Sylvania 300 - 9/20/09
The #55 Napa Auto Parts Camry was much more in-tune with the track during the second half of the Sylvania 300, this afternoon's Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, it was already two laps down. Michael Waltrip finished 27th. David Reutimann came home 12th, and Marcos Ambrose was 18th.
Mikey qualified 21st for today's race. David rolled off 13th, Marcos 31st.
"Gene Nead," someone said in a deep, haunting voice.
"Who's this?" crew chief Gene Nead replied.
"It's me."
"Yes sir, can I help you?"
The voice said something being good in the bathroom.
"10-4."
"Michael got his radio on?"
"I'm on. Hello," Mikey said.
"You hear us all right?"
Mikey said everyone sounded good.
Spotter Ty Norris told his driver the #55 box was toward the end of pit road.
"Okay, turn 1."
"Pit stall six," Gene added.
"We're right around the Menard's pit box," Ty noted, "you may even be able to see now."
"Yeah, I see it now," Mikey replied.
"It's Menard's in front of us, Harvick behind us." After a pause, Ty asked, "What are you looking at as far as pit road speed, Max?"
Max said the speed was 5300. They needed to be at it as they were going to be pushing it.
"Okay. That's kind of hard to do, because that's a guess between the two, but I'll lean toward the 52 side so we don't get in trouble."
Max said they'd be fine at 5300 but just know it's the limit.
"Yeah, like I said, it's hard to judge it like that."
"Just start rolling back when you get to 5340."
Mikey said something like that didn't sound right.
"Yeah."
"Five away right there. 4, 3, 2, 1. There you are."
"You guys have a good day there," Mikey said toward the end of pace laps. "Appreciate all you do. Thank you. We'll see what we can do out here."
"10-4. We're going to have us a good day in here. We'll get good pit stops and hopefully have a good day in here," Gene replied.
"Just so you know, this is 4600 right here, if this tells you how good this following the pace car is."
"Yeah, 10-4," Gene laughed.
"Watch the 87. He's going to pit road to get a radio or something, in case he darts under you there," Ty warned.
"Make sure you get some heat in those tires, bud," Gene adviced.
"Okay, buddy, one to go now. One to go."
"All right, Michael, let's get us a good start and a good day. Let's have us a good day in the pits, guys."
Juan Pablo Montoya led the field to the green flag at 2:17pm ET.
"All right, buddy, pull them tight. We're coming to the green this time. 300 laps. Ready? Green green. Everybody's rolling. Clear one back behind you. Still outside. Still outside."
Tony Stewart pulled out front and led the first lap.
"Half back right there. 77 coming. He's going to be looking outside. 77 still there. Still outside, still there. Clear up right there, clear up right there. Half back. One back to the 88. Hugging the bottom. Inside, inside."
"Extremely loose so far," Mikey reported.
"Going to be diving low, inside. Inside inside."
"10-4 on the loose," said Gene.
"Still inside. The 43 keeps trying to go three-wide on you. Inside."
"Who is he?" Mikey asked.
"43, half back to the 43. Trying to get in there again. Inside, he's at your door. Still down there. 17's down there with the 43."
"I can't get it to turn at all. It's backwards." He was 26th on lap 5. Meanwhile, Montoya had reclaimed the lead on lap 2.
"Still got that 44 with him. Hang on. I know you are. Just do what you can," Ty encouraged. "The 6 is there. The 6 is right there on your bumper. He's there inside."
"30.80," Gene read off the lap time.
Mikey was 28th on lap 6.
"30.48."
"6 on your corner. He's there inside."
"30.50."
Lap 9 saw Mikey in 29th. David was 14th, Marcos 33rd.
"Clear four back."
"31 flat."
"Clear two back to the 20. He's the only one coming pretty hard here. Still clear half back. Inside at your corner, he's there at your corner. Clear there, still four back."
On lap 15, Mikey was 30th. Joey Logano had passed. David was 14th, and Marcos was 31st.
"30.90."
"Skating the right front bad, loose in bad," Mikey reported.
"10-4. We'll fix you up on the first stop," Gene replied.
