AAA 400 - 9/27/09
Michael Waltrip fell out of the Sprint Cup Series' AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway less than a quarter of the way into the race. He lost a tire and hit the wall hard on lap 84, causing him to finished 36th. Marcos Ambrose finished 14th, and David Reutimann finished two laps down in 21st.
Mikey had qualified 38th for today's race. David rolled off 5th, Marcos 27th.
"1 2 test, hello?" Mikey came on the radio at 2:07 pm ET.
"Got you loud and clear," someone replied.
The call to start engines came one minute later.
"Hey, buddy, you got a copy?" spotter Ty Norris asked.
"I got you," replied crew chief Gene Nead.
"10-4."
"You got me all right there, M-Dub?"
"Got you loud and clear, bud," Mikey replied.
"Glen Shanno, come to the pit box," it sounded like a crew member said.
"All right, just to give you a little bit of a heads-up here, we're one pit stall, two pit stalls behind you," Gene informed his driver. "The 7 is in front of us going out, and the 14 will be in front of us going in."
"Okay," Mikey replied.
A series of beeping followed, and Ty's next comment confirmed that those listening on TrackPass had missed some radio chatter.
Ty said that he'd been running around and apologised if Gene had already said this. "What are you looking at for pit road speed?"
"3800, second gear," Gene replied.
"One more time please, one more."
"3800, second gear."
"10-4. 3800, second gear. 3800. How close is that to being over?"
"That is four over."
"Yeah, okay." After a pause, Ty added, "Hey, uh, M-Dub, if the 09 gets around there, the 09 is supposed to go around the 1. So pull up to the 1. He's going to come around you. It will be 1, 09, 55."
"Make sure you get a little heat in those tires, bud," Gene advised.
"All right, bud, be ready." Ty said they were coming to one to go.
"All right, Michael, let's have us a good day here. We'll have a good day in the pits."
"10-4. I appreciate all the work. Good job this weekend." Mikey said they'd started far back last time and had finished in the top ten. "I know we can do it. We just need to focus and stay tight."
"10-4."
"It should be an interesting start with this green race start." He asked the rest of the team to let him know if they say something. "Things happen quick here.
"Pace car's off. Ready? Green green green. Inside, inside. Still down there, inside. Looking low, behind the 66 if you want it. 33 inside. He's still there. He's got one trying to come with him. Still down there. Still there. He's got one right on his bumper."
Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green flag, and he held onto the lead.
"Still there by half a quarter. Clear clear clear. Still half back. To your bumper. Clear, clear. Still outside on your corner. Going to be clear off the corner. Clear, clear. Three back. Nice job.
"24.70," Gene read off lap times.
"Still there. Still outside. Still outside on your corner. Half back. One back."
By lap 7, Mikey was 36th. David was 7th, and Marcos was 23rd.
"24.50.
"24.40."
"Still there. Clear, clear. Checking up. You'll be fine, you'll be fine. Clear clear."
On lap 9, Mikey was 35th. He had passed Bobby Labonte's #96. David and Marcos were still 7th and 23rd. Meanwhile, Johnson continued to lead.
"24.70."
"Inside. He's there on your bumper. Clear."
"24.60. Got 80's in front, 80's behind," Gene informed his driver. "24.87."
Tony Raines went to the garage on lap 9.
"Still there. Up top. Still to your door. Still there. You're going to be clear, clear. Two back. Five more before the caution. He'll take a peak. He's just going to be on your corner. You're clear there. You're going to be clear up, one back. Clear one back. Clear half back. Clear."
"So loose in, I can't do it!" Mikey commented.
"10-4," Ty replied.
"Turn on your rear fans, bud. Your rear blowers," Gene advised.
"It's going to be lap 25 for the leader. Outside, outside. On your bumper. Okay, caution's out. Don't check up too much yet. He's right on your bumper."
The first caution was the competition yellow on lap 25. Mikey had been 35th, David 7th, Marcos 23rd.
"I just can't drive it, man. Even an attempt to turn down beneath that guy, and I about dumped it twice, tiptoing. Wanders. It's just a shame," Mikey said.
"All right. Are the rest of the corners okay, or it is everywhere?" Gene asked.
Mikey said this is how the car had unloaded, and nothing had touched it. "It wanders and wobbles and spins out, and there's nothing I can do. Nothing."
