Hi Everyone,
 Rain, rain, rain --- that’s pretty much what the NAPA AUTO PARTS team had to deal with this weekend at the Auto Club Speedway (formally known as California Speedway). The track got a new name on Friday, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was on hand for the announcement. That was pretty cool. Then the inclement weather set in. That was pretty cool, too. Both practice and qualifying were cancelled, and I wasn’t too upset over it since all three of my cars were guaranteed a starting spot. We tested well here last month, but anything can happen in qualifying so when I heard the forecast, I was praying for rain. I am glad it worked out in a positive way for Michael Waltrip Racing. NASCAR set the field by the NASCAR rulebook so Dale Jarrett started 37th. Reutimann lined up 40th and I started 41st.
On Saturday, we only got 35 minutes of practice before rain set in again. My NAPA Camry was extremely loose entering the corners but was awesome through the center and off. We had a team meeting after practice to see what we could do to improve our cars before Sunday’s race. Once we were done, I headed up to the NAPA suite to visit Ted Lorona and his guests. I love visiting the NAPA suite. Everyone was so nice, and it’s a great place to watch a race. Unfortunately, I pretty much knew we weren’t going to see the Nationwide race because the radar looked really bad. We all made the best of it, and I had a good time signing autographs and meeting everyone.
Sunday was pretty much the same. More rain. I visited the NAPA suite again. When the rain finally stopped, NASCAR got the race going, and I discovered that I had a loose oil line on the parade laps. Fortunately, we were able to make repairs before the race went green. It was a little nerve wracking to say the least. When the race went green, my car just was not handling well. It was extremely loose like it was in practice. There were quite a few cautions so we not only got to work on the car, but I got to see that Tom Cruise was at the race. I just love Sprint Vision. It’s just not for race fans.
NASCAR red flagged the race for rain so my team huddled together to come up with a game plan to fix the NAPA car. We waited it out for quite awhile. During the delay, we got to watch an episode of Seinfeld, and the movie Major League. I also went online to see how my buddy Ron Capps did in Phoenix. Unfortunately, we were not able to get back on the track so NASCAR called for the postponement at 11 p.m. PT.
Today, we were back at it at 10 a.m. PT. My car started out pretty loose again. It was so loose, it snapped out from under me on lap 150. I hit the wall in Turn 2, but my guys were able to fix it. My new crew chief Paul Andrews threw everything at it, and finally, my car was drivable. Carl Edwards won the race. I told my spotter Jeff Green that Edwards had a pretty sporty car at the test. It obviously held up well. I ended up finishing 28th. Considering everything that happened to us during the Auto Club 500, I am pretty pleased with our effort. We overcame a lot during this race. The loose oil line and the spin could have really set us back, but we worked hard, and got this car very competitive in the end. We just need to get out of the gates a little bit better, and I think we are gaining on it. |
