Aaron’s To Sponsor Michael Waltrip’s Return to Sprint Cup Racing

Aaron’s To Sponsor Michael Waltrip’s Return to Sprint Cup Racing

Two-Time Daytona 500 Champ To Race PRISM’s No. 55 Toyota in Talladega

ATLANTA, GA. – In celebration of its 55th year, Aaron’s, Inc. will sponsor PRISM Motorsports’ No. 55 with driver Michael Waltrip in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway April 25.

Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 champion and former winner at Talladega, will return to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing with a long-time sponsor in Aaron’s and a long-time friend in PRISM co-owner Phil Parsons.

“This is cool. I’m ready to race again and Talladega is a place where I know we will be very competitive,” said Waltrip who owns four restrictor plate victories including a Talladega win in the fall of 2003.

Parsons said Waltrip was a natural choice for the Talladega high banks.

“Michael brings a tremendous amount of experience to our race team,” Parsons said. “He knows what he is looking for in our cars, in our race setups and what we need to do to make our team better on these types of tracks. Plus he’s a very dear friend and I’m excited we’re putting him behind the wheel. We’re going to Talladega with every intention of winning the race.”

Waltrip owns 760 Sprint Cup starts and finished 18th in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14 in his lone 2010 start.

“Phil and (co-owner) Randy Humphrey are getting started at PRISM Motorsports and I hope I can help them move through the learning curve a little bit faster,” Waltrip said. “I think it is going to be a lot of fun. Talladega is some of the best racing in the world and I’m glad I’ll get to be part of it in the Aaron’s 55th Anniversary Toyota.”

“Having Michael Waltrip drive the No. 55 in honor of Aaron’s 55th anniversary celebration is special to everyone at Aaron’s.” stated Robin Loudermilk, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aaron’s, Inc. “There is no better ambassador for our brand than Michael and no better way to celebrate 55 years of offering quality home furnishings to our customers than having the No. 55 Anniversary Dream Machine racing at the front of the pack during the Aaron’s 499.”

Aaron’s Chief Operating Officer Ken Butler continued, “Talladega will mark the first time that Michael has driven for Aaron’s on the Cup side and we are thrilled to have him pilot this commemorative 55th anniversary paint scheme. We have a long history together and are glad we have the opportunity to support him in his second Cup Series start of 2010.”

This season Waltrip has devoted more time to ownership of Michael Waltrip Racing which fields Toyotas for David Reutimann’s No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine and Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS entry. In addition, Waltrip’s time is spent as an analyst on Showtime’s “Inside NASCAR” and SPEED’s weekly talent show “Fast Track to Fame” as well as joining Parsons as a television commentator in SPEED’s coverage of truck series races.

The Aaron’s 499 at Talladega is the only race Waltrip has planned in the 2010 season.

PRISM Motorsports will field the No. 55 for Waltrip and the No. 66 for Dave Blaney at Talladega. Since its inception in 2009, PRISM Motorsports has purchased race cars from Michael Waltrip Racing.

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About Aaron’s, Inc.

Aaron’s, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), the nation’s leader in the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, has more than 1,700 Company-operated and franchised stores in 48 states and Canada. Founded in 1955 by entrepreneur R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr. and headquartered in Atlanta, Aaron’s has been publicly traded since 1982. For more information, visit www.aaronsinc.com.

Michael Waltrip Racing - Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway - Post Race Report

Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - Finished 27th - now 24th in points.


David Reutimann, No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - Finished 40th - now 18th in points.

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary: No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota was en route to a top-10 finish during Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the first of two green-white-checkered-flag finishes took Martin Truex Jr. out of contention when he was struck by Mark Martin and Denny Hamlin on lap 332. Crew chief Pat Tryson gambled and kept his driver out on the final restart. However, the damage was too much for Truex to keep up the pace. He was forced to limp home in 27th place, after an impressive run that saw him race in the top 10 for the final 100 laps of competition.
Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota

• Ran in top-20 during the first half of the race as the car was “pushy loose”

• Final 100 laps saw the No. 56 come to life and charge into the top-10

• Was running sixth in the closing laps before being caught up in a wreck on lap 332 during the first of two attempts at a green-white-checker finish

• The No. 56 Toyota was damaged, but limped home 27th to finish the race

• The NAPA AUTO PARTS pit crew won the Tissot Pit Crew Precision Award for the second consecutive week.
• The NAPA team turned in all sub 13-second stops

TRUEX QUOTE: “Pat Tryson and the guys worked on the car all day and got my NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota in contention for a great finish. The restart on lap 331 got ugly and we did all we could to miss a wreck in front of us, but we got caught up in it. It’s a shame this happen to us. We deserved a lot better finish than what we actually got.”

