Michael Waltrip Racing - Las Vegas - Post Race Report

• David Reutimann, No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry - Finished 13th - now ninth in points.


• Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPAGold Filters Toyota Camry - Finished 20th - now 21st in points.

David Reutimann Race Summary: David Reutimann continued his exciting start to the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season posting a 13th-place finish Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Added to his fifth and 15th-place finishes in the first two races, today’s finish moves the Michael Waltrip Racing driver to ninth in the 2010 points race. The TUMS Toyota never ventured far outside the top 15 throughout the 267-lap race on the 1.5-mile oval. A blazing pace set by the leaders saw Reutimann fall off the lead lap in the final 60 laps of the race. But a timely caution with about 40 laps remaining enabled the Florida native to claim the Aaron’s Lucky Dog and return to the lead lap. Reutimann and the No. 00 return to action Sunday in Atlanta.

David Reutimann, No. 00 TUMS Toyota

• Leader Jeff Gordon lapped Reutimann—who was tenth at the time he was lapped—on lap 211—only ten cars were on the lead lap at that point.

• He earned the Aaron’s Lucky Dog on lap 232.

• The No. 00 pit crew turned the second quickest time of all the cars pitting around the 200-lap mark.

• Sunday marked Reutimann’s 102nd Sprint Cup race. He finished fourth here in 2009.

• David Reutimann and the No. 00 TUMS Toyota were named the Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race

REUTIMANN QUOTE: “We just seemed to be off today. There were times we got the TUMS Toyota pretty decent but it seemed like track position was everything. The guys did a great job on pit road. We had some great pit stops. We worked on the car and made it better. We just couldn’t get up to where we needed to be. We’d give up something at the start of a run then gain it back in the end. At the end of the race, we didn’t have the amount of laps we needed to try to put together anything that would have been pretty good so we ended up 13th.”
Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary: Martin Truex Jr. battled a cooling track and some ultrafast competitors Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before finishing 20th. Truex started at the back of the field after a mechanical issue hampered his qualifying run on Friday. He climbed into the top 15 but struggled to get his NAPAGold Filters Toyota to handle in the corners. He fell down a lap to the leaders on lap 170. He and Crew Chief Pat Tryson took some big swings to improve the handling throughout the race. Truex is now 21st in points.
Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Gold Toyota

• Truex and Crew Chief Pat Tryson worked on the No. 56 NAPAGold Filters Toyota’s handling throughout the race.

• Truex battled in the top 15 most of the race but fell down a lap to leader Jeff Gordon on lap 170 while racing in 17th.

• The No. 56 regained lost lap by taking the wave-around pass with about 30 laps remaining and stayed on the lead lap for the duration of the race.

• Pat Tryson told the crew: “If you keep doing that on pit road each week we are going to win some races.”

• Truex said Las Vegas was the toughest track for him while next week’s track in Atlanta is his best.
TRUEX QUOTE: “It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. Vegas is by far my toughest track so we’ll just keep working on it. We were just a little off all weekend. We struggled to find grip all day and then I’d get tight in the middle. My guys kept me up there. We were awesome again on pit road. Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks so we’ll rebound for sure.”
RACE NOTES:

• Jimmie Johnson passed teammate Jeff Gordon in the closing laps to win his second consecutive race.

• Kevin Harvick finished second and Gordon third followed by Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth

• Leaders lapped all but 12 cars in the first 200 laps.

• A caution with 35 laps remaining saw nine drivers take the wave around pass and get back on lead lap.

• Several drivers served pass through penalties for speeding on pit lane.

• Race experienced two cautions for malfunctioning caution lights. Track cooled throughout the race posing handling challenges to the race teams.

• The race featured 18 lead changes among nine drivers

• The race lasted approximately two hours, 50 minutes

• NASCAR’s estimated race attendance was announced at 150,000