"10-4," Bootie replied. He said they'd make air and track bar adjustmants.
Mikey was 26th on lap 22. Kurt Busch had passed. David was 7th, and Marcos was 12th.
"53.94. Great lap.
"54.11.
"54.13.
"Okay, Michael, we'll pit in five laps. We'll give you one round down on the track bar and we'll give you air pressure." Bootie gave the last lap time. "54.28.
"54.24.
"People are going to start pitting, Michael. We're going to wait for the 17. 54.29."
Kevin Harvick started green flag stops on lap 30. Kyle Busch came in the next time around the track.
"The 1 dropped off. No one behind you," Ty noted.
"Give me another lap, Michael," Bootie requested.
Other cars were on pit road.
"6 is pitting there in front of you," said the second spotter.
"Okay, Michael, it's going to be this time. 4900, second gear," Bootie told his driver.
"900 at the cone, 4900," Ty reminded. "4900 at the yellow cone, 4900."
"I got you, Michael. Okay, the 21's coming around on your left. Just watch him right there. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Shift." After the stop, Bootie told Mikey he did a good job and gave him pit road speed again.
"4900 to the line. Then haul ass," Ty said. He then told Craig the second spotter to watch for other cars."
Tony Stewart led when Montoya pit on lap 32.
Bootie told his driver they'd taken the fender out a little.
"Still out there, still out there," Craig said.
"Clear two back, no pressure."
"52,98.
On lap 33, Mikey was 29th. David was 11th, and Marcos was 14th. Stewart, then Gilliland made stops, so Montoya was back in the lead.
"53.45."
On lap 35. when David Gilliland led, MMmikey was 28th. Mikey was up to 26th two laps later. David was 9th, and Marcos was 12th.
"The 2 car in front of you is having a problem. I think he has a loose wheel. In front of you."
"54.16.
"53.48. Good lap."
On lap 38, Mikey was 25th. David was 9th, and Marcos was 13th.
"Still one back," Craig warned.
"Great job, baby," Bootie praised and gave the lap time. "53.33.
"53.41."
"He's going to have a run. Looking low, looking low. He's there. Clear 15 back."
Mikey was 26th on lap 43. Carl Edwards had passed.
"53.81.
"53.44."
"Leader... now," Ty warned.
Denny Hamlin went to the garage with a broken drive shaft.
"Lap times are good, Michael. Just keep your pace. 53.51," Bootie encouraged his driver. "53.57.
"53.63."
"There. Still there. Craig."
"Still there," Craig added. "Clear. Clear by two and pulling away."
"54.03.
"53.33. Good lap.
"53.60.
"53.51.
"53.59.
"53.79.
"53.83.
"We'll pit in about nine laps, Michael. 53.72.
"53.57."
"About eight back to that 11 car, had transmission troubles," Ty warned. "Caution's out, caution's out. Something in Turn 2."
The second caution was on lap 58. Kyle Busch lost his left front tire, and he hit the wall. He went to the garage. Bobby Labonte received the free pass back onto the lead lap.
"Great job, Michael! All right, I'm listening to you," Bootie said.
"Uh, it's... it's just... I'm afraid you can't fix what it's doing. It's pushing and loose. It's mainly good in the front. I just can't afford to adjust it any. Like it's right on the verge of pushing,b ut the back end is just a little bit loose. So I don't know what to tell you to do," Mikey said.
"Hold on one second," Bootie said. Everything was covered in static.
"I wouldn't give up any spots. What do you think?" Ty asked.
"Come on."
"4900, 4900."
"All right. Okay, keep your eyes open here. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Good job. Shift into first when the right side drops," Bootie directed. "Okay, okay. All the way. 49."
"You guys were talking over each other the whole time. I didn't think you could get it figured out that fast," Ty said.
"Yeah, it's better for you to be quiet, Bootie, and let me say something about my car," Mikey told his crew chief.
Bootie told Mikey he got most of it. He said they left the car alone and would see if the pressures build. "Tires look real good, as far as cambre. Everything came back great."
"I don't know if you can do two or not. Those things built up so much trash riding around there. That would be a concern."
Bootie said that was good feedback.
"All right, giving you one to go, one to go," Ty noted. "You're going to be 25th inside behind the 24."
"On the next pit stop, give me two ice waters instead of one. I'm running out of my rotation," Mikey requested.
