Cold Atlanta
It’s not getting much easier.
Michael once again missed the race after a wretched qualifying attempt. It is so hard to imagine what this feels like, especially being near NAPA’s headquarters. On the Toyota qualifying notes, I was surprised to see Derrick Finley’s name associated with MWR - as the Project Engineer! I thought I heard or saw somewhere that Michael had hired someone away from BDR, but I had no idea it would end up being his old crew chief, especially since it seemed they did not get along. But here is what he had to say:
"We fought a loose condition off-throttle all day. We started loose in and loose everywhere, but we got the entry and the center better. We were just loose off for most of practice. For qualifying, we basically did what the No. 00 team did because they obviously had a really good car. They all did a really great job. But when we went to qualify, we don't know exactly what happened. The car was just a little bit loose off still in qualifying and there was some type of miss in the engine and right now that's where it stands."
So Michael’s car had David’s setup. For some reason, I don’t think what runs good for David runs good for Michael. Okay…failure at some humor. But the engine missing causes some concern. I’m not going to go all up in arms though – I expected Toyota to have some engine issues. It just sucks because an engine issue in qualifying is fatal for star cars, which most of the Toyotas are.
In spite of Michael DNQing again, I was thrilled and relieved to watch David lock himself in. The look on his face after qualifying was enough to take the stress off of me! And of course, his quotes were hilarious:
“Frank (Kerr, crew chief) said that if my first lap was good enough to make it into the show that he would let me know and call me off on my second lap. I got to the start/finish line on my first lap and I didn't hear anything, then I drove into turn one and I still didn't hear anything. About halfway down the backstretch Frank came over the radio and said that he thought we were going to be okay. I thought, man, Frank, just thinking we're in isn't going to cut it. So I made sure to run hard the rest of the way and thank the good lord that we had a fast enough lap to get in the race. At least now I can maybe eat something and keep it down. I'm going to have me a lot of Domino's pizza tonight, I promise you that."
I love this guy! He will start 24th on Sunday – not too shabby!
Dale Jarrett made me worry again with his 4th Champ’s Provisional. I just wish I knew if he was being conservative and doing it on purpose or if the cars…are that bad. Because…ugh.
Kurt starts 17th, Martin 18th, Dale Jr. 22nd and Casey 34th. Mike Bliss was a huge surprise when he qualified 9th! What a great effort for that team! I’m also happy to say that Brian Vickers made the race, and very sad that Scott Wimmer and AJ Allmendinger missed it (the latter because of ignition trouble). Ryan Newman was back to his old self and won the pole.
The truck race brought some happiness. Good racing! It was nice to hear and see Todd Kluever during the prerace. Michael sounded happy, whether he was or not. I was pleased to watch Matt Crafton finish 3rd. Chad McCumbee ran great until getting involved in a wreck, ending up 18th. AJ in the truck version of the Dream Machine was a wonderful combination. He ran in the lower 20s to mid teens all night until choosing to take no tires with about 30 to go. Knowing that tires were being worn to the cords I questioned the move – until he took the lead and was out in front for a lap! But, disaster hit when he dropped back during an aggressive restart and got loose near the 13 truck. He hit the inside wall pretty hard. I was upset and that grew when he had a bit of a tantrum, flung his arms around, jumped the infield wall, ripped his HANS device off and threw it in front of him as he walked, while ignoring the medics the entire time. Normally I would groan and disapprove of this but…AJ did not have a good Friday.
I was glad for Mike Skinner’s win. He dedicated it to his dog Opus, who recently died. When a guy can devote a race win to his dog, he deserves it.
So…hopefully Mikey can finish well tomorrow (er, today) in the Busch race. I think he really really needs it.
Michael once again missed the race after a wretched qualifying attempt. It is so hard to imagine what this feels like, especially being near NAPA’s headquarters. On the Toyota qualifying notes, I was surprised to see Derrick Finley’s name associated with MWR - as the Project Engineer! I thought I heard or saw somewhere that Michael had hired someone away from BDR, but I had no idea it would end up being his old crew chief, especially since it seemed they did not get along. But here is what he had to say:
"We fought a loose condition off-throttle all day. We started loose in and loose everywhere, but we got the entry and the center better. We were just loose off for most of practice. For qualifying, we basically did what the No. 00 team did because they obviously had a really good car. They all did a really great job. But when we went to qualify, we don't know exactly what happened. The car was just a little bit loose off still in qualifying and there was some type of miss in the engine and right now that's where it stands."
So Michael’s car had David’s setup. For some reason, I don’t think what runs good for David runs good for Michael. Okay…failure at some humor. But the engine missing causes some concern. I’m not going to go all up in arms though – I expected Toyota to have some engine issues. It just sucks because an engine issue in qualifying is fatal for star cars, which most of the Toyotas are.
In spite of Michael DNQing again, I was thrilled and relieved to watch David lock himself in. The look on his face after qualifying was enough to take the stress off of me! And of course, his quotes were hilarious:
“Frank (Kerr, crew chief) said that if my first lap was good enough to make it into the show that he would let me know and call me off on my second lap. I got to the start/finish line on my first lap and I didn't hear anything, then I drove into turn one and I still didn't hear anything. About halfway down the backstretch Frank came over the radio and said that he thought we were going to be okay. I thought, man, Frank, just thinking we're in isn't going to cut it. So I made sure to run hard the rest of the way and thank the good lord that we had a fast enough lap to get in the race. At least now I can maybe eat something and keep it down. I'm going to have me a lot of Domino's pizza tonight, I promise you that."
I love this guy! He will start 24th on Sunday – not too shabby!
Dale Jarrett made me worry again with his 4th Champ’s Provisional. I just wish I knew if he was being conservative and doing it on purpose or if the cars…are that bad. Because…ugh.
Kurt starts 17th, Martin 18th, Dale Jr. 22nd and Casey 34th. Mike Bliss was a huge surprise when he qualified 9th! What a great effort for that team! I’m also happy to say that Brian Vickers made the race, and very sad that Scott Wimmer and AJ Allmendinger missed it (the latter because of ignition trouble). Ryan Newman was back to his old self and won the pole.
The truck race brought some happiness. Good racing! It was nice to hear and see Todd Kluever during the prerace. Michael sounded happy, whether he was or not. I was pleased to watch Matt Crafton finish 3rd. Chad McCumbee ran great until getting involved in a wreck, ending up 18th. AJ in the truck version of the Dream Machine was a wonderful combination. He ran in the lower 20s to mid teens all night until choosing to take no tires with about 30 to go. Knowing that tires were being worn to the cords I questioned the move – until he took the lead and was out in front for a lap! But, disaster hit when he dropped back during an aggressive restart and got loose near the 13 truck. He hit the inside wall pretty hard. I was upset and that grew when he had a bit of a tantrum, flung his arms around, jumped the infield wall, ripped his HANS device off and threw it in front of him as he walked, while ignoring the medics the entire time. Normally I would groan and disapprove of this but…AJ did not have a good Friday.
I was glad for Mike Skinner’s win. He dedicated it to his dog Opus, who recently died. When a guy can devote a race win to his dog, he deserves it.
So…hopefully Mikey can finish well tomorrow (er, today) in the Busch race. I think he really really needs it.
