Pepsi 500 - 10/11/09
Michael Waltrip struggled with a poorly handling #55 Napa Auto Parts Camry throughout the day, but he and his team perservered. Mikey dodged a big wreck at the end of the race and came home 17th. David Reutimann's #99 Aaron's Dream Machine was 18th. Marcos Ambrose finished in the garage in 23rd after his #47 Little Debbies Toyota was collected in the late race accident.
Mikey started 34th in today's race. David had qualified 2nd but had to start 42nd after failing inspection; his shock absorber had over 90 pounds of gas pressure when the maximum is 75 pounds. Marcos rolled off 27th.
"Hello, 1, 2. Can you hear me?" Mikey came onto the radio at 3:22pm ET.
"Got you loud and clear there, Michael," crew chief Gene Nead replied.
"10-4. You too."
Kelsey Grammer gave the call to start engines one minute later.
"Got a Sharpie?" Mikey asked.
"Got a copy. Did anyone find that for you?" it sounded like a crew member said about a minute later.
"Got a copy on me, M-Dub?" spotter Ty Norris asked.
"I do," Mikey replied. "How are you doing?"
"Good, real good. About the same as last week. You're the fifth stall in, only about the fourth stall with cars in it. 24, 96, 83, and then us."
"Okay."
"Yeah, we got the 83 behind us and the 78 in front of us, bud," Gene added.
Ty told Gene that this place is like Michigan, where the wave-around is really useful.
"Yeah, 10-4."
"What kind of fans do we need to be running here, Gene?"
"We're going to leave everything off to get started here," Gene replied. "All right, we've got 4900, 4900 second gear for pit road speed there, Ty."
"10-4. 4900. Do you have a first gear for him?"
"First gear will be 7700."
"10-4," Mikey replied. "I see y'all over there, four in 10-4. Hello."
"10-4," Gene responded. "You gotta get some heat in those tires, bud."
Ty said the #88 would probably run the top. He noted the #88 was beside him and the #39 behind.
"All right, I got a lot different car than I had yesterday, so I've got to get it figured out, Ty."
"Yeah, 10-4. Got a long day. We'll run all day. We'll get a few chanced to work on it. Everybody keep their heads. It's been a few weeks."
Gene said they'd have a good day and would work on the car all day.
"All right, buddy, you're going to be coming to the green right now. Coming to the green. Ready? Pace car's off. Ready? Green green green."
Denny Hamlin led the field to the green flag at 3:35pm.
"Still down there on the bottom. Two by two. Everybody's rolling. Inside, both sides. 19's going to be outside with him. Clear up behind him, three back. Got one on the bottom. Two back to the 18 up top. Outside. 00's outside, outside. He's on your corner. It's going to be clear up behind him. Clear two up to the 96. Inside, inside. You're clear there, clear. Clear two out the back, clear two out the back. Still three wide going into this corner here. Inside. One back to the 7, one back to the 7. 7's outside, outside. Going to be clear up behin dhim if you need it. All right. Got one outside on your quarter, outside on your quarter. Looking inside, going to be both sides, both sides. Clear one back, one back to the 09."
"It's just wrecking loose on entry. Can't get to the corner," Mikey reported.
"10-4," Gene replied.
"No rear grip at all. Won't turn in the centre, backing in, backing off."
Mikey was 38th on lap 3. Two laps later, he was 42nd. David was 33rd, and Marcos was 18th.
"10-4. We'll get you fixed up," Gene replied.
"Well, you've got me fixed up right at the moment, I'll tell you that."
"41.60."
"Just real darty," Mikey continued. "Just wiggles into the turn. Terrible."
"41.90."
"Still outside on your corner. Still there. Still outside on your door. Clear of him. Clear clear. All clear."
"41.88."
Jimmie Johnson took the lead from Hamlin on lap 11. One lap prior, Mikey had picked up 41st by passing Max Papis.
"Clear, all clear."
"Turn on your rear fans there, Michael," Gene advised. After a minute, he added, "Turn on your right front B-blower and your fan."
"All right," Mikey replied. "It's just really a bad car, man. Just so fucking loose."
Lap 13 saw Mikey take 40th from Michael McDowell.
"I mean, I can't even get close to the corner by myself. That's why I can't race next to anyone."
"10-4. 41.89."
"You've got this right rear so far out of this track trying to get the right front to turn, and it won't turn. The report is backs in, skates out, pushes the nose, then the back end comes around. This is what I'm dealing with. It's just really bad. Really bouncy entry on the left front. Knocks it frickin' dead ass sideways. Maybe all in all as bad as it could be."
"42.30."
On lap 15, Mikey picked up 39th when David Gilliland took his start-and-park #71 to the garage. Gilliland then headed to the #18 pit box. Kyle Busch was sick and planned to get out of the #18 at the time of the first caution.
"42.50.
"42.30."
