Michael Waltrip Racing - Darlington Raceway - Post Qualifying Report

David Reutimann secured his second consecutive top-five starting position during Coors Light Qualifying on Friday afternoon at Darlington Raceway. Reutimann was fourth fastest with a lap of 179.252 mph, 27.43 seconds. Reutimann and the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota will start Saturday night’s race on the outside of row two. Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota posted a lap of 176.075 mph, 27.93 seconds and will start 33rd.


Saturday night’s running of the Showtime Southern 500 gets underway on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM Satellite Radio 128 starting at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Friday Recap

• David Reutimann, Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - Qualified 4th, Second Row
• Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - Qualified 33rd
• Jamie McMurray won the Coors Light Pole Award with a time of 27.26.
• Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers, Reutimann and Mark Martin round out the top-five
• JTG-Daugherty Racing driver Marcos Ambrose qualified the No. 47 Toyota 7th
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Qualified: 4th, Second Row

How difficult is it to qualify at Darlington? “This place is pretty intense. Man, it gets your attention. I’ll tell you, our lap was great because we weren’t all that good in practice and never really got a good mock run like we needed. The speeds just kept going up and up as the shade goes down. My teammate, Marcos Ambrose, rolled out a backup car and qualified like that. That’s how well the cars are prepared at Michael Waltrip Racing. I don’t know that we’ll stay there, I think it will get knocked down a couple spots, but hopefully it will be decent.”