Las Vegas Races Live Report by Gil Shaw

Arrived in Vegas late Thursday and weather reports were not looking good (Phoenix flashback). Friday qualifying Derrike ends up 34th in the Busch race and 24th in the cup race, both fields were tight! Friday night went to the State Fair Corn Dogs reception at The Rio. Nice shindig, good food, good drinks. Hats off to Jeff for putting it together.

Saturday left for Busch race about 9:00am. Traffic APPEARED better then last year but this proved to be an illusion! Searched hi and lo for Derrike's IWX radio #s but was unable to find on scanner. Did hear Dale Jr's crew chief tell him when he passed Gordon's Pepsi mobile to get used to passing him!

Derrike started the race consistent and seemed to be letting things settle down a bit. Then on lap 10 Skinner and I believe M. Waltrip got sideways and Derrike made the save of the day, a hard left and then a four wheel drift to keep out of the grass. Derrike ran well but seemed to be down on power. DC ended up 23rd and brought the car home without a scratch. (sidenote) I tried to irritate every Gordon fan I could!

Sunday 14 miles to track,  2 hrs and 10 min. not bad. Very cold early hours before race and listening to the Madonna and Elvis impersonators sing did not seem to help warm me up. DC started 24th and was
actually looking quick early as he picked a few off and was getting through 1 and 2 on the high side pretty good.

The first caution was Benson and Stewart. Derrike slid through that and after a couple caution laps I was able to breathe again. After the restart the car began to deteriorate. On the radio DC said the car was evil in the turns and he was not able to even arc the car into 3 and 4. DC also stated as soon as he stepped on the gas the car headed up the track. Other drivers seemed to be in a similar boat with Spencer saying he was chunking the right front. He needed a caution and thought about throwing my chicken nuggets at Gordon, but thought better of it.

Ward Burton puts DC a lap down but only shortly as he short pits and loops it entering pit road. The car is not right and DC and the crew talk about rubbers, track bar height, and pressure. On restarts he's able to hold the car down in 3 and 4 but 10 laps into a run the car is trying to get to the marbles. The temperature is rising and appears to be making things worse for Derrike.

Derrike is one lap down and the car is improving with the pit stops. But Irwin and Buckshot decide to dance, Nemecheck parks it in front of Derrike, and he has nowhere to go as the in-car will later show. DC tells the crew the bad news and what he thinks is torn up. On replay it shows he did a hell of a job of keeping it out of the infield wall.

DC was surprisingly upbeat throughout the race and never berates the crew as some of the drivers do (see DW).

Hang in there guys, he will park that thing in victory circle soon, he needs a break and that is a fact.

Bummed that Derrike is wounded we decide to leave early to beat the traffic, 32 laps left we head for the rental, and so are many others, thinking that traffic will be a nightmare. They were right 3 hrs and 15 min. later we reached the exit from the parking lot. A joke of a parking lot and lazy donut eating sheriffs means never again to Vegas.

HOPE TO SEE YA' IN CHARLOTTE