Reutimann’s Crew Wins Tissot Pit Road Award in Talladega

Third Tissot win of season for Michael Waltrip Racing

David Reutimann’s over-the-wall crew claimed the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award in Sunday’s (April 25) Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

The fast pit stops by the No. 00 crew at the 2.66-mile tri-oval helped Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) attain its third Tissot win of the season. The No. 56 MWR crew for Martin Truex Jr. leads the Tissot standings with two wins.

Reutimann’s Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota spent the least amount of time on pit road – 208.560 seconds – during the 200-lap overtime race, which saw a maximum of three green-white-checkered restarts. David Ragan’s UPS Ford was second (214.115) and Kyle Busch’s M&M’s Toyota was third (238.719).

“It’s awesome too have the Aaron’s 00 crew get the Tissot award for Talladega,” said pit crew coach Greg Miller. “The entire 00 team has had its share of adversity this year, but they have kept digging and have never given up. The car has been great all year but we just haven’t been able to get the finish. Hopefully this will be a change of luck for us and we can begin to realize the results these guys deserve.”

Reutimann’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Ryan Langley (front-tire changer), Chris Hall (front-tire carrier), Eric Maycroft (rear-tire changer), Donnie Marvel (rear-tire carrier), Tony Cardamone (jackman), Aaron Pieratt (gasman), Jeff Seaberg (catch can) and Nate Kennedy (Eighth Man). The team’s crew chief is Rodney Childers.

The winning pit crew in each Sprint Cup race will earn $5,000 and a Tissot V8 Quartz Chronograph watch. The team with the most Tissot Pit Road Precision Award wins at the completion of the 36-race schedule will receive a $105,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the over-the-wall crew members and driver.

Tissot has been the official watch and timekeeper of NASCAR since 2006. The company is also the official timekeeper for a number of other sports, including the MotoGP World Championship, the Ice Hockey World Championship and the Cycling World Championship.

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2010 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Winners
Daytona, 2/14 Juan Pablo Montoya Team
Fontana, 2/21 Jeff Gordon Team
Las Vegas, 2/28 Martin Truex Jr. Team
Atlanta, 3/7 Martin Truex Jr. Team
Bristol, 3/21 Brad Keselowski Team
Martinsville, 3/29 Clint Bowyer Team
Phoenix, 4/10 Matt Kenseth Team
Texas, 4/19 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team
Talladega 4/25 David Reutimann Team

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David Reutimann - Richmond International Raceway Sprint Cup Series Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — The words “race shop” and “high school prom” are seldom found in the same sentence, unless of course you are talking about Michael Waltrip Racing. Hopewell High School, in nearby Huntersville, N.C., held its prom at Michael Waltrip Racing’s race shop in Cornelius, N.C., on Saturday, April 24. Nearly 700 students attended the Mardi Gras-themed event. (Pictures attached)

Michael Waltrip Racing shop employees began preparing for the special event late Friday afternoon. The crew cleared cars, equipment and tools then cleaned the shop before the Hopewell prom committee set up the decorations. Shop workers returned MWR to its normal working condition before the team began work Monday morning.

MWR hosted it’s first prom in 2009 for North Mecklenburg High School. In addition to high school proms, Michael Waltrip Racing has hosted a wedding on the catwalk overlooking the shop floor, wedding reception and a couple renewed their wedding vows with Michael Waltrip serving as the minister. MWR has also hosted two memorial services for local people, charity fundraisers, benefits and regularly hosts registration events for fishing tournaments on Lake Norman.

The prom will be the furthest thing from David Reutimann’s mind Saturday night when he races at Richmond International Raceway. Reutimann’s Aaron’s Dream Team pit crew earned its first Tissot Pit Crew Award Sunday at Talladega. It was MWR’s third Tissot Award of 2010 after the No. 56 crew earned the award in Atlanta and Las Vegas.

QUOTES

Dr. MARY LOUISE JONES - PRINCIPAL, HOPEWELL HIGH SCHOOL: “It is kind of unusual to have the Hopewell High School prom at a race shop, but Michael Waltrip Racing made a lot of sense to us. We normally have prom downtown Charlotte at a convention center, but wanted to have a space that was closer to the school and more convenient for the kids and their parents. We took a lot into account like parking and security. The race shop was very nice because it was big enough to accommodate our kids, have an area for dancing and an area for sitting and eating. I was impressed and the kids seemed to have a good time.”