"On your quarter, on your quarter. 19 down there trying to look with him. 19 with him on his bumper. Inside. 7's right there on your bumper, half back. He's there inside, inside, on your quarter. Half back, one back."
Mikey was 32nd on lap 19. Marcos and Elliott Sadler had passed.
"30.80.
"30.80."
"Half back to the 7," Ty warned. "Clear half back. There you go, man."
"30.90."
"A run looking on the bottom. Inside. He's there."
"It's bad," Mikey said.
"10-4. Still there on your quarter. There you go. Clear one back."
"Maybe as bad as I can possibly handle," Mikey reported. "Way too much air in the front tires. So loose in. So tight in the centre. Everything's effed up," Mikey said.
"We'll get you fixed up. 30.90," Gene replied.
"Half back."
"31 flat.
"30.80.
"30.80.
"30.90. Got 80's in front of you, 90's behind you."
"Half back to the 7."
"30.90."
"You've got a little over the leader, a little over the front straightaway," it sounded like Ty said. "He'll be looking inside, inside. Clear behind him. Eight back."
"31 flat."
"Really really bad turn. It's turning as bad as it's ever felt, doing three different things at once," Mikey complained.
"10-4. Do the best you can."
"Yeah, I am doing the best I can. I know that. I don't you need to tell me. I'm driving my ass off."
Gene acknowledged this.
"The right front is so far off, it's just crazy."
"30.90."
On lap 37, Mikey was 33rd. Stewart had taken the lead one lap prior. David was 11th, Marcos 29th.
"30.89.
"30.80. You've got flats in front of you.
"31 flat."
"Leader's at the line now."
"31 flat.
"31.10.
"30.80."
"Looking low. Inside, inside. He's at your door. Clear by about fifteen behind him."
On lap 49, Mikey was 34th. Paul Menard had passed.
"30.90."
"Ten back to the 14."
"30.93.
"30.95.
"30.80."
"Still four back. "
"30.80."
"Just looking, just looking. Hustle as hard as you can, hustle as hard as you can. They're talking about debris. Inside, inside. Clear ten back."
On lap 58, Mikey lost the lead lap. He was 34th, David 12th, Marcos 30th.
"NASCAR's been talking about it. They think it might be rubber," Ty said. "Just keep digging."
"31.20. We're about three away from green flag stops."
"Just like that, man. Clear four back to that 42."
"30.80. Good lap.
"30.90. The leader ran a 30.85.
"31 flat."
Ty warned about cars peeling off.
Lap 66 saw the first caution when Kasey Kahne's engine blew. David Ragan got the free pass.
"Got one blowing up on the front straightaway. Caution's out, caution's out."
"Okay, we're going to have to come around this 98. Second time by," Gene said.
"You need to do the math here. We might could get a wavearound and see if they wreck on the restart. Ten or fifteen laps in, see if we
Gene said they needed to pit for fuel soon anyway.
"You're not listening at all." Mikey said they could pit four or five laps after the restart.
"We're probably going to lose two, bud, and we need to race that 98. The 34 is going to be waved around as the lucky dog."
"10-4. I just don't want people to make decisions with some insight," Mikey said. He told Ty he appreciated his thinking. He reported that the car chattered the front like it had crashed. "Every aspect of the car is shit, is really bad."
"Okay, 10-4."
"The way we set it up, it ain't the way we should set it up."
"10-4. One round down on the track bar."
The #55 went to pit road. Gene told Mikey to stop long as they had no one in front of them and to go around Paul Menard's #98.
"No need to speed, no need to rush," Ty said. "Good job, guys. 7 coming around your outside, and then you can come on up. Come on up."
"We went down on the trackbar, right?" Gene asked.
"Who blew up?" Mikey asked.
"9," Ty replied. "You've got a sweeper truck against the wall in 4."
"Good job on the pit stop, fellas. Good job over there," Mikey praised.
"Yeah, the speedy dry should make it interesting on this restart." He said something about Mikey being able to catch them hopefully now with this adjustment.
"Yeah, I know. I hope you have helped me. It's just really hard to drive. As soon as you get on the gas, it's sideways."
"10-4. Hopefully you helped it a little bit," Gene said.
