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6/16/98 22:46
Miller Lite 400 14 June 1998 Michigan Speedway
Here is my Miller 400 UCAP, I hope my rambling makes some sense.
Day One:
Hit the road at 8:00am from IL and head to the track for qualifying. The trip is uneventful and we made it on time to catch all of qualifying and some of IROC practice. This would be the first "live" NASCAR action my two boys would see. DJ was the man to beat early. When WB took the pole my youngest was bummed, he's a DJ fan. The PA announcer said Earnhardt missed his qual slot due to the crew changing engines. I guess the change didn't help much. When WB took the pole RW was moved into row two beside JG. The crowd liked that idea, I guess everyone was looking for a rematch.
After quals were over we decided to head to our motel in Ohio. Just
as we left the stands the PA announcer asked everybody to leave the stands
due to a severe thunderstorm warning. As we headed south that warning turned
into a tornado warning! :-O I felt sorry for the in-laws that were camping,
no damage done. We got back to the motel in time to watch the Bulls lose.
:-(
Day Two:
We, my wife and boys, decide to skip the ARCA and IROC race and spend the $120 at the track trailers. We bought some T-shirts and a program. I was undecided on some scanner headphones so we walked around to the administration building for a photo of the pace car and the "kids next to car, parents next to car" shots. We ventured over to an opening in the black curtain around the fence where last year we could watch some of WC practice. From there you can see the exit of turn two, the backstretch and most of turns 3 and 4. We stood a good distance from the fence to avoid attracting attention. Within 5 minutes a guard came and made all of us leave the area. We headed back to the scanner trailers to buy some headphones and that's when we heard the big news that RW wrecked DE. I made my purchase and turned on the scanner to get some details. It was then I learned that the backup car would be in the race Sunday. My oldest was bummed now, he's a DE fan.
We decided to head back to the motel and get ready for our 4:00am
departure.
Day Three - Race Day:
We arrive at the track at 6:00am and Penske's goons make us park in a spot that helped me make a decision later in the day. We were parked outside of gate 31 near the stands we would be sitting in. We fire up the grill and make some breakfast, which took forever. We're parked next to a guy that claims he's there courtesy of Miller and that his buddy spots for RW. He proceeds to tell me that this buddy was the reason RW hit JG and that it was an intentional hit called by the spotter, whatever.
After eating eating we sit back and wait until it's time to head to our seats. We arrive at our seats, Stand 4 section 80 row 15 seats 24-27, I took seat 24 for good luck. We sit through a pretty amazing aerobatics show put on by two small planes (sorry, I'm not a plane fanatic so I don't know what they were). During driver intros I believe RW did indeed demand the most BOOS, JG was a close second as expected.
The race... I for one enjoyed the first 118 laps as JG dominated. I even liked the little gesture of not letting RW back on the lead lap. The boys were pretty into it and DE was putting on quite a show. The side-by-side battles in the corners are a lot of fun to watch and the guy with the advantage on the backstretch isn't always able to keep that advantage coming out of turn 4. I noticed MM had been gaining on JG all race long and I knew he was going to make it tough. When the debris caution flew I, like many others, figured it was a phantom debris thing. After MM took control I began to focus more on making sure the boys were having fun. I gave them the scanner and my oldest son commented about a guy that kept saying "inside, inside, inside". It was RW's spotter, that's about all he said ALL race long as RW was passed by just about everyone on the track.
Due to the parking arrangements mentioned earlier, we left shortly after DJ grabbed 2nd from JG. We figured it was our best shot of avoiding the LONG delays leaving the facility. It worked, we were well on our way home within half an hour. I hated the thought of missing the last 2 or 3 laps but it was better than years past sitting in traffic for hours. :-)
Penske improvements:
Jumbotron TVs in the T1 and T4 infield, those sure were nice! I don't recall the PA speakers lining the catch fence in years past so I chalked it up as an improvement. We could actually hear the PA announcer! The infield campers actually lowered their flags to avoid restricted views of the backstretch.
I'd say that Penske is getting closer to showing he cares about Michigan
and the fans that attend those races. I feel much better about returning
next year with my family.
Scanner Bites (as best as I recall):
...after the debris caution...
JG: "What's the caution for?"
RE: "Debris on the backstretch."
JG: "I saw the 23 throw something out the window."
RE: "The 40 car lost part of a tailpipe."
JG: "I saw that but it's off the track. I saw the 23 throw something out the window"
RE: <something about pitting and the caution>
JG: "I saw the 23 throw something out the window."
...after the CAT wreck...
JG spotter: "wreck in 1 & 2, it's in the middle of the track, go high"
...after going high
JG: "Why was I one of the only one's that went high?"
??: "I was just relaying the message"
JG: "Now how am I going to get all of this shit off of my tires"
RE: "Just do the best you can, scrub them as much as you can, we should be OK"
Note, JG was scrubbing wildly and he almost passed the pace car in T3 while accelerating. I felt the caution was extended for some reason, could it have been extra scrubbing time?
...later in the race...
??: "Now all we need is someone to back it into the fence"
??: "I'll take care of it for you"
Nothing happened so I don't know what was up with that.
-Steve
--
Steve Heitke
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