REUTIMANN ON ATTENDING HIS OWN HIGH SCHOOL PROM: “I think I went to one and the only thing that remarkably sticks out in my mind is that I can’t believe that I did it cause I had to miss a race to go. That’s really the only thing that I can recall. I went, but I was miserable the whole time because I should have been and wanted to be at a racetrack.”

REUTIMANN ON THE TISSOT PIT CREW PIT ROAD PRECISION AWARD: “The Aaron’s Dream Team pit crew has steadily improved as the year’s gone on. They’ve been doing a good job, but to be honest I’m surprised they haven’t got it before now. That’s just how good they’ve been. I’m really proud of the guys and I know they work really, really hard on a lot of different areas to try and make things better. It’s really starting to pay off. I’m really proud of them and I’m sure it’s not going to be the last one they get this year.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Michael Waltrip enters the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame Wednesday night joining notable inductees such as: Muhammad Ali, Tubby Smith, Adolph Rupp, Phil Simms, Johnny Unitas, Secretariat and other Bluegrass state heroes. Proceeds from the banquet benefit Kosair Charities. Tickets are $75 and may be obtained through Jo Barrett at Kosair Charities: (502) 637-7696, ext. 104. MWR cars will carry a special decal this weekend honoring Waltrip’s induction.

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

• Aaron’s, sponsor of the No. 00, will give away an autographed hat to a lucky race fan through Facebook and Twitter following any top-10 finish. Follow Aarons on Twitter (@AaronsSports) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/AaronsSports).

• Aaron’s/Alabama Crimson Tide No. 00 Toyota Camry diecast cars available for purchase at any Aaron's store nationwide. Aaron’s stores throughout Alabama will host the Alabama National Championship show car and also have championship/racecar t-shirts and championship 9" plush Lucky Dogs for sale.

Aaron's, Inc. to Honor Armed Forces Foundation with Commemorative NASCAR Racecar at Charlotte

ATLANTA, April 24 - Aaron's, Inc. announced today it will honor the Armed Forces Foundation (AFF) with a commemorative NASCAR racecar at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte during the upcoming race Memorial weekend, Sunday, May 30. The paint scheme will feature a patriotic red, white and blue design.

In addition to the custom paint scheme for the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 00 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota, driven by David Reutimann, Aaron's will also donate a minimum of $10,000 to the AFF. However, if Reutimann finishes in the top five at Charlotte, Aaron's will double the donation to $20,000. If Reutimann wins the race, Aaron's will donate $200,000 to the AFF.

"As a longtime partner of the AFF, Aaron's never fails to find new and exciting ways to show their support for the nation's military," said Patricia Driscoll, AFF President and Executive Director. "A NASCAR racecar adorned with the AFF logo will generate tremendous visibility for our program, delivering more impact in a single day than anything we have done in the past."

Aaron's COO, Ken Butler, said, "The work of the AFF is vitally important because it supports not only military soldiers, but also their families and the sacrifices they make every day. So to take this program a step further, Aaron's has partnered with the AFF to raise additional funds through a texting campaign. We're encouraging partners, customers and friends to text 'AFF' to 50555 and contribute $10 that will support our country's military and their families." The text campaign will run through the end of 2010.

The red, white and blue AFF racecar will be unveiled today before the Aaron's 312 race at Talladega.

David Reutimann - Talladega Sprint Cup Series Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Race fans attending the Aaron’s Dream Weekend at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend might yell out “Roll Tide!” as David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine, takes to the racetrack. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver’s No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine will sport the 2009 National Champions Alabama Crimson Tide logo on the hood and a crimson paint scheme to celebrate the University of Alabama’s victory over Texas in the college football BCS Championship game.

QUOTES

REUTIMANN ON UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PAINT SCHEME: “I grew up in Florida, so I am pretty sure there are going to be some people I know that aren’t going to be real happy to see me in an Alabama Crimson Tide car, but I think it’s a pretty cool deal. I’m sure I’ll become a pretty popular driver this week—a lot of people who may not normally root for me will probably be cheering me on because of this paint scheme.

“Aaron’s does a great job with things like this. They have a Color Your Way to Talladega Aaron’s car for the Nationwide race with Trevor Bayne this weekend, a 55th Anniversary car that Michael (Waltrip) is driving and I’m driving an Alabama National Championship car this weekend. Aaron’s is always looking for new ideas and creative ways to have fun and Aaron’s Dream Weekend at Talladega is a lot of fun that is for sure.”

