Live: Pennsylvania 500 practice - 8/1/09
Michael Waltrip's back-up car struggled throughout both practice sessions today at Pocono Raceway, in preparation for the Sprint Cup's Pennsylvania 500. The #55 Napa Auto Parts Camry ranked 39th in the first session of the day. Mikey turned his best lap in 55.792 seconds at 161.313 MPH, which was 1.994 seconds behind session leader Jimmie Johnson. He trailed Johnson by 1.239 seconds in the second session with a 55.523-second circuit at 162.095 MPH. His drivers also participated in both sessions. David Reutimann ranked 20th in the first (54.792 seconds, 164.258 MPH) and 15th in the second (54.798 seconds, 164.240 MPH). Marcos Ambrose was 17th (54.745 seconds, 164.399 MPH) and 32nd (55.325 MPH, 162.675 MPH).
Mikey arrived in the paddocks at 9:50am ET. Eight minutes later, he was backing his #55 out of his garage.
"Brake fans, please. Brake fans," crew chief Bootie Barker requested.
"10-4," a crew member said.
Practice began at 10:00am. The spotter said that cars were rolling.
"Okay, let 'em roll," was Mikey's response.
The #55 car hadn't completed a full circuit when the spotter said, "You got the 14 spinning off Turn 3 right now." This was at 10:02am.
"He's sitting there on the apron right now," the spotter added after a pause on the radio. "Looks like he made a little contact with the right side wall."
"What happened?" Mikey asked.
"Looks like he got loose there, backed it into the wall, and wrecked the right side."
"Who was it?"
"14. Stewart."
The track went green at 10:10am. Mikey was cleared to go out three minutes later.
"55.78," Bootie read off the lap time.
"It's horrible," Mikey complained.
"Okay, well, bring it on in. We'll work on it."
Mikey referred to the car as "uncomfortable" and "plowing". He said the car didn't give him confidence. "It's as bad as it's ever been. Terrible." He said he front end chatters the tires, and the back end was sideways.
Bootie asked if Mikey was loose in as well.
"It's ridiculous. Take off rear bar. Camber ain't going to fix it."
"NASCAR is giving us an extra five minutes," the spotter reported. "We'll be going to 10:50 now."
"Change the splitter real quick," Bootie instructed the crew. "10-4. Michael, we don't have the back bar tied down." Bootie also said he would make a packer adjustment.
"Coming down on the left," a crew member said.
"Michael, you copy me on the changes there?" Bootie asked. Mikey must have nodded, because Bootie said. "Okay. Also, we're going to work on rear bar as well." He asked if the car hits the ground.
Mikey said no. "It doesn't do anything right, so it's kinda hard to diagnose it. It's just real tight on entry and real scary on exit."
"You good, Snowman? Okay." After a pause, Bootie said, "All right, you all right? Okay. One second, one second. All right."
Bootie had cleared Mikey out of the garage but had to stop him when Sam Hornish Jr's #77 next door backed out first.
"Coming to you, spotter," a crew member said.
"10-4."
Mikey was back out at 10:23am.
"All right, man. You've got two coming off 3. Big hole behind them," the spotter said.
"Brake fans on, please," Bootie requested.
"Roger," Mikey replied.
The spotter cleared him on track.
"It's just so far off base. The left front's just up in the air. It's just horrible," Mikey stated.
Bootie called for a big change.
"It's just terrible everywhere you can describe it." Mikey also said the car drove like the #09 of Mike Wallace looked.
Bootie told his driver they would make a number of repairs, so he should hop out. He also said the car would go on scales and wouldn't take on any fuel.
Mikey said the car was so hiked up, he had to lift his head up going around one corner. "I don't have the dialect to articulate how bad it is. I would have to say 'fuck' and 'shit' and stuff like that."
"We're going to change some shit, obviously," Bootie replied.
Mikey told Bootie that he couldn't make the car worse.
Bootie called for a right and left front pivot change. He said to put the car on scales and to unhook the shocks. He said they could leave the rears, because they were close. The team also talked about changing springs.
Mikey climbed out of the car. After drinking some Coke and looking at the monitors and talking with Bootie, he approached the fence to visit with fans. One young fan named Gracie gave Mikey a good luck monkey. When he went back to his car, he held it up until he had her attention. Then he put it inside the car. He asked a photographer to get Gracie's mother's camera. Once he had the camera, Mikey took pictures of the monkey inside his car. When the photographer was thanked upon returning the camera, his response was, "When Michael tells you to do something, you do it."
Shortly after Mikey returned to his car, someone on the team announced over the #55 frequency that there were only eight minutes left in practice. Bootie said they'd do all they could to get Mikey something.
Mikey was back in his car at 10:46am. Bootie praised the crew for good work.
"Push it when he's ready. Yeah, he said he's ready to go. Push push push," Bootie instructed. He told his driver to let him know if they were going in the right direction. "You know what we need."
The #55 backed out of the garage at 10:48am.
"Coming to you, spotter," Bootie said.
The spotter warned Mikey about a big pack of cars, then cleared him onto the track. The red flag waved at 10:50am.
Bootie asked Mikey if he got a feel for the car.
"Not really, nothing that makes me say yeah," Mikey replied. He said, at Indy, he felt it in one corner.
"Okay," Bootie replied. He told the crew to look everything over, get the car on scales, and get tires.
"It feels like were totally missing the boat on the left front corner still," Mikey said. He added that there was nothing good really. "Maybe it's better than it was, but its nowhere near where it used to be."
Bootie asked if the car was harsh on the bumps.
