Notes: Heat, accidents take toll on drivers at California (cont'd)

Mr. Big
Michael Waltrip made an early exit when he said his No. 55 Toyota got clipped by the No. 88 Ford of Ricky Rudd, causing a tire to start rubbing and then blow as he got into Turn 3 on Lap 40. When the tire blew, it clipped an oil line in the car and caused the machine to burst into flames (watch video).

Waltrip struggled to get out of the car after it rolled to a stop in the grass of the infield off Turn 4. It looked like some flames got into the cockpit, but after a trip to the infield care center he said that it must have looked worse on television than it was in reality.

"I think it looked a whole lot worse than it was, because it really didn't get that hot in there," Waltrip said. "The crew does such a great job of keeping that insulated inside there. They did such a great job of sealing up the interior."

Asked about his struggle to get out of the car, the lanky Waltrip joked: "I tried to get out in a hurry. I've tried to practice it at the shop, but I have to get my helmet off to get out of there. I'm just too big. That's why I'm glad the Car of Tomorrow is here. It'll give me a little more room."

Blame the spotter
Robby Gordon didn't take the blame for the demise of his No. 7 Ford, which went spinning off into the infield after making contact with the No. 07 Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer on Lap 94 of Sunday's event (watch video). He placed it all squarely on the shoulders of his spotter.

"It was my spotter's fault," Gordon said. "He didn't tell me somebody was on the outside and I drifted up. I had the 41 [of Reed Sorensen] on the inside. I saw him, but I never saw Bowyer come around on the outside. About the time I hit Bowyer, he was like, 'Somebody is on the outside.' I was like, 'It's too late.

"I had a good racecar. I was really good 10 laps in. We weren't very good for the first 10 [of a run]. We were too loose, but once the tire temperatures got up and stuff got going, we were fine. That last run there, we almost passed Tony [Stewart] for 10th -- so we could easily run in the top 10. It's just unfortunate that we're gonna take a big hit in the points like this."

Rudd OK
Preliminary reports on Rudd, who made his 900th career Cup start Sunday, were that he has an injured left shoulder after the additional wreck that took him out of the Sharp Aquos 500 on Lap 179. Rudd had exited the car holding what appeared to be his left arm (watch video). He was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.