ELI GOLD, MRN BROADCASTER (BROADCASTER, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA FOOTBALL)
“Obviously, with Alabama winning the National Championship and Aaron’s as a partner this was a natural fit and a great opportunity to celebrate the accomplishment. As a matter of fact, last weekend the car was in Tuscaloosa (Ala.) when the Crimson Tide played their annual spring football game in front of a sold out crowd of more than 92,000, and when they brought the car out and fired it up it sounded as though Bama had won the national title again. The fans just couldn’t believe it and I think its going to be that same sort of reaction come this weekend when the Crimson Tide car, through the Aaron’s associated sponsorship gets out on to the racetrack. This has been a wonderful run for the Tide and this is a great way to cross promote to all the NASCAR fans that live in Alabama and those who will be coming to visit.”

ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AARON’S AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA: “The University of Alabama is tickled to have a nice relationship with the folks from Aaron’s and for Aaron’s to be so generous to allow the Crimson Tide colors and the National Championship logo on the car this weekend. That just shows you what kind of people they are. They are great folks who appreciate sports and appreciate the Alabama Crimson Tide.

ROBIN LOUDERMILK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF AARON’S, INC.
“Aaron’s couldn’t be more proud that two of its partner universities were represented in this year’s national championship game. While Alabama clinched the title, Texas put up a tough fight making the game one of the most outstanding in BCS history. We are honored and excited to take Alabama’s triumph a step further with the opportunity to put this commemorative racecar in victory lane at our race this weekend in Talladega.”

LARRY MCREYNOLDS, TV HOST/FORMER CREW CHIEF
“Being from Alabama, and I’m careful with this statement, there is really only probably two big or major things when it comes to sports in Alabama, because there is no professional teams there. There’s no Major League Baseball team, no NFL team, no NBA team; so at the end of the day honestly its Alabama and Auburn football and racing at Talladega.

“When I cut myself shaving I promise you it’s Crimson red … it’s not regular blood red. Even though I’ve been gone from Alabama for 30 years I still live and die Alabama Crimson Tide football. Outside of racing it’s probably my next passion and my next love as far as sports.

“So I guess with knowing that’s the two biggest things in the state of Alabama when it comes to sports and then by virtue of Aaron’s and David Reutimann running the paint scheme recognizing the Crimson Tide’s National Championship from last year—to marry those two things together in one, which is kind of hard to do. How do you marry racing and college football together. To be able to do that with the Alabama paint scheme, I promise you—you have Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he hits the track to qualify or when he takes the lead on Sunday they are going to be ripping the grandstands apart as they do every week. But I’d be willing to bet if that No. 00 when he goes to qualify on Saturday or if he happens to take the lead—which is a good possibility considering how they ran at Daytona– I think you’ll probably see close to the same reaction as you’d get with Dale Jr.“

ON HAVING A FLORIDA NATIVE DRIVE AN ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE PAINT SCHEME: “I’ve already given (David Reutimann) a little bit of a hard time. It just goes to show me that there is hope. There is hope for people from Florida. That they really do truly indeed get it. I talked to David on Trackside Live a couple weeks ago about that."

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• The Aaron’s/Alabama National Championship program kicked off at the University of Alabama A-Day game on April 17 at Bryant-Denny Stadium where the racecar was unveiled and displayed prior to the football game.

• Aaron’s/Alabama Crimson Tide No. 00 Toyota Camry diecast cars available for purchase at any Aaron's store nationwide. Aaron’s stores throughout Alabama will host the Alabama National Championship show car and also have championship/racecar t-shirts and championship 9" plush Lucky Dogs for sale. (Aaron’s Alabama Crimson Tide Show Car Schedule Attached).

• Reutimann has six career starts at Talladega Superspeedway and has led a total of eight laps. Reutimann’s best start is fifth (2007-2) and finish is 20th (2008-1). He led six laps in his last appearance at Talladega. Reutimann retired due to engine troubles in two races (2007-1 and 2008-2) and a crash in one (2007-2).

• Aaron’s, sponsor of the No. 00, will give away an autographed hat to a lucky race fan through Facebook and Twitter following any top-10 finish. Follow Aarons on Twitter (@AaronsSports) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/AaronsSports)

Michael Waltrip Racing Phoenix Post Race Report

· Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - finished 17th - now 19th in points.

· David Reutimann, No. 00 Best Western Toyota Camry - finished 20th - now 25th in points.