The team prepared to make a pit stop. Gene told Mikey to stop short for the #7. Ty told him to come around the #12 and #43. The #55 came to pit road.
Mikey talked more about his car after the stop. "I mean, when I'm by myself, it's fine. It's just loose. But if I try to stick it in the corner underneath someone, I'm going to wreck. I'm barely trying to get underneath that guy, and it's sideways. I don't know what to do. I know how to manage it when I have a full road."
"That guy is a nightmare to get around, so if we can get around him, we'll be all right."
"No, I don't agree, bud. He's slow, and I can't give him. He's giving me room, and I can't get around him. If it makes you feel any better, you can say that, but he's a turd, and I can't get around him."
"All right, man. One to go. One to go," Ty said.
Ryan Newman and David Gilliland each led under yellow.
"Make sure you've got your B-blowers on, bud," Gene said.
"All right, pace car's off. Be ready, ready. Green green green. Everybody's rolling. 19's still outside. Still outside, outside. Get down get down, it's nasty, get down. You're good."
"Wow," Mikey said.
"10-4," Gene replied. "We didn't hit anything, right?"
"No."
"All right, cool."
"All right, red flag, red flag," said Ty.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I saw that orange streak across the bottom." The crew member said he couldn't see much either.
Gene asked about the car and told him to let him know.
"Yeah, I will. How many times have you known me not to say exactly what I think. It's just frustrating that I've complained about the same thing for two days, three days now. It's just really hard to drive, really hard to drive. Paul's wing's falling off."
"All right, I'll let him know. Joey got out and walked to the ambulance. Everybody's cool," Ty reported.
"Yeah, the good news is that we're going to have an opening in front of us," Gene said.
The red flag had come out at 2:34pm for the second caution on lap 31. Cars had checked up, and Tony Stewart had spun out Joey Logano. Reed Sorenson got into Logano's #20 and pushed it into a barrel roll down the banking. Robby Gordon went into Sorenson's #43. Martin Truex Jr was also collected. Everybody walked or drove away. The #20, the #7, the #43, and the #1 were destroyed.
"I wonder who built this track and decided that ____ should be higher than the race track so you can't see. You see that tow truck coming down the front straightaway? All I can see are the lights," Ty said.
Mikey said something I couldn't understand. "What precipitated that?"
Ty explained that cars had checked up for some reason. "The 14 tapped him in the right rear, sent him to the inside wall."
"The 96 checked up there a little bit," Gene stated.
Ty mentioned a guy named Brian who would have said, after that accident, "Well, that's going to make Sports Centre."
"Yup," Mikey replied.
"Duh duh duh. Duh duh duh. I think he said that after you punched Lake Speed at Michigan."
"Hey, hey. I'm trying to put things like that in my past. The new me."
"It wasn't your fault. That was the young Michael Waltrip."
"Yeah, he was four or five people ago. The one I have now needs some work, but I like him the best."
"Yeah, you'll get some support on that one." Ty warned Mikey about all the speedy dry. "It'll be a few more minutes." He asked Gene if they'd stay out, and Gene said they would.
"Did Rob come today?" Mikey asked. He said he saw somebody. "He's waving at me." After a pause, Mikey said, "A couple of these 14 dudes are over here, trying to see what they can do about Tony's car. What lap is it anyway?"
"31." Gene noted that everything like tire wear looked good.
"Yeah, everything feels good except the entry. It's darty. It's like the geometry is off," Mikey said. He noted that making turns were hard.
Gene said he'd tried to put in nose weights to help it out.
"I wish we'd tried something else."
"All right, bud, crank it up," Ty said at 2:57pm.
"We're staying out, guys," Gene confirmed.
"All right, they're saying come around the 19, bud. Come around the 19. All right, pit road will be open. We're staying out."
"Staying out, Michael."
"87's going to be coming around the outside of you."
"Get some heat in them tires, bud."
"All right, one to go when you get here. I counted you 27th."
"10-4, 27th."
Carl Edwards would restart at the rear for pitting too soon.
"All right, coming to the green. Pace car's off. Ready? Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling. Clear up if you want it. He's going to have a run outside. Still out there, still there. He's got one with him. Stillt here."
Ryan Newman led the lap 37 restart. Mikey was 27th.
"All the way to the top. Still there. Still rolling. Clear up, half back. Clear one back. Outside outside outside. The 14. He's outside on your corner. He's going to be there off the corner. One back to the 99. Clear up after this corner. Clear up after this corner. One back to the 99."
