Coca-Cola 600 Live Report by Jeff Gutshall

Due to the tendancy of some materials to become useless when soaked, this report probably resembles a trip report rather than a race report. My plans to keep notes and take some pictures were "washed away," so this is from memory.

Nothing went as planned this weekend, but we had a great time anyway. My better half Tammy, and our friends Steve and Amy, could not leave home and head south until around 8:00 Friday night due to work schedules. Visiting the SKITTLES® show car Friday night in Mooresville was therefore out of the question. We had hopes of finding Derrike for an autograph on Saturday at Speed Street in Charlotte anyway; maybe the show car would be there.

We were able to grab three hours sleep along I-77 before hitting the track mid-morning Saturday for the BGN race. This race was sure more exciting when Cope was driving this series. The weather was beautiful and the racing good and generally safe. My impression was that three-wide racing was not as prevalent as last fall. The drivers said during track interviews that the speedway was slippery.

During happy hour Derrike seemed to be off a little bit. (My kingdom for a stop watch, I forget this every race!) Of course, this may have been due to experimentation with setups.

Behind schedule due to overloaded restaurants and three hours sleep the night before, we were unable to find anyone to point us toward "Speed Street" as we approached Charlotte from the north. (There are some VERY seedy areas in the city….we explored them all.) We finally found someone who was irritated by the large block party a few blocks away, and we arrived...at 8:30. We could find no signs of ANY drivers or the SKITTLES® show car. However, if you get the chance, do not pass up this little party in Charlotte. A very pretty area architecturally, this is a first class operation with much to view, eat, drink, and listen to. By the way, the streets are not numbered until you get into town. We were looking for 3rd or 4th streets by circling the city twenty blocks or so outside the city. Not until we "spiraled" into downtown were we successful.

Sunday started out great, no clouds in sight, and went downhill right before race time. We were prepared with ponchos and umbrellas. However, my 35mm camera got wet and I lost all the pictures taken during the trip. (This means I will HAVE to go again next year.) Humpy Wheeler sure knows how to put on a pre-show. This year, fly-overs by the Memphis Belle B17 and a B1-B bomber were included, as well as a simulated downed-pilot extraction by an Air Force special ops group.

Derrike ran much of the first half of the race high on the track, passing many cars on the outside exiting 2 and 4. The team ran very well, moving up from the 24th starting position to around 17th or so before the first pit stops. I heard over the scanner that the 36 was adjusting rear tire pressures. The right rear was building pressure higher than the crew apparently expected.

In spite of the rain before the race, the track still seemed slippery as Andretti and Irvan both brushed against the wall early-on as they exited turn 4.

Before the second pit stop, Pemberton asked Derrike if he wanted "another pound and another round". Due to the rain, I put the scanner away. I kept an eye on the pits as well as I could. I do not believe that the team took on two tires any time during the race, and the 36 never seemed to suffer due to poor pit stops.

This year Charlotte added some huge screens in the infield to view replays of incidents on the track. I was unable to see what happened between Sterling Marlin and Derrike, and I missed the replay. The interview with Marlin did not seem to point any fingers at Derrike.

For a few laps before the 36 pitted, it appeared on the infield pylon in 5th position, so tire wear must have been pretty good. The highlight of the race was the three-way battle between Kyle Petty, swERVIN, and Derrike during the closing laps of the shortened race. I thought to myself, "Man, stay the hell away from that nut in the 28". But Derrike was fearless, taking advantage of every opportunity to move inside or outside, ending up in front of both Petty and swERVIN. Damn, that was a fine 20 laps or so and made the entire trip worth it.