From My Couch...

KMART MICHIGAN 400

Brooklyn, MI, June 13th, 1999

(By Les Smirle, for Mr NASCAR)

 (MY COUCH - OSHAWA, ONT - June 15, 1999)
Three of the best...
Mike, Buddy 'n Ned...
Michigan is a fast, wide 2-mile oval, with enough banking to let you go into turns one and three nibblin' at 200 mph. Due to the width, and banking, of MIS, it has a reputation as a track that hosts clean, relatively caution-free racin', where fuel efficiency, speed and downforce need to be balanced just so, if you wanna run with the big dogs.

Of course, you don't wanna let the mere fact that you're in Ford and GM's backyards put you under any pressure... they still seem to believe the old "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" adage...

Now that we're into the middle of the season, we're startin' to see the inevitable "Silly Season " stuff begin. The SBIII team dug up Loy Allen from somewhere, and popped him into the Turbine Solutions (was Hollywood Videos) #58 car, releasing Ricky Craven. Go figger... The "great Mystery Sponsor" for Rick Mast's #98 car was unveiled... Woody Woodpecker... Huh? didn't he peak out during the Korean Conflict??? That's the best Universal has to offer?? Neat paint job, tho... I see Rusty still had the Harley thing goin'... even Jeff Burton was sportin' a variant on the normal black 'n purple... never did pick up it's significance... "NASCAR Rocks"?

In Memory of Harry...
On a more sombre note, team owner Harry Melling had passed away at 54 during the week (Really hit home, that's MY age...) The 9 car sported Melling Red in his honour - and Bill Elliott, who owes much of his current vaunted niche in NASCAR to Harry - his team owner during Bill's mid-eighties dominance, also acknowledged his passing, with a message on the decklid.

Ernie's MIS colours..
Fastest among the qualifiers was Gordon, for his fourth pole of '99, followed closely by Ernie Irvan, sporting a "PEDIGREE" tie-in on the M&M's Pontiac. Both these gents broke last year's track record. Third was Martin, then Schrader, Elliott, Jarrett, Marlin, Ward Burton, Nemechek, Park, Dallenbach and Irwin rounded out the top dozen. Rusty Wallace and Jeff Burton were thirteenth and fourteenth, with Dale Earnhardt in 15th. Dave Blaney, in only his second-ever WC race, put his AMOCO ride into 21st. SBII's hot new shoe, Loy Allen, rounded out the field in 43rd. Three drivers found themselves on the outside lookin' in - Marcis, Jones and Stricklin, the latter again in Junie Donlavey's #90 car.

Jeff 'n Ernie lead 'em off...
As has often been the case this year, there was an overnight rain, so all the set-up data garnered for the race went out the window... Not only that, but there was a strong sense of urgency to get things rollin' as rain was threatened, and start time was moved up, so most of the usual TV boomph was behind us by listed start time of 1:00. The rain never materialized, and the whole race was successfully run.

Three or four wide into
the corners...
At the green, Ernie and Mark got the drop on Jeff Gordon, relegatin' him to third at the end of lap one. Racin' in midpack was four-wide by the end of the backstraight, with Rusty makin' a bold move up the inside. Lots of good racin' thru the pack, and up front! Lap two saw Ward Burton and Bill Elliott double-team Gordon knockin' him back to fifth, and on lap four, Martin pushed by Irvan for the lead.

A little anxiety as Ernie began to slow up, but after a lap or so, he seemed ok, but was back several positions.. At Lap Eleven, Gordon and Elliott were side-by-side, with Ward Burton hoverin' in the background. Finally, on lap thirteen, when Gordon and Martin were squabblin' over second, Ward put a BIG move on 'em both, cuttin' low and out into second-place, leavin Jeff 'n Mark to contest third. Also on the move was Jeff Burton, up from fourteenth to eighth by lap 13.

Ward's glory was short-lived... By lap 20 or so, Elliott and Gordon were back in second and third, with Ward fourth. On lap 22, the Elliott-Gordon train steamed by Martin, for first and second place.

