Michael Waltrip Racing - Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway - Post Race Report

Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - Finished 27th - now 24th in points.


David Reutimann, No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - Finished 40th - now 18th in points.

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary: No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota was en route to a top-10 finish during Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the first of two green-white-checkered-flag finishes took Martin Truex Jr. out of contention when he was struck by Mark Martin and Denny Hamlin on lap 332. Crew chief Pat Tryson gambled and kept his driver out on the final restart. However, the damage was too much for Truex to keep up the pace. He was forced to limp home in 27th place, after an impressive run that saw him race in the top 10 for the final 100 laps of competition.
Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota

• Ran in top-20 during the first half of the race as the car was “pushy loose”

• Final 100 laps saw the No. 56 come to life and charge into the top-10

• Was running sixth in the closing laps before being caught up in a wreck on lap 332 during the first of two attempts at a green-white-checker finish

• The No. 56 Toyota was damaged, but limped home 27th to finish the race

• The NAPA AUTO PARTS pit crew won the Tissot Pit Crew Precision Award for the second consecutive week.
• The NAPA team turned in all sub 13-second stops

TRUEX QUOTE: “Pat Tryson and the guys worked on the car all day and got my NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota in contention for a great finish. The restart on lap 331 got ugly and we did all we could to miss a wreck in front of us, but we got caught up in it. It’s a shame this happen to us. We deserved a lot better finish than what we actually got.”

“I have to hand it to my pit crew again. They were unbelievable on pit road. They won the Tissot Pit Crew Precision Award last week and they deserve it again.”

David Reutimann Race Summary: Tough luck spoils what was looking to be an outstanding day for David Reutimann and the No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine. Reutimann started the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in ninth and experienced a difficult handling condition that dropped the No. 00 to the 26th position within the first 30 laps. When Reutimann came to pit road on lap 36 Rodney Childers called for several adjustments that made the car come to life on the restart. Reutimann soon found himself back among the top-10 and battling to crack the top-five on the restart on lap 164. Reutimann soon began to experience overheating which eventually ended his day prematurely.

David Reutimann, No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota

• Reutimann started ninth and finished 38th

• Reutimann battled a handling issue that dropped him to 26th

• The No. 00 pit crew made adjustments under caution on lap 36 that helped the condition

• The No. 00 raced it’s way back through the field up to the sixth position by a restart on lap 164

• The No. 00 experienced overheating on lap 166 and retired from the race

• Today marked Reutimann’s first “Did Not Finish” since Oct. 5, 2008 at Talladega—the longest such streak in the Sprint Cup Series (44 races)
REUTIMANN QUOTE: “It’s just a real frustrating deal. We had a good Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine and we were starting to have a pretty good day. The car wasn’t where we wanted it at the start of the race, but Rodney Childers and the crew kept working on it and got it up into the top-10 and we were closing in on the top-five. It turned what could have been a great day into a very disappointing day.”


RACE NOTES:

• Kurt Busch won the Kobalt Tools 500 over Matt Kenseth in the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish

• Kenseth, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard rounded out the top-five

• Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 26 points over Matt Kenseth

• The race featured 11 cautions for 53 laps and lasted four hours

• NASCAR estimated the race attendance at 85,000

• The Sprint Cup Series is off next weekend and will return at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21, 2010