“I have to hand it to my pit crew again. They were unbelievable on pit road. They won the Tissot Pit Crew Precision Award last week and they deserve it again.”

David Reutimann Race Summary: Tough luck spoils what was looking to be an outstanding day for David Reutimann and the No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine. Reutimann started the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in ninth and experienced a difficult handling condition that dropped the No. 00 to the 26th position within the first 30 laps. When Reutimann came to pit road on lap 36 Rodney Childers called for several adjustments that made the car come to life on the restart. Reutimann soon found himself back among the top-10 and battling to crack the top-five on the restart on lap 164. Reutimann soon began to experience overheating which eventually ended his day prematurely.

David Reutimann, No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota

• Reutimann started ninth and finished 38th

• Reutimann battled a handling issue that dropped him to 26th

• The No. 00 pit crew made adjustments under caution on lap 36 that helped the condition

• The No. 00 raced it’s way back through the field up to the sixth position by a restart on lap 164

• The No. 00 experienced overheating on lap 166 and retired from the race

• Today marked Reutimann’s first “Did Not Finish” since Oct. 5, 2008 at Talladega—the longest such streak in the Sprint Cup Series (44 races)
REUTIMANN QUOTE: “It’s just a real frustrating deal. We had a good Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine and we were starting to have a pretty good day. The car wasn’t where we wanted it at the start of the race, but Rodney Childers and the crew kept working on it and got it up into the top-10 and we were closing in on the top-five. It turned what could have been a great day into a very disappointing day.”


RACE NOTES:

• Kurt Busch won the Kobalt Tools 500 over Matt Kenseth in the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish

• Kenseth, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard rounded out the top-five

• Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 26 points over Matt Kenseth

• The race featured 11 cautions for 53 laps and lasted four hours

• NASCAR estimated the race attendance at 85,000

• The Sprint Cup Series is off next weekend and will return at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21, 2010

David Reutimann Atlanta Interview - 2 of 2

David Reutimann on keeping up with Atlanta track changes.

Michael Waltrip Racing - Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway - Post Qualifying Report

David Reutimann posted the fastest lap of the two Michael Waltrip Racing Toyotas during today’s Coors Light qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. He’ll line up ninth. Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr. will start 19th. Sunday’s running of the Kobalt Tools 500 gets underway on FOX, PRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio 128 starting at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

Friday Recap

• David Reutimann, No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - Qualified 9th
• Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - Qualified 19th
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award for the KOBALT TOOLS 500 with a lap of 28.761
seconds, 192.761 mph
• Earnhardt's pole speed set a record for fastest in the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car. The
previous fastest was Jimmie Johnson's speed of 192.376 mph at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October
of last season.
• Kyle Busch will join Earnhardt on the front row.

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Qualified: Ninth

Are you happy with your qualifying run?
“That’s about as much as we had. I think we picked up about seven-tenths so it was a pretty good pick up for the Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine. We gave up a little bit in one and two. We were pretty good in three and four but one and two we lost some. All in all it was a good effort for the guys. It’s not a pole but hopefully it will hold up for a top-10 and give us a good starting position and a good pit selection and all of the things we need for the race.”

Did you ‘bottom out’ during your qualifying run?
“Actually it got on the race track just a little bit but not as much as anticipated. Not only with the tape up on the nose but the track temperatures being down. We’re talking some guys picking up close to a second on lap time and if you pick up that much speed you’re going to have trouble getting on the race track. But it wasn’t bad. Rodney Childers (crew chief) and the guys did a good job anticipating what was going to happen so it was okay.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry, Qualified: 19th

How was your qualifying lap?
“It was okay. I thought we would’ve been a little bit better than that. I think a lot of the guys run 29 flat so we were just on the wrong end of that. I really have been pretty happy with the car all day especially in race trim so hopefully tomorrow will be great. I thought we’d have went a little quicker than that tonight. We had a really good run right at the end of practice but it was on an older set of tires. We probably just got the car a little bit too free for tonight.”

