Reutimann Continues MWR Rise at Dover

A five-day span of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing couldn't have any better for David Reutimann and his suddenly surging Michael Waltrip Racing.

Friday afternoon, the driver of the No. 00 Toyota scored the pole for Sunday's Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Raceway, just days after his Monday win in the rain-delayed and then shortened Coca-Cola 600.

And to hear Reutimann tell the story earlier this week, there was a time when this type of success for MWR was not only unexpected, but the whole operation of MWR appeared to on the brink of closure.

"I think a lot of people forget just how bad our first year and a half were," said Reutimann. "It was dismal. It was just brutal being the Top-35 and trying to qualify for every race. The car counts were much higher than they were today and sometimes we missed races."

To paint a picture as to how bad things got for the MWR team during its inaugural Sprint Cup season in 2007, the same race that Reutimann won last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway saw two of three MWR teams fail to start the event in 2007.

Slowly, though, the tide started to change for the team, with Waltrip's never-quit attitude leading the way.

"That Michael Waltrip-type attitude just kept at it," said Reutimann. "He just kept going. He knew he had too much invested just to let it go. He believed in the program even on the darkest days, and eventually we just started fighting out of that funk."

The results then started to show themselves.

"Next thing you knew, you were starting to run the Top-20 on a regular basis and that was a big deal at the time," said Reutimann. "Then you start sliding in there and getting a Top-15, then a Top-10. It was definitely baby steps, but it was certainly happening at the right time."

With those results and a promise for a continued march to success came some sponsors, including the full-time Aaron's on the hood of Reutimann's car in 2009. Prior to the season, the furniture rental company had signed up for just a half season before Waltrip went to convince company president Ken Butler to sign up for the remaining races, believing Reutimann could find victory lane.

And so, Reutimann made good on that word at LMS to earn a huge 250-pound trophy for the 50th-edition of the 600. Things are looking up, obviously, at Dover as well.

"This win means such a huge amount to so many people because so many of them in the shop have been there through the course of that whole thing from the beginning to now," said Reutimann. "I know its fulfilling to me, but its very fulfilling to them and they know those 18 to 20 hour days have been paying off when they walk by that trophy."

As if the past two weeks of Sprint Cup racing haven't been memorable enough for Reutimann, next Wednesday he'll be tackling what promises to be a fun event -- Tony Stewart's dirt track event for charity, the Prelude to the Dream.



It wasn't easy for Reutimann to score a ride in that event either.

"The thing is, I've found that if finally just bother Tony Stewart enough that he relents and finally lets me come race," said Reutimann. "It's just such a great event -- I mean, I don't even know if I can put it into words how much fun it is and how successful the whole program is. The amount of money they raise, the crowd that shows up and the number of drivers that show up."

"If I had my way, 30 of our races would be on the dirt track, and the rest would be whatever we could find."

Judging by the past two weeks, though, he might want to include Dover and Charlotte on that list.