David Reutimann - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver David Reutimann says racing and working on cars is the only business he’s ever known. Growing up, Reutimann followed his father Emil “Buzzie” Reutimann, a hall of fame dirt track racer, up and down the east coast racing at small town tracks and living off purse money. Now the roles are reversed and 69-year-old Buzzie follows his son from track to track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. Two weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway Buzzie stuck his head into David’s car window seconds after he pulled into victory lane to share a very special moment.

QUOTES

BUZZIE REUTIMANN ON DAVID’S CHICAGO WIN: “People want you to put into words what it feels like to watch your son win a race at the highest level, but I don’t think there are really words that can describe that feeling. We can sit and talk about winning races all night long, but it’s the ones we lose we don’t want to talk about a whole lot. It was just a great victory. I know that when David won that Coke 600 that he always felt that it was sort of a “gimmie” and he was living with that. I know when he won that race in Chicago that the weight of the world came off his shoulders - you could just tell the relief in him. The first thing I said to him when I stuck my head in the car in victory lane was, ‘Tonight we did it kid! There was no rain in sight and it was all about the racing.’ I said, ‘You whipped them all! Tonight we’re the best!’ but I think it took a couple days for it all to sink in.”

BUZZIE REUTIMANN ON THE SHOW OF RESPECT FROM OTHER DRIVERS: “The other drivers coming over and congratulating David meant just as much as winning the race to me. When Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards came to victory lane—and even back in the garage where they were working on the cars—all the guys on the other team came and offered congratulations. Getting the respect from the other drivers means a lot. You race guys like you want to be raced and that makes a big difference because if you start roughing guys up it’s going to come back to you—I taught him that. I told him don’t go out there and run over somebody because you’re likely to get run over the next time. David’s been pretty smart about that.”

PRESS CONFERENCE: Michael Waltrip Racing will make an announcement regarding the No. 00 team at noon Friday in the Economaki Press Conference Room at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Reutimann & Waltrip will be available to media after the announcement.

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Only Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton have a better average finish than Reutimann (11.6) in the last 10 races. Reutimann is tied with Denny Hamlin during that span.

• In the last 10 point races, Reutimann has scored 1,341 points - sixth most of any driver and moved from 27th in points to 15th. The 12-position gain is the largest gain among any driver over that span — Tony Stewart gained the second most positions at +6.

• Reutimann currently has the longest streak of consecutive lead laps finishes at 11 races. He has finished on the lead lap in 15 or 16 races that he was running at the finish and 15 out of 19 total races in 2010.

• Reutimann led 52 laps in his win at Chicagoland Speedway—the second highest total of any race in his career (Best, 104 laps at Richmond in fall 2008). He has collected 25 bonus points for leading laps in five of the 11 races. Reutimann has one win, three top-fives and nine top-15 finishes during that span.

• Reutimann has finished 20th or better in 14 of the 15 races that he has been running at the finish in 2010—and 15th or better in 11 of the 15.