Motorsports FanHouse

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pep Boys Auto 500

Geoffrey Miller — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:22:00 EST

Filed under: Bobby Labonte, David Gilliland, David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup

After a slip-sliding affair in the Peach State on Sunday night, here's some Notes & Quotes from NASCAR's newest Labor Day tradition.

You've got to hand it to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sunday night's race looked and felt like a breath of fresh air into the venue that has long seen attendance woes -- even while the racing has generally been well above par. Estimates from media and drivers alike put the crowd much larger than the track has seen in years.

The on-track action -- thanks mostly to a tire that wore down and slowed the cars during a run -- was second to none with some 31 lead changes. You've got to bet track president Ed Clark has a big smile on his face this week because Labor Day weekend really clicked with the 1.54-mile track.

David Reutimann finished a strong 4th driving an ultra-cool camouflage-painted No. 00, but it wasn't an easy process.

"We just had one set of tires on the car that the car didn't like very much," said Reutimann, echoing the sentiment of many drivers. "We just kept coming in and working on it. The guys did a great job. I'm really proud. We have run so bad here in the past. It really feels almost like a win."

Reutimann, of course, got his first win at the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 in May and has picked up 5 top-5s and 8 top-10s in 2009 -- both career highs.

Strangely, three big favorites heading into Sunday night's race finished all in consecutive positions -- but at the back.

Jimmie Johnson and his three AMS wins finished 36th thanks to a broken axle and lock nut that forced repairs, Carl Edwards finished a lap further back than Johnson in 37th due to debris causing damage to the oil lines and Kurt Busch smacked the turn four wall after getting loose to finish 38th. Busch dominated and won the spring AMS event.

Bobby Labonte was dropped for seven races from Yates Racing due to sponsorship issues just before Atlanta, but the track came through yet again for the Texan after he picked up a last-minute ride from TRG Motorsports.

Labonte drove the No. 71 to an 18th-place finish -- his personal best since a 12th-place at Charlotte in May -- and topped Erik Darnell by 12 positions. Darnell's sponsorship put him in Labonte's normal No. 96 car for Atlanta.

David Gilliland has driven that No. 71 regularly in 2009, but the shuffle with Labonte ended up with Gilliland subbing for a somewhat-injured Bill Elliott in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. Elliott had a dirtbike accident last week that injured his ribs.

Gilliland finished just behind Labonte in 19th, but was elated after the race about his experience with crew chief David Hyder.

"He's a racer and he believes what you're telling him in the race car, which is helpful, and that's awesome," said Gilliland. "Everybody was awesome to work with. We made great adjustments and everytime I told him what it was doing we came in and the tire-pressure builds said exactly the same thing as I was saying, so we were on the same page all night."

Gilliland is looking for a full-time ride in 2010.

Jeff Gordon may have summed the night up best after his 8th-place run that saw him both lead and struggle to stay in contention at different points during the 500-miler.

"It was really crazy. There were a lot of things going on. I can't even keep up with all the different things that happened," said Gordon. "There were times I thought we had the car to beat then I thought we were going to go a lap down. We were trying to keep up with the changing conditions whether it was track, tires or whatever it was. Man, we were all over the place and never could seem to find any consistency."

Kyle Busch skirted a chance to talk with the media in post-race, but crew chief Steve Addington left the No. 18 team's goal simple for next weekend at Richmond where they'll face a 37-point deficit to make the Chase.

"We got to go there and win and let the chips fall where they may," said Addington after Busch's 13th-place finish. "We've been working hard -- nothing we can do now. We can't control what everybody else does we can only control what we do. We need to go to Richmond and win the race."

The last time he said that was at Michigan after a dismal day for Busch. Busch won the very next race at Bristol, just two weeks ago.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pep Boys Auto 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:22:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pennsylvania 500

Geoffrey Miller — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:53:00 EST

Filed under: Bobby Labonte, David Reutimann, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson

After a rain-soaked weekend at Pocono Raceway, here's some ramblings from the race that was the Pennsylvania 500.

David Reutimann took a big hit in his chances of making the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Pocono and Wednesday he was still "mad as heck" at Denny Hamlin for spinning the No. 00 late in the race.

"Everybody's capable of making mistakes," said Reutimann. "I'm a forgiving guy if he sincerely apologizes or says he was in the wrong. [...] In the end I'm still confused at why it happened. It wasn't just one shot. It was multiple shots."

At the time, Reutimann was running in the top-10, but finished 29th due to significant damaged he suffered after spinning into semi-teammate Marcos Ambrose thanks to the contact Hamlin provided coming off of turn 3.

The wreck resulted in Reutimann dropping three spots to 16th in the standings, and from 68 points from the Chase cut to 121 points out with five races until the cutoff.

Excessive levels of carbon monoxide nearly sidelined Richard Petty Motorsports driver Reed Sorenson from this weekend's road course event at Watkins Glen, but the team said today he'll be good to go.

Sorenson's car apparently allowed a good bit of the dangerous gas to enter his cockpit during the 500-miler at Pocono.

Prior to that announcement, though, former Formula 1 driver, Indianapolis 500 champ and part-time stock car driver Jacques Villeneuve was being eyed by RPM to fill his seat for the weekend.

Juan Pablo Montoya might be the scariest underdog we'll see in this year's Chase -- pending that he holds on over five races to his 169-point advantage over 13th place -- thanks to the way his team has been racing as of late.

