Price Chopper 400 - 10/4/09
Michael Waltrip was wrapped up in an accident on lap 6 of the Price Chopper 400, this afternoon's Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. Paul Menard had spun, and Reed Sorenson had pushed the #55 Napa Auto Parts Camry into Menard's #98. Mikey was off the track for 79 laps. He came back out to gain some positions, but when his car began smoking heavily forty laps from the end, he went to the garage. Mikey finished 39th, 126 laps down. David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose finished 8th and 14th respectively.
Mikey started 29th in today's race. David started 13th and Marcos 27th.
"Got a copy?" a crew member said.
"1, 2. Hello," Mikey responded immediately. "How's it going?"
"I got you loud and clear."
"Me too, Michael," someone else added. "I was adjusting my antennae. I got you loud and clear." He said who was in front and who was behind on pit road.
"Can you hear me?" crew chief Gene Nead came on the radio.
"Yeah, I heard you good here," Mikey replied.
"Loud and clear."
"Loud and clear."
"Who was it yesterday, Paul?" it sounded like somebody asked.
"All right, buddy, you have a copy?" spotter Ty Norris was on the radio next.
"Yup," Mikey replied.
"All right." After a pause, Ty asked. "Gene, what are you looking at for pit road speed?"
"4300, 4300," Gene replied. "Did you hear me there, Ty?"
"10-4, I got it. 4300 and second gear. Michael, you're going to be the fourth pit box when you come onto pit road. You'll be roughly ten or twelve away when you get to the cone." Then Ty noted, "Looks like the 24 got the one all the way on the end."
"10-4. It will be the 24, the 96, and then us."
"Is the last one empty?"
"The last one is empty." He then addressed his driver. "You've got left and right rear tire blowers on that thing as well."
"All right," Mikey replied.
"All right, buddy, one to go when you get around here," Ty noted. "One to go."
"All right, Michael," Gene said. "Everybody's worked hard on this. Let's have a good day out of this day. Have fun."
Mikey told his team he appreciated their hard work. "Let's get a good top ten finish, good pit stops. Thank, y'all."
"10-4. Let's have a good day."
Mark Martin led the field to the green flag at 2:18pm ET.
"All right, bud, be ready. Pace car's coming off. Ready? Green green green. Everybody's rolling, still outside. Still outside. Still outside on your corner, going to be out there on your corner. 71 still outside. Clear of him now. All clear, all clear."
"Clear two back, clear two back," someone added.
"Right in front of you right in front of you. Stay up. Stay straight, if you can."
The first caution was on lap 2 when Joey Logano lost a tire and spun. He didn't hit anything.
"You didn't slide any tires there, did you?" Gene asked.
"No," Mikey replied.
"How's your water temp, bud?"
"180."
"Too early to tell about our car, right?"
"Yeah, it turned really good on the first turns or so. Turned better than it did yesterday. Then it was a little free off but not bad."
"10-4. Okay, just remember now, if you get free off, turn the right rear blower on. Make sure you turn that fan on, running slow."
"Pit road will be open," Ty said.
"We're going to stay out."
Mikey was 23rd, David 11th, and Marcos 21st. Martin was still in the lead as Dale Earnhardt Jr had given it to him at the start.
"All right, buddy, they're saying 66, 55. 66, 55," Ty said. "Looks like p24 top side. Well, p23 since he pulled in. Top side, again."
Martin led the restart on lap 6.
"All right, be ready. The pace car is going to be coming off. Ready? Ready? Green green green. 71's still on your quarter. Clear there, whatever you want. Clear three back, four back. Big run on the bottom, big run on the bottom. 39's coming, inside. 15 right on your bumper on the high side, 39 still on the bottom. 98 right in front of you, right in front of you. We got caught up in it. He tried to get down, but they got him."
"They got the right front fender, guys," Gene said twice.
"No, they got the right front suspension. The frickin 44 or 43, one of those pricks. I had it totally missed, and he frickin drove right on top of me." Mikey said they had to go to the garage and had to get the work done quick. "There are a lot of positions to be had."
Ty said they had to go to the garage, because the right side was all torn out.
"Yeah, that's what I said five or six times."
Gene assessed the damage and said they needed to straighten the apron plate, once the car was in the garage.
The second caution was on lap 7. Paul Menard's #98 had spun. Mikey had missed the accident, but Reed Sorenson's #43 had knocked him back into it. David Ragan, Joey Logano, and Bobby Labonte were also collected. The #55 was now last.