"10-4," Bootie replied.
Ty asked if the #96 was the last one in line.
"96 got the lucky dog, and a few others behind him got the wavearound."
"Follow that, Ty, in case we get in trouble," Mikey requested.
"Not going to go, not going to go. They've got some kind of issues."
Montoya led the lap 63 restart. Mikey was 25th, David 9th, and Marcos 13th.
"Buddy, you'll be coming to the green this time, coming to the green this time. Pace car's off. Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling, everybody's rolling. Still outside. Still outside, still outside. Slow one up top. Stay down stay down stay down. Still outside, the 20. Still there."
"Still out there, still out there. To your quarter. Outside, outside. More out there," said Craig. "Outside, outside."
"Clear there. Half back, one back. A bit of a run. Low."
"Inside, inside. Another one coming, another one coming. Clear all around. Got a run on you, inside. Inside, inside. Still there, still there. Another one looking. Clear clear. Inside."
"Inside. The 82 trying to come with him. Three-wide right there, three-wide. Two-wide. Still got the 7 inside."
"Clear clear."
"The motor's overheating," Mikey reported one lap into the run.
"10-4. Turn your fan on, of course."
"Outside. Outside."
"I'm going to pit next time. It's not going to make it. It's not going to come back down."
Bootie told the guys to take tape off the grill.
"For some reason, it's about to crash, it's so loose. Something went wrong."
Bootie said they'd look at the grill.
"You'd better change tires too."
"All right, guys. Let's get four, let's get four."
"4900, 4900."
"Chris, you get the grill back around."
"It's not going to have any water in it if y'all don't do something," Mikey said.
"It's full of grass, that's what it is. It's full of grass," Bootie said once Mikey had pit on lap 67. "Okay, 4900. 49, 49."
"4900, 4900."
"Scott, come here. Scott."
"It's fixing to be out of water, y'all. I mean, am I the only one who has that figured out?" Mikey asked.
Bootie said they would come back in.
"Okay, now it's out of water."
"Okay."
"Why we didn't do that when we came in, I don't know."
Bootie said they were unplugging the grass and hoped that would be it. "49, 49. Okay, gotcha. 5, 4, 3, 2."
Sam Hornish Jr had hit the wall and was slowing. He'd had no brakes. He went to the pits too.
"Be careful, y'all," Mikey warned.
"Talk to me about your water pressure."
"About 60 to 0 now."
"Scott, you see the deal now."
"The temperature's going down, and the pressure's going up. Let's go."
Ty said they were talking about debris. "4900. Let's hustle, hustle."
"I don't know how that happened," Mikey said. "I just avoided a wreck, but I didn't think I drove through the grass."
"10-4. It just had a bail of hay on it," Bootie replied.
"Outside, outside. One more, then a hole," said Craig. "Clear clear."
By lap 70, Mikey was three laps down in 36th. David was 8th, and Marcus was 23rd.
"Just hang in there, bro. If we get a caution soon, then we get a wave around. Outside, outside."
"It has no water pressure. What's that mean?" Mikey asked.
"It's not a good thing." Bootie told Mikey to keep rolling. "How's your temp look, Michael?"
"Temps are good. It's going to crash and loose."
Bootie asked if the temperatures were back to stable.
Mikey noted he'd said it already.
"10-4, I'm sorry. We'll just ride it out, get the wave-around.
"Okay, now you have a small wrapper on your grill. Just ride it out," Bootie said after a pause.
"Whatever you did under that caution screwed me up," Mikey said.
"I didn't do anything." Bootie told Mikey the overheating may be causing water to get to his tires.
"The temperature's 200."
"Okay, 10-4."
"I don't believe anything's overflowing."
"All right, 10-4. Sorry about that, whatever it was."
"Clear behind that 11. One back to the 98. Clear behind him, ten back," Ty said.
On lap 75, Mikey was up to 35th. He was now ahead of Hornish Jr. David was 8th and Marcos 23rd.
"Lap times look fine. You're back in the 53's. 53.75.
"53.61.
"53.68."
"This is ridiculous," Mikey said on lap 82.
"10-4. Still super loose, Michael?" Bootie asked.
Mikey didn't answer.
"53.79.
"53.94.
"55.20. I take it you're still dead loose, right, Michael?"