They haven't been exactly aggressive in their setups, and instead, have been trying to find some consistency before "having fun", as Juan says, in the Chase.

If you didn't think Juan Pablo Montoya was going to be good in stock cars, just wait until 2010.

Bobby Labonte took a huge hit after getting hit by fellow Ford driver David Ragan in the later stages of Monday's 200-lap event. The No. 96 spun rear-first into the outside turn one wall at Pocono after Ragan's brown No. 6 nudged Labonte at the end of the frontstretch -- the longest on the NASCAR circuit.

It was quite similar to Jeff Gordon's crash at the same track a few years ago when he lost his brakes, but fortunately for Labonte, much of the impact was taken away from him thanks to the rear of the car crushing like a tin can. Gordon, on the other hand, slapped the outside wall with the driver's door.

Labonte was obviously frustrated with Ragan, but his sense of class and professionalism soon carried over when he was interviewed after leaving the infield care center as he never once trashed Ragan for the move or dropped a snarky, back-handed comment. Refreshing, if I must say.

Speaking of professionalism, Kyle Busch deserves a measured level of "atta-boy" for at least answering questions about his mediocre race on Monday.

I've criticized Busch before for leaving the talking about his team and his race up to crew chief Steve Addington when Busch is one of the focal points of every NASCAR weekend, so I certainly can't let it slide that he's talked two weeks in a row including last weekend's miserable finish at Indianapolis.

Granted, Busch didn't have a big part of the story on Monday at Pocono with his 16th-place finish, but he did offer a brief analysis of his day:

"We ended up on a little bit of a different strategy than some of the other guys and the cautions didn't fall right for us," said Busch. "We fought tight for most of the day, but it got loose on me trying to gain some spots after a restart. We just never really got the handling exactly where we wanted it. There at the end, we managed to salvage something out of a day that could have ended up much worse."

There's certainly a few Kyle Busch fans out there who care about that. Thanks, Shrub.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pennsylvania 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:53:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Prelude Substitute: Reutimann the Owner

Geoffrey Miller — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:23:00 EST

Filed under: David Reutimann, Sprint Cup

Since rain ruled over racing again on Wednesday to postpone Tony Stewart's Prelude to the Dream (no, really, I love four-hour road trips for nothing!) I figured a nice little story from my chat with David Reutimann last week would be something to tide over your dirt track racing cravings.

By now, you've probably heard of "Buzzie" Reutimann.

Whether you're a Florida short track aficionado that lives and breathes places like East Bay or you're still wondering how in the world David Reutimann snuck out a win in the Coca-Cola 600 two weeks ago, you've at least seen something about the elder Reutimann -- "Buzzie" -- as he was on hand for his son's first Sprint Cup victory.

Buzzie, of course, is frankly a legend in the local short track racing culture in America who, at one point, was estimated to have won over 1,200 feature races in his career. The Zephyrhills, Fla.-based family also many other members of the family in the racing world.

However, it seems that Buzzie at his ripe age of 68 has gained the most from his son's rise to NASCAR's top division.

"Everybody's like 'Hey David, your dad looks so excited for you,' and I'm like 'He's not excited for me, he's excited that we're going to have more money to spend on tires and race cars!'," joked the younger Reutimann, referring to his much-improved performance in the Sprint Cup Series.

But Buzzie's -- real name Emil -- excitement is all worth it to his only son.

"I like watching my daughter ride horses and I like going racing with my dad," Reutimann said. "There are few things ln life that make me happier than watching my dad go out there and compete and outrun guys that are a quarter of his age. He gets down in that race car and looks like he's 22 years old."

In fact, Buzzie has seen success as recently as February when he won a heat race on the one-third mile East Bay Raceway. And in the races he run recently, Buzzie hasn't torn up too many race cars.

"Since he's been driving my stuff he's only ever tore up one race car," said Reutimann, who himself was looking to get to the Prelude at Eldora Speedway because it felt like coming home. "His record is a whole lot better than mine."

That good record, though, seems to come with an escalating price.

"He's always complaining about not having enough of a budget," said Reutimann with a laugh. "But I don't think he knows what 'budget' means."

Prelude Substitute: Reutimann the Owner originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reutimann Continues MWR Rise at Dover

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:11:00 EST

Filed under: David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip Racing

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.

Reutimann Continues MWR Rise at Dover originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 29 May 2009 18:11:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Coca-Cola 600

Geoffrey Miller — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:48:00 EST

Filed under: David Reutimann, Lowes Motor Speedway, Sprint Cup

Welcome back to another edition of Sprint Cup Notes & Quotes, where even Noah couldn't keep his boat afloat after the non-stop rain at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Are you one of those lonely souls mad that David Reutimann snookered 'em -- yep, that's the first recorded use of that word on FH -- to win his first career race Monday afternoon?

If so, get over it. First time winners are fun to see, and when the race officially ended he was the car leading everyone else. Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers and the rest of the field didn't have to pit, but they did -- and that's just the way it goes.

I'd still like an explanation as to why NASCAR decided on a start time of 12 p.m./EDT for the Monday make-up of its longest race.

It wasn't hard to see that the Charlotte region was to get a brief lull from the rain in the Monday morning hours, with the rain probability picking up steadlly as the afternoon wore on. And just on cue, showers hit the track just as the field took the green flag.