In the garage, Gene talked about changing springs and shocks.
The restart came on lap 12 with Martin leading. Mikey was still in the garage and last. David was 10th, and Marcos was 18th. Dale Earnhardt Jr took the lead one lap into the run. David Ragan, who was running in front of Earhardt Jr's #88, was smoking. NASCAR blackflagged the #6, and Ragan went to pit road.
On lap 86, Gene said, "All right, bud. It's all yours. All right, anyone who's on the immediate pit crew, back to pit road. Anyone who's not on the immediate pit crew, stay here to clean up."
"All right, M-Dub. 4300. 4300, and then I'll blend you up on the back." Ty guided Mikey back on track. After a couple laps, he added, "All right, I haven't seen any smoke or anything, guys."
"10-4," Gene replied.
"Still there. Clear. Still out there. To your quarter. Clear."
"33.60."
Greg Biffle was now leading. Mikey was 42nd by lap 95 and 79 laps down; he had passed Bobby Labonte's #71, which was out. David was 12th, and Marcos was 24th.
"Still outside on your quarter. Clear clear."
"33.69," Gene gave the lap time. "Those are some pretty good times there, bud. How's our car?"
"It kind of drives like it's wrecked," Mikey replied.
"Leader now," Ty warned.
Lap 102 saw Max Papis hold up Biffle, allowing Jimmie Johnson to take the lead.
"The front end drives just like it's had the nose tore off of it. It's plowing," Mikey added.
"10-4," Gene replied.
"I'd like to know what we're comparing times to. The 48, he's a pretty good car, and he's about to lap me. And I have on new tires."
"Right now, you could be running 20th."
"All right, that's cool."
Ty warned Mikey that cars who had taken the wave-around in front of the #55 would be pitting soon. "Three back to the 48. He's working the high side, working the high side. Clear one back. Clear five back to the 16. 16's working the high side also, two back. Then it's a straightaway back to the third."
"I will say that this is the best wrecked car I've driven lately."
Gene said that was good.
"So the 83 went from one down to two down because of the wave-around, but you really can't count it yet, because if the caution comes out, he waves around again." He then told Ty to keep an eye on that. "If the caution comes out, he'll be back the same place he was in before he took it, but if it doesn't come out for a long long time, as crappy as he's running, you'll never know where he would have been anyway."
Ty noted someone in front of him who would be pitting this lap.
"Last night, in Nebraska, Ty, I won a dirt race in a #55 Napa Susan B Komen car, so I thought that was a foreshadow, but it wasn't."
"That 7 is going to pitting this time also. You're fifteen back to the 14. Make that fourteen back to the 14."
By lap 117, Mikey was 39th and 80 laps down. David was 10th, and Marcos was 22nd.
"Still five back to the 14," Ty then warned Mikey about somebody coming strong with fresh tires. "All right, 83's the first one in your mirror. He's working the bottom. Inside, and it's two back to the 14. Looking low, inside inside. Clear behind him."
Brian Vickers' #83 spun in the grass, drawing the fourth caution on lap 126.
"Spin off Turn 4, spin off Turn 4. No caution yet. Caution's out, caution's out."
"Um, it just pushes like I said, like the front end's tore off of it. Really rigid, really blew up the right front air pressure, it felt like," Mikey said.
Gene called for four tires and fuel.
"Cool."
"Michael, you might need to push the 00 car here. I'll let you know," Ty said. "Yeah, these guys were going to pit a lap ago, and then they were taking about debris, and then the 83 spun out, so he's really really low on fuel. If he runs out, I'll let you know. Go ahead and pick it up just a little bit. He'll be coming around in just a second."
"Pit the second time by," Gene said. "Ty, is that 96 in front of us on the race track?"
"No."
"Okay, 10-4."
"Go high, guys. Go high, guys. Go high. All right, come in this time, come in this time."
"Four tires, guys. Four tires. Fill it with fuel."
"All right, come around that 96. You'll see him in his stall. Come around him."
Gene counted Mikey into the box. "Wheels straight, bud. Wheels straight."
"I don't know what straight means, because we changed it. We'll have to get it better next time," Mikey said.
"It's all good, bud."
"Are we running 38th yet?" Mikey asked.
"What's that, man?" Ty asked.
"Are we up to 38th yet?"
