Goody's Cool Orange 500 - Martinsville Speedway
The Goody’s Cool Orange 500 went green under dark skies with rain just a couple hours away. It would become a typical Martinsville race with some bumping and grinding, and a near miss at a victory from one of our heroes.
Again Trackpass was tuned to David’s radio, although it was refusing to work for some of the start of the race. The #00 was an evil Camry at the drop of the flag, and David was saying that it felt like an entirely different car than the fast one it had been in practice. He was soon a lap down but Frankie and the Domino’s crew began to work on the setup until David said it was drivable. Unfortunately, it was already too late for David to have much of a chance to get back onto the lead lap, but for a time a top 30 finish was looking likely.
On Lap 357 the storm clouds opened up and soaked the asphalt-and-concrete track, sending the field to pit road. David hoped it would pour, for he was running in the top 30 at the time and was getting tired of wheeling an ill-handling car around the track. However the NASCAR driers did their job and around 20 minutes later the track was ready to go back to green.
This was when David’s real problems started, for something in the engine (a spark plug) was amiss. He first lost one cylinder and then was down to six, so after a couple trips to pit road it was all he could do to hold on and salvage a finish without getting in the way of faster cars. The engine held up till the end and he ended the day 33rd, 9 laps down. Looking on the bright side, the finish is not horrible and the car was in one piece so it could have been a lot worse.
Once again listening to the radio feed was very interesting and pleasant. David likes his pit sign now and no F-bombs were flown! His best quote was said about midway through the race when the car was handling very poorly. David was complaining a little but then said, “I ain’t giving up!” It was wonderful because he said that with such courage and it really seemed to pump both Frankie and Shawn up. As another side note, they weren’t too happy with Juan Pablo Montoya, who was apparently diving into the corners like he was on a 1.5 miler.
Back in the UPS camp, DJ was having a very decent day, running as far up as 23rd from a 38th place starting position. It was very exciting watching him move up through the pack and I had high hopes. But the bad luck bug bit again when on Lap 307 Dale reported that his shifter had broken and he couldn’t repair it. Despite this setback he continued to soldier on when the bug chomped down harder on Lap 423. The lap before Dale said that he felt a vibration and only moments later the UPS Camry was spun in Turn 2. A pretty normal scene at Martinsville except that DJ was missing his right rear wheel! Of course this put him a couple more laps down, but he refused to give up and fought back to 28th. I believe that without his mishaps he could have definitely finished in the top 20. He is 37th in points with a good chance of securing a spot in the top 35.
Dale Jr. nearly won his first race of the season at a track that hated him as a rookie. Tony Jr. had given him a great car to drive and before too long he had driven by Jeff Gordon to lead the field on Lap 235. He kept leading, and leading…and leading—when the checkers flew he would be the driver who led the most laps, at 137. Things were looking very bright for Junebug as the skies grew ever darker, and when the rain began to fall there was no doubt the Bud team was doing the rain dance and wishing the place would flood!
But as we already know the race went underway a half hour later. Junior continued to lead until pit stops on Lap 377, when he dropped to 11th. Luckily the #8 was fast enough to make it back up to 5th before the day was done…although 5th is nothing to be ashamed of, it still hurts when you know you were so close to doing some victory burnouts on the frontstretch. Junior is now 11th in points.
Kurt had a respectable 12th place finish but was apparently having some trouble on pit stops because of the Miller Lite Dodge’s setup, as the jackman was having issues getting the jack to lift the whole car up. The #2 ran in the top 10 all day but faded back to 12th near the end of the race, leaving him 17th in points.
Martin and the #1 Bass Pro Shops team were having a solid top-20 day when the brakes began to cause problems on Lap 344. There was virtually nothing the team could do so Martin had to gingerly guide the Chevy around the track and settle with a 29th place finish and 24th in the point standings.
Casey had an even more dismal day when his problems began on Lap 3. The National Guard Chevy spun as a result of a broken sway bar, which furthermore hurt the brakes. Before Lap 100 Casey had hit the wall when a tire went down and limped around until the end, ending the race in miserable 42nd, dropping him to 33rd in the standings.