On lap 40, Mikey was 28th. He was 30th two laps after that. David was 11th, and Marcos was 21st.
"24.80."
"No better in. Skating the front off," Mikey reported.
"10-4."
"Now he's right there on your bumper. To your door, 99. Half back to the 71. He'll be working the bottom also. Still on your quarter, still on your quarter. Clear, one back. That's Gilliland."
"Way too loose on entry."
"24.90."
"Two back, two back."
On lap 47, Mikey was 31st.
"Still clear one back. Five back to the 19."
"24.90.
"24.90."
"Ridiculous, ridiculous loose," Mikey reported.
"10-4. 24.80."
"Ridiculous loose on entry, tight after that.
"24.80. The leader's running 24.60.
"24.90. That's 25 teens in front of you.
"24.80."
"Still there. Clear clear."
"24.90. The leaders are running 24.80."
"Still there. Clear clear."
Lap 58 saw Kurt Busch pass Ryan Newman for the lead.
"24.88. Leader ran an 86.
"24.88.
"24.98."
On lap 61, Mikey was 29th.
"Still there. Clear off this corner. Clear, clear."
"25.11."
Mikey was 28th on lap 63. David was 9th, Marcos 21st.
"24.90.
"24.90."
"Still there. Clear the 82."
Lap 66 saw Mikey in 27th.
"All clear. All right, buddy. Nice job," Ty praised.
"24.80.
"24.90. Same as the leader.
"24.90. Same as the leader.
"24.94.
"24.96. Leader run a 91.
"24.88.
"24.80. Leader run a 94.
"25.14.
"25.20.
"25.18."
"Still fine. Leader's at the line now."
"25.09.
"25 flat."
David pit on lap 81 as he was running out of fuel; they hadn't put any in during the competition caution. He had been afraid he was losing one of his tires too. Meanwhile, Michael McDowell and Dave Blaney had gone to the garage.
"25 flat, same as the leader.
"25.06.
"25.20."
Mikey was 26th on lap 82.
"Shaking the right front bad," he reported.
"Still inside. They're coming, they're coming."
"I blew a right front. I can't even explain how shitty this is."
"Did we hit the wall?"
"Yeah, she blew a right front. Started skating the right front two laps before, and then it just popped, so we're done. It's just ridiculous," Mikey said. "Just really bad feeling right now, so I'll be quiet."
"10-4."
"It didn't feel right on the right front at all."
"Let's go to the garage, guys," Gene said.
The third caution was on lap 84 for Mikey. David received the free pass.
"It didn't give any warning. It didn't shake. It just busted. We need the points, so if we can fix it, we need to."
"We're going to," Gene replied.
"He's got the front clip broke pretty bad, Gene. Upper, lower, front A frames and the header. The header's destroyed. It needs a set of headers to even get back onto the race track. Wow. A lot of work to get this thing fixed," a crew member said.
"Okay, guys, let's get a jack under this thing," Gene said. "And we'll look at it. Take that jack and put it underneath the right front. That's our only option, you know what I mean?"
Racing resumed on lap 90 with Kurt Busch leading. Meanwhile, the #55 was in the garage. Gene directed the crew to pull the jack to the front.
A crew member said they'd jack it up and reposition the jack on the right side. "Yeah, there you go. Just try to get the jack more front than back, Mike." He said it wouldn't turn on the jack in front. "That's good right there. Let's look at it when it's up on jack stands, look at it real good, and get this tire on. It's got the drive shaft all the way across the cross ____ too."
Gene told the crew to get the car so they could pack it up as he said they couldn't get it fixed. "I want someone from Goodyear to tell us what the hell happened here."
A crew member said to get the dolly for the left front.
"Ty, we're done. There's no way to fix this thing."
"Hey, we're going to have to get a hammer here to..." static followed.
Gene said something about tires for the other three corners. "Get a jack under there and make sure we're safe."
"It doesn't look bad," someone said.
Mikey was officially out of the race at 3:35pm, less than one quarter into the race. He finished 36th. Jimmie Johnson went on to win.
Next weekend's race will be in Kansas. Coverage of the Sprint Cup Series' Price Chopper 400 will air Sunday at 1:00pm ET on ABC. Coverage of the Nationwide Series' Kansas Lottery 300 starts at 3:00pm on ESPN2.
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