"39th."
"You need to make up 71 laps on the 6 car to get 38."
"That will be nearly impossible."
"These are scuffs here, bud," Gene said.
"That is correct, bud," Ty said. "We have 149 to go."
"Maybe he'll quit," Mikey replied. "I know who's way ahead of him, Ty."
"Come again."
"I know who's way ahead of that 6 car."
"The 6 car is nine laps down, and Menard is two down."
"Yeah, I know. There's a car out there with a 00 on the side that is way out there too."
"Yeah, Reut was running 4th or 5th," Ty said. He noted that David had then gotten really loose but was now getting back up there.
"What about 47?"
Ty said he was faster than three cars in front of him and wasn't doing bad.
Lap 131 saw the restart with Johnson leading. Mikey was 39th, David 7th, and Marcos 17th.
"Four wide off this corner. Watch them. You're all good, all good. Still out there. Still there. Clear the 17. Clear."
Matt Kenseth pit on lap 136, and the team put up the hood. Kenseth feared that he was losing his engine.
"Did the 17 break?" Mikey asked. After a long pause, he said, "Whatever you did for this set of tires is major messy, major bad adjustment. Push push push, then sideways. By the way, do y'all not hear me?"
"I heard you, Michael, but I haven't heard from Gene yet," Ty replied.
"10-4," Gene said.
"When are y'all going to learn to frickin' communicate?" After another shorter pause, he added, "My guess is never at this point."
"What do you need there, bud? I was scanning other channels."
"I don't understand why we can't be smart enough to have somebody answer me. Mother... mother... y'all don't understand how this shit works."
"Yeah, we do."
"You wouldn't know it. You wouldn't know it by listening, by being out here and trying to report on the car and getting dead silence."
"I won a few of these. I don't remember it being like that."
"13's a half back, a half back," Ty said.
"Those were scuffs we put on there. We'll put stickers on next time."
"Yeah, 10-4. Thanks for the info."
Ty warned Mikey about Max Papis' #13. "Still down there, all by himself. All clear. Still up top. Still out on your quarter, still out on your quarter. You're going to be clear the 83. Half back. One back. Wow."
"34 flat," Gene gave the lap time. "33.90."
The fifth caution was on lap 148 for Elliott Sadler, who spun but saved it from the wall. He lost his right front tire.
"Spin in two. Back it down. He's right in the middle of the track. He's rolling now. Caution's out."
"If it was me, I'd make some air pressure adjustments, just trying to learn something, but that's just what I would say," Mikey commented.
"10-4. We already did," Gene replied.
"Great job. Sort of amazing we can make adjustments and never ask me what the car is doing."
"You'd just got done bitching about how tight the car was."
"All right, second time by, second time by."
Gene noted they'd be putting sticker tires on the car. "All right, four tires and fuel, guys."
"All right, that 96 is not going to be pitting, so you'll have a clear shot in here."
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Wheels straight, put on the brakes. First gear. Go go go. All the way out. Good job, guys."
"Great pit stop, boys. Good job," Mikey added.
Biffle led the restart on lap 152. Mikey was eighty laps down in 39th, David was 6th, and Marcos was 7th.
"Man, be ready. Pace car's off. Got a bunch of two tire guys up front, guys," Ty noted. "Be ready. Green green green. Outside, outside. __ car still up top. Clear clear. Two back."
By lap 155, Marcos had fallen to 11th. Mikey and David were still 39th and 6th.
"Still outside. Still outside. 83's trying to get a run. Clear the 83 up top. All clear, one back to the 88. Going to be looking low. Inside, all by himself. Still there. Clear there two back to the 83."
"Sometimes, I don't know what ___ is doing," Mikey said.
"Yeah, the issue is that, when Roman talks to him, he just doesn't listen. Clear two back," Ty said.
"It looks like he listens too close, and he doesn't know where he's going."
"33.88.
"34 flat.
"34.17.
"34.11."
"Still four back to the 83. He's not coming," Ty said.
"What's your car doing right there? Same thing?" Gene asked.
"Yeah," Mikey replied. "You go in, and it just pushes like it doesn't have a front end on it, then you turn and go. There's nothing to know, really."
"10-4.
"34.07.
"34 flat."
"M-Dub, we're catcing the 17," Ty told his driver. "He blew up. And the 83 lost a cyllander behind us."
"Thanks for the update, man," Mikey responded.