The reasoning behind that probably had something to do with a west coast audience with a three-hour time difference. My recommendation of a 10 a.m. start would have meant at 7 a.m. wake up call for fans on the left coast, and likely a drop in viewers.

That, then, brings back the question we had with the late start of this year's Daytona 500: what's more important, a race ran closer to completion or a few more bucks in advertising revenue? I think we're seeing what side is winning that battle.

Brian Vickers is gonna win one of these doggone races at LMS at some point. That No. 83 Toyota has now been more than good enough to win the last three Coca-Cola 600's.

In 2007, he had power steering issues that led to more issues. 2008 saw a loose lug nut break the wheel as he sailed into turn one, sending the tire bouncing into a trackside motorhome and Vickers into the turn one wall.

This year? He was the only car to pass Kyle Busch under green flag conditions during the Coca-Cola 340.5, just as he was Saturday during the Nationwide race. He's now led 339 career laps at LMS without a win after pacing 33 on Monday.

Wanna know how far Michael Waltrip Racing has come since its inception prior to 2007? Just look back two years ago at the Coca-Cola 600, when both Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann wrecked in qualifying and missed the show.

Now, they're in victory lane.

Joey Logano's brake adventures turned to a learning moment during Monday's rain-postponed and shortened race.

"We lost our brakes after one of the rain delays," said Logano. "I was taking care of my brakes and getting in (the corners) easier and actually was running faster that way. Apparently there's something there and hopefully it will help us in the future."

Monday, it was good enough for the now-19-year-old to tie his career-best Cup finish of 9th for a third time.

I wouldn't have said this at Daytona, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't win a Cup race this season. He's finding a major part of winning at this level -- confidence.

1988 Cup champ Bill Elliott made his 800th start in Monday's race, and afterwards he joked about the on-again off-again rain showers giving the aging driver a break from his laps in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.

"I told them it sure was nice of them to throw in a few 'old man cautions' in there with those red flags to let me get out and rest a few minutes," joked Elliott.

The No. 21 finished 15th.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Coca-Cola 600 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 26 May 2009 14:48:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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David Reutimann Wins 1st Sprint Cup Race in Rain-Shortened Coca-Cola 600

FanHouse Newswire — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:57:00 EST

Filed under: David Reutimann, Lowes Motor Speedway, Sprint Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- It took 75 races and three rain delays for David Reutimann to earn his first Sprint Cup Series victory.

When a fluke finally put him in position for a win in Monday's rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600, the journeyman driver nervously paced around his car on pit road at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Two hours later, he was declared the winner of one of NASCAR's crown jewel events when the race was stopped once and for all.

"It wasn't the prettiest win, but somebody has to win," he said. "When you envision yourself winning your first Sprint Cup race, you envision it different. But it's so hard to win these deals, we'll take it any way we can."

Reutimann didn't lead a single lap under green-flag racing. He had a mid-pack car as teams jockeyed for position just past the halfway point of the gloomy race, which was washed out on Sunday and carried over to Monday for the first Memorial Day running in its 50-year history.

Because the radar showed a long night of intermittent showers, no one believed the longest race on the NASCAR schedule would go the full 600 miles. So began the game of racing to the front in hopes of being in the right place when the event was finally called.

Latest NASCAR Images

Members of Kasey Kahne's pit crew stand on pit road during the third rain delay in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina May 25, 2009. REUTERS/Chris Keane (UNITED STATES SPORT MOTOR RACING IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Reuters

David Reutimann, right, and his father, Buzzie Reutimann, look at the sky during a rain delay in the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Monday, May 25, 2009. Reutiman was leading when the race was stopped. (AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds)

David Reutimann sits by his car during a rain delay in the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Monday, May 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds)

Michael Waltrip looks out from pit road during a rain delay in the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Monday, May 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn)

Fans wait during the third rain delay in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina May 25, 2009. REUTERS/Chris Keane (UNITED STATES SPORT MOTOR RACING)

Reuters

David Reutimann watches the rain during the third rain delay in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina May 25, 2009. REUTERS/Chris Keane (UNITED STATES SPORT MOTOR RACING)

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Ryan Newman laughs during the third rain delay in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina May 25, 2009. REUTERS/Chris Keane (UNITED STATES SPORT MOTOR RACING HEADSHOT)

Reuters

CONCORD, NC - MAY 25: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, 2009 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kyle Busch

Getty Images

CONCORD, NC - MAY 25: Robby Gordon (L), driver of the #7 Jim Beam Toyota, talks with Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, on pit road during a rain delay for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, 2009 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Robby Gordon

Getty Images

Carl Edwards sits by his car during the third rain delay in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina May 25, 2009. REUTERS/Chris Keane (UNITED STATES SPORT MOTOR RACING)

Reuters

When rain brought out the caution 22 laps past the halfway point, leader Kyle Busch led a parade of cars down pit road. But Reutimann, Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon didn't follow, and the three moved to the top of the leaderboard.

They led the field for five laps under caution before NASCAR called the cars back to pit road for the third rain stoppage. Most drivers headed to their motorhomes to wait out the rain.

Not Reutimann.

He was joined at his car by his 68-year-old father, Buzzie, a racer with one career NASCAR start who still tears it up in dirt track events at East Bay Raceway near Tampa, Fla. The two didn't bother with an umbrella as they stood in a steady drizzle for just over 2 hours.

"The fact he's here - we always talk about the fact we were going to mess around and win one of these and he wasn't going to be here," Reutimann said. "Fortunately, whether the Truck Series or Nationwide Series or now in the Cup series, he's been here for all of them."

