September 3, 2005 (Fontana, CA)
Michael Waltrip and his crew brought the Aaron’s Dream Machine to the California Speedway for the NASCAR Busch Series race Saturday evening. There were 49 cars trying to make the 43-car field under the warm California sun..
There were two practices Friday afternoon and the crew worked hard trying to find the right setup for the Dream Machine. Much of the first practice was used exploring different chassis setups and Crew Chief Butch Hylton tried several shock absorber and spring combinations hoping to make the car turn better through the corners of the 2-mile D-shaped oval. Michael reported that the car was too loose and that the rear end of the car wanted to come around and spin out. When the first practice ended at 2:20 PM, the Dream Machine was in the 37th position.
The second practice started at 3:20 PM under the midday sun and the car was still loose through the turns but the crew hit on something when they shifted lead weights more toward the front of the car. By the end of the second practice, Waltrip was 18th fastest and pleased with the setup.
Qualifying started at noon on Saturday and the Dream Machine was the 25th car to go out. Several cars that went before him had picked up speed and set some very fast times on the board. As Waltrip took the green flag at full speed and barreled into turn one, the car washed up the track and Michael had his hands full. He reported, “Loose, loose, loose!”as he went down the backstretch.
Watching Michael on the large television screens on the infield, the crew knew his times were not going to be good. Waltrip almost spun out coming out of turn two on his second lap and had to let up on the throttle. His best time of the two qualifying laps was 41.13 seconds and put him at the bottom of list. NASCAR rules state that NEXTEL Cup drivers racing in the Busch Series must be one of the top-35 fastest, and that time was not good enough to make the top-35.
It was the first race the Busch Series Dream Machine failed to make this season and Michael and the crew were extremely disappointed with how things worked out. The crew held their heads high as they loaded the car back into the hauler, but the disappointment was obvious. All their hard work was for naught.
The next Busch Series Dream Machine race will be Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC October 14.
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