Lead Lap's NASCAR News » David Reutimann

Busch Makes NASCAR History With Bristol Trifecta

Michael J Smith — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:44:46 +0000

Kyle Busch held off David Reutimann and Jamie McMurray to win the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. With the win, Busch made NASCAR history, becoming the first driver to sweep three NASCAR national touring events at the same track in the same race weekend. The win is Busch’s third this season.

Top 5: Busch, Reutimann, McMurray, Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne.

Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Jeff Gordon (11th), Carl Edwards (12th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (13th), Kevin Harvick (14th), Jeff Burton (15th), Martin Truex Jr (17th), Mark Martin (23rd), Tony Stewart (27th), Elliott Sadler (29th), Denny Hamlin (34th), and Jimmie Johnson (35th).

Around lap 262, Jimmie Johnson, who led 175 laps to that point, was racing with Juan Montoya down the backstretch. The two made contact, sending Johnson spinning into the turn 3 wall. Johnson went to the garage for repairs and finished 35th.

About halfway through the race, Denny Hamlin broke a drive shaft, which required repairs inthe garage. He finished 34th.

Tony Stewart was also running in the top 5 when Regan Smith spun in front of him. Stewart slowed to avoid hitting him, and Tony Raines ran into the back of him, damaging his car. Stewart spent time on pit road getting repairs, but never had a competitive car after the contact. He finished 27th.

It’s Official: Reutimann, Aaron’s Ink Extensions With MWR

Michael J Smith — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:13:40 +0000

Michael Waltrip Racing announced that it has signed David Reutimann to a contact extension, locking the driver up through the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season.

Additionally, MWR has extended its agreement with Aaron’s Inc. Aaron’s will appear as primary sponsor in 30 races in 2010, six more than originally planned. Aaron’s will also sponsor the No. 00 Sprint Cup Toyota for 30 races in both 2011 and 2012. They will also become an associate sponsor on all MWR Toyotas.

Reutimann said of the announcement:

I’ve been asked about my contract for the last month and we’ve had a handshake agreement, but now it’s done and I’m glad I can finally talk about it. I’m thrilled. This is where I want to be – at Michael Waltrip Racing driving the No. 00 with Aaron’s on the hood.

The deal was agreed to long ago, but it was a handshake deal. It is now official.

Reutimann Wins LifeLock.com 400 At Chicagoland

Michael J Smith — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:26:11 +0000

David Reutimann drove to his second career Sprint Cup victory in the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Reutimann’s first career victory came in a rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600, leading some naysayers to question whether he earned it. But this time, no one could question his victory; he led three times for a total of 52 laps, including the final 32.

Reutimann, who recently agreed to an extension with Michael Waltrip Racing said:

No rain tonight. We earned this one, no one gave it to us. I heard so much stuff for winning that rain-shortened race. Tonight we earned it.

He also gave credit to his crew chief Rodney Childers for making the right calls all night.

Top 5: Reutimann, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray.

Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Paul Menard finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Martin Truex Jr (11th), Matt Kenseth (13th), Mark Martin (15th), Juan Montoya (16th), Kyle Busch (17th), Joey Logano (19th), Ryan Newman (22nd), Dale Earnhardt Jr (23rd), Jimmie Johnson (25th), Kurt Busch (26th), Kevin Harvick (34th), and Greg Biffle (35th).

Points-leader Kevin Harvick struggled with his car all night, running in the 20s for the early part of the race. Things went from bad to worse when he had fuel pump problems around lap 180. He took his car to the garage on lap 194 for repairs. He finished 34th.

Greg Biffle had a strong car early, but he encountered engine problems around lap 190. He tried to nurse it to the finish but his engine expired with about 40 to go. He finished 35th.

Jimmie Johnson had a strong car early, leading the first 92 laps. But, on lap 98 he was attemping to make a green-flag stop when he slid and missed the pits. He had to come around again and lost a ton of time. On lap 137, Johnson was racing with Martin Truex Jr when he spun through the infield grass. It’s unclear whether or not Truex made contact but Johnson’s car was clean and he continued on.

Johnson, however, wasn’t able to find the lead again. He finished 25th. Afterwards he indicated that something was wrong with the car after he spun. He said it was dragging the splitter across the track.

Harvick Wins Wreck-Filled Coke Zero 400 At Daytona

Michael J Smith — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:40:24 +0000

Kevin Harvick, polesitter for the Coke Zero 400 due to qualifying being rained out, won the wreck-filled restrictor plate race at Daytona International Speedway. On a green-white-checkered finish, Harvick drove by teammate Clint Bowyer for the lead, then held off Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne to win.

Top 5: Harvick, Kahne, Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jeff Burton.

Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Reed Sorenson, Mike Bliss, and Scott Speed rounded out the top 10.

Notables: David Reutimann (11th), Robby Gordon (12th), Steve Park (13th), Kevin Conway (14th), Matt Kenseth (15th), Bobby Labonte (16th), Clint Bowyer (17th), Greg Biffle (20th), Denny Hamlin (24th), Tony Stewart (25th), Ryan Newman (26th), Juan Montoya (27th), Mark Martin (28th), Joey Logano (29th), Jimmie Johnson (31st), Marcos Ambrose (32nd), Martin Truex Jr (35th), Jamie McMurray (39th), and Kyle Busch (40th).

Early in the race, Kyle Busch and AJ Allmendinger made contact, sending Allmendinger sliding towards the inside wall. He spun and hit the wall with his rear. Allemdinger finished 36th. Busch continued on. Afterwards, he had a heated exchange with team owner Richard Petty, an incident that was downplayed later.

About 60 laps later, Busch was racing past Juan Montoya, who was going a lap down due to pitting under green. As Busch passed him, Montoya came down while Busch moved up the track. The two made contact, and Busch was hooked into the wall. He suffered heavy damage and finished 40th.

Afterwards, Busch gave a sarcastic interview taking blame for the incident. He explained side-drafting and how Montoya hooked him before making contact due to the air.

On lap 116, David Ragan got loose and spun. He overcorrected and hit the wall. He then slid down the into Jamie McMurray and Martin Truex Jr. McMurray and Ragan could not continue, but Truex was able to continued on. They finished 39th, 38th, and 35th respectively.

On lap 148, Kurt Busch bumped Jeff Burton, loosening him up and sending him into Sam Hornish Jr on the outside. Burton bounced off of Hornish and slid back into Busch. Busch slid across the grass.

The cars started checking up. Juan Montoya got into the back of Brad Keselowski turning him into the wall. Keselowki got into Reed Sorenson spinning him into Jimmie Johnson, who turned into the wall.

Keselowski and Sorenson blocked the track, collecting several cars who had nowhere to go. About 12 cars were involved, including Sorenson, Montoya, Ryan Newman, Johnson, Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Regan Smith, Marcos Ambrose, and Travis Kvapil .

The race was red flagged for 20 minutes.

About 11 laps later, Hornish was running three-wide in the middle of Sadler and David Reutimann when he got loose. He hit teammate Kurt Busch, then bounced off of Sadler and slid back into Busch. Busch was turned to the inside and slid across the track while Hornish and Sadler turned to the outside and made contact with the wall.

With his fourth place finish, Dale Earnhardt Jr climbed back into the top 12 in the standings.

Reutimann Signs Three-Year Extension With MWR

Michael J Smith — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:10:31 +0000

FoxSports.com is reporting that David Reutimann has signed a three-year extension with Michael Waltrip Racing to remain as driver of the No. 00 Sprint Cup Toyota Camry. The news that Reutimann, owner of the team’s only Sprint Cup win, re-signed with the team is not surprising.

Before Kasey Kahne signed with Hendrick Motorsports, I wrote an article about potential seats for Kahne. One of those seats – based strictly on contract expirations – was MWR’s No. 00. At that time I wrote:

I would be surprised if Michael Waltrip let go of David Reutimann at the end of next season. Reutimann brought the team its first victory, and if he turns in a halfway-decent performance next year, there’s no way Waltrip forgets that. Reutimann has done a lot to make the team respectable, allowing them to attract Martin Truex Jr. So, I don’t think MWR will let him go unless he drops out of the top-35 in points next season. So, for argument’s sake we can remove that one from the list.

Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once and a while.

But, Reutimann strikes me as someone who is loyal to a team. And when you consider Waltrip’s loyalty, a re-signing seemed eminent. Add in the fact that Reutimann indicated earlier that there were no sticking points that would keep the two sides from reaching an agreement, and you could see this news coming a mile away.

Who Will Miss The Chase And Who Will Make It?

Michael J Smith — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:51:53 +0000

Since 2007, when NASCAR moved to the current Chase format (allowing 12 drivers into the Chase instead of 10), only one driver — on average — in the Chase after the 13th race of the season has fallen out by the time the Chase has started. That means that after last weekend’s Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 11 out of 12 Chase spots are probably statistically decided.

If that ends up being the case, who drops out? Which driver currently in the top 12 is the most likely one to drop out? Conversely, which driver currently outside of the top 12 is most likely to get in? Lead-Lap.com set out to find out, based on statistics.

In 2009, three drivers in the Chase after the 13th race fell out before the Chase began. Kyle Busch was in the Chase after the 13th race but lost a 67-point advantage over the next 13 to drop out. Matt Kenseth lost a 58-point advantage over the 13 races leading into the