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California 500 Live Reportby Bruce Bates |
Friday
Since I was able to get a well deserved day off from work, I decided to make an early day of it and see the ribbon cutting ceremonies at the new California track before watching the days practice and qualifying sessions. My wife had to work so a friend of mine (John) said he would use our extra ticket.
We arrived at the track just a little after 7:30am and was able to catch the last part of the ceremonies. Actually there wasn't much to see. They said a prayer or two for the track, let loose the balloons and then a couple of the people who built this place got in the car that is specially painted to commemorate the race and drove around the track. Having done that it was time for the Winston West and IROC cars to practice. We took this time to walk around the souvenir trailers.
There are quite a few out here that have made the long trip. Unfortunately the SKITTLES® Racing trailer wasn't open yet so we decided to make the long walk toward the tunnel and into the pits to watch the Winston Cup practice. When we finally got to the garages and pits, they were lining the cars up to go on the track. The SKITTLES® trailer is closest to the fence so I had my buddy take a picture of me with it in the background. I also saw Derrike at this time walking into the trailer so I yelled "DERRIKE COPE" and waved my SKITTLES® cap at him. He gave a wave back and I gave him a thumbs up before he went into the trailer to put on his drivers suit.
My buddy and I hung out at the entrance onto pit road for the cars and saw them all start pulling onto pit road to wait to get onto the track. The SKITTLES® car was first in line but as the other cars started rolling, Derrike was just then running to the car and so the crew pushed him forward out of everybody's way as he got situated in the car. I don't think this was planned but I doubt that being first on the track would have been of any benefit. I wasn't listening on the scanner at the time but didn't notice any big problems with the car.
It wasn't long before Robby Gordon hit the turn Three wall. I didn't see the accident but listening to NASCAR on the scanner it didn't sound too good. Fortunately the driver was OK and they just sent him off to the hospital for a precautionary check-up. His car on the other hand was wasted. The driver's side was as flat as a pancake. Greg Sacks filled in to qualify the #40.
As practice resumed Derrike said the car was pushing
badly. At one point I heard him say that maybe the tires only lasted through one and two
then gave out in three and four. Whatever the point, he still had decent times. We decided
to go back to the grandstands to watch the final WC practice before qualifying and on the
way dropped by the SKITTLES® souvenir trailer which was now open.
I got a large 36 flag to put outside our house on weekends and a new t-shirt to replace the Straight-Arrow shirt I like to wear now to the races. They have some other great souvenirs and a nice denim shirt I want my wife to buy if she'll wear something other than Mark Martin. It was back to our seats after that to listen to and watch the days final practice.
Derrike commented that the car was good in three and four but pushed in one and two. Many drivers said this as the wind was blowing straight down the frontstretch and pushing the cars up the track. There was some more Winston West and IROC practice before qualifying began at 3:00pm and then the cars were pushed onto pit road.
Derrike went out fourth after Mark Martin. He made a respectable run but I was kind of worried that it wouldn't keep him in the top 25. More cars took their run and Derrike was pushed further into the field. Darrell Waltrip made the provisional pole and the crowd which I estimated to have been about 1/2 to 2/3 capacity gave a big cheer. It wasn't long before Irvan knocked him off and left me fuming. I guess I still have some bad blood at Ernie for all the incidents with Derrike last year. It was finally down to the last two drivers and since I knew Derrike was assured the top 25 I was feeling pretty good. Nemechek was supposed to have been the last qualifier but Burton missed his spot because they were changing engines. The #42 went out and took the pole for the first race at the new California Speedway and the crowd went wild. A lot of people were stomping their feet on the grandstands and it felt like an earthquake.
We left right after this and got right out to the interstate. Hardly any traffic problems to speak of. Tomorrow should be another great day. We are going to see the show car in Ontario before heading to the track and watching what I hope will be some exciting racing.