Mikey said he didn't think he complained about it but said maybe it needs just a tweak. "At Indy, what we did with the rear bar added a lot of speed. So tight on exit that it feels like what it needs." He suggested left front for the next session as a good place to start.
"10-4, 10-4." Bootie called for fuel, scales, and tires.
The crew worked on the car between practice sessions. As the next one approached, Bootie said over the radio, "You hear me, Michael. Okay." He reviewed adjustments. "Rock and roll."
Mikey was out of his garage at 11:16am.
"Test, 1, 2," the spotter said.
"Got you," Bootie replied.
"10-4."
"Snowman. Michael Ellashaw. You're eating your hand most likely. Come on."
"Rolling off pit road here. All right. Cars on the track."
Practice started at 11:20am, and the spotter cleared Mikey onto the track.
"Brake fans, if you will," Bootie said. He then read off lap times. "55.51.
"55.83."
"One car on your bumper," the spotter warned.
"Terrible no matter what I try," Mikey said. He said the splitter hit initially in Turn 1, but that went away. "It's just so so totally way pushing on exit. No way to drive it on exit at all." He said it slowed down so much it was crazy and that it felt like the other car. "The splitter on the first lap hit. After that, it wasn't even a factor."
Bootie said they'd look at the right side splitter.
"Entry was probably better. It probably wasn't skitterish at all. It was just normal," Mikey reported. He said the rest didn't feel right. He wanted to try rear bar at some point and said the front didn't feel right for sure. He talked about addressing the right front to help the left front.
Bootie acknowledged.
The #55 was in the garage at 11:25am.
Bootie said they tried directionally for the front and hooked the rear bar. Mikey headed back out at 11:31am.
"Coming to you, spotter," a crew member said.
"10-4," the spotter replied. "42 off 3 now. All clear right there."
"56.24," Bootie read off the lap time.
"Just worse, way worse. Goes in the corner, plows, then goes sideways. Well, it would turn sideways," Mikey said. He said it pushed worse or equally worse in the corners like in Chicago when they needed a big right spring. "Nothing good to report. Drives bad."
Bootie called for fuel, tires, packer, and other adjustments. When he repeated them, he forgot everything he'd initially said too. They talked about changing the right rear and the right front spring.
"Unhook the rear bar. Unhook the rear bar," Bootie said.
"Go ahead with your rounds," a crew member added.
Bootie said he thought the nose weight might be too much. "Billy, you're going to lose a tenth or so right here."
"Rear bar unhooked," a crew member said.
The team talked about adding and taking out rounds.
"Good work, everybody," Bootie praised. "Well see what this does, and we'll see what happens."
Before the #55 could return to the track, a crew member said they needed to paint the splitter. Then the Napa Camry was ready to leave.
"Coming to you, spotter," a crew member said.
"Brake fans, Michael," Bootie reminded.
Mikey was back on track at 11:58am.
"55.70," Bootie read off the lap time.
Mikey reported that he had no grip.
"56 flat. Okay, no grip, copy."
Mikey said he had no front grip, no rear grip, no sidebite, that he was pushing loose. The car entered the corner stable, goes in neutral, and pushed severely off of Turn 1 in the tunne. Then it skated in the back end off Turn 3 while pushing the fornt. "It's like neither end is stuck at all," Mikey said. "It gets all in a bind. Just terrible. Feels terrible."
"10-4," Bootie replied.
Mikey was back in at 12:03pm.
Bootie said they'd put two inch bar in it, would add packer, and would work on the front shocks.
"Not as much as a push, I guess, as it's a back end skate, but it definitely won't turn," Mikey stated.
"10-4," Bootie replied. "Art."
Mikey went back on track at 12:08pm.
"All right, man, start picking it up right there. 24 coming off 3 now. All clear," said the spotter.
"Just skating the front," Mikey said during his run.
"Okay, 10-4 on that," Bootie replied. "56 flat. Yeah if it still sucks, we'll keep going. Come on then."
"Well, it does suck. The front end won't turn at all." He said he had to slow down, so it went the other way. "No front grip. Total skate on the front end. I wounder why we weren't prepared to have me a new backup car like we've been racing."
Bootie said he couldn't tell him that.
"Tony Stewart wrecked, and he pulled out one just as good as his first one," Mikey said. "It's the most important race of the year... is the next one. Might as well not even bring one if we don't come prepared."
The #55 was back in the garage at 12:13pm.
"Paul, come see me when you get a chance," Bootie requested.
"If you're moving your finger, man, you gotta get out where I can see it," Mikey said.
"Good good. Right there," Bootie said.
The team talked about painting the splitter one last time.
"Paint it real good, Todd," someone said. "So we get a good read."
Mikey was back on track at 12:17pm. Bootie said it would probably be their last run, so matter what, Mikey needed to get a tire sheet on pit road. He also asked his driver to put on brake fans.
Mikey was cleared on the track.
"You'll be coming to the red flag at the stripe," the spotter said.
"All that did was make it loose in," Mikey said. "Skated as bad as it ever was. You still want a sheet?"
"Yeah," Bootie replied.
Practice ended at 12:20pm. Bootie asked about the car being skaty.
"It doesn't lose front grip. It never has any. It never fucking has any," Mikey said. He added that the front end continued to slide. "And now we made it loose in on top of that."
He said he slides all the way when he turns left. The front end continued to slide through the turn. "No push, no grip, no chatter. Just skate."
Due to rain, the Pennsylvania 500 was postponed until Monday, August 3rd. Coverage will begin at 12:00pm ET on ESPN.
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