David Reutimann New Hampshire Race Report

David Reutimann Race Summary: No. 00 TUMS Toyota driver David Reutimann overcame an ill-handling racecar to record a seventh-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. Reutimann started seventh and worked his way up to fourth over the first 75 laps. A loose handling condition dropped the No. 00 to 20th just past the half-way mark. Following a pit stop on lap 208, crew chief Rodney Childers called for Reutimann to stay out and save fuel over the final four cautions. The call moved Reutimann from 16th to fourth. The No. 00 raced in the top-10 over the final 75 laps and moved from ninth to seventh in the closing laps when two cars ran out of fuel. Reutimann moves to 15th in the standings. The Michael Waltrip Racing team returns to action Sunday at Dover International Speedway.


David Reutimann, No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry

Started seventh and finished seventh

Battled a loose in, loose off condition for the majority of the afternoon and dropped out of the top 15 by half way.

Worked on the car under caution to correct the issue, but continued to race between 15th and 20th.

Stayed out under caution on Lap 223 to climb from 16th to 4th.

Stayed out following quick cautions on lap 238 and 241 to restart seventh on lap 245.

Remained in the top-10 the rest of the race and picked up two spots as leaders ran out of fuel to finish seventh.



REUTIMANN QUOTE: "That was ugly, but I'll take it! To struggle the way we did today and still come out of here with a seventh-place finish is pretty amazing. Our TUMS Toyota was loose in and off all day and really couldn't get a handle on it. Rodney (Childers) and (race engineer) Dax (Gerringer) really did a great job working on our fuel and pit strategy. We took a pretty big gamble by staying out toward the end and not pitting, but with the way the cautions worked out it was pretty good - we saved fuel and picked up a top-10. I can't thank our team enough for the job they did today and TUMS for its support."

RACE NOTES:

Clint Bowyer won the first race of the 2010 Chase for the Championship and is now second in points.

Denny Hamlin finished second and Jamie McMurray third. Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton were racing in the top-five, but ran out of gas in the closing laps.

Denny Hamlin now leads Clint Bowyer by 35 points

The race last 2 hours and 58 minutes. Cautions slowed race slowed race eight times for 34 laps.

Twenty-one lead changes among eight drivers.

NASCAR estimated attendance at 95,000.