"Yeah, that would be correct," Mikey replied.
"Okay, 10-4.
"54.18.
"53.84.
"54.03.
"54... Outside, outside.
"What you got, Michael? Is it blowing up?" Bootie asked on lap 91. Cars were beginning to hit pit road for scheduled stops.
"It's doing something."
"Okay. Temps, water. Do they look anything weird?"
Mikey didn't respond. Montoya came to pit road on lap 92.
"Okay, naturally, we're going to stay out and hope for a caution. We've got twelve more laps on this tank of fuel," Bootie said.
Casey Mears led as stops cycled.
"5 car charging hard, about three behind you. 5 car's looking underneath," Ty said. "Five back to the 83 an the 48. Five back. Two back. Just the two of them. Outside, outside. Clear all around. Inside. Got another one coming. Inside. 25 back, 20 back."
"Three back. Outside outside. Another one outside with you. Outside outside. More coming. Clear all around," Craig observed.
"I can't drive it," Mikey said. He was 34th, three laps down. Montoya was back in the lead after stops had cycled.
"All right, come in this time. 4900 and second gear."
"I don't know what's happened to it. It's ridiculous. I can't even not wreck staying out of the way."
"We'll definitely tighten it up. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
The #55 was back on pit road.
"49, 4900, Michael. 49."
"4900 to the line," Ty added.
"One more coming. You've got a hole behind that 9. Clear all around," Craig guided.
"Two back to the 24. Two back. Outside. Four back to the 88. Outside. Clear there."
Mikey was now four laps down, as of lap 98. Montoya continued to lead. David was 10th, and Marcos was 22nd.
"Four back to the 00," Ty warned.
"52.58."
"Still three back."
"52.65.
"52.43."
"Outside, outside. Clear about eight back."
"53.73."
"Five back to the 43."
"53.25."
"All by himself for half a straightaway," Ty warned.
"53.84."
By lap 107, Mikey was 33rd. David was 10th and Marcos was 21st.
"53.58.
"53.57.
"53.21.
"53.48.
"53.20.
"53.18.
"53.09."
"Still there, still there. Still outside. Clear," Craig said.
"53.43.
"53.22.
"53.18. Great lap. You're faster than the leader right now.
"53.26.
"53.42.
"53.21."
"Clear."
"53.19."
Around lap 120, David lost a spot to Kevin Harvick. He was now 11th. Marcos was 21st. Mikey continued in 33rd.
"53.28.
"53.22."
On lap 123, cars began making scheduled green flag stops. David moved up to 9th one lap later.
"53.45."
"Still there, still there. Clear clear," Craig said.
Montoya pit on lap 126, and David made a stop then too. Brian Vickers picked up the top spot.
"53.67.
"Okay, Michael, this time, this time. 4900."
Montoya had to return to pit road for two speeding penalties.
"Four back, four back to fresh tires," Ty said. "Clear one back, all around."
"Okay, I've got you, Michael. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Okay, shift into first when the right side drops. All the way all the way all the way. 4900."
"4900, bud. 4900 to the yellow line. Caution's going to be out, caution's going to be out. The 88 blew up coming onto pit road."
The third caution was on lap 129. Bobby Labonte got the free pass again.
"Lap times were great there, Michael," Bootie praised. "Good job."
"It's just cause I have to go so slow at first. Who's the leader?" Mikey asked.
"The 5 car, the 5 car's the leader. Okay, Ty, I'll let you know who we're racing when it all settles out, okay?"
"Yeah, 10-4," Ty replied.
"Why did we have to pit so soon then?" Mikey asked.
"We had three more laps until we were out of fuel. We were close."
"I think we should have waited until everyone pitted."
"10-4."
Mikey said there was something wrong with the carberator.
"I heard it that one time. That's why I asked if it were blowing up. Is it intermittant, underpower, or all the way?"
"I don't know what you mean." Mikey said it would pop. "It's missing. Cracking, popping. But I've got my foot on the floor."
"10-4, 10-4."
"That sucks. We gave away something."
Vickers had to pit under yellow to serve a penalty for dragging his fuel can during his green flag stop.
"Ty, we're racing the 34, the 34 car," Bootie said.
"Hey, Ty?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"How did Juan get all the way back here?"
"Green flag pit stops, they bust him for speeding on pit road."
"That wasn't very smart."