"Feels like you have at least a hundred pounds of air in the right front tire, trying to compensate for a front that's broken."
"10-4."
"Zero right front grip on entry and exit. Zero right front grip in the centre."
"10-4.
"42.60. Got a 90 in front of you."
"Got a slow one on the bottom, pulling in," Ty warned. "All clear."
Mikey passed Dave Blaney for 38th on lap 24. David and Marcos were 27th and 28th respectively.
"42.70.
"42.60."
"All right, bud. Leader is running flats. He's at the line now," Ty noted.
Lap 26 saw Juan Pablo Montoya take the lead.
"42.50."
"All clear, man. All clear. Two back."
"About thirteen laps 'til we pit there, bud," Gene told his driver.
Mikey was 37th on lap 30. He had passed Joe Nemechek.
"All right, bud. Half a straightaway back. Leader's at the line now," said Ty.
"42.70.
"42.60.
"42.60."
Ty mentioned that Gene had said they'd pit in ten laps.
"We're looking at actually seven or eight laps right now. 42.50. Good lap times right there. Those are top twenty lap times."
"Yeah. Yeah," Mikey replied. He was 36th on lap 36 after passing Robby Gordon.
"96 pitting now. Leader's the 42. He's running 41.90's, 42 flats. The rest of the crowd isn't even in his league right now," Ty stated.
"42.50."
On lap 37, Mikey was 35th.
"42.70.
"42.60."
Green flag pit stops began on lap 39.
"Five back to the 7. He just got passed by the leader."
"Get ready, guys."
"Coming now, Gene?" Ty asked.
Gene confirmed this and guided Mikey to pit road. "Wheels straight, put on the brakes. First gear. Good job. All the way out, all the way out. Good job, guys."
"All the way up if you need to. 4900, 4900. When you get to that yellow line, dig as hard as you can. The 48 is ___ behind you. It will be clear when you get around here. You're about 15, 20 back to the 48 now."
Montoya had pit on lap 40. Kurt Busch took the lead. Many others were going to pit road.
"All right, you're going to see that 42 on the apron. When this cycles back around, the 48 should be the leader. Dig around that 78 there. Clear there. 48's one back. All clear, all clear. 48 is the leader."
Kurt Busch had pit on lap 42, when Jimmie Johnson took over the top spot.
"Looking outside. Outside, he's there. Outside. One back, two back to the 42. 42's going to be outside. He's right with that 78 who we're going to be racing in a little bit. Clear one back, clear one back. He's going to have a run. Outside outside outside. There you go. Nice block. Right on your bumper there."
Mikey lost the lead lap on lap 44.
"Still clear one back. Still clear. Still clear half back."
"41.40," Gene read off the lap time.
"On the bottom. Right on your quarter. Still right there on your quarter."
Mikey was running 36th after stops. Marcos was 25th, David 26th. Kyle Busch was still in the #18.
"He's faster than me in the turns and way faster than me on the straightaways," Mikey said of Joe Nemechek's #78.
On lap 46, Montoya reclaimed the lead. Mikey was 37th.
"Did we help you there any, Michael?" Gene asked.
"No," Mikey said. "You made it tighter everywhere, but now it's horrible in the centre. It makes it even harder to drive off."
"Okay, 10-4."
"But it's better in."
"10-4."
Mikey praised the crew for a quick pit stop, getting him out further ahead of the leader than he'd been. "I just, I can't. I'm doing all I can do. The car is just slow."
"10-4, bud. We're going to keep working on it." Gene told Mikey to make sure the B-blowers were on.
"I have been. I've bee working with them. They don't do shit. It plows through the middle."
"I know. Just make sure you have them on.
"42.11.
"42.18."
On lap 50, Mikey was 36th. Robby Gordon had gone to the garage. His exhaust pipe was sticking out.
"42.18." Gene noted how cars were running in front and behind the #55.
"There's someone behind me?" Mikey asked.
"42 flat. You've got 40's and 50's in front of you.
"42 flat. You've got 30's and 40's in front of you.
"42.38.
"42.30."
"All right, bud. Five back to the 24, five back to the 24."
"42.20."
"Still outside, still all the way up there. He's going to be on your quarter off your corner. Two back to the 24. 24's inside, all by himself. 12's all the way up there, still coming back on your outside. He's not giving us a break here. Clear of him now about half, coming back outside, coming back outside. Got the 11 right there pushing you. Caution's out, caution's out, caution's out. Got one blowing up."
The first caution came on lap 60. Jamie McMurray had scraped the wall.
"Yeah, it just helped everywhere. The car's just junk, bounces off the left front and pushes, dead ass push in the centre. Then it, then it totally drives off good now. The off is the best part. Entry's better. We're not going to get many chances at a wavearound. This is a good time to take it."
Gene agreed.
"It's about as good as it's going to get timing wise. They're all going to pit."