Good, Hard Racin'......
Lap 23 had Gordon right on new race-leader Bill's tail, lookin' for the lead... Gordon and Elliott proceeded to put on an excellent show of side-by-side racin' for the next two or three laps. The leaders were goin' at it pretty good - with Gordon and Elliott dukin' it out side-by-side for first, Martin runnin' third, lookin' for an opportunity, then the Burton boys squabblin' over fourth... behind them, the rest of the field was beginning to string out - except Jarrett. By lap 32, he was challenging and passing Martin, who'd been passed a couple laps earlier by the Burtons, for fifth place. Top ten running order on lap 33 was Gordon, Elliott, Jeff Burton, Ward Burton, Jarrett, Martin, Irwin, Bobby Labonte, Steve Park and Rusty Wallace.

Jeff Burton took second from Elliott on lap 40, and over the next several laps, Jarrett continued his advance, until on lap 47, just as the first round of pit stops were beginning, Jarrett, Burton and Gordon were in a fight for the lead again. After some good 3-wide jousting, Burton found himself third, behind Gordon and Jarrett. On lap 48, Jarrett made his move, and lap 49 saw him in the lead.

Bad sign for the Penske-Haas team of Mayfield and Wallace - both had to pit within 48 laps, meaning a potential 4th splash 'n go would be needed in the closing stages if the clean green running continued.

It appears there has been a lot of work done to set up the engines for MIS to get that critical 50 laps on a tank of gas - this was evident among the leading cars from the Hendrick, Yates, and Roush stables. The above splash 'n go at lap 390 could be a killer...

Jeff Burton makes first stop...
Note colour scheme...
The leaders all began to hit pit lane on lap 49, with Jeff and Ward Burton and Ernie Irvan coming in. On lap 50, Jarrett, Elliott and Martin were in. On lap 51, Gordon was in, followed a lap later by Bobby Labonte. All had clean stops, except Labonte, who was shown in 15th once stops had cycled thru. On lap 58, after the whole field had been in, top fifteen order was Jarrett, Gordon, Ward Burton, Elliott, Jeff Burton, Wallace, Martin, Park, Irwin, Irvan, Schrader, Mayfield and Bobby Labonte. Earnhardt was sitting in 16th, and there were just 29 cars still on the lead lap, as the long green run allowed Jarrett and the other lead cars to chew through the field.

Jarrett puts Rick Mast's
"Peckermobile" down a lap...
By lap 80, little had changed; the leaders were strung out as Jarrett showed superiority over the rest of the field. Labonte had fought back to seventh, and Jeff Burton had taken fourth from Elliott. By lap 90, there were just 16 cars on the lead lap.

This was beginning to look like a Formula One race, as Ned, Mike 'n Buddy looked for action on the track. By lap 95, we were into the second round of stops under the green, with Wallace being one of the first in once more. Lap 97 saw Mayfield and Earnhardt in, followed by Schrader and Irvan around lap 99. Ward Burton and Stewart were in on lap 100, with Martin, Park, Jeff Burton and Bill Elliott a lap later. Jarrett, Gordon and Labonte were on pit lane for lap 102.

Jasper Engine Trouble...
During this round of stops, Pressley had an overheating problem in the Jasper Engines car, and lost several laps, but was able to continue.

And Jarrett's dominance just carried on. By Lap 112, he had SIX SECONDS over second-place Gordon. Ward Burton, Jeff Burton, Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Martin, Park, Wallace, Mayfield, and Andretti rounded out the eleven cars still on the lead lap. Down a lap in twelfth was Irvan, then Schrader, Stewart and Earnhardt made up the top fifteen. Lap 113 saw Jarrett put Andretti down a lap - 10 left - the question now was not who was gonna win, but who'd be left standing (still on the lead lap, that is...) when it was over??

Martin's life became more complicated on lap 119, as he had to pit with a vibration, caused, it was determined, by loose lugnuts on one wheel. At 200 mph, ya gotta look after these things! This cost him a lap, and put him out of sequence for a three-stop run if it stayed green...

Again, little change over the next 30 laps, as we approached the third, and potentially final, set of pit stops. On lap 138, Jarrett was still six seconds in front of Gordon, who was five seconds ahead of Jeff Burton, who'd taken third from his brother. Elliot, Labonte, Park and Wallace rounded out the eight cars still on the lead lap, and Jarrett was within two seconds of lapping Wallace, after having put Mayfield down lap. Somewhere in the lap 144 - 146 area, as we were in commercials, Jarrett caught and passed Rusty, who immediately headed for the pits, as did team mate Mayfield. As predicted, they would need a stop for gas again near the end, if the green run continued. The pace was blistering - with no cautions, race average was in the 173 - 174 mph area!