"Exactly. Then he served his pass-through, and now he's back to 12th." Ty said everyone could make it to the end now. "Pits are still closed. They're talking about speedy-dry."
"The ones in front of him have pitted or have?"
Ty said they did pit, including the #88, who blew up trying to get back on pit road.
"These tires, man. Once you run a couple laps, they get hot. It gets hard to turn. So watch these first couple turns."
Ty told Mikey he was racing the #34. "Only one car three laps down, the 82.
"Still closed. Yeah, Michael, next time around, if they open pit road, Gilliland says there's something leaking from the front end."
"10-4. My temps have been the same, but I'll come to pit road. I don't have anything to lose."
"He said it was out of the front."
"It might be the overflow."
Bootie told the crew to get ready.
Ty said pits would be open to the leaders.
Mikey said he'd pit with them, because the leaders weren't going to pit.
Ty said the #42 would pit.
"You wanna bet?"
"Okay, ten bucks."
"Ten bucks."
"4900, 4900."
Bootie said they'd add water if the car looked like it needed anything.
"Ah, he overruled Brian Pattie! He's mad as hell," Ty cut off Bootie to say.
"I bet you are too," Mikey replied.
"I gotcha there. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2." Bootie guided the #55 to the box.
"It's all good," a crew member said. "It's not leaking anything."
Mikey returned to the track. "Bowyer's got tires, and Juan don't. Want to go double or nothing who beats who?"
"I'm going to go lick my wounds now," Ty replied.
"What was in my radiator? Something weird or just grass?"
"It was completely caked with grass, just grass. It looked like you ran through a bale of hay."
Mikey said he didn't go off the track.
Ty said he saw the same thing, so he thought it was weird.
"I don't know. I don't know how that happened, but it happened."
"Yeah, that part's not debatable."
After a pause, Mikey asked, "Where's the 47?"
"He had a flat tire and had to pit before pit road was open, so now they're unhooking the bar and doing a bunch of other crap. It's going to be 25 laps to go. We're 4 down. Maybe we can pick up some after this restart. Montoya is going to be crazed."
"How much room does Reutimann have between him and Montoya?"
"Three spots. 9th to 12th. We're going to restart in the back when we get all figured out here. You're going to be in the back. You might want to hang back here and see what crap is about to go down. All these guys stayed out, and they got all the crap you were talking about."
"I don't want to hang back too far, because then I can't see."
"You can see it tomorrow."
"That's a good idea."
Martin led the lap 137 restart. Mikey was 32nd, four laps down. David was 9th, and Marcos was 25th.
"24 to go. Be ready now. Pace car's off. Rolling. Green green green. 34's in your mirror, two back. Way up high, stay down. Still stay down."
Jimmie Johnson took the lead one lap into the run. David was up to 7th and Marcos 23rd.
"All right, clear," Craig said.
"Clear two back, clear two back."
Jeff Burton pit with a flat right front tire.
"Catching you from behind. 30 to go. 34 is ten back."
David was 8th on lap 140. Harvick had gotten back around him.
"Two back on the bottom to the 11."
"Still out there, still there. Clear clear," Craig said. "One back to the 11."
"11's right there with you. He's all by himself. He backed off. One back."
"Outside."
"What's going on, y'all? Is everything all right?" Bootie asked.
"Coming to you," someone said on lap 144.
"Talk to me, Michael. What's going on?"
"It blowed up," Mikey said.
"Okay. I know you know it's blowed up. I'm not trying to piss you off. You've tried everything. Ron."
"I believe it's out of water, but I'm not sure."
"Put water in it. Put water in it. Come here. You're right, Michael. Something happened to the valve train. It's gone. Just fill it up with water... hell, it's gone."
"It's been blowing up for fifty laps. I don't think heating had to do with it. It was something else."
"All right. You did good."
The #55 was pushed down pit road. Mikey fell out of the race and would finished 21 laps down in 35th. David came home 8th, and Marcos was 22nd.
Mikeypower.com will be at Pocono Raceway this weekend. Coverage of the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 begins Sunday at 1:00pm ET on ESPN. The Nationwide Series will be at Iowa Speedway. Coverage of the U.S. Cellular 250 starts at 4:00pm ET on ESPN.
|
© 2009 Kellyanne Lynch, in association with Cyber Speed Design. All rights reserved.
|
