Miller 500 Live Report by Patty Leizear

On ESPN's RPM 2Night Friday evening after qualifying, Derrike said, "We worked hard trying to get the car to feel good; I overdrove it a little bit in turn one, and it wouldn't settle and I had to smooth it through there, but we got a decent lap."

I was glad and excited to see him being able to qualify so well. I know Dover brings back good memories for him.

June 1st started out early, as usual, getting up early and heading for the track. It's always fun to see all the other cars, vans, trucks, etc. heading for the track, and race fans showing their support for their favorite drivers by wearing their shirts, hats, etc., and displaying banners and signs. I always enjoy that part!

The weather was "iffy" all week leading up to the race, and even on race day it was foggy, cloudy, and looked like it may rain. Needless to say, we all walked away with sunburned faces and arms as the sun broke out just before the race began and it was a beautiful day.

Prior to the race, I met up with Jay of Jayski's Silly Season. Jay keeps track of all the going-ons during the entire year of who's going to what team, any rumors in the air, etc. Jay was very nice to meet up with us at the SKITTLES® trailer (with all his Ernie Irvan stuff on); it was nice to "put a face to an E-mail." Jay is a very nice person and I wish him continued success in his Silly Season efforts. If you haven't had the chance to check out the website, please do. You'll find it to be very informative and he does a great job!

Okay, on to the race. Derrike was looking good and running strong. On Lap 33, he came in and took on 4 tires. He had trouble leaving the pits because when Bill Elliott pulled in, he didn't leave Derrike much room to get out, so this delayed his exit (actually, this happened twice to Derrike - the way Elliott pulled in left Derrike no room to get out). Those four tires too, however, proved to be an early downfall for Derrike. He complained that the tires were just horrible (I won't use the exact words he used!?!?) and at lap 44, he had no choice but to come back in, because he could not handle the car. Again, he lost valuable track position, but he had no choice but to come in to get rid of those tires. On lap 81, he reported that the car was pushing; lap 97 the car was too light, didn't want to turn; lap 128 he took on 4 tires, then the car stalled and the crew had to push him out (this happened on a later pit stop, also); lap 373 took 4 tires, 1 lb. of wedge; lap 378 he reported the car was very loose and felt that the left rear wheel may be working loose.

My husband reminded me to be sure to mention that the pit crew did an excellent job. In the past, I have felt that perhaps Derrike wasn't getting good pit stops, but, I'll tell you, his crew was getting him in and out of the pits in little time and did an excellent job! Way to go guys!!

We left the race with about 50 laps to go to beat the traffic (before all the big excitement started happening with Jarrett, Irvan, etc.), but were able to listen to it on the scanner and radio. Carol Dignazio (#2 Cope fan, since I'm #1) and her husband Tony got to sit with us this time (if you recall from our Richmond race report, we originally hooked up through the fan club and met for the first time at the spring Richmond race), and we had a great time. They stayed until the end of the race, and she mentioned that Derrike went into the pits quite a few times during the closing laps of the race, and she thought that perhaps they were just trying different stuff out for handling.

Well, as we all know, Derrike finished a respectable 20th (excellent, considering the problems he encountered), and moved up to 30th in the points. I'd say the SKITTLES® crew has finally gotten their stuff together and we'll continue to see improvements through the remainder of the year.

Hope to see some of you in Charlotte next Spring for the fan get-together!

P.S. There were a lot of people at the SKITTLES® trailer buying merchandise - there are lots of Derrike fans out there! Even people who do not root for him as their primary driver were making comments on how nice his merchandise is. It's about time after such a dry spell on merchandise with Mane 'n Tail and Badcock, wouldn't you say?