Live: Pocono 500 practice - 6/6/09
After Friday activities at Pocono Raceway were cancelled due to rain, Michael Waltrip Racing participated in two practice sessions this morning in preparation for the Sprint Cup's Pocono 500 on Sunday. Mikey ranked 35th in the first session. His fastest lap of 55.268 seconds at 162.843 MPH was 1.571 seconds slower than session leader Jimmie Johnson. David Reutimann ranked 9th and Marcos Ambrose was 36th. Mikey was 38th in second practice (161.772 MPH / 55.634 seconds / -1.193 seconds behind Denny Hamlin) with David 18th and Marcos 32nd.
Before practice, Richard Petty entered the #55 garage at 9:39am ET. He looked over the car and talked with crew chief Bootie Barker.
Mikey arrived about six minutes later, drinking a Diet Coke. He finished it before getting into his car. Once he was situated in his car, he said the headrest was a quarter of an inch to a half inch too small.
After the radio check, Mikey asked, "Why did my motor blow up last week? Did they ever say?"
Bootie told his driver Toyota hadn't given them an answer yet but that he knew they had dropped a valve.
"You got a copy, Bootie?" spotter Ty Norris asked.
"10-4," Bootie replied.
"All right."
The cars left the garage all in order, according to the number of the garage stall.
"All right, they're going to let them go," Ty said at 10:02am.
Cars took to the track.
"Michael, over here in Turn 3, people are still running over that strip of asphalt," Ty informed his driver. "Nobody's really running through it."
"Where are they running in Turn 3?" Mikey asked.
Ty said they were running through the asphault patch with the right sides on it through the third turn.
"Okay, thank you."
"Two of them on your back. 1 and 88 coming to your outside." A moment later, Ty added, "Teammates have been a little free through the tunnel turn. Just be aware."
"56.32," a crew member read off lap times.
"Still out there. Still out there. Clear now, clear. Got jammed up in 3.
"One back, one back."
"55.93."
"All clear. Ten back."
"55.28."
"It pushes in 1 and 3," Mikey reported. "Pretty neutral through the tunnel." He said the car hits the road good in Turn 1. "That's about it. Except I have to fix the headrest, because my head's bouncing all over the place." He said he should have fixed it before going out and apologised.
Bootie told him it was all right and asked how much the car was pushing on a scale of 1 to 10. Mikey gauged it at an 8. When asked about the ride, Mikey said it was rough.
The #55 car was back in the garage at 10:14am. Mikey got out of the car during the repairs and reviewed information from the computer.
At 10:23, Mikey was back in the car. Three minutes later, he was back on track.
"Copy? You're all clear. Coming your way, Ty," a crew member said.
"Thanks," Ty replied."Hustle out, one in 3 but clear back to the entrance of 3."
The red flag came out for debris in Turn 1.
"They never said where, bud," Ty told his driver.
Bootie asked Mikey if he got any impressions from the car.
"Yeah, it was freer for sure," Mikey said. He told his crew chief he didn't know what would happen next if he were to push harder.
Bootie told the crew to lower the track bar two rounds.
"Want me to stop at the gate to do that?" Mikey asked.
"Yeah, that would be great," Bootie replied. He said Chris was almost there and cleared him after the #18 car on pit road.
Ty said they were letting cars go. Practice resumed at 10:31am.
"55.78," a crew member read off the lap time.
"It's going to spin out in 3," Mikey complained. "There's no grip, no lateral."
He was back in his garage at 10:33am.
"I say you have to change the rear spring or something. It just has no rear end grip. It's sideways."
Bootie gave Mikey the option to change the package or the bar.
"I don't care. Whatever y'all want to do."
Bootie said he would lower the bar. He also told Mikey he had meant to ask for temps and that he would ask next time. They put the bar back and made another adjustment.
"All right, Michael, we have nine minutes. This will be our last run," Bootie said.
"Coming down," a crew member said. "Coming at you, Ty.
"Hold on one second. All right, you're all good."
Ty asked Bootie if he wanted temps or pressures. Bootie wanted both.
"The red flag is out. The #14 spun out on track," Ty announced. "Seven minutes."
Mikey requested racked in the left rear.
Bootie sent a crew member to get it from Marcos Ambrose's garage.
"The spotter's probably right by him," Mikey said. He also wanted bite out of the car.
"We should have brought him a crash test dummy like they do in those commercials," somebody said.
Ty said Kurt Busch ran two laps with rear bar that way and said put the truck for the weekend.
"Yeah, it had a long way to go from what it felt," Mikey said.
Ty let them know that four minutes remained in practice.
Cars were on track at 10:42am.
"Temps are right up at 12 o'clock," Mikey said.
"Ty, get them again at the end of the run," Bootie requested.
"10-4," Ty replied. He asked for oil pressure.
"60. 12 o'clock on the water, 11 o'clock on the oil," Mikey responded.
"55.81," someone gave the lap time.
"Car looking low inside, all by himself. All by himself," Ty said.
"I just don't have any grip," Mikey said. "It's all bouncy and skaty. Everything you wouldn't want it to do." He said the front end and the back end skates, mainly int he front end. "Really choppy, bouncy choppy skaty."