"I don't believe you could hurt it, so that's cool."
"Hey, real quick, look at the scoreboard over there. How many laps down is Darnell?" Ty asked.
"He's two."
"He's going to take the wavearound, I imagine," Mikey said.
Ty said Eric Darnell was three laps down, so the wavearound gave him one lap back. He'd lost two laps on pit road.
"He's going to be one lap down, bud. One lap," Gene said. "He was two when they waved him around."
Ty bet Gene $50 bucks.
"Well, you've just lost $50. He's one," Gene said.
Montoya led the lap 75 restart. Mikey was 32nd, David 12th, Marcos 25th.
"Inside, inside. 34. Clear, clear. Got one looking on the bottom, inside. Inside, still there. Clear now, whatever you need. The 7's back on your corner, inside. Still there, still there. Still there inside. Still there, still there. Going to be three wide right here. 07 on the bottom from him. Three-wide. Now two-wide, just the 26. To your quarter. Still down there, 26. To your quarter, right there, inside. Still on your quarter, still there, still there. Inside, inside. Got another one looking low, the 6. Still there."
On lap 80, Mikey was 33rd.
"Still down there on your corner. Still right there, still right there. Three-wide, back to two. Inside. 43's in there, inside. Clear, if you need the bottom. Half back. He's going to be coming through hard. Inside, inside. The 17 is rolling. Inside."
"What you did made it worse. I didn't think it was possible. Congratulations," Mikey said.
"Inside, man. Clear there. Now it's two back, two back. All clear."
"10-4, man," Gene said, cutting off somebody.
Mikey said something that sounded like, "Answer me."
"Is it still loose in?"
"Yeah. Nevermind."
"7's right there on your bumper. Half back, half back. They're talking about some debris out there. Be ready. Caution's out, caution's out. 7's inside."
The second caution was on lap 85 for debris. John Andretti received the free pass.
"All you've done. I'm going to cry. All you've done is made it looser in, I shouldn't say that. You've managed to make it looser in, early in centre. It gave it some grip in the centre though, and it's fine off. I know what I get when I say a little bit looser in, so just whatever. When you let off the gas, it's fine. When you turn in intiially, it's fine. When you get to the centre, it spins out, and then on exit..." Mikey faded out.
"So now, we're actually better in
"Early centre looser. Dead centre better, yes, and then, and then good off. So it make it looser early centre. That's what it did. Everything else was an improvement."
Gene called for a rubber in the left rear and four tires.
"I don't like that. I need to get this free dog. If you do that, I won't get it." Mikey said they needed to get the car off pit road. "I like the rubber in the left rear, but it has to be later. The wedge seems to make it push, but that's from yesterday. I don't know what all you've done it."
Gene called for a round of wedge.
"It ain't a little bit."
"Four tires, same air pressure."
The #55 pit.
"Good job, guys," Gene praised.
"One to go when you get around here. One to go," Ty said. "Line up behind that 43, wherever he is, high or low. All right, not going to go this time. Not going to go."
"We'll keep fighting, y'all," Mikey said. "I'm just so loose in, if I just try to let it load up the left front, I just spin out, and there's nothing I can do but slow down and not load up that tire." He said the back end flopped around.
"10-4, you keep fighting as well."
"Great job in the pits. We'll see if we can get the free pass. Fight fight fight."
Gene reminded Mikey he was in the free pass spot.
"We were last time, and I couldn't do it."
"Go get 'er, bud."
Montoya led the lap 92 restart. Mikey was 33rd, David 12th, and Marcos 19th.
"Ready. Green green green. 7 car still inside. Still down there. Trying to look on the high side. Outside outside, both sides. 82's outside, 98's trying to go with him. Both sides. Clear low. Still out there, still there. 98's out there with him. Clear there if you need it, one back. Still there, still there."
On lap 93, Mikey was 34th.
"Outside. Still there. 7's up there with him. Still there. Clear there, half back. Looking inside, inside. Clear one back."
Mikey was 36th on lap 96. David was 15th, Marcos 19th.
