Tag Archives: David Reutimann

On lap 213, David Reutimann finally prevailed after a protracted battle for the lead with Jeff Gordon. Reutimann drove on to an easy win while Gordon faded to third.

With crunch time fast approaching for the Chase, a quiet fourth-place run was just what the doctor ordered for Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 team. Bowyer moves into the last Chase spot for now, making car owner Richard Childress the only owner to have each one of his teams in the top dozen. That’s a huge turnaround for an organization that missed the Chase entirely not quite a year ago.

Kyle Busch ran out of gas with two laps to go, handing the lead to his brother Kurt Busch, who used extraordinary mileage to drive to his second win of the season.

Occasionally, you hear comical stories of superstition in motorsports. Joe Weatherly, whose untimely death in a crash is why stock cars have window nets today, suffered from triskaidekaphobia and once asked NASCAR to call the 13th Southern 500 the "12th Renewal of the Southern 500." He also once asked to rename his 13th starting position in a race to "12a." There are green car phobias, which supposedly trace back to one of the Chevrolet brothers, Gaston, being killed in a Beverly Hills race. Gaston was driving a green car at the time, and green has been seen as bad luck ever since, despite Bobby Labonte’s 2000 championship in an Interstate Batteries Pontiac.

*After the dust settled at Richmond, Brian Vickers was in the Chase while Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth were left on the outside looking in. Is not having the series bad boy or perpetual championship contender in the playoffs bad for the sport?* Beth: Not at all. It's not like they're going to be out of the races altogether. Bryan: What's bad is how a driver with four wins, regardless of who it is, is out of the playoffs while four drivers with no wins are in.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and in the case of the Sprint Cup that’s certainly how I felt this past Sunday, as for the fourth and final time this season, NASCAR’s top echelon took a well deserved weekend off from the relentless slog that is the Cup schedule. With 24 races in the books -- precisely two-thirds of the full season for those so mathematically inclined -- and a 12-week, 12-race swing ahead of us, there will be precious little time for reflection in the next couple of months; and, by the time we next pause for collective breath, the champion will have been decided and the top 35 set headed into 2010. How it’s all going to play out only the good Lord knows (although don’t discount that evil genius himself Chad Knaus having some kind of inside track here), but before we get down to the serious business of the sharp end of the season, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on what we’ve seen so far in the 61st NASCAR season.

_Each week, we’ll go through media reports, interviews, PR, and all of our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Sprint Cup race, capturing the story of how the weekend unfolded. It’s the most original commentary you’ll ever find: the truth, coming straight out of the mouths of the drivers, crew members, and car owners themselves. This week, here’s a peek at what the drivers were thinking following the CARFAX 400 at Michigan International Speedway:_ "He (Ryan Pemberton, crew chief) asked me to give him two laps [of fuel] and I gave him five. So he said, 'Go get it and do what you did here last time.' It was a great call. I don't know what to say. It feels so good to be in Victory Lane. I know the economy is down, but I am so thankful to have these NASCAR fans here. Even in a bad economy, they just about sell the place out." _Brian Vickers_

NASCAR broadcasts these days are, as many fans complain, not exactly equitable in how they dole out airtime to drivers. While one guy (you fill in the name) will be on TV throughout the broadcast no matter where he is running, another (fill in that guy too) might be having a great run-and you hardly see him. At the end of the race, when they show the results, you look and think, ‘I had no idea.’ Sometimes it seems as though that scenario is a microcosm for NASCAR as a whole. Some guys make the news because they are running well-while others are exceeding expectations and you hardly hear a word about it. A few actually get more press for running bad than some of the frontrunners. There are a few drivers who have very quietly put together decent seasons without fanfare. They all might not make the Chase, but all things considered, are having much better seasons than the press (or lack thereof) suggest. Check out these five hidden gems, who are quietly putting together a better season than some who make the news (but shall remain nameless).

Each week, we’ll go through media reports, interviews, PR, and all of our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Sprint Cup race, capturing the story of how the weekend unfolded. It’s the most original commentary you’ll ever find: the truth, coming straight out of the mouths of …

We’re one race past the statistical halfway point of the 2009 season and as we gear up for the stretch run of 17 Sprint Cup races in 18 weeks, the much maligned (and in equal parts ballyhooed) “Chase for the Sprint Cup” is just seven races away. So before we get down to the serious business of the sharp end of the season, we’ve graded each of the top 40 drivers – based on the points standings as we run headed to the Brickyard. We’ve divided our review into two halves; today, we focus on the top 20 drivers while tomorrow we’ll look at the wheelmen running in positions 21 through 40. Some of these grades will seem just right to you, others a country mile off. But no matter what you think, let us know what you agree with, what you don’t, and why below… Leading off, it’s “owner/driver” Tony Stewart, a moniker he’s taken well to, it seems.