Carl's Report of Dover

[Tom]

Talked to Carl, he said he wanted to call me to make sure you all didn't think he start and parked.

Carl wasn't paying that much attention to the guages when he was racing, because he obviously had a lot going on if you saw him racing in a pack in the back. So under that caution he was asked to check his guages, and he was shocked to see that water temp was up to 260 and oil to 280 degrees. He figured well maybe when he gets back to green the temps would fall down some, but they didn't. Steam and water started coming out of that spout on the hood that indicates that the engine is overheating. They had to pull it in or the engine was going to blow. With this happening only 25 laps into the race, there was no way it would last.

It turns out the main cause was the lower portion of the grill on the car was sealed off, and no air was going in there. Even if they opened the grill, there still was not a tube going to the radiator to cool it off. That along with the high air temperatures today did them in. This car is meant for bigger tracks like Lowes, where the lower grill is sealed off. Big tracks are all it has run at so far, so they did not think that this would happen. They could have done duct work on the car yesterday, but that takes a long time according to Carl, and he was happy with the way the car was handling as is, so he didn't want to mess with anything. Carl was looking at the big issue for tomorrow, which was getting the car to handle good, and it had been doing that. Why mess with a good thing? He said the car was fine yesterday in practice. Carl does not like getting in people's way, although they could have spent an hour or so putting a hole in the front of the car and installing ducts to cool things off where maybe it wouldn't overheat, but when that happens so early in the race, he'd be pissing people off either way running 30-40 laps down for 300 laps getting in other's way. And what happens when someone gets mad that Carl is holding them up, and decides to move Carl out of the way? Think of the consequences there, remember Rockingham? If this had happened midway through the race instead of only 20 laps in, Carl said he would have stuck it out there and hold out til the end. That's one thing you got to admire about Carl, he plays it smart and looks at the big picture of things.

If you were wondering why they stayed out under the caution, Carl said his car was handling so good, he thought he would be able to stay in the top 20 til the next caution where he would be able to get tires and run with the big guns up front. Carl sure would have not gone out front like he did if he was just going to park it.

Just a bad deal in the end, guys. Mistakes were made, but nobody is perfect. Just have to learn from them and move on.

Pocono should be pretty good. They should be taking this car they used today to Pocono. They don't think the engine got damaged today, but they wont know for sure til they get it back to the shop. They are going to get the Dodge ready incase they need to use it.    

[Philliez01]

Thanks, Tom and Carl.

Carl's Dodge, right?  Or one of the Penske's?

[LongTimeComing]

Tom,
Your post just goes to show why I am a Carl Long fan. How many cookie cutter drivers do you think
actually give a damn what their fans think? I would guess about ZERO.
Tom, tell Carl that Bryan from North Iredell was glad to see him up front for a short time today and
not to worry what people think. Real CL fans know he would never S&P.

[SDDuda]

It really was great to see Carl in the front today. I know that with a little help from sponser that he will be able to run with the big dogs all the time. Great job to Carl, Ryan Ray and all the guys at Mcglynn racing. You all make us proud.

[rickmastfan67]

Thanks for the post Tom!!!!

[DupontChev]

I don't really know if anything was mentioned about Carl, since the race was being interrupted every 5 minutes for storm warnings and such, but it was sure nice to see Carl hanging around there.  I was surprised and delighted at the same time to see Carl out there in second.  I was hoping Robby'd spin the tires or be slow getting going and give Carl room to get by.  I'd sure have loved to see Carl leading even if it was for a very limited amount of time!

[Tom]

Thanks, Tom and Carl.

Carl's Dodge, right?  Or one of the Penske's?

One of the Penske cars is what I was told the other day that they would use if this car used today couldnt be run.

[JustinG]

When are they actually going to finish a race? Or even get through a fourth of a race?

[SprinterFan]

Thanks Tom for a report from Carl.  I agree with some of you other guys.  TRUE Carl Long fans know he didn't start and park. 

[Tom]

When are they actually going to finish a race? Or even get through a fourth of a race?

Make worthwhile comments, please. This is your warning.

[DupontChev]

When are they actually going to finish a race? Or even get through a fourth of a race?

Whenever they break through the streak of lousy luck.  It seems like the McGlynn team is definitely learning alot, and I am more than certain they will be able to put everything they have learned so far into a good run without anything going sour on them sometime soon.

[MikeH]

When are they actually going to finish a race? Or even get through a fourth of a race?

Is this idiot day or something?

[rickmastfan67]

Is this idiot day or something?

I think it is. 

[MikeH]

Is this idiot day or something?

I think it is.

I'm really mad at what I'm seeing here today I have to say. I'm no fanboy and I'd hate it if this forum turned into a place where you could only talk about the team being all sunshine and lollypops but I get the feeling that people are just attacking for no good reason at the moment. The team is still young and they are finding out the hard way about a lot of engine and setup problems, but that's what any new team has to do.

There's a big sponsor coming, new Penske cars, almost a full season next year etc. Things look really promising for the future at the moment, let the guys get all the bugs worked out and most of all GIVE THEM TIME to develop. You have to learn to walk before you run and that's what this season is all about it seems. I'm behind them 100% and while there have been disappointments so far I'm sure better times are coming.

Thanks to Carl, Tom and the team for keeping us so up to date with what happened today. How many of the big teams will have done that for their fans?

[rickmastfan67]

I don't think any big teams would.