Reutimann's other NASCAR victories were a 2007 Nationwide race at Memphis and a 2005 Truck race at Nashville.

Newman, the pole-sitter, finished second and Gordon was third. Carl Edwards, who had changed into street clothes by the time the race was called, finished fourth, followed by Brian Vickers and Busch.

Reutimann, 39, didn't get his break in the Cup series until Michael Waltrip hired him in 2007 when he formed his own race team. But Michael Waltrip Racing was terrible, and Reutimann was not competitive as he struggled to even make races.

The team has made small strides in the past 2-plus seasons, and Reutimann has carried the banner. He's lingered around the top 12 in points all season and has given MWR credibility.

Now he's made MWR the first Toyota team other than Joe Gibbs Racing to win a Cup race.

Waltrip, who earned his second Daytona 500 title after a lengthy rain delay shortened the 2003 event, joined the father and son at the car midway through the final delay.

"Waltrip gave me an opportunity to go racing in the Cup series when nobody would have thought of giving me an opportunity," Reutimann said.

Rain ruined a race for Busch for the second time in three days. He led a race-high 173 laps and was out front when he pitted during the final caution. He wound up sixth.

Busch led 143 laps in Saturday night's Nationwide Series race, lost the lead during a round of pit stops, and never had a chance to reclaim it when the race was shortened by 45 miles because of rain.

Defending race-winner Kasey Kahne was also denied a chance when, as he was closing in on Busch's bumper, caution was called for rain. In second as they headed down pit road, he wound up seventh when the race never resumed.

It's the second time this season one of NASCAR's crown jewel events was ruined by rain. The season-opening Daytona 500 was shortened by 48 laps and Matt Kenseth was declared the winner after a short delay.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

David Reutimann Wins 1st Sprint Cup Race in Rain-Shortened Coca-Cola 600 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 25 May 2009 18:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FanHouse Warmup: Samsung 500

Geoffrey Miller — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:44:00 EST

Filed under: Carl Edwards, David Reutimann, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup

The Essentials

Race: Samsung 500

Where: Texas Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 2 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, PRN Radio
Forecast: Sunny, 62 degrees
Distance: 334 laps (501 miles)
Pole Winner: David Reutimann
2008 Winner: Carl Edwards

The Storylines

For the sake of racing in general let's hope that Saturday's Nationwide Series race at TMS will have been nothing like Sunday's Samsung 500. Missed that race? Well, here's all you need to know: Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch and, yep, more Kyle freakin' Busch.

Busch led 178 of the 200 laps at the Fort Worth, Tex.-area track to claim his third victory in-a-row in Nationwide Series races at TMS. He also became the first driver from that series to win the race from the pole.

I'm not sure exactly what the problem was with competition on Saturday, but it's darn sure easy to tell that there was none up front. In fact, one of the few lead changes happened when Jeff Burton started to catch Busch during a long green flag run and the 'Shrub' pointed low and let him by. Obviously, the change in command didn't last very long.

Brad Keselowski (3rd), Mike Bliss (7th) and Justin Allgaier (10th) were the only non-Cup regulars in the race's Top-10, which makes it painfully obvious that those guys are getting outclassed to an extreme. Unfortunately, their lack of competition just makes the race a horrible show for the fans in the stands and at home.

Blame the Cup teams, blame NASCAR for allowing them and blame the sport as a whole for getting this absurd craze to build 1.5-mile palaces of speed and doldrums -- whatever it is, it needs to change.

Can David Reutimann really back up his pole-winning run? I'd sure like to think so. The Florida driver made the biggest of turnarounds for that No. 00 team (remember watching that car with Michael McDowell flip wildly in a qualifying crash a year ago at TMS?) on Friday, and it wouldn't surprise me if Reutimann can contend for Sunday's win.

The No. 00 team is an impressive 11th in points and already has a Top-5 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this season. A year ago at TMS? He picked up a 10th-place finish.

You've got to bet that the team has hopes high for today.

If NASCAR isn't your fancy (I'm not sure why you'd be reading this if it isn't...) and you need some other racing action to catch today, flip over to Versus on the old magic box for today's IndyCar Series Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg -- the season opener.

FH's Holly Cain is on location for the happenings and if you're a fan of both NASCAR and the open-wheelers, well Sunday night should be great for your online viewing pleasure as FH will have plenty of coverage of all of today's racing activity.

We'll look forward to see you back after the checkered flag. Enjoy.

The Prediction

Geoffrey Miller: Carl Edwards (he's got to get in championship form at some point, right?)

FanHouse Warmup: Samsung 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:44:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Year Later, No. 00 on Top in Texas

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:50:00 EST

Filed under: David Reutimann, Sprint Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing

The old cliché 'what a difference a year makes' couldn't have rang more true for Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 00 Friday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway.

A year ago, that No. 00 driven by Michael McDowell suffered one of the single-most violent crashes in NASCAR history as it first slammed the turn one wall before rolling multiple times down the track in qualifying. McDowell, miracuously, was uninjured.

Friday, though, David Reutimann continued his hot start to the season in the No. 00 by taking the pole for Sunday's Samsung 500.

Reutimann's pole-winning lap topped current Sprint Cup series point leader Jeff Gordon in second while Roush Fenway Racing drivers Matt Kenseth and David Ragan showed a dramatic upswing from a nasty two-week run at Bristol and Martinsville by qualifying third and fourth. Yates Racing's Paul Menard will start fifth.