"10-4. We'll try it now."
"The adjustments were good, Gene. They made it tighter in the centre and tighter off. I can really run good off now. I just can't run it up through the centre."
Gene wanted to pull out wedge. "If we stopped under yellow, I'd do a packer change." He said they'd work on it from there.
"10-4."
Ty asked what if everyone stayed out.
"That's a good thought, Ty. If every one of them does the wavearound, except for the 13. Who cares what he does? Then we ought to pit."
Gene said they'd stay out and would pit in five laps.
"I don't think five laps is a good deal. I think we need to wait ten or fifteen. But that's just for argument's sake."
Gene told Mikey to stay out.
"I see what you're saying, Ty, but I don't think it really matters."
"If they do all stay out, that would put us in the lucky dog spot," Gene suggested.
"Right. That's what we were talking about."
"There we go, bud. Stay out. Yeah, we did the right thing there."
"Yeah. That was obvious. You just need to consider everything, and Ty made a great point."
"10-4. We were just thinking about it."
Meanwhile, Kyle Busch pit and hopped out of his car. David Gilliland got in.
"We're either carrying a lot of drag," Mikey said but was cut off.
"Okay, Gene, if you said it, I wasn't listening," Ty asked how many laps until they pit.
Gene said they could only go to lap 81.
"All right, buddy. Pace car's coming off. Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling."
Montoya led the restart on lap 65. Mikey was 28th, David 24th, and Marcos 25th. Denny Hamlin took the lead one lap into the run, and Kevin Harvick quickly challenged, but Hamlin held him off.
"Outside, 19. Still there. Clear up."
"42.20."
On lap 67, Mikey was 29th. John Andretti had passed. One lap later, Mark Martin took the lead.
"Still there. Still there. Clear up, 19. Clear by two. Clear by three."
Mikey was 28th on lap 71, after getting around Elliott Sadler's #19. David was 22nd and Marcos 26th.
"42.50.
"42.60."
Ty noted the track temperature would change as the sun was out now. "Leader's at the line now. We're doing fine. Lap 73."
"It's just, just tight, tight in the centre," Mikey reported.
"10-4, bud. 42.59."
"And that gets it all messed up on exit. Still a little free on entry. Got to steer it to the right to get in."
By lap 75, Montoya was back in the lead.
"About seven more laps, we're going to pit, bud."
"How many more, Gene? How many more?"
Gene said six, actually; they'd pit on lap 81.
"All right, 10-4. You're three back to the 7, just came off pit road. Fresh tires. Two back to the 7, two back. Fresh tires. pitting in five. Big run up top from the 7, big run up top. He's outside. Back outside, outside."
"A little loose in now that the sun's out," Mikey reported.
"10-4. Let's pit next time. We're losing too much time here," Gene replied.
"Dig around here. Get all you can here, all you can. It's going to be 4900 at the line here."
"One round down on the track bar."
"Nice solid stop here."
"Michael, keep coming, keep coming, keep coming. Whoa. Whoa. What are you doing?"
Ty said caution was out.
"We'll be all right. If we beat them to the line, we beat them. Go down there and tell them so we don't mess around. We're close on fuel. Come around them, Michael. We're going to do the packer thing this time. I want you to do one and a half out of there."
"Hey, do we need to pit now? Is that what you're saying?"
"No, get caught up."
Ty repeated this to his driver.
"All right, good job, Michael."
"I was hoping you meant keep coming, not keep coming to the line. That's what I thought you meant. Where's the leader, Ty?"
Ty told Mikey to pit, and Gene guided Mikey to the box. "4, 3... Okay, just stop right there. Stop! Stop!"
"I'm showing no oil pressure," Mikey reported.
"First gear. Don't forget about this packer."
"I want to check..."
"Let's go, let's go. Do you have oil pressure when you rev it up?"
"No, I'm showing no oil pressure. No oil pressure. That's what I said."
"Hit the reset button."
"I did, three times over. My motor's blown if it's off, so I don't know what to do, unless I assume one of the gauges is off."
Gene laughed and said they'd go with that. He then praised Mikey for getting the lap back.
The second caution had come on lap 82. Ryan Newman had lost his right front tire.
"How's your water temp there, bud?" Gene asked.
"180."
"Been running that cool the whole time?"
"Yes, maybe about 190 maybe. This thing always feels like it doesn't have any front shocks on it. It just floats around. It doesn't get into the corner and dig. It's just all over the place."
"10-4."
Martin Truex Jr had taken just two tires and was now in the lead.
"It'll be one to go when you get here. One to go," Ty said. "All right, bud. Be ready. Coming to the green"
Racing resumed on lap 87. Mikey was 26th, David 22nd, and Marcos 25th.