Casey’s HMS teammates battled it out at the end and Jimmie Johnson won after a breathtaking fight against Jeff Gordon. I have never liked Martinsville, but it was refreshing to see such a spirited duel for the win!
Again Trackpass was tuned to David’s radio, although it was refusing to work for some of the start of the race. The #00 was an evil Camry at the drop of the flag, and David was saying that it felt like an entirely different car than the fast one it had been in practice. He was soon a lap down but Frankie and the Domino’s crew began to work on the setup until David said it was drivable. Unfortunately, it was already too late for David to have much of a chance to get back onto the lead lap, but for a time a top 30 finish was looking likely.
On Lap 357 the storm clouds opened up and soaked the asphalt-and-concrete track, sending the field to pit road. David hoped it would pour, for he was running in the top 30 at the time and was getting tired of wheeling an ill-handling car around the track. However the NASCAR driers did their job and around 20 minutes later the track was ready to go back to green.
This was when David’s real problems started, for something in the engine (a spark plug) was amiss. He first lost one cylinder and then was down to six, so after a couple trips to pit road it was all he could do to hold on and salvage a finish without getting in the way of faster cars. The engine held up till the end and he ended the day 33rd, 9 laps down. Looking on the bright side, the finish is not horrible and the car was in one piece so it could have been a lot worse.
Once again listening to the radio feed was very interesting and pleasant. David likes his pit sign now and no F-bombs were flown! His best quote was said about midway through the race when the car was handling very poorly. David was complaining a little but then said, “I ain’t giving up!” It was wonderful because he said that with such courage and it really seemed to pump both Frankie and Shawn up. As another side note, they weren’t too happy with Juan Pablo Montoya, who was apparently diving into the corners like he was on a 1.5 miler.
Back in the UPS camp, DJ was having a very decent day, running as far up as 23rd from a 38th place starting position. It was very exciting watching him move up through the pack and I had high hopes. But the bad luck bug bit again when on Lap 307 Dale reported that his shifter had broken and he couldn’t repair it. Despite this setback he continued to soldier on when the bug chomped down harder on Lap 423. The lap before Dale said that he felt a vibration and only moments later the UPS Camry was spun in Turn 2. A pretty normal scene at Martinsville except that DJ was missing his right rear wheel! Of course this put him a couple more laps down, but he refused to give up and fought back to 28th. I believe that without his mishaps he could have definitely finished in the top 20. He is 37th in points with a good chance of securing a spot in the top 35.
Dale Jr. nearly won his first race of the season at a track that hated him as a rookie. Tony Jr. had given him a great car to drive and before too long he had driven by Jeff Gordon to lead the field on Lap 235. He kept leading, and leading…and leading—when the checkers flew he would be the driver who led the most laps, at 137. Things were looking very bright for Junebug as the skies grew ever darker, and when the rain began to fall there was no doubt the Bud team was doing the rain dance and wishing the place would flood!
But as we already know the race went underway a half hour later. Junior continued to lead until pit stops on Lap 377, when he dropped to 11th. Luckily the #8 was fast enough to make it back up to 5th before the day was done…although 5th is nothing to be ashamed of, it still hurts when you know you were so close to doing some victory burnouts on the frontstretch. Junior is now 11th in points.
Kurt had a respectable 12th place finish but was apparently having some trouble on pit stops because of the Miller Lite Dodge’s setup, as the jackman was having issues getting the jack to lift the whole car up. The #2 ran in the top 10 all day but faded back to 12th near the end of the race, leaving him 17th in points.
Martin and the #1 Bass Pro Shops team were having a solid top-20 day when the brakes began to cause problems on Lap 344. There was virtually nothing the team could do so Martin had to gingerly guide the Chevy around the track and settle with a 29th place finish and 24th in the point standings.
Casey had an even more dismal day when his problems began on Lap 3. The National Guard Chevy spun as a result of a broken sway bar, which furthermore hurt the brakes. Before Lap 100 Casey had hit the wall when a tire went down and limped around until the end, ending the race in miserable 42nd, dropping him to 33rd in the standings.
Casey’s HMS teammates battled it out at the end and Jimmie Johnson won after a breathtaking fight against Jeff Gordon. I have never liked Martinsville, but it was refreshing to see such a spirited duel for the win!
