CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver David Reutimann gained six spots the last three weeks. Key to that surge is consecutive top five qualifying runs. That trend should continue this weekend at Dover International Speedway where the 40-year-old Florida native is the defending pole sitter. In 2010, the Michael Waltrip Racing driver has proven to be one of the fastest of the 43 cars on the track nearly every weekend. Mechanical issues encountered when running in the top six this season prematurely ended three races. Reutimann finished all 38 races in 2009.
QUOTES
ON WINNING THE POLE AWARD LAST YEAR AT DOVER: “Dover is definitely a place where you hold your breath because you’re really in the gas a lot, you drive down in the corners deep then let the thing roll before getting back to the gas. So it’s a really, really intense racetrack. Qualifying is not one of the more enjoyable things that you’ll do during the course of the weekend. It’s definitely a place that will keep your attention the whole time.”
WHY IS DOVER IS A “MEAN” RACETRACK? “There are just a lot of transitions getting into the corners and on the exit of the corners which are pretty violent. You go from almost falling down a hill getting into the corners then the car lands, loads up then you drive up the other side. It kind of spits you out the other side. It’s a pretty intense racetrack that takes a lot of getting used to because it’s really a different feel compared to a lot of other places that we go.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE STARTING TO GET YOUR SEASON BACK ON TRACK AFTER A SLOW START? “I certainly hope so. At least we’ve been able to finish the last few races and have some pretty decent runs. I don’t think we were as good as we wanted to be in Richmond and last week at Darlington we just got caught on pit road at the wrong time and that cost us some track position when the caution came out. It is what it is. I think things are going better. Things haven’t really gone bad for us. We’ve had good speed on the racetrack and we’ve been racing well, but we just haven’t been able to get those finishes that we need – sometimes that’s half the battle. I feel like we are starting to gain on it a little bit. At least we’re moving in the right direction and we’ll be able to continue to do that.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST
In the last three races, Reutimann has moved from 30th in points up to 24th in points, collected 10 bonus points for leading laps in two of the three races (five laps at Talladega and three at Darlington), recorded two top-five qualifying efforts (second at Richmond and fourth at Darlington) and has three top-15 finishes.
Reutimann has finished 20th or better in seven of the eight races that he has been running at the finish in 2010—and 15th or better in six of the eight. In his three DNFs (Did Not Finish), Reutimann was racing in the top-five of all three races at the time he radioed of the issue leading him to retire from the race. (5th at Atlanta, 2nd at Bristol, 5th at Atlanta).
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.
Steve Hallam, executive vice president and director of competition at Michael Waltrip Racing, will receive a degree of Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Huddersfield in England on July 12. The university has a globally respected automotive engineering department. Hallam, who worked in Formula 1 from 1982 to 2008 with Lotus and then McLaren, joined MWR in 2009.
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