Saturday
Our day started with a visit to the SKITTLES® show car at a grocery store in Ontario, CA. We got to meet Kevin who drives the car around and thanked him for supplying his schedule to the fan club website as this is the only way we knew where the car would be. The car was very nice and I got my picture taken beside it. We also had a very nice talk with Kevin who was very informative as to the happenings with Derrike and the team. He also has a large selection of merchandise from the team. We purchased a few and got a few extra cards and posters of Derrike so my wife could pass them out to her first grade students. Always looking to make some new Derrike Cope race fans. I would highly recommend everyone visit Kevin when he's in your area and get your souvenirs. He had a race pack that had a shirt and hat, key chain, sticker and miniature car at a special price. We finally had to say good-bye since we were heading to the track and wanted to catch final qualifying.
There was no traffic into the track and we watched the #78, 91, and 81 fail to make the race. Next up was the Winston West 200. This was an exciting race from the beginning. There was plenty of two wide racing as the cars were forced high in the turns and therefore expanding the groove that everyone has been talking about. The event was somewhat dominated by the WC guys including the late entry of Mike Wallace driving his WC Spam car. The race was red-flagged twice for accidents and was full of excitement with Ken Schrader winning.
This race ended late so it wasn't long until Happy Hour which actually lasted about 1 and 1/2 hours. Derrike was in the first group of cars on the track and looked very good. He would wait on the track for a large group of cars and then run with them. After about ten laps they came in for a plug check. Derrike seemed very pleased with the car, said the track was slick, and he had a slight push off two. Ryan(?) said for the crew to look around and see who was scuffing tires for tomorrow. It seemed like almost everyone was and the #36 car did the same for a couple of sets. I heard them say that by the end of the race they would probably want stickers but start with scuffs.
Almost every time the car came out Derrike would wait for a large group of cars to run with. He seemed to be passing at will and was very happy with the car but the temperature was running too high. They came in and took off some tape from the grill and after coming back out ran fast. At one time he was with the #2, 18, 31, 33, and 90 and was able to pass easily. After a short time though the car developed a push and they made a sway bar adjustment. Derrike had to remind them that they needed gas also. They removed even more tape at this time. After coming back out the car still pushed off the corner and they made yet another track bar adjustment. This setup seemed to work so they decided to scuff a few sets of tires.
During this time I scanned all the other teams.
- 98 - Cale Yarborough cussing extensively
- 24 - They were scuffing tires also
- 88 - "Dale if you're happy park it and lets talk." They came out again later on
- 23 - "If we don't do better in these races then we're going to end up working under a tent"
- 5 - too tight
- 96 - Green wanted to push fenders in. Crew said they couldn't go too far in. Green said push the limit.
- 30 - Not happy with car
- 42 and 18 looked good in practice
At the end of practice Derrike was just riding along and
looked very fast. I feel confident that the SKITTLES® car will make a strong showing
tomorrow. The car was able to run with everyone on the track. The day ended with the IROC
race which was an hour late starting due to the CART drivers having to fly in from Oregon.
When the green dropped Zanardi got a big lead but they threw the caution and restarted
because they said he jumped the start. On the second try he got off to a horrible start
and was hit from behind with most of the field taking evasive maneuvers. He managed to
save it but by turn three he was sent into the wall destroying the car. Since IROC doesn't
count laps unless completed under green he was able to switch into another car. After the
restart it was just a few laps until he smacked the wall with the right side which put him
out of the race. The middle of the race was mostly single file but at one point they were
three wide at the start/finish. At the end of the race there was a lot of hard racing for
the lead with the outside car actually holding its own in the turns. Mark Martin ended up
the victor.
After a short trip through the souvenir trailers we headed for home through minimal traffic. The California Speedway is a beautiful facility from this fan's point of view. They have thought out their traffic plan and fan convenience to make this a great racetrack. I can't wait for the big race tomorrow and will give you all a report of what I hope will be a stellar day for Derrike and the SKITTLES® crew.
Sunday
My wife and I got an early start to the track and arrived at about 8:30. It was still kind of foggy but clearer than the other 2 days I have been to the track. Of course the weather is always beautiful in Southern CA. There were also a lot more people so traffic was slightly built up.