"Pace car's off. Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling. Still there inside. Inside, three-wide on the bottom. You're on the top side of three, you're on the top side of three. Two more coming underneath. Still three-wide right there, still three-wide. 12 and 82. Still three-wide. Now it's the 39 and the 82. Two-wide. It's just the 39. Got one right on your bumper on the inside. Clear to the high side, clear up."
One lap into the run, Mikey was back to 27th. Montoya had taken the lead from Truex Jr.
"Still inside, the 34. Right on your bumper. Inside, inside. Be careful. That 98's really out of control about three in front of you. 7's looking on the bottom. You're still clear high."
"So loose in traffic. So loose," Mikey complained.
"Inside, the 7. Inside," Ty warned. "7's still right there on your bumper, still right there on your door."
On lap 89, Mikey was 28th.
"You're clear four back there."
Lap 91 saw Mikey lose another spot.
"42.25.
"42.30."
"Still there, still there, still there. Clear four back behind."
"42.20."
"Clear of him by now. Back outside, back outside."
"Tell me about your car right now, bud," Gene requested on lap 97.
"Pushing and loose," Mikey replied.
"42.60."
Ty warned Mikey about Sadler's #19 coming.
"I mean, this car is so evil."
"Clear there. Clear for now, one back. Got a run off this corner. Half back. Closing. Outside, outside. He gives up quick. We'll get him down here. Still out there, still there."
On lap 98, Mikey was 30th due to the #19's pass. Marcos was 21st, and David was 23rd.
"Still up there, still on your corner."
"Ty, I can't run the middle. I can't do anything on the bottom line. I just lose the front end. There just isn't any way to do it. I've tried. It's just the worst car I've ever tried to drive. It won't turn, and it's backwards on entry. I can't even hold a guy still by pinning him down. He just drives away from me."
"Yeah, 10-4," Gene replied.
"Still out there, man."
"42.88.
"42.90.
"42.80.
"42.90.
"43 flat.
"43.20."
"Still there. Clear clear. Back in there, inside. Clear."
Mikey picked up 29th on lap 110 by getting around John Andretti's #34. Marcos was 18th, and David was 25th.
"All the way back down there, 34."
"42.60. That's a good lap.
"42.95."
On lap 114, Johnson moved back into the top spot; however, Montoya was still beside him. The #42 was credited with the lap 115 lead. Johnson moved by him again.
"Fresh tires, two back. Fresh tires, two back. 78 looking inside. Leader now. They're talking about some debris over in Turn 1. Caution's out for debris. Caution's out."
The third caution was on lap 118 for debris.
"Michael, that change hurt you bad?"
"That was way, way worse. I didn't have any grip at all. The tires went all to shit." Mikey said he was skating.
Gene called for the crew to put the packers back in.
"It didn't work good that way either. Try something even different yet. Just put one out of the right and leave the left or something. I just feel like I'm wrecking every lap."
Gene said it was the same air pressure there than before and called for the packers back out and for other adjustments. He told the crew to go one up on the track bar.
The #55 pit under green.
"Little bit to the left, bud. There you go," Gene said once Mikey had stopped. "First gear. Forget about the packer thing. Good job. All the way out, bud."
Hamlin was first off pit road, and Matt Kenseth was penalised for speeding on pit road.
"49, bud. 49," Ty reminded Mikey. "82 lucky dog coming to your outside."
"Did you get the adjustments there, guys?" Gene asked the team. "That run there, Michael, we lost a good pit of time compared to the field, compared to the prior run."
"Yeah, I just saving myself, crashing is all I was doing there."
Gene wanted to look at the previous set of tires. "This set we just took off was as close to the set we just replaced it with."
"All right, man. You're going to be on the outside, behind the 00," Ty said.
"17 just pulled off," Mikey commented.
Hamlin led the restart on lap 122. Mikey was 28th, Marcos 18th, and David 26th.
"All right, I told Bobby to give us a couple laps here. Give us a lap. Okay, pace car's off here. Ready? Green green green. Stacking up right in front of you. Stacking up. Inside, inside. Clear if you need it. Inside, the 82. Outside, outside. Outside. Outside outside. The 17 and the 78 with him. 34's trying to look but you're clear. 78's still there. 78's still there. Clear up behind the 78."
On lap 123, Mikey was 31st. David was 27th and Marcos 16th.
"Still out there, 78. On your corner."
"This thing won't go!" Mikey complained.
"10-4, buddy. I'm with you," Gene responded.
"Now you're clear two back. 19's still there. Clear clear."
On lap 125, Mikey was 30th.
"96. Clear behind him if you want it. Half back 19. Spin right in front of you. Keep coming, keep coming. Everybody's rolling. Clear three back, whatever you need."
Ty may have been talking about AJ Almendinger's #44 getting sideways.
Mikey was 29th on lap 126. Meanwhile, Johnson had taken the lead.
"19's working the bottom now. To your door, inside. Still down there, 19. Still out there. Clear there three back."