"One all the way at the bottom. Inside. Still at your corner. That 34 keeps running across the apron, man. That's why I keep telling you about him. Outside, outside. Still there, the 7. He's rolling now. Stay down if you can, stay down if you can. 09's outside. Still out there. The 09 is jumping up there with him. Clear now, clear half back."
"31.20.
"30.70.
"30.70."
"Three back, no pressure. Still out there, still there. Clear one back, clear."
"30.70."
"There you go, brother. Still down there. Still on your corner."
Mikey was 35th on lap 107. He had passed Darnell.
"One back to the 34. 34's jumping outside, outside. There you go. Clear half, clear half. Okay, those are the three guys we're going to race, bud."
The #55 was 36th on lap 110.
"Plowing in the centre," Mikey reported.
"10-4."
"Looking low. Inside, inside. Two back."
"Wedge feels really bad."
"10-4 on that. Did it help entry at all?"
"A little bit. Just plows in the centre and plows off."
"34's trying to peak. Back to clear, clear. Inside, inside. Trying to get in there. To your door, inside. Still there inside. It will be clear behind him, one back."
"30.80.
"30.95.
"30.85."
"About twenty car lengths back to the leader," Ty warned.
"Plowing so bad, after it lands, it's not even close," Mikey complained. "Backs in to the corner, lands, and plows."
"10-4," Gene replied.
"Three back. Looking low. Clear half back."
On lap 123, Mikey lost a second lap.
"Inside, inside. All by himself. 2's trying to get there, 2's trying to get there. Inside, inside."
Kurt Busch took the lead on lap 125.
"30.80."
"11's going to be looking low, 11's going to be looking low. Inside. Clear three back to the 48. Coming inside, the 48. Coming inside. Clear behind him. Two back to the 14. Coming inside, it's going to be clear behind. Two back."
"31.07."
"Outside, one back. Inside, the 5. Got the 88 right there with him. Clear there."
"30.80.
"30.90."
"This thing just won't do nothing right," Mikey said.
"10-4," Gene replied.
"It's real slow, no matter what I do. Cut the curve, run high."
"10-4. Is it still loose in?"
"Yeah, bud. It's loose in. It's been loose in since the start. All it's done is made it tight in the centre, hard."
Mikey said he's said it's loose in front the start and not to do the wedge. "Wedge sucks." He then added, "Everything you've done has hurt it on its overall performance, like right now it's pushing so bad, you can't go anywhere, but it's still backing into the turn."
"10-4."
The third caution was on lap 142 for debris. Mikey wanted to stay out.
"We need to pit the race car, if we can," Gene said.
Mikey said they had nobody behind them. "I don't know if fixing the race car is in our cards enough to get two back. I'll do whatever you say, but it might be a time to take a chance."
"Let's pit this time."
Mikey said the only car he was racing was the #98, so he didn't know how this would help. The #55 pit under yellow.
"All right, man, one to go. You're going to line up behind that 96."
Denny Hamlin led the restart on lap 147. Mikey was 35th, David 19th, and Marcos 20th.
"All right, bud, be ready. Five laps from halfway. Pace car's off. Ready? Green green. Everybody's rolling. Still outside, outside. Still outside, outside. One more, the 82."
Lap 148 saw Hamlin move into the top spot.
"Still out there, the 82. Clear there three back, two back. Still outside. Still outside. 96 still there. Clear up now, clear clear. Clear three back."
On lap 149, Mikey was 37th.
"They're figuring it out somehow. Clear one back. 7's inside. 6 is taking a look, inside. You're clear there, one back."
Mikey was 36th on lap 152. He had passed Darnell's #96.
"Still out there, still there. Clear now, clear. One back."
On lap 155, Mikey was 35th. He had passed Aric Almirola's #09.
"30.40. That was your best lap of the day."
"All clear, whatever you need. All clear. Still out there, still there. Still on your corner, man. Still there."
Lap 157 saw Mikey move into 34th. Meanwhile, Montoya was back out front, as of lap 153.
"Still there, still there. Clear up. Clear clear. Half back, half back. All clear."
"30.60.
"30.70."
"Ah, got a spin behind you. The 96 is in the fence. Caution's out, caution's out."
The fourth caution was on lap 161. Aric Almirola had spun out Erik Darnell.
