David Reutimann - Martinsville Sprint Cup Series Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — The fast relief of TUMS may be just what the doctor ordered for David Reutimann’s team after the last two races left the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Toyota crew feeling a little bit of heartburn and indigestion. Reutimann raced in the top-five before mechanical issues forced early exits at Atlanta and Bristol.

This week the MWR team works overtime to end its run of bad luck. Reutimann and crew will take part in a two-day open test at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to the historic .526-mile Martinsville Speedway in Virginia for the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500. Crew Chief Rodney Childers’ team led 18 laps at Martinsville in October before finishing 16th.

DID YOU KNOW: Reutimann and the No. 00 team have finished 20th or better in 15 of the last 19 Sprint Cup races. Prior to Bristol, the No. 00 team had not recorded consecutive finishes outside the top 30 since a two-race stretch that included a 37th-place finish at Talladega on Oct. 5, 2008 and a 32nd-place finish on Oct. 11, 2008 at Charlotte - a 41 race stretch.

CREW CHIEF RODNEY CHILDERS QUOTES

ON POSITIVES HAVE YOU TAKEN AWAY FROM THE LAST TWO RACES: “The one thing that I have noticed is that it seems like all of us on the No. 00 team have been communicating better than we ever have before. The communication is better as a team and everyone is working together and making smart changes.

“Sometimes you get into a situation at the racetrack where the car isn’t very good and you just kind of throw stuff at it and we haven’t done that lately. We’ve been making really smart changes and making the car better every time.

“David (Reutimann) is giving better feedback than he ever has, so while luck hasn’t gone our way and we’ve had some mechanical deals, as far as the team being where it needs to be - we are where we need to be. It’s just that we pretty much gave away two top-fives in the last two races, so that’s a little hard to take. We should be fourth in points and instead we’re 24th, so we have to work hard and fight back."

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN THE CHARLOTTE TEST: “There is a lot of things that we need to work through. We don’t ever really get a chance to test on an intermediate track that we actually race on with the tires we run on and all that kind of stuff, so it’s a pretty important test for everybody. We’ve got a lot of things that we’ve been wanting to try, so it’s important from that stand point. We want to get used to working with the new spoiler and trying to see what impact that’ll have on the racing.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Reutimann is scheduled to visit the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Center during the open test session on Wednesday at 12:20 p.m.

Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00 Toyota Camry is featuring TUMS as the primary sponsor at Martinsville Speedway, the second of five primary paint schemes this season. The TUMS Toyota made its debut at Las Vegas and also will appear at Chicago, New Hampshire-2 and Phoenix-2.

In Atlanta, Reutimann snapped a streak of five consecutive top-15 finishes dating back to Phoenix of last year. During that span Reutimann recorded one top-five (fifth at Daytona) and two top-10s (Daytona; 10th at Phoenix ).

Reutimann ended his streak of 44 consecutive races without a DNF at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 7th. Reutimann retired to the garage just past the half-way point of the Kobalt Tools 500 while racing in the sixth position. It was the longest active streak in the Sprint Cup Series. Prior to last week, Reutimann’s last DNF came on Oct. 5, 2008 at Talladega Superspeedway.