"It's doing the same thing. It'd started off a little better. Now it's totally sideways," Mikey said.
"10-4," Gene replied.
On lap 131, Mikey was 30th again. Sadler had passed.
"It's just, the grip has gone away, back and front."
Gene acknowledged, then said something else. "42.70.
"42.80.
"43.15.
"42.70."
"It might be the ____, but it feels just like it did when the race started. So adjust on that," Mikey said.
"10-4. 42.80.
"43 flat. A lot of guys are running below the yellow line in 3 and 4, if that will help."
"With two or four tires?"
"Some of them with two, some of them with four, bud.
"42.80. That's about a tenth quicker.
"42.85. You've got 50's and 60's in front of you.
"43 flat.
"43.24."
"All right, 48's the leader. He's at the line now. And he's got seven seconds on second place," Ty observed.
"43.18.
"43.19.
"43.20."
"You see what you've got. You're all clear back. Still outside, outside. You're clear."
Mikey was still 30th on lap 149. Marcos and David were 15th and 21st.
"You're three or four tenths faster than those guys in front of you, bud. 43 flat," Gene said.
"He's acting like he has a flat tire or something. Watch out for that 44. He's all over the place."
"44 flat. 43 flat. Sorry."
"All right, I'm hearing between five and ten laps. What are we looking at here, Gene-o?"
"About ten more laps, bud."
"Feels like oil in Turn 1," Mikey reported on lap 155.
"Let them know, Gene," Ty replied. "Real slow one on the bottom, 26. Clear clear. Four back to the 48. Looking outside, going to be looking outside. Here he comes, inside. He jammed in there. There was no need for it. Clear right there."
On lap 157, Mikey lost the lead lap again.
"Clear five back to the 98. He just pitted for tires, so he'll be catching you pretty quick. He lost a rubber or something. Coming inside, inside."
Green flag stops began on lap 159.
"We're going to pit next time, Michael. Four tires and fuel, guys," Gene said.
"All right, here we go. 4900 right here. Hustle to the line."
Johnson pit on lap 160, giving up the lead. Meanwhile, Gene counted Mikey to his box. "Wheels straight, put on the brakes. Wheels straight. First gear. Go go go. All the way up. Halfway. All the way."
"4900," Ty added.
Jeff Gordon was now in the lead.
"All right, roll at the line there. There you go. Hustle on around. You'll be clear when you get there, clear when you get there."
"41.50."
Stops had cycled by lap 164, and Johnson was back in the lead. Mikey was 29th and lapped, Marcos 19th, and David 20th.
"Okay, 48's the leader. He's getting into Turn 3."
"41.90."
"Five back."
"41.80."
On lap 168, Mikey was 28th. Tony Stewart had to return to pit road for a speeding penalty.
"42.19.
"42.40.
"42.50."
"Five back to the 5, third place. Three back. Working the high side. Going to be there off the corner. Clear behind him."
"43 flat."
"Really loose in, pushing centre, really loose off," Mikey reported with 77 laps to go.
"10-4," Gene replied.
"Two back to the 24. Closing pretty quick. Inside, he's there. Clear the 26. Five back to the 14. He's actually for position, because he pitted twice, speeding on pit road. Two back. Clear two back. He's been working the high side. Clear one back. Looking outside. It will be clear behind him."
"42.89."
On lap 177, Mikey fell to 29th with Stewart's pass.
"P5 about five back. Clear behind him."
"42.70."
"Yeah, you see half the field not keeping up with the way the track is slick off the corner. Keep on top of it, Gene. I know you'll do the best you can," Ty stated.
"Yeah, 10-4," Gene replied. "42.88."
"Two back to the 29."
"42.90."
"He's going to be working the high side. There he goes. Two back. He's going to have a big run off this corner. Coming outside. Yeah, any guys making any hay are running the outside. We just can't do it. Caution's out, caution's out for debris."
The fourth caution was on lap 186 for debris.
"That's the worst it's been all day," Mikey complained. "No grip, no right front, no right rear."
Gene called for a big air pressure adjustment with right sides.
"How many laps 'til we have to pit? Might do a wavearound here. There's really nothing to lose with the wavearound. Ty. Gene."
"Yeah, we're definitely going to do the wavearound," Gene replied.
Ty warned Mikey about a truck against the wall in Turn 2. "These guys who are pitting right now can't make it all the way, can they."
"No," Gene replied.
Cars pit under yellow.
"Ty, when we run ten laps, we'll just get lapped, then we'll be half a lap behind."
"I was stepping on you."
Mikey repeated but said they should be able to go to the end.
"No, that's the problem here," Gene replied. "We're going to have to make two pit stops."
"That's fine. That's fine. We'll just try to get on the lead lap here first."
"It'll just be a gas and go, but that's all we can do."
"I think it's worth the chance that it won't go green. Do you?"
"I think it is."
