Crewman's chase of tire changes race's complexion

HAMPTON, Ga. -- The entire complexion of Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway appeared to change in an instant when, during green-flag pit stops on Lap 67, a tire escaped the pit box of Marcos Ambrose and started rolling toward the frontstretch straightaway.

Matt Kenseth said the caution helped him more than it hurt him.

Lap 67 confusion

When Jimmy Watts chased down a loose wheel from pit road, a caution trapped several drivers down a lap ... or more.

• Lap-by-Lap: Atlanta
• Video: Crew member miscue

The real surprise came when Jimmy Watts, the gas man for the No. 47 Toyota driven by Ambrose, chased the loose tire into the grassy median between the track and pit road -- at one point coming within about 70 feet of actually going onto the track while cars were still churning around it at speeds approaching 200 mph.

A caution flag flew immediately, catching several cars on pit road and immediately putting them one lap down -- or in the case of some that already were a lap down, it left them two laps down. At least partially as a result, at one point with less than a third of the race completed, only nine cars were left running on the lead lap and just 17 were within one lap of the leader.

Watts was suspended from competition for the remainder of the afternoon by NASCAR for "putting himself in harm's way," according to NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp. The teams adversely affected by the incident simply were left to deal with the unexpected setback as best they could.

"I just heard about it. I didn't see it," said Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford. "If there's a tire in the infield, they're probably going to throw the caution, too, eventually, and let everybody cycle through.

"Maybe he's new. Maybe he's hasn't seen us drive, but we tend to wreck a lot. I wouldn't want to be out in the middle of that grass."

Kenseth refused to blame his afternoon struggles on the incident, however. In fact, he insisted that it may have helped him in the long run. (Continued)