"We're going to stay out this time if everybody pits."
Mikey said they wouldn't pit, and Gene asked if it were better.
"Yeah, it was better. That was the best it's been. If you let off the gas, the back end hangs out. Then it turns. Still two down though."
"Yeah, I understand. We'll have to keep digging here. We'll do the opposite of what they do. If they pit, we'll stay out. If they don't pit, we'll pit."
Mikey said they were staying out. "The car needs whatever you did.
"We're just never going to get a wavearound at this track if we get a chance. Now it's on different schedules, and we restart in the back. It's just never going to happen."
Gene guided Mikey in and out of the #55's pit box.
"Hey, man, one to go, one to go. You'll line up behind the 82."
Ty guided Mikey to the restart on lap 167. Mikey was 35th, Marcos 18th, and David 19th.
"Inside. Inside, he's got the 34 trying to look with him. Three-wide. Still three. Two, still inside. Clear two back."
The fifth caution was on lap 169 for a big crash that Mikey was in. Joey Logano had spun out Elliott Sadler. Menard, Robby Gordon, and John Andretti were collected in addition to Mikey.
"Still clear, still clear. Right in front of you, right in front of you. Back it... We might be okay here. I know we got caught up in it."
"You moving?" Gene asked.
"20 got spun and just blocked the race track."
"How bad is the car?"
"Left rear. Come on around, Michael."
Mikey said the left rear was minor, the left front was the problem. He said it wasn't bad. "The front end's fine."
"I'm with you. I'm just trying to make a plan."
"I know we need to stop. I've got that."
Ty said to pit, and Mikey told Gene to work on the left front. "That's the problem."
Gene directed crew members to work on the left side, most of them on the front. "Get the thing pushed out there."
"Big hammer? Big hammer? Where's the big hammer?" Mikey asked.
"Okay, make sure you get some clearance and get the thing back on there."
"Turn 4," Ty warned.
"Come on, let's get the tire back on."
"Off of Turn 4. Five more seconds."
"Turn the wheel a little bit. All right, let's go. Let's get some barribond and get it on the hood. Get caught up, get caught up, and we'll come back in. Take a whole lap, and get caught up good." Gene said to make sure the tire wasn't rubbing.
"And then also the hood hinge on the left front. The hood hinge on the left front. Just get some barribond against where the hood hinge is."
Gene asked if the left front rubbed at all.
Mikey said he didn't see or smell smoke. Gene said they'd get the hood fixed and would make sure there were no tire rub.
The #55 pit again. After the stop, Gene told the crew to get it done and finished next time. They'd put on the splitter brace. Mikey said it should be okay. Gene warned Mikey the #98 would be in their box.
"It's going to be one to go," Ty warned. "We'll get one chance to really look at it, but we won't have a lot of time here."
Gene said they'd get the splitter brace on and wouldn't worry about tires. "We gotta go."
"You're only going to have about five seconds," Mikey said. "Ty, when they get over to Turn 3, you tell us."
"10-4."
"There. Get that brace on there, and let's get ready to go."
"Middle of the back, middle of the back," Ty said.
"If it's ready, let's go, guys. Let's go, let's go. Good job, guys."
Montoya led the lap 175 restart. Mikey was two laps down in 33rd.
"Just keep going as hard as you can," Gene said.
"Spin off of 2, spin off of 2. Caution's going to be out, caution's going to be out." Ty said the left front was still rubbing.
Gene told the crew to work on that and noted that lap times were good. "Get caught up there, and pit road's open. Pit first time by, if you don't mind."
"Who's the lucky dog?" Mikey asked.
Ty said Scott Speed was, and that he'd been two laps down before the last one.
Mikey told his crew chief somebody needed a plan, because Gene was yelling at someone like he wasn't doing it right.
The sixth caution was on lap 175. David had gotten loose, and Jeff Burton spun.
Mikey wanted four tires, and he asked for them as he headed for pit road. Gene told him to turn the wheel to the left a little bit.
"Get the splitter bar forward. There you go!" Gene said. "Get the tire put back on." He told Mikey to drive as hard as he could in Turns 3 and 4 and see if they could tell if there were a rub.