"If we stertch it on this first one, can we make it?"
"No, there's no way to stretch it. We're ten laps short, bud."
"Okay, 10-4."
"It's only twenty miles, Gene," Ty said.
"Twenty miles is pretty far."
Mikey said something that was eaten by static.
"Okay, at that start/finish, we're going to go around. Follow that 14," Ty told his driver.
Montoya was in the lead after stops. Marcos was 16th, David 19th, and Mikey 25th and back on the lead lap.
"All right, bud, with this wavearound, there are 26 cars on the lead lap." Ty asked how many laps until they have to pit.
Gene said they could run twelve laps.
"All right. Pull on past that 13. He's laying over. Pick your lane, probably top side behind that 19. Pace car's off. Be ready. Green green green. Spin in front of you. Spin in front, spin in front. Caution's out, caution's out."
The fifth caution was on lap 191. Ty said someone had clobbered Denny Hamlin.
"Who did?"
"I think that's what happened."
"Who took out who?"
"Hamlin was leading. I believe the 42 got into him,a nd he just clobbered the inside wall."
Gene said they'd get four tires and fuel.
"Our car's really bad," Mikey said. He said he didn't know if it were the setup that made him run like "dog crap" or what. "I appreciate the work though and the adjustments. I know you're trying hard. You've made some good calls. We're doing all we can do. We'll get something out of this deal, a good finish."
"10-4."
Ty said pit road was still closed as they still had to work on the end of pit road, where Hamlin had crashed. "I have to hit the little boys' room. You can tell him when pit road opens. I can't pee in my seat."
"Well, you can. There's no rule that says you can't."
"Ty needs some Extenz," Mikey said.
"10-4," Gene replied. After a pause, he asked, "Did they say pit road's open? Pit this time, bud. Five away. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Stop. Wheels straight, put on the brakes. Go go go. 4900 second gear, bud."
"I'm all over it."
"10-4."
"All right, one to go when you come around," Ty said.
Meanwhile, in the garage, Hamlin took responsibility for the wreck.
"All right, you should go up there and be on the bottom, behind the 77. Follow that 77 on up there. He should pull up to the, he should pull up to that 14. Yeah, keep going past that 82. He's not on the lead lap. The 20 is not on the lead lap. Let's get around him. The 19... no, the 19 is on the lead lap."
"10-4. The 19 is a lead lap car," Gene said.
"Good job. Now we're right. All right, pace car's coming off. Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling, everyone's rolling. Still outside outside."
Montoya led with 56 laps to go. Mikey was 25th, Marcos 14th, and David 19th.
"Clear up one back, half back. 18's there. Still outside, the 18. Still going to be there off the corner. Clear there, clear there."
Johnson took the lead with 55 laps to go.
"Still clear one back, two back. Still clear two back. One back to the 12, one back to the 12."
On lap 196, Mikey was 24th.
"Clear, whatever you need. 20's there. Outside. 20's sneaking up there. 12's trying to go with him. You're clear. Back inside, inside. The 12. Right on your quarter. Clear low if you need it. Clear high right there. Clear two back. Whatever you need. 19's still out there, still there. You're clear now. He's trying to come back. Back outside, back inside. The 82. Clear there two back. 98's still out there on your corner."
"42.50."
"Clear one back to the 83. The 83 is not for position."
"42.30."
"Clear up top, two back."
"42.50."
Gene said something about someone being two laps down and asked someone to go ask him for some help.
"What'd you say?" Mikey asked.
"Clear there. Clear two back," Ty said.
"42.40. Good times there, bud. 23. The next spot is 22nd, the 00 in front of you."
Mikey was 23rd by lap 204. He'd passed Elliott Sadler's #19.
Gene said Mikey's last lap was quicker than the one before. "42.80."
"77 brushed the wall up there. It'll be fine. Everyone's rolling. Clear five back," Ty noted.
"42.60. Good lap, bud.
"42.70."
"Still clear two back to the 83."
"I couldn't even catch him ___, Ty," Mikey said.
"Inside inside inside inside," Ty warned. "83, he's not for position. 82, 83. They're all racing each other for the lucky dog. The next spot's the 77. He's just off of 2. He's coming back to us a little bit."
"42.90.
"43 flat.
"43 flat."
With 37 laps to go, Hamlin returned to the track. Mikey was 23rd, Marcos 10th, David 19th.
"42.80. Good lap, bud."
"Slow one off the bottom. Clear low. Looks like he popped out of the motorhomes there. Still inside. Still on your quarter, still there. Still on your quarter there. Clear clear. All right, man. 35 laps to go. 35." Ty asked when they'd have to pit.
"About 15 to go, we'll have to pit. 16 to go. Sorry."
"Two tires and gas, right?" Mikey asked.
"You've got it, man. That's the plan. 42.80. Good lap times.
"42.90.
"42.90.
