'A long night' at LMS from viewpoint of 00 war wagon

The Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway is just moments old, and already, there's a flurry of discussion taking place on top of David Reutimann's war wagon. In the stands, flashbulbs are still popping like so many mad fireflies.

After starting the race 20th in the middle of the pack, Reutimann has slapped the wall between Turns 3 and 4 on the very first lap of the race. Almost instantly, crew chief Frank Kerr is on the radio and asking about the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota's steering.

00 crew chief Frank Kerr

For the rest of the night, the top of this war wagon is command central, an exercise in crisis management. Then again, it's those things, and more, in every other race of the season. Things happen quick up here.

Down below, Reutimann's crew stands on pit wall, waiting in what appears to be quite nervous anticipation. They shift from one foot to the other, they move, they squat, they twist. And then here comes Reutimann, tearing into pit stall 31, to the Turn 4 side of the start-finish line. There's damage to the right front of the car, and Kerr orders the crew into action.

"I want everybody over there pulling on that fender," he says, and from the tone of his voice, it's clear that it's not a question. Taking on fresh right-side tires -- how worn could they be, just two or three laps into the race? -- Reutimann beats the pace car off pit road to stay on the lead lap.

The problem is not fixed. After rejoining the field, Reutimann calls in with more bad news.

"It's dragging the track real bad," he tells Kerr and anybody else who happens to be listening. NASCAR waves off the green flag, allowing Reutimann to make another stop. Again, Kerr is in field-marshal mode, imploring the over-the-wall guys to get the damaged fender away from the right-front tire.

Reutimann comes onto pit road, and Kerr counts down the stalls as he will on every stop for the rest of the night, "Five ... four ... three ... two ... one. Keep the wheels straight and your foot on the brake." The crew leaps into action and does what it can to get its car back into better working order. On the restart, Reutimann is 43rd, dead last.

"Keep digging," Kerr tells his rookie driver. "Maybe we'll catch a caution."

Lap 12

NASCAR inspector Lou Williams climbs halfway up the ladder on the war wagon to talk with Kerr. They finish their discussion, and Kerr is back on the radio with Reutimann. He asks if the repairs and chassis adjustments they've made have done any good.

They haven't.

"It's not getting any better at all," Reutimann says, the frustration in his voice clearly evident. Four laps later, he is more than three seconds behind the next-to-last-place car and more than 22 behind leader Jimmie Johnson. This ... this is not good. Finally, Reutimann and Kerr catch a break when David Ragan hits the frontstretch wall.

"We got our caution," Kerr radios Reutimann.

On pit road, Dave Blaney and his Bill Davis Racing team are situated one stall behind Reutimann. Blaney comes in and stops at an odd angle, forcing Reutimann to take an even worse approach into his assigned space. In the process ... good Lord ... he couldn't have missed Blaney's jackman, Kyle Roland, by six inches. If that. (Continued)