"I did that last time, and nobody could tell."
"Is that splitter brace still on?"
"It didn't smoke," Ty said.
"Yeah, 10-4. I think we'll be okay here."
The #55 prepared to pit again, and Mikey said he wanted four tires. He was back on pit road. Gene directed the stop and told the guys to be ready to go. When Mikey went back on track, Gene told him to stay out.
Stewart led the lap 181 restart. Jimmie Johnson took the lead one lap into the run. Mikey was 33rd.
"Pace car's off. Ready? Ready? Green green green. Still outside. Still outside. Still outside, still there. 82's still there. Outside with the 17. Still there, still there."
On lap 182, Mikey was 31st. He was two laps down but in line for the free pass.
"Clear there. Watch that 34, real slow on the top side. Inside. 7's still there, still there. Still out there on your corner, still there. Still there, still there. Four cars back. Still there. Four cars back to the other lucky dog guys. 17's trying to look to the high side. Half back, half back. Looking low, he's at your door, inside. Still half back."
"30.80.
"30.40.
"30.80."
"Still out there to your door, still there. Still out there, still there. 13's trying to work the outside. Outside, he's there. The 6, 09, and 96 behind you. 09's trying to look the high side. Still there. Clear. Keep rolling, keep rolling. Still one back. Spin off Turn 2. Come down the bottom. Keep low. There you go. You're the lucky dog there."
The seventh caution was on lap 194 for David Stremme hitting the wall. Mikey got one of his two laps back.
"Pull that left front fender out," Gene told the crew.
Ty warned Mikey about the safety trucks against the wall. "Catch up to the field, and then we're going to pit."
Gene said they'd get the other lap back.
"We might. We might. We don't want to be overconfident," Mikey replied.
Ty told Mikey to slow down due to the safety trucks. "All right, go ahead and catch up. It will be 5300 at the line."
"Half wedge out, half a round down on the trackbar," Gene said. "You're going to have to come around the 98." He said they'd change tires, then they'd sit there. He guided his driver to the box. He told the crew to make sure the screws didn't hit the tire. "Get the tire on, get the tire on. All right, get ready to go, guys. All the way out, bud."
"5300 to the line. It is one to go at the line."
"Stay up this time. Good job, guys," Gene praised the team.
Kurt Busch stayed on track and led the lap 198 restart. Mikey was 31st, one lap down. David was 5th as he had stayed on track, and Marcos was 21st.
"Watch that 20. He wants to come around here. That 7 is coming around. Pace car's off. Be ready. Green green green. Everybody's rolling, still outside. Still outside. Still outside, the 20. Two-wide. 20's outside. Still outside, outside. The 20. Still there, still there. 20 still there. Easy here now, easy here. Still outside. Inside and out, inside and out, inside and out. Clear now behind the 82. Clear two back."
On lap 201, David was up to 4th. Mikey continued in 31st and was the only driver who was one lap down. Marcos was 23rd.
"Clear two back. Outside outside outside, the 7. Still there, still there. Outside. Still there on your quarter, still there. Still outside. Still on your quarter, the 7's going to be up there with him. Still out there, still there."
With 96 laps to go, Mark Martin passed for the lead.
"Clear half back, clear half back. Still out there, still there. Clear clear clear."
"30.70. Good job, bud," Gene praised. "30.60.
"30.50."
"Clear up behind him. Clear up one back, two back. Still down there, the 7's still there. Still there. That's the 34 in front of you, clear four back behind you."
"Pushing off. Loose on," Mikey reported.
"10-4," Gene replied.
"Maybe some air and a little more wedge out."
"10-4 on that."
"The right front air is just all messed up."
"10-4. Keep doing what you're doing, man."
"I was gonna. Just pushing really bad."
"All right, 10-4. 30.80.
"30.70."
"Leader's at the line now."
"30.80.
"30.60."
"43's lame up top. Still there, still there. Clear."
On lap 224, Scott Speed lost the lead lap. Mikey was no longer in line for the free pass.
"30.80."
"Still outside, still outside. Still there. Clear up, clear up."
"30.82."
"All right, five cars to the leader, at the line now."