"42.90."
"All clear, two back. Leader now. You're in good shape."
"43 flat.
"43 flat."
"The next position behind you is the 19. He's thirty car lengths behind you, forty and fading," Ty said. "Some of these guys we're racing are going to shortpit, thinking they'll get away with it, so be aware of what we're racing and what we're going to do here."
"10-4, man," Gene replied.
"Still outside. Clear there, clear."
Jeff Gordon was the first to make a green flag stop with 24 laps to go. Others followed suit.
"Still four back, pulling away. Leader pitted, leader pitted."
"10-4, we're going to pit next time. Do not slide the tires. We're going to put on two tires. Two tires, one can of gas, guys. Pit this time."
"Roger. Two tires, one can of gas. Do not slide the tires, bud."
"4900, 4900," said Ty. "Do not slide your tires. 4900."
"Four away. 3, 2, 1. Stop. Wheels straight, put on the brakes. Go go go go. All the way out, bud."
"4900."
"4900."
"4900, 4900. 4900 to the yellow line. All right. Dig dig dig."
Many other cars had pit at the same time.
"Clear when you get there, clear when you get there."
Stewart led with 22 laps to go. Others had pit, and he had not.
"22 laps to go here, bud. Do all you can do," Gene said.
Ty told Mikey not to worry about the #14 catching him as he hadn't pit yet.
"42.20.
"41.90."
Mikey was 24th with 19 laps to go. Marcos was 13th, and David was 17th.
"The 1's blowing up in front of us here. Keep rolling though. We're fine. The 14 is the leader. He's just now off of 2. You're the lucky dog, even if we got the wavearound, so keep rolling."
"42.20."
"You're doing great, man. All right, the 14's the leader. He's pitting now. The 48's taking the lead. He's getting into 2 now. You've got a whole straightaway."
Stewart pit with 16 laps to go.
"About the only spot behind you is the 19. They're talking about debris on the back straightaway. Caution's out, caution's out. Some of these guys are going to get scared and pit."
"How's our car right there, bud?"
"It's good. It just bounces around and floats the nose like an ARCA car, but other than that, it's good," Mikey replied.
Gene suggested tires and low nose weight.
"Yeah, I just, yeah that's fine. That's the best thing we can do. Hopefully we can get some spots here."
The sixth caution was on lap 236 for debris.
"All right, pit road's going to be open when you come around here, bud. Four tires." Ty said they'd have ten or twelve laps when they restarted.
"Four tires, guys. No adjustments. Four tires," Gene directed.
"All right, come on. Single file. Come on, single file. This is a quicky yellow, so everybody's here."
Gene guided Mikey around another car. The #55 made the stop.
"Good job, guys," Ty praised.
The hood went up briefly on Truex Jr's #1 on pit road.
"One to go, one to go," Ty said.
After stops, Mikey was 23rd. David was 20th, and Marcos was 16th. David likely had stayed on track.
"You're going to pull up to the 99," Ty told his driver. "The 77's going to be on the lead lap too, but wherever the 99 car is, you'll line up behind him. All these lap down cars still don't understand the damn rule."
Johnson led the restart with 12 laps to go. Jeff Gordon took the lead. Marcos dropped back with Sam Hornish Jr.
The seventh caution was with 11 to go for a wreck involving Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle. Kurt Busch had pushed into Kahne's #9, sending the #9 to the grass and collecting Biffle's #16. Mikey's radio was not transmitting on TrackPass.
Mikey said something about two people not knowing where they're supposed to be. Gene encouraged Mikey to get another good restart.
Ty noted that David, Marcos, and Mikey were all lined up together.
"We had the 31 passed."
Ty agreed and said he had him mixed up with the #33 as the #31 usually had Prilosec as a sponsor. Meanwhile, the #9 was spitting water on pit road. Biffle pit again too.
Gene noted they were in 20th. "We're going to line up behind the 00. Actually, we're 19th. We're still going to line up behind the 00."
"Give him the outside, the outside. The lucky dog."
David was 18th, Marcos 19th, and Mikey 20th.
"Double up," Ty instructed.
"You're going to be behind the 00 on the top side," Gene added. "We're going to be on the bottom, on the bottom behind the 00. The 00. You've got eight laps to go here, bud."
"When you restart, it's going to be seven to go. All of us - the 47, 00 - have better tires than two rows in front of us."
"Make sure you get those tires cleaned off."
Gordon led the restart with 7 laps to go; he had chosen the outside line. Johnson took the lead shortly after that.
"Be ready. Pace car's off. Ready? Ready? Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling. Still outside, still on your outside. Still outside outside. __ allt he way on the top, outside. Three-wide right there. You've got the 9 looking outside outside. All clear all clear, whatever you need. Keep coming, keep coming. Everybody's rolling. Spin in wreck of you. Big wreck in front of you! Back it down if you can. It's all over the place."