"37 more laps to catch the 17, bud," Gene added.
"16's the leader. He's at the line now," Ty noted.
"How's our boys doing?" Mikey asked.
"11th and 12th right now," Gene replied.
"Took two tires and restarted sixth. I heard him taking a rubber out, and I think that's what's hurting him in the corners. He's faded a bit," Ty added.
"34.19. Leader's only about ten back."
"Five back to the 16. Coming outside. It will be clear behind him."
Brian Vickers went to pit road for an unscheduled stop.
"All right, you're two back to the 14. On the bottom. Inside. You'll be clear there. Three, four back to the 7. Three, four back to that 88. He just came off pit road. He'll be coming in a hurry. Inside, inside. M-Dub, I haven't seen any tire smoke, and I saw you smoking the last couple of times getting into Turns 1 and 2. I'm guessing it's tire smoke. How are your gauges?"
Mikey read them off. "I've been smelling a little bit of something."
Gene said they should pit and to check the right front good.
"4300 when you get here."
Gene counted Mikey into his box on lap 190. "Check that right front real good, guys. Go go go go."
"Okay, 4300."
"That right front look all right?"
Ty blended Mikey back on track. "Still up top. Clear now. Coming back up top. All clear. Got the 12 outside. Clear up. All right, these guys should be pitting in ten to twelve, from what I'm hearing. Still clear up there, if you need it. Down there on the bottom. Still there. Both sides. Clear low, still outside. Still there. Clear now, clear."
"33.70.
"33.50."
"Still there. Clear."
Biffle pit along with others on lap 202 for a scheduled stop.
"All right, a lot of these guys starting to pit," Ty warned. He noted specifics. "Still down there, still down there. Clear of him. Tire smoke, it's all good."
David pit on lap 205; he reported that he was loose.
"Just so you know there, bud, the only car we can beat is the 17, and we're thirteen laps away from doing that," Gene said.
"Awesome!" Mikey replied.
Ty noted he still saw smoke from the #55.
"Might be engine if they didn't see anything on the tires, huh?"
"The tires looked good," Gene replied and said it could be the engine.
"Well, we might ought to run about fifteen and quit, not take a chance."
"All right, bud, it's about six back to two of them," Ty noted as cars continued to make stops. "It's two back to the 00, right there in front of the 18, who will be pitting this time. The 00 wants the high side. One more coming inside, inside. THree back to the 88. Outside. Then it's the 99. Outside outside. It's going to be clear up behind him." Ty then warned that Martin Truex Jr was coming. "Fresh tires, looking inside. Next one's fifteen back. Three coming up on you pretty quick. Inside, inside. Stay all the way up if you can, stay all the way up. Inside, inside. Two of them. Clear there. Leader's three back, three back. Inside. Three back to the 39. Running outside, outside. Clear behind him. Four back to the 12. Going to be outside, outside. Five back to the 26. Three back."
After stops had cycled, Greg Biffle was back in the lead. Mikey was 38th, 82 laps down. David was 10th, and Marcos was 16th.
"Two back to the 31. Inside, inside. Three back to the 29. We just passed the 17. The 83 just went to the garage, but we don't have enough laps to pass him. Inside, inside."
Mikey said it was getting worse in the car.
Gene told him they'd call it quits if the #17 were officially out. "Just ride it out for a couple laps."
"Three back, 14. Working the bottom. Working the bottom. Inside."
"Michael, the 17 is all done, bud," Gene announced.
"Three back to the 11. Inside. Clear behind him."
"Hell, we can take it to the garage, bud."
"Yeah, this smoke is getting worse and worse. I just don't see why we would chance it if there's nothing to gain."
"There's nothing to gain. Let's take it to the garage."
With 41 laps to go, the #55 dropped out of the race.
"Pull it into the garage stall, bud. We're going to pull a bunch of stuff off it for California." Gene said they'd unhook the right front sway bar and shocks.
Tony Stewart went on to win the race. Mikey came home 38th, 126 laps down. David and Marcos finished 8th and 14th.
Next weekend's race takes place in Fontana. Coverage of the Sprint Cup's Pepsi 500 begins Sunday at 2:30pm ET on ABC. The Nationwide Series' Copart 300 will air the day before, starting at 4:00pm on ESPN2.
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© 2009 Kellyanne Lynch, in association with Cyber Speed Design. All rights reserved.
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