Fast stop for Ward...
to no avail...
The leaders began their stops at lap 150, as Ward Burton was in, with an excellent sub-sixteen second stop, followed a lap later by Jeff Burton, Stewart and Elliott. On lap 152, Jarrett, Gordon and Labonte were in. All were now set for a run to the end.

After all the leaders had cycled thru their stops, on lap 159, Jarrett was still comfortably out front, with Gordon second, then Ward Burton, dicin' it up with brother Jeff in fourth, Labonte, Elliott, Wallace and Park - having a career run. This comprised the eight cars left on the lead lap. On lap 162, Park took seventh from Wallace.

Jimmy's day ends...
Jimmy Spencer had the dubious distinction of bein' the first car to drop out of the race, as the WINSTON Taurus expired on lap 166.

Bill blows an oil line...
A couple laps later, Bill Elliott had his dreams of a top five, or a win, to honour Harry Melling go up in smoke, literally, as he blew an oil line. (The NASCAR gods abviously don't know how to script these things...) He got 'er into the pits without causing a caution, but several laps were lost while the line was repaired, and the car aired out so Bill could get back in the fray with a minimal inhalation of toxins...

While this was occurring, Jarrett had mowed down Park and Wallace, so by lap 170, there were but five cars left on the lead lap - Jarrett, Gordon - still 4+ seconds back, Jeff and Ward Burton, and Bobby Labonte. Park was down a lap in sixth, then Wallace, Mayfield, Irvan, Stewart, Andretti, Martin, Irwin and Schrader rounded out those down one lap. Next in line, down two, in fifteenth, was Earnhardt. Still runnin' clean 'n green - and we all know what's gonna happen to Rusty 'n Jeremy, don't we??

With about fifteen laps to go, Buddy 'n Ned got stirred up as Gordon appeared to be closin' in on Jarrett - the gap was down to 2.9 seconds - still an F1-type lead, however, and at 0.1 - 0.2 seconds a lap, Jeffie just wasn't gonna do it... and besides, maybe DJ was just backed off in cruise mode...

Jeremy gets a splash...
The time came for the Penske-Haas team to pay their dues - with ten or so to go, Rusty was in, followed on lap 191 by Mayfield. This put 'em both down two laps, allowed some of the other lapped cars to pick up two spots with no effort...

Five laps to go, and Jarrett was still 2.4 seconds out front. Three to go, and it looked like Gordon was closin' - 1.9 seconds. Two to go, and Gordon had shaved another second.

Lap 400... best Jeff could do...
But it was too little, too late, as Jarrett swept over the s/f line after 400 laps, a half-second ahead of Gordon. And who knew how hard he was really running? Final order of the top fifteen was Jarrett, Gordon, Jeff Burton, Ward Burton and Bobby Labonte, all on the lead lap. Down a lap in sixth was Steve Park - his best run to date, then Irvan and Andretti. Down two were Stewart, Martin, Irwin, Rusty Wallace, Schrader, Dallenbach, and Mike Waltrip. Earnhardt, Mayfield, Skinner, Benson and Geoffrey Bodine, all down two laps as well, rounded out the top twenty finishers.

So, we had one of those NASCAR rarities, a caution-free race, the first since Talledega, 1997. How ironic, especially compared to the carnage in Montreal the same day, where the F1 boys, who are considered above such unseemly things as hitting walls and each other, spent the day fallin' over themselves... The speed of the race was amazing - 173.997 mph, or two hours, eighteen minutes! Left Mike, Ned, Buddy 'n friends with a lot of airtime to kill! So we got to hear that Jeffie thought it was boring, at least after lap 50; that DJ and crew studied on the car all Saturday nite...I fastforwarded through the rest. (Oh, yeah... I watched the last half on tape late Sunday nite - can't miss patio time with the fambly!!)

Jarrett's dominating performance allowed him to slightly stretch his Points lead to 66 over Jeff Burton, and 94 over Bobby Labonte. Martin is fourth, 176 points down, with the Amazing Mr Stewart fifth, 331 points of the pace. Eighteen back of Tony, in sixth, is Jeff Gordon, who may have trouble gettin' outta that neighbourhood, if Dale, Jeff and Bobby continue the current script!

We'll all find out in the next act, at Pocono, next week, as we celebrate Father's Day in front of the TOOB...

See y'all there... From My Couch!!

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