"30.70."
"Still outside. To your quarter. Clear up, clear up. All right, the 5 is going to pit in eight or nine laps. The 82 is the lucky dog at the start/finish line. The 82 has been backing up quick. Clear there."
With 58 laps to go, Mark Martin relinquished the race lead to make a stop. Kurt Busch moved into the top spot. Ty told Mikey about Martin's stop and noted where the #2 car was.
"30.58. Those are top ten times there, bud. Still there, still there, still there. Clear." Ty said Mark Martin was in line for the free pass. Hamlin was in the lead though, and Martin passed him and put himself back on the lead lap. Elliott Sadler was one lap down though.
"Where's the leader?" Mikey asked.
"Everybody's pitting right now," Ty said. "We're two back from the lucky dog right now."
"I don't care! Where's the leader?"
"The leader is the 11, and he's at the line now."
On lap 253, Mikey was 30th and one lap down. David was lapped in 28th, and Marcos was 15th. Cars continued to make stops.
"30.67. Leader ran a 50.
"30.55. Same as the leader.
"30.50, same as the leader.
"30.50."
"Eight back to the 5," Ty said. "Three back to the five. Now he pitted six or seven laps ago. Two back. On the bottom, still half back. Inside inside, inside. Clear behind him."
"There's debris in 4!" Mikey announced. "Debris in 4!"
Meanwhile, quite a few cars were heading to pit road.
"The 11's pitting. The 11's pitting," Ty said. When Hamlin did, Ryan Newman took the lead.
"Four more laps there, bud, and we pit," Gene said. "It will be two tires, guys."
"2 car right there will be looking on the bottom. Looking on the bottom. Still there, all by himself. Still there, four back to that 20, just coming off pit road. He's working the bottom. Still clear."
"Two more laps, bud," Gene told his driver.
Marcos led with 31 laps to go. David was 9th, Mikey 30th and lapped. Harvick had to return to pit road, and the #29 team went under the hood.
"Come next time, bud," Gene said.
The #55 pit on the same lap as Tony Stewart. Gene counted him to his box. "Go go go, go go go."
Marcos pit just after Mikey did.
"Hustle on around, hustle on around. Outside, outside. 82's going to be still outside with him. Clear there, four back," Ty said. Still there. Clear clear."
Martin was back in the lead with 27 laps to go. Bobby Labonte had led just before that.
"Okay, 5's the leader. The 71 pitted," Ty reported.
Mikey was two laps down in 29th. David was 5th, Marcos 18th.
"30.20," Gene read off lap times.
"Still there. Clear, clear."
"30.39."
"Slow in front of you. They're rolling now. Keep rolling, keep rolling. Caution for debris, caution for debris."
The eighth caution was on lap 276.
"Obviously, that's the best your car has been."
"Make a note at Loudon that two tires are really good," Mikey said.
Gene said he thought it was the nose weight.
"Well, I've had luck with two tires. I don't know about nose weight."
"55, 77," Ty noted.
"If everyone pits, we'll stay out and take the wavearound."
"Yeah, 24 laps to go, I can't imagine anyone's going to pit."
"Just stay out, no matter what," Mikey suggested.
"Yeah, I'm with you on that one," Gene replied. "Okay, Ty, we're racing the 12, and he's up front there."
"I'm lucky my mistake on pit road didn't mess us up."
"It's all good."
Mikey said nobody told him two tires and that they needed to remind him. "I should have known. It's my fault."
"I'm sorry, my fault. I thought I did tell you."
"Yeah, two tires, two tires. That's what I was looking for. But it's my fault. I'm the one who screwed up."
"Just for the record, is that thing still loose in?"
"A little bit. Manageable," Mikey said. "I put a lot of front brake in it, see what that would do. Then I did nothing. Then I took some out, that didn't work, so I put it back. Something's screwed up on entry. When you put on the gas, it steps out, then after that, it cleans itself up and plows through the middle and is tight off."
"Burton wants you to look at his left front tire, please," Ty requested.
"It's rubbing. His tire's shiny, and to me, it's going to rub. 20 laps, I don't know. It could rub, but it could clear, so that's what I'd tell him."
