Notes: Heat, accidents take toll on drivers at California

FONTANA, Calif. -- Forget the drivers when it comes to worrying about who can take the heat.

They're pampered compared to the crews who are supposed to take care of them and the cars they drive. Just ask Robbie Loomis, the former crew chief who now heads up the race operation at Petty Enterprises.

"Being an ex-crew chief, I used to always worry more about the crew than the driver," Loomis said prior to Sunday's Sharp Aquos 500 at California Speedway. "Nowadays we have a physical training [program] that works on them. They try to eat better on race day. We've even gotten to where we bring food to help the guys out.

Lap-by-Lap

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"It's always a concern. The biggest thing is to keep them hydrated and keep them in the shade as much as we can."

The good news Sunday was that the sun finally went down about 120 laps into the 250-lap event, cooling down the track and everything around it -- including, to at least a small extent, the crew members in their fire suits.

It was brutal on pit road until then, however, with temperatures reaching 109 degrees in the air and as high as 140 or more on the actual asphalt of the track. It remained a steamy 95 degrees even an hour after the sun went down.

And sure enough, some pit-crew members were seen not just hydrating themselves with water and Gatorade, but also consuming chunks of fruit such as watermelon that was kept chilled on ice just behind some pit boxes.

Loomis said he tried to prepare the crew members of the two Petty Enterprises teams for the day much, much earlier -- long before the race even started.

"It's such a long day," Loomis said. "You come here at 10 in the morning with the 105- to 108-degree heat. It's exhausting on the guys. Most of the time we encourage them to stay in the air conditioning [of the haulers] to stay as cool as they can. Usually I am trying to run them out of the truck -- but this is the one track, as hot as it is, I like them to stay as cool as they can."

The drivers, meanwhile, have pouches in their cockpits filled with as much as 120 ounces of fluids, usually Gatorade, and many also have special blowers added for races such as this one where they are sprayed with a mist much of the time.

He's in
Jeff Burton clinched a spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup with his fourth-place finish. But he seemed more excited about the likelihood that both of his Richard Childress Racing teammates -- Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick -- also appear to be near locks to get in with only next Saturday's race at Richmond remaining before the Chase commences.

"That's awesome," Burton said after being told he had clinched. "Clint looks really good for being in, too, and Harvick looks really good. That's our goal -- to get all three teams in, and hopefully we can do that. I honestly believe if we can get in, we've got a shot, and we can put some pressure on the [other teams]."

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.