But for Reutimann and Michael Waltrip Racing, the difference a year makes in TMS qualifying was huge.

"I guess that just puts an exclamation mark on how things have changed," Reutimann said, after his lap of 190.517 mph. "Before, we were just trying to stay in the top 20 or get a top-20 finish or top-15. The reality is that at this time last year we weren't ready to run in the top 10."

In six races in 2009, Reutimann has taken the No. 00 team from a borderline Top-35 team to an impressive 11th in points with a worst finish of 32nd at Atlanta Motor Speedway and a best of 4th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano rounded out the Top-10. Five drivers failed to make Sunday's race, the most notable of which was Red Bull Racing's Scott Speed.

One Year Later, No. 00 on Top in Texas originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reutimann, MWR Improving Greatly

Geoffrey Miller — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:40:00 EST

Filed under: David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip, Sprint Cup, Michael Waltrip Racing

Prior to the 2009 season, an outlandish guess would have been picking a car from Michael Waltrip Racing to be fifth in points after three races.

No, that's not a slight to the organization. It's just that previous success wouldn't exactly lend to such results.

MWR's David Reutimann, however, isn't afraid to buck that trend -- as was clear after he earned his best career finish last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

That finish -- a fourth-place result -- was just the continuation of a strong start to 2009 and a decent finish to 2008 that certainly has expectations raised for the rest of 2009. Already, Reutimann has finishes of 12th (Daytona) and 14th (Auto Club) to complement his career-best.

Most telling about Reutimann's surprise consistency is that the No. 00 is 5th in points -- just 51 markers from leader Jeff Gordon. (For that matter, Reutimann's teammate and car owner Michael Waltrip sits a surprising 12th in the standings -- a great start for a guy who is pondering retirement if results don't improve in 2009.)

Sunday's result, while a nice success for the driver from Zephyr Hills, Fla., was more relief than anything.

"You are just kind of relieved if anything," said Reutimann. "You run around here for a couple of years and trying to get close to winning one of these things and so we're a little closer than what we were. It feels good to be where we are."

Team owner Michael Waltrip has to be relieved as well after convincing sponsor Aaron's to go from a partial-season sponsor before 2009 began to the full-season outfit based on one thing -- getting Reutimann to victory lane.

"They (Aaron's) stepped up to half season of Cup and I was talking to (Ken) Butler, the CEO, and I said, 'Reutimann's going to win. You watch.' And I said, 'If he wins in somebody else's car, that's going to really get on my nerves, because you guys have put us here. We want him to win in your car," said Waltrip prior to Daytona Speedweeks.

From the looks of things early in 2009, Aaron's might have jumped on board at the right time as Reutimann and Co. appear aimed in a much better direction than 2007 and 2008.

Reutimann, MWR Improving Greatly originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'08 Rear-View Mirror: David Reutimann

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:23:00 EST

Filed under: Michael Waltrip Racing, David Reutimann, Sprint Cup

Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.

Driver: David Reutimann
Team: No. 44 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
'08 Final Standing: 22rd (-3287)
Best Race: California (Sept.) & Richmond (Sept.) (9th-place)
Worst Race: Samsung 500 at Texas (41st-place)

Season in a box: In 2008, David Reutimann illustrated further how the driver from Zephyrhills, Fla., has the talent to compete in NASCAR's top series despite his lack of competitive equipment.

Reutimann really started to hit his stride in 2008 when the series was looking at more races in its rear-view mirror than ones left. At the rain-delayed Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond, Reutimann made a pit gamble to gain track position, but the gamble payed off in the form of 104 led laps and the 9th-place finish. He followed that finish up with three-straight finishes in the Top-20.

Reutimann later picked up another Top-10 at Texas Motor Speedway after leading some laps and finished the season on a high-note by taking the pole at the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Through the crystal windshield: 2009 will be yet another struggle for Reutimann thanks to his team's lack of full-time sponsorship. UPS leaves the team for Roush-Fenway Racing's David Ragan which will make space for Aaron's to take over as a partial-season sponsor. The car number will also change back to Reutimann's original No. 00.

The MWR program is getting more competitive on-track and it appears that it will be just a two-car operation in 2009 after Michael McDowell's team shut down in 2008 with team owner Michael Waltrip serving as Reutimann's teammate. Hopefully, having one team fully sponsored and another partially sponsored without a third team to worry about will help the program.

Reutimann could easily post a few Top-10s and maybe some Top-5s, but it will be a significant feat for the No. 00 to find victory lane.

Next up: Bobby Labonte

'08 Rear-View Mirror: David Reutimann originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Johnson Starts 30th Sunday, Reutimann First

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:35:00 EST

Filed under: David Reutimann, Jimmie Johnson, Sprint Cup

Check out FanHouse's Ford 400 live blog Sunday at 3:30pm/EST! Yeeeah!

Ironically the start of a Sprint Cup Series weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway that's supposed to be the coronation of one of NASCAR's greatest drivers started with a relative unknown taking the race's best starting spot.

David Reutimann, who has enjoyed an impressive resurgence in the last handful of races in his Michael Waltrip Racing No. 44, scored his first career pole for Sunday's Ford 400 while Jimmie Johnson will start his big weekend 30th.