"Did we make it through there, Ty?" Gene asked.
A pause followed.
"I did. I'm over here on the back straightaway. I finally missed that one."
"Holy cow! There you are." Ty thought Mikey was in it and said he'd left it all on him as he couldn't see.
Mikey said definitely go for four tires. Gene told Mikey to look at David's car for him and said they should ask David to look at the #55.
"My car is fine. Don't worry about my car. And I can't see anything. He needs to get over to the other side if he wants me to look."
Gene said a lot of cars had wrecked. "So we're going to stay out regardless. Yeah, we might... we'll see what happens when we get going. There's a lot of wrecked cars. We might be able to get four.
The eighth caution and subsequent red flag was on lap 245 at 6:57pm. Marcos sustained significant damage and went to pit road. David pulled his car right up the the driver's side of the #55.
"Is that oil right there?" Gene asked.
"I'll do what you want, but I'm not happy with, I don't know if I ran through anything. I think I didn't." Mikey wanted air put in his tire.
"We already talked about it when you were over there talking to David," Gene replied. He said they'd already put air in the tires. "Make sure everybody's here, because we're going to put four tires on it. Who's going that way? I just saw someone with a Napa suit going around the corner."
"Gene, just something to think about here. We have better tires than a lot of guys behind us, and if we pit, what are we going to lose? Two? None?"
"I think we'll lose one."
"I like pitting, because fresh tires are faster, and these tires don't feel right. I don't know what to tell you to do with them, because my tires have been so loose on entry," Mikey said.
Gene called for a pound in the right front.
"What the heck happened?" Mikey asked.
"Somebody clipped Marcos there, and I think that started it all."
"I saw him jump over somebody though. That 43 came to a stop."
Gene said he was trying to follow what happened. "They I'd lost you, and you got through it while I was still talking about it."
"Good job today, boys," Mikey praised. He said they were in a position to get a top ten or fifteen.
"Actually, we're done working on it. I don't think we could screw it up."
Mikey said he'd want to see what a little wedge out would do. "I'm afraid, if we put the air in our tires, it will just go tight."
Ty said something about everyone up to the 2 in eighth place.
"If y'all want to stay out, I'll do it," Mikey said.
"I want you to pit for four tires," Gene replied.
"I'm cool with that too." He told them just to consider the alternative.
"If you stay out, they'll be on your ass. I agree with you," Ty said. He told Mikey they didn't need to be on the offensive.
Gene agreed.
The red flag lifted at 7:19pm.
"All right, bud, we're obviously, like we said, going to pit. We're going to look at how many cars come in in front of us and decide what we're going to do. We might only take two," Gene said. "We'll need to stop short here. There's nobody behind us. We'll need to stop short."
"One to go when you come around here. One to go."
"Pit road's open," Gene said.
Ty said something about having to hustle around
"I'll stay out if you want," Mikey offered.
"17 55, 17 55," Ty said.
Gene called his driver in and called for four tires. "Go go go. All the way out, bud. All the way."
"49, 49. 4900," Ty said after the stop. "All right, just 4900. No need to be quicker. When we get around, we should follow that 29 all the way around. It should go up to the 20."
"Get some heat in them tires, bud," Gene added.
"Follow that 29. Haul ass. Let's go, let's go. 13's laying back." Ty told Mikey of other cars laying back. "Got the 17 in your mirror, the only other guy on the lead lap, the 17. All right, pace car's off. Ready? Ready? Green green green."
Johnson led the restart with three laps to go. Mikey was 18th, David 13th, and Marcos 24th.
"Three-wide right there. Just keep digging, keep digging. Still outside, still there. Still outside. Don't worry about that smoke. Just a little fender smoke off the car in front of you."
"Two to go, bud. Two to go," Gene said.
"17's still outside. Still outside. Still outside on your corner, still there. Two-wide, three-wide. Both sides. Clear high. 12 is a lead lap car. Still there inside. Got one inside inside, inside. That 96 is not a position. I can't get to his spotter. Clear six, seven back. Coming around to the checkered. Watch these clowns in front of you here. All right, that's it, that's it."
"Good job, Michael. Good job, Ty. Good job, everybody," Gene said.
"It's just unraceable. You just can't drive it. It just bounced all day and backed into the turns. And I'm proud of y'all and your work and what we got through."
Gene praised Mikey. "Sorry we couldn't get your car any better."
Mikey finished 17th. David was 18th, and Marcos was in the garage in 23rd. Johnson had won.
Next weekend, NASCAR goes to Lowes Motor Speedway. Coverage of the Sprint Cup's NASCAR Banking 500 begins Saturday at 7:00pm ET on ABC. The Nationwide Series' Dollar General 300 airs Friday at 7:30pm on ESPN2.
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© 2009 Kellyanne Lynch, in association with Cyber Speed Design. All rights reserved.
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