David Reutimann - Atlanta Open Interview

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Mitsubishi Electric/Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing


What are your expectations for this weekend at Atlanta?

“This is a tricky race track. The tires fall off so quick because the track is pretty abrasive. It’s a constant adjustment on trying to get your car comfortable and to get it to do what you need it to do. We’ve got a pretty good Toyota Camry today. We have Mitsubishi Electronics on the car so I’m hoping if I sit on the pole that maybe they’ll actually give me a big screen TV or something like that. The car looks good and it’s a promotional deal that Aaron’s has done being that Mitsubishi has been their ‘Partner of the Year’ actually for the second year in a row. It’s something special that Aaron’s is doing putting them on the car, getting them some exposure and showing their appreciation for what they do for our program.”

Were the cars ‘bottoming out’ during practice in turns one and two?

“Yeah, the track is really, really fast. The temperatures are down so the track has got a lot of grip in it right now. In the meantime you’ve got more grip -- you guys know we run these cars so close to being on the ground anyway it doesn’t take much to put them over the edge. It’s a little bit different tire configuration and the track speeds being up and the track being rough in certain areas, the cars are getting into the race track pretty hard. Not only us, I think there’s a lot of other guys fighting the same things. When you have that going down the corner of the car, it gets in the corner in the splitter it hits the race track it just obviously moves up the race track and it’s hard to make any time. I spent the first half of practice trying to get the thing up off the race track, but the problem is you don’t want to get the car too high down the straightaway so you want to keep it low down the straightaways but you need to try to keep it off the race track through the corners in the rough spots. It’s a hard thing to do. And everybody says, ‘Well, if it’s on the race track we just raise the thing up.’ But it’s not that easy because you raise it up to get it through the corners and then it hurts straightaway speeds and then when you get into packing there’s less downforce, the car raises up more and I’m just glad I’m not a crew chief or engineer trying to figure all of that stuff out. I just come in and tell them either it’s hitting the race track or it’s not. It’s difficult. Again, most people think dragging the race track you just raise it up but you just can’t do that. There’s a lot more to it.”

Do you believe the cars ‘bottoming out’ will cause the track to break down like Daytona?

“I don’t think so. There’s probably a couple things that contributed to the Daytona surface breaking up. Probably the excessive amounts of water they had as well, leading up to it, and the colder temperatures. Not that it’s warm here. I don’t think we’re going to run into a situation like that. I think that’s something that might have happened even if the splitters weren’t pounded the race track. The thing about it is, at Daytona you can get away with that with our cars because the nose will come back up and you can make it on through the corner. Here, the speeds are so high and the g-loads are such that it really just slams the car in the race track and you hit the race track and it slides up there. I don’t think we got anything to worry about as far as tearing up the actual race track. Tearing up the race cars and being a little rough on the bottoms of them, that’s probably the only danger we got.”


Do you appreciate your success more considering how long you waited for your ‘break?’

“It may be a guy coming right out of high school and going Cup racing and doesn’t appreciate it maybe as much as a guy like me who’s done it a little differently. Nothing wrong with that. Trust me, I wish I would’ve been 18 years old, coming out of high school and had an opportunity to do Cup racing. I would’ve loved to have done that. Just wasn’t in the cards for me at the time. If you were 18 or 20 years old, or even mid-20s, you were too young. They wanted guys that were more seasoned because they didn’t tear up as many cars. Then Jeff Gordon shows up and all the rules changed. Everybody wanted a young guy because he was producing on the race track. You got a guy like Mark Martin, not saying I’m a Mark Martin, but when you’re out there racing that guy and he’s kicking butt, that makes you feel really good. It makes you feel like you maybe have a little bit of longevity. You never know. In the end, if you run well on the race track, they’ll probably keep you around no matter how old you get. Forty is the new 30, anyway. That’s what I’m going with.”

David Reutimann - Atlanta Interview 1 of 2

David Reutimann on turning 40 and appreciating his Sprint Cup ride

David Reutimann Interview from NASCAR Now - March 3