Reutimann Dissapointed After 29th Place Finish at Darlington

DARLINGTON, SC (May 9, 2009) Like a repeat of last weeks Richmond race, David Reutimann finished laps down from the leaders in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway after late contact with a lapped down car ended a sure top-ten finish in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Michael Waltrip Racing No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine. Running tenth after a restart on lap 228, the No. 96 of Bobby Labonte made contact with the No. 31 and the Dream Machine and sent Reutimann hard into the turn two wall. The damage was substantial and the crew worked hard to keep Reutimann on the track, but making several pit stops for repairs cost the team valuable positions and Reutimann would endure to finish 29th, 20-laps down from race winner Mark Martin.

After again having one of the fastest cars at the start of the weekend, Reutimann made contact with the wall late in the first practice and required the team to bring out the backup car. The backup turned out to be just as capable as the primary, but Reutimann would not press the issue during the second practice and Fridays qualifying session and would start the 367-lap Southern 500 in the 21st position.

Wanting more front grip through the turns early in the race, Reutimann would move forward while racing long green-flag runs during the first 100-laps and broke into the top-ten on lap 102. Crew Chief Rodney Childers ordered several chassis changes and air pressure adjustments during the first several pit stops which helped the handling enough where the Dream Machine moved into fifth on lap-196, but that would be the highest Reutimann would advance all evening.

After a slow pit stop on lap 216, Reutimann was pushed back to 14th but had moved back to tenth when the contact occurred with Labonte 12 laps later. No caution was called when the Dream Machine hit the wall and the damage caused Reutimann to quickly fall back through the field. It would be another 33-laps before a caution flag came out and Reutimann could bring the car to pit road for the first series of repairs.

Upon closer inspection in the pits by the crew, the one-half of the front splitter had been sheered off, the right-rear quarter panel was crumpled and the right front wheel was skewed out making the Dream Machine quite difficult to control. It would take eight pit stops to make the car drivable and Reutimann did a commendable job wheeling the injured Dream Machine to the checkers. Staying out on the track for those final 100-plus laps helped Reutimann advance four spots in the finishing order, which gained him valuable championship points. However, the disappointing finish dropped the team two more positions in the championship race to 15th.

“I can’t say how disappointed I am.” Reutimann said after the race. “This is the second week in a row where we get taken out by a lapped car. I know everyone is racing hard for every position they can get, but you have to let the lead-lap cars race. You see it just about every race these days. I just hate it for my guys. They brought me another fast car…two cars actually, and we have nothing to show for it. We’ll just see if we can get it done next week in Charlotte.”

The Sprint Cup Series will celebrate the All Star Challenge at Lowe’s Motor Speedway next Saturday night. The All Star Challenge is a non-points race that is based on a “winner take all” format. It produces some of the most exciting racing of the year as competitors not locked into the Challenge via for a spot during the Open then give their all in the big money All Star Challenge. You can help David Reutimann be a lock for the main event if you vote for him every day, several timers per day, at www.nascar.com/allstar as the fans have the opportunity to vote one driver into the Challenge.