After walking around a bit we headed to our seats which are located very close to the start/finish and halfway up the grandstand. We could easily see the whole track. During the driver intros Derrike was presented the Exide award for coming from the back last week. Ryan also was presented an award.
The race started with clear skies and light smog. It got pretty hot in the stands. There was a lot of hard racing at first and Derrike seemed able to hold his own until the first caution while picking up a few spots. Hut Stricklin lost it in turn 3 and tore up his car. Everyone came in and most cars it seemed took 2 tires so Derrike ended up losing positions because he took 4.
After the green, the #36 looked okay as he was able to move up slowly through the field. The crew made a green flag pit stop next and had a little trouble on the front so they lost a lot of track position to #24. Derrike was only about a half straightaway in front of the leader when the next caution came out for Mast's blown engine. I breathed a big sigh of relief when I saw that yellow flag come out. They changed 4 tires then and said if they had taken two they would only have gained 2 spots. They also made a wedge and pressure adjustment. Derrike did well when the green came out.
I was on edge for awhile as the racing was fierce
all over the track. There was a lot of two wide and some three wide racing until the cars
finally got into single file. Greg Sacks' spin in turn 2 brought out the next caution and
Cope said "let's get some
After the green the car wasn't performing well as Derrike was getting passed on the bottom by lots of cars. The #1 hit the wall and brought out a caution though so the crew went to work and changed all four tires (scuffs) and cleaned the windshield while almost everyone else stayed out on the track. By chance this would have allowed them to go to the end with one more stop.
Derrike was pretty good after the green fell and was moving up slowly through the field until around 80 laps to go something happened to the motor. I must admit that I share some of the blame for this as I commented to Kevin at the show car on Saturday that Derrike had not had any engine failures this year. Looks like I jinxed him. Derrike was steadily losing positions and occasionally there were puffs of smoke from the car into turn 1. On the scanner I heard Derrike say he switched ignition boxes with no luck. He also said the car was missing and didn't think it would last. He mentioned that he had probably burned a piston. With about 65 laps to go Derrike said the engine was backfiring and he really slowed down on the track. The spotter told him that it was smoking worse and to be careful since the last thing they needed was to back it into the wall. It was around this time that they went a lap down.
Most of the leaders pitted around 60 to 55 laps to go. Cope came in at 51 laps to go for two tires and gas. When he came down pit road he said the tach wasn't working and he switched ignition boxes again. After he came back out he just ran around the track relatively slowly until the end.
There was a good battle for the lead until Mark Martin had to pit for fuel leaving Gordon out there to test his fuel mileage. They had decided to go for it awhile back and Evernham was telling Jeff to really conserve gas and calling the interval to Terry in second. Gordon made it to the end and in Victory Lane said his car ran out in turn four. It was pretty cool that he drove through the grass to victory lane instead of down pit road.
Derrike ended up in 29th position many laps down but still running. On the radio Ryan apologized for the ill handling car and bad motor but Derrike said it was okay. Ryan then commented that they did finish first of all the seven cylinder cars. This race seemed to be a learning game for all the teams and it was really no surprise that the #24 learned the quickest. Before the race I heard Ray Evernham talking to Hendricks and they talked about the high rpm's they would be running into turn one. Ray said they had thought about that and went to a lower gear in the car. This also probably had something to do with their good fuel mileage as well as saving the engine as many teams had engine trouble.
On the way home, we headed north on the 15 and came on a humongous traffic jam caused by a fatal accident. The SKITTLES® truck was on the freeway right near us. I'm sure they weren't too happy about that long delay right before their trip began to Charlotte.
This was a really good race and unfortunately the SKITTLES® car had to deal with some equipment problems that are a part of racing. I feel like they would have had a top 5 without the engine trouble since they would have only pitted once while most of the other cars came in twice during the closing stages of the race. Hopefully they will have a great showing in Daytona.
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