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary:  Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 00 NAPA Toyota team endured about everything that could ruin a Saturday night for a race team at Phoenix International Raceway. A slow start then a penalty along with an  unscheduled pit stop plus contact with another car were some of the issues encountered by the Michael Waltrip race team. And that was just in the first half of the race. The team never stopped working on the car and enjoyed a relatively calm second half of the race until about 60 laps remaining. On a restart, Truex dropped from 12th to 22nd telling crew chief Pat Tryson he’d lost all forward bite. But, Truex rallied to climb to 15th in the closing laps. Truex survived the wild scramble in a green-white-checkered finish to cross the line in 17th. The result moved him to 19th in points. 

Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota

• Truex Jr. started 8th and finished 17th

• Truex started slowly in the opening laps falling from eighth to 13th with a loose race car.

• NASCAR sent him to the back of the field on lap 19 for entering pit lane too early dropping him to about 36th.

• A loose wheel caused by a lug nut lodging between wheel and brake rotor forced an unscheduled, green-flag stop on lap 77 dropping Truex down a lap to 39th place.

• The new tires enabled him to turn the quickest laps on the track over the long green flag run that followed.

• Kurt Busch’s crash at lap 136—a few laps after the leaders pitted but before Truex pitted—allowed Truex to pit under caution and return to lead lap in 19th.

• While running 14th, Truex and Brad Keselowski made contact on lap 198. Keselowski spun into the wall.

• Truex then began a climb moving as high as 10th after a pit stop on lap 254.

• Truex raced in 12th with 60 laps remaining, but on a restart he dropped to 22nd telling Tryson he had lost all of the car’s forward bite: “I can’t touch the gas.”

• A caution with two laps to go saw the field come to pit lane and Truex move from 19th to 15th taking four tires.

• Truex came home 17th after the final two-lap shootout.

TRUEX QUOTE: "We rallied back from adversity after having that loose wheel and had a top-10 finish going, but the handling really went away after our second to last stop. It killed us. I don't know what happened -- maybe we had a bad set of tires. We got ourselves back to 15th on the final stop, but it just didn't handle right. It's frustrating because this is one of my favorite tracks."

David Reutimann Race Summary:  Except for a slight encounter with the turn four wall, No. 00 Best Western Toyota driver David Reutimann enjoyed a fairly quiet night at Phoenix International Raceway posting an 20th place finish. Like most of the 43-car field, Reutimann fought handling issues on the slippery, flat, mile oval. After starting 39th, Reutimann charged through the field climbing into the top 15. A punctured right rear slowed his progress midway through the race but the Florida native resumed his charge until the brush with the wall at lap 253 damaged the rear of his Camry. He stayed on the lead lap the remainder of the race climbing as high as 15th before a late caution forced a green-white-checkered finish. Reutimann crossed the finish line in 20th. The finish moves Reutimann to 25th in points.

David Reutimann, No. 00 BEST WESTERN Toyota

• Reutimann started 39th and finished 20th

• Reutimann looked to be one of the fastest cars on the track working his way in to the top 20 by lap 30.

• A punctured right rear tire slowed his progress near the halfway mark and he fell to about 24th.

• At lap 253 Reutimann spun and made contact with the wall causing body damage to the rear of his Toyota and dropping him to 26th.

• He spent the rest of the race on the lead lap turning very competitive lap times climbing to 15th.

• A caution with two laps to go saw Reutimann line up 17th for the green-white checkered.

REUTIMANN QUOTE: “We kind of had an up-and-down race. We started at the back and had to race really hard in the beginning. We made up a ton of spots early, but then the car kind of went away from us. We had a tire issue and that hurt us. There on the wreck I was just trying too hard to hang on to it and it just got away. My guys got it fixed and we were pretty good after that. That green-white-checkered cost us a couple spots.”

RACE NOTES:

• Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Juan Montoya swept the top five spots.

• A green-white-checkered jumbled the field at the end of the race and saw leaders Kyle Busch and Jimmie

• Johnson line up seventh and eighth for the two-lap shootout.

• Newman, who took only two tires on the pit stop, beat Jeff Gordon on the restart then held on to beat Gordon by .13 seconds and snapped a 77-race winless streak.

• The race saw 20 lead changes among 13 drivers. There were nine cautions for 59 laps.

• The average speed was 99.372mph.

• Race promoters added 63 laps (now 375 laps/miles or 600 Kilometers) to Saturday night’s race to insure the final laps could be run under the lights. The race took 3 hours, 48 mins and 13 secs.

• NASCAR allowed the teams an extra man over the wall to service the windshields because of all the bugs at the track.

• NASCAR estimated the attendance at 70,000.