"Okay, 10-4."
"So the only guy I'm racing is the 12?"
"Yeah, at the moment," Gene replied.
"Yeah, we're two down, we're two down," Ty added. "All right, one to go when you get here. One to go." He said who should drop back and go behind him.
"How many are going to come around me?"
"That's what I'm looking at right here. The last car on the lead lap will be the 31. He pitted late, he can't come around, so it's just going to be the 17. The 83, 99, 26, 17."
Martin led the restart with 19 laps to go. Mikey was 29th and lapped, David 5th, and Marcos 14th.
Mikey said the 31 shouldn't be where he was.
"Smoking but he's good. Still rolling. Still on the bottom, still there. Clear clear, one back Inside inside inside. Big spin in front of you, up against the wall. Caution's out."
Just after the restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr spun. The ninth caution was on lap 284.
"Who got him, Ty?" Mikey asked.
"Uh, my guess is the double not."
"Ty?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Switch over there and tell him to calm down and finish his race. We need those points, and people have wrecked him before. It's just part of it."
"Yeah, 10-4."
"It's going to put the 20 on the lead lap," Gene said.
Mikey said something about telling David.
"I had to make sure he did it," Ty replied.
"Oh. He was freaking out." After a pause, he said, "One to go that time."
"It's going to be one to go."
"Roger."
"I'm not sure they're done wrecking yet."
"Well, we'll see what happens. We'll just race our car here, try to get that 12."
"Exactly."
Martin led the restart with 13 laps to go. Mikey was 28th, two laps down. David and Marcos were 7th and 13th.
"All right, coming to the restart. 13 to go here, 13. Pace car's off. Ready? Green green green. Still outside outside. Outside outside. Inside and out, inside and out. 20's a lead lap car. Clear high. Clear low, clear low. Outside outside, got one coming outside. Outside. That 09's trying to look. Outside. Clear there, clear half back. Clear clear. Still clear clear. Outside outside. Clear up out there. Still outside, outside. Outside on your corner, still there. Still there still there. Still there outside to your corner. Clear up now, clear clear."
The tenth caution was with seven laps to go. Marcos had turned AJ Almendinger after Almendinger had gotten into him earlier.
"Keep rolling. They're checking up. Everybody's good. Everybody's good. Two back. Spin right in front of you, spin right in front of you. All the way down if you can. Caution's out."
"Okay, that's going to put the 7 on the lead lap," Gene noted. "Keep cleaning your tires off there, bud, and we'll see if we can get by this 12 yet."
"Ya'll did a good job today, buddy. You got my car better and better. We just need a better happy hour. We need to be a little more confident with the race car," Mikey said.
"10-4," Gene replied.
"Ty, you've done good too. I appreciate it."
Ty warned about cars passing.
"I got to get through the middle of these people and pass that 12," Mikey said.
"Absolutely," Gene replied.
Martin led the restart with 3 laps to go. Mikey was two laps down in 28th, David was 9th, and Marcos was 22nd.
"All right, 3 to go, 3 to go. Be ready. Green green green. He's there inside, 44 with tires. Still there, still there. Inside, the 12. Stillt here, still there. All clear there, clear. Clear three back behind you. Spin in front of you. Get down get down get down. No caution yet no caution yet no caution yet. No caution. Caution's out, caution's out. Caution's out."
"Good job there, bud," Gene said.
"Yeah, I won't quit. I'm just frustrated that we got so far off at the start. Decent at the end. Still could have been a lot better."
"Yup, 10-4."
"I wish these guys would quit running into my car and scratching it up. When I say my car, I mean the 47. So what if he spun a few people out? They don't have to take it out on me?"
"Yeah, 10-4."
Mark Martin won. Mikey finished 27th; he had passed David Stremme. David was 12th, and Marcos was 18th.
Next weekend, NASCAR goes to Dover International Speedway. Coverage of the Sprint Cup's AAA 400 begins next Sunday at 1:00pm ET on ABC. The Nationwide Series' Dover 200 will take place the day before and will air at 3:00pm on ESPN2.
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© 2009 Kellyanne Lynch, in association with Cyber Speed Design. All rights reserved.
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