Bootie said the splitter was hitting hard in Turn 1.
"The main thing is that it doesn't have any front end grip, no front end grip at all."
"10-4."
The team talked about using the first package. Mikey came in at 10:48am. Shortly after that, he got out of the car and spent the entire break between practices signing autographs for fans.
Mikey returned to his car and was back on track at 11:11am.
"Tire temps, Paul," Bootie said. "We'll get them out again." He also asked someone to drop pivots half an inch on the right sides.
Cars were on track at 11:21am.
"Spinning in Turn 1," Ty warned. He said there was a lot of smoke, but the car was off the track. It appeared to have been Scott Speed's #82.
The red flag was out at 11:22am.
"Well, Michael, I'd say, unless you feel something catestrophic, get back in line," Bootie said. He asked if Mikey got enough speed to get an impression.
"It was a lot different in Turn 1, a lot smoother," Mikey said. He said it didn't hit anything when he ran in there hard. He didn't know if it meant there wasn't enough travel.
Bootie said they'd adjust packer after the first run.
Mikey commented that whoever spun looked like they had a flat tire.
Cars were back on track at 11:25am.
"55.69," a crew member named Billy gave the lap time.
"I can't hear a frickin' thing Billy is saying," Mikey said.
"56.10," Bootie gave the next time.
"I don't understand why I'm so fucking slow," Mikey complained. "It just feels like shit."
Bootie asked if it were pushing or loose and said they can work on it.
"It just runs so frickin bad. It's just shitty. Or I'm shitty. I don't know. ***damn it!
"I mean, there's no fucking way."
After Bootie had calmed him down, Mikey said the car was pushing. "There's no reason to be this slow. I feel like I have to protect it from blowing up again." Mikey added that the car didn't feel right in the front again.
Bootie told him they'd keep working on it.
Mikey added that the splitter hit in Turn 1 again.
Bootie said the car was showing loose and that Mikey may not be able to get speeds, because he's protecting the car.
"I know I'm pushing," Mikey replied. He said it was balanced in Turn 3 and free off. The rest was pushing but not loose. he said it felt like it wouldn't drive right at all. "I mean, I never been run down that far in one lap here. Damn!"
Bootie called for a front spring and front shock change. The team also determined they would put the other package back and get the splitter off the ground. Bootie told his driver it was the same thing Mikey liked at Phoenix.
Mikey was back on track at 10:40am.
"I'm going to turn on some blowers this time," Mikey said. He wanted to see if that would make a difference.
"10-4," Bootie replied.
Ty told Mikey the caution was coming out for debris.
"Damn it, we just have a little bad luck here on this grid," Bootie said.
"There's a six inch piece of brake hose against the wall," Mikey reported.
Bootie asked if he had any impression on the car after half a lap.
"Not really, other than just, I try to be optimistic, and that seems a lot better than what I had a minute ago," Mikey replied. He said there seemed to be something that made the car a lot better when he first went out.
Bootie said something about more right front bumper in the first package.
Mikey said the car was really really slow before and had no response. He described it as "numb."
Ty told Mikey NASCAR wanted everyone on pit road or in the garage.
"Okay, that makes good sense," Mikey replied. "I like that.
"55.78.
"56.10."
"Nothing makes sense to me anymore with what we do," Mikey complained. He said he wanted to make the front travel more, like with a rubber adjustment. "Let's do what I want to do for once."
"Okay," Bootie replied.
Mikey said he wanted a spring or a rubber out, with more out on the right and a little on the left.
Bootie told the crew to go down on the right rear and to make enough of a change to make it significant.
Mikey said he wanted a big change in the right rear. "100 lbs or 200 lbs. I don't give a shit."
The team decided to put the car on scales. They had approximately thirty minutes left in practice. They dropped the left front pivot.
"Ty, Ty Norris, you got me?" Bootie asked.
"14 minutes," Ty replied.
Bootie asked where they were losing time.
Ty said they lost time getting into the centre with the #18, but they lost time everywhere with the #18.
Ty said he thought the car was loose in.
"Coming at you, Ty," a crew member said as Mikey headed back to the track.
"Okay, Michael, turn your fans on again," Bootie told his driver.
"10-4," Mikey replied. "I appreciate it, y'all. Thank you all."
Bootie told his driver they're a team.
"Sometimes, I don't hold up my end though."
Bootie read off lap times. "55.72.
"55.59. Good job!
"55.75."
"About four more minutes, if you want to run three or four more laps," Ty said.
"55.87."
Mikey was asked for temperatures.
"11, 11, and 60," Mikey replied.
"10-4. Thank you. 56.10," Bootie replied.
"Brakes got a little long on me," Mikey commented.
"I'll try to find the brake guy," Bootie said. "Come on in."
"That's the last one for a little bit," Ty said.
"That was better everywhere, just a little more grip," Mikey reported. He said there was not enough in 3 especially and that the front end was "way better." "It almost seemed like a 400 would have been better." But Mikey said he didn't know what would happen if they changed it. He reported there was no skate.
Bootie said he would look at it.
"They got real long in a hurry, like real long."
Practice ended at 12:20am.
Coverage of the Pocono 500 begins tomorrow at 12:30pm ET on TNT.
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