Johnson carries a 141-point lead over Carl Edwards with only 400 miles left to go in the 36-race NASCAR season. Should Johnson manage a finish better than 36th Sunday, he'll be the first driver since Cale Yarborugh in 1978 to win three straight championships.

Edwards will start a much improved 4th.

On the outside of the front row and next to Reutimann, Red Bull Racing's Scott Speed will start the No. 83 Toyota after swapping rides this week with teammate Brian Vickers. Vickers, in Speed's normal No. 84, starts 20th.

Matt Kenseth won the 2007 version of the season-finale and will start third just ahead of Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Edwards. Kevin Harvick will start 5th.

David Ragan, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson and Martin Truex Jr. will round out the Top-10.

Other notable qualifying spots include Greg Biffle in 23rd and Jeff Gordon in 37th. Biffle has a chance to unseat Edwards from the second spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings while Gordon has yet to win in 2008. If he fails to do so Sunday, it'll be the first time since 1993 that the 81-race winner has failed to find victory lane in a season.

Three drivers failed to qualify for NASCAR's final race of 2008 including Ken Schrader, Max Papis and Sam Hornish Jr.

Johnson Starts 30th Sunday, Reutimann First originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tire Problems Bite Several 'Dega Contenders

Geoffrey Miller — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:17:00 EST

Filed under: Brian Vickers, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR Crashes, Sprint Cup

Whether or not they suffered a tire problem on their own car, several Sprint Cup drivers and teams felt the effects of multiple tire issues during Sunday's AMP Energy Drink 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The first problem struck on lap 53 on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile circuit when Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann spun sideways after the right-rear tire exploded on the No. 44 Toyota. Directly behind him, Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon swerved to miss the spinning Reutimann and caught the nose of Jon Wood, sending the front-end of the No. 24 in to the wall.

The impact for Gordon sent him behind the wall for cosmetic, suspension, and radiator repairs. He would return after about 30 laps, but the car that had looked quite competitive early in the event later lost an engine while trying to make up points.

Reutimann never went a lap down in the incident, but later suffered electrical problems while running in the Top-10.

The next tire issue creeped up at the least favorable spot on-track as Brian Vickers also suffered an exploding tire -- though this time it was on the right-front -- while running at the front of the lead pack as it entered the tri-oval.

Vickers' Toyota shot up the track, collected Martin Truex Jr., and set off a melee on lap 68 that included David Gilliland, Kasey Kahne, Mike Skinner, Terry Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Tony Raines and Aric Almirola.

The incident brought out a lengthy red flag to clean up the big mess that stopped on the exit of the tri-oval.

Mike Wallace, driving a one-race effort in the No. 33 of Richard Childress Racing, suffered the next failure while running in the Top-10 on lap 81 and brought out a caution for debris, though he managed to not lose control of the Chevrolet.

Denny Hamlin, as of 22 laps to go in the race, was the last victim of a tire issue, and he likely suffered the biggest hit, as he was transported to the hospital after smacking the turn 2 wall by himself while leading.

Tire Problems Bite Several 'Dega Contenders originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Earnhardt Jr., Stewart in Practice Crash

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:29:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Reutimann, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Videos, Sprint Cup

A number of drivers -- including Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan and a host of others -- decided they had had enough practice on Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway after just one session in preparation for the Amp Energy Drink 500.

That appears to have been a smart move because just about nine minutes into the weekend's final practice session Friday, a Goodyear tire off of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car decided to hit the fan:

As you can see, Earnhardt Jr. was leading a pack of about 10 cars into turn three of the 2.5-mile high-banked circuit when his right-rear tire decided to imitate a hot dog kept in the microwave a little too long.

The explosion was incredible -- notice the sheet metal and rear wing flying off the car -- and caused the No. 88 to lose control, spinning down the track in front of several cars.

Among those included were David Gilliland, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, and David Reutimann. Stewart opted to not go to the backup car thanks to a decision by crew chief Greg Zippidelli, but Kasey Kahne and Earnhardt Jr. definitely opted to pull out the new rides.

The practice in which this happened was slated to run for 45-minutes, but a 30+ minute delay thanks to this crash left teams with only about 20 minutes of on-track time. However, thanks to Talladega being an impound race, the teams that crashed and went to backup cars won't be starting out back because qualifying is scheduled for 12:05pm/ET on Saturday, with SPEED TV coverage airing a tape-delayed version at 1:00pm/ET.

Earnhardt Jr., though, may still have to start out back because he changed an engine in the day's first practice. NASCAR rules state that a team has to start last if they change the engine at any point in the weekend, but if a team has to roll out a backup car, that only leaves the team starting last if it happens after qualifying. We'll have to see what NASCAR decides.

Video: Earnhardt Jr., Stewart in Practice Crash originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:29:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carl Edwards is Defining His Version of Fun

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:39:00 EST

Filed under: Carl Edwards, David Reutimann, Sprint Cup

Carl Edwards talked a few weeks ago about how this part of the Sprint Cup Series was going to be fun.

Fun, he said, because the team no longer was going to be racing for points but rather simply for wins in an attempt to catch Kyle Busch's win total and bonus point lead as the series heads towards the Chase to the Sprint Cup after Richmond in September.

From what it looks like, Edwards should have been having fun prior to being a virtual lock into the Chase.

The Columbia, Mo. driver has scored two wins in the past three weeks and will start from the pole for Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards put down a lap of 121.680 mph Friday afternoon at BMS to top Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann who drove his Toyota 121.175 mph around the half mile track to grab the outside pole.

Perennial Bristol favorite Jeff Gordon will roll off the grid Saturday night from third place. Gordon has yet to win in 2008 and has had two dismal finishes in the last two races at Watkins Glen and Michigan.

The rest of the Top-5 includes Regan Smith in the DEI No. 01 and Bill Elliott in the Wood Brothers No. 21.

Point leader Kyle Busch will start ninth while Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a horrible lap and will start 40th. Failing to make the Sharpie 500 were Jeff Green, Patrick Carpentier, and Johnny Sauter.

Carl Edwards is Defining His Version of Fun originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Busch Wins Easter Weekend Nashville Pole

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:55:00 EST

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Nationwide Series

Kyle Busch must not be much for lounging on the beach or lounging at home.

In a weekend that the Sprint Cup Series has off and most other drivers are taking time to recharge their batteries for the next barrage of race weekends, Busch is hanging out with the Nationwide Series in Nashville.

Saturday morning, Busch put the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the pole for Nashville Superspeedway's Pepsi 300, scheduled to take the green flag at 3pm/ET.

Busch's lap of 163.357mph on the 1.5-mile concrete oval topped Nationwide regular Mike Bliss (2nd), Steve Wallace, Carl Edwards, and Kelly Bires.

44 drivers challenged the clock for 43 positions in the event.

The Sprint Cup regulars in town for the event were Busch, Edwards, Denny Hamlin, David Reutimann, and Clint Bowyer.

Making his first NASCAR appearance in a while was now-former Sprint Cup driver and Tennessee native Sterling Marlin. Marlin clocked in 20th on the grid.

The race can be seen live on ESPN Saturday afternoon with coverage starting at 2pm/ET.

Busch Wins Easter Weekend Nashville Pole originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michael Waltrip Racing Cars Will Have Gold Wheels for Start of 50th Daytona 500

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:10:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip, Toyota, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Michael Waltrip Racing, David Reutimann, Sprint Cup

Check out all of the NASCAR Fanhouse Daytona Speedweeks Coverage.
On Sunday, stop by for the live blog of the 50th Daytona 500 at 3:00pm/ET.

Last year, Michael Waltrip and his race team, Michael Waltrip Racing, faced one of most-publicized cheating scandals in NASCAR history. An illegal additive in Waltrip's No. 55 had set his team on its collective ear, and proved to be a barometer of the season MWR would have.

2008, though, is a much different story.

Waltrip put his No. 55 NAPA Toyota on the outside of the front row for Sunday's 50th-running of the Daytona 500 and his teammates, David Reutimann and Dale Jarrett, secured starting positions in the event.

The team has sported silver wheels for the past year and in all on-track activities during the 2008 Daytona Speedweeks. Sunday though, that will change.

Michael Waltrip and his three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will pay tribute to the golden anniversary of the Daytona 500 on Sunday by starting the 50th running of The Great American Race sporting specially-designed gold wheels.

Following the 200-lap event, the wheels will be autographed and sold to raise money for charities supported by the France family.

[...]

The Waltrip teams will run the gold wheels only for the start of the race, moving back to their traditional chrome wheels after the first round of pit stops.

I don't think I can remember too many cars in history that have sported gold wheels, but if anyone in the NASCAR garage would do this, it'd be Waltrip.

With only 12 of these wheels available for auction, I'd imagine the price will be pretty steep, and if one of the MWR cars wins on Sunday -- it wouldn't be as surprising as you'd think -- expect that price to raise ten-fold.

Michael Waltrip Racing Cars Will Have Gold Wheels for Start of 50th Daytona 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide Debut Sputters

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 12:43:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daytona Int'l Speedway, Michael Waltrip Racing, David Gilliland, David Reutimann, Nationwide Series

Check out all of the NASCAR Fanhouse Daytona Speedweeks Coverage.
On Sunday, stop by for the live blog of the 50th Daytona 500 at 3:00pm/ET.

In addition to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s well-publicized move to Hendrick Motorsports in the off-season, his personal team, JR Motorsports, merged operations with Hendrick for the Nationwide Series campaign.

That hasn't started off well at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 5 National Guard Chevrolet will start 19th Saturday afternoon in the Camping World 300 (1:15/ET ESPN2), but qualifying for the race has been about the only bright spot.

Prior to qualifying, Earnhardt Jr.'s No 5 was impounded Thursday night by NASCAR after they noticed illegal rear spoiler modifications. The crew had changed something about the decklid and spoiler after inspection on Thursday morning, and NASCAR wasn't happy.

Friday morning, the No. 5 was returned to the team minus a decklid and spoiler, forcing the team to unbolt the decklid and spoiler assembly from the team's backup car and transfer it to the primary.

Earnhardt Jr. wasn't too happy.

"Everybody tries to get a little bit on the cars and the rules and get in the gray area," Earnhardt said in a television interview. "Our guys were trying too hard on a car that didn't need it. The car's pretty good. We all learned a lesson and probably deal with penalties next week, which is pretty much standard. We'll be all right."

In other words, Earnhardt Jr. is ticked that his team is going to be fined and penalized for a race car that before the infraction could have won the race.

Other pre-race rules infractions included Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann having his carburetor confiscated and drivers Cale Gale, Johnny Sauter, David Gililland, David Stremme and Kertus David having post-qualifying issues with their oil tank lids.

Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide Debut Sputters originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 16 Feb 2008 12:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Drivers Rock Their Bests at Richmond

tallglassofmilk — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:27:00 EST

Filed under: Nextel Cup, David Ragan, David Reutimann

Amidst all the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chase hoopla last night, there was an exciting race going on at Richmond International Raceway--several drivers performed for the record book.

Rookie David Ragan rather enjoyed himself racing side-by-side out front with the big dogs last night, finishing between Cup champions Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon in the third position, a career-best.

"It was just a good, solid night. It takes a lot more than just a fast race car to finish well in the Nextel Cup races. We've learned that first-hand, so to be able to have good pit stops, we were pretty good on restarts and good on the long runs. We got shuffled back to like 20th one time and were able to drive our way back up to the front, so it was just a lot of fun. I certainly enjoyed it. Our car was pretty good all night and pretty good all weekend, so we had a lot of fun. It was certainly deserving for the team and all just to have a good night."

Johnny Sauter also brought home a career-best finish--his first top 5. For David Reutimann, a career-best of 13th.

Jeff Gordon led the most laps with 191 for a season best. Kyle Petty also had a season-best with two laps led.

The most wins Jimmie Johnson has had at this point in the season is four (2004)--he won eight total that year. He's currently at six and counting ...

Drivers Rock Their Bests at Richmond originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MWR Denies '08 Downsizing, Retirement

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:22:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip, NASCAR Rumors, Pit Crews, David Reutimann

Michael Waltrip Racing denied today a report from RacingOne that Dale Jarrett would be out of the ride in 2008 and that UPS was already packing up. (Heh, get it?)

The original report about DJ from International Speedway Corporation affiliate RacingOne:

Toyota is expected to pair down Michael Waltrip racing from a three-car effort to a two-car squad, shifting some of that support to JGR's three-car team of Busch, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. Dale Jarrett is said to be seriously considering retirement, trading in his helmet for a microphone as a television analyst, which would leave MWR with Waltrip and David Reutimann.

There must be something to the rampant rumor that Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing are forming a partnership for '08, you'd think.

Anyways, this race fan would be more than happy to have Dale Jarrett replace Rusty Wallace in the ESPN booth. MWR's words with ESPN (via Jayski) didn't sound like that was even feasible:

on Wednesday's NASCAR Now [ESPN2] Angelique Chengelis reported that Michael Waltrip Racing's Ty Norris said there was absolutely no morsel of truth to the rumor about MWR scaling back to two teams or Dale Jarrett leaving, plus Norris was at a UPS Sponsor summit and that UPS says things are going well

Other than the language use of 'morsel', you've gotta wonder what exactly happens at a "sponsor summit".

Could it potentially be the spot where the big brown truck gets to films commercials for so many pictures?

Imagine the possibilities with Dale Jarrett, a big brown truck, and an impressive advertising firm.

"Wait 'til you see his sister!"

MWR Denies '08 Downsizing, Retirement originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:22:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leffler Scores First Busch Win For Toyota

tallglassofmilk — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:52:00 EST

Filed under: Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Toyota, Busch Series, David Reutimann

Jason Leffler drove Toyota to victory lane for the first time in the NASCAR Busch Series after a nail-biting finish at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Fellow Toyota drivers David Reutimann and Mike Bliss gave the manufacturer a top 10 trifecta with their 3rd and 9th place finishes.

I've never been a huge fan of Leffler or the #38 team, but I was ecstatic about their win today, which makes for five top 5s and eight top 10s on the season. That team has struggled for the past several years--they lost Kasey Kahne to Evernham Motorsports, Shane Hmiel to drugs and several cars to the wall, many of them put there by Anthony Foyt IV. Speaking of Hmiel, he holds the record at ORP for most laps led by a non-winner (153).

What made Leffler's win even more exciting is that he is only the second non-Cup driver to win a Busch race this season (not counting Aric Almirola). But any race fan who skips Busch races thinking they aren't worth watching because of the Buschwhacking missed out on some fantastic racing today.

Most of the Nextel Cup drivers missed Busch qualifying due to the Cup qualifying schedule change so they started at the back--three of them fought their way to the front and had top 10 finishes.

After a late race restart, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle battled for the lead for several laps. Leffler was in the seventh position with 37 laps to go and picked 'em off one while Biffle bounced off the wall a few times and Edwards took the lead for a lap before he started sliding backwards.

Reutimann was up in the mix, too, and unhappy with the way Leffler raced him, but in the end he congratulated Leffler, who shuffled past them all to take 2nd and finally overtook Biffle with just two laps to go and drove away with the win.

ESPN kept cutting back to the members of the pit crew who were all jumping up and down with excitement and then Leffler's very pregnant wife, Alison, came to plant a big wet one on him in victory lane. I'm pretty sure the crew chief was a little choked up during his post-race interview. All-in-all it was fantastically joyous and cheesy as winning sports moments go.

More notes
The #77 front tire carrier has a ~~cut~~ huge gash across the bridge of his nose and a broken toe after a frightening hit 'n' run accident on pit road with the #25 of Richard Johns.

Brad Keselowski scored his first top 10 finish in 23 series starts, his third for JR motorsports. They reported during the broadcast that Keselowski will finish the season in the #88 NAVY Chevrolet.

Kroger 200 benefiting Riley Hospital for Children Results | Busch Standings

Leffler Scores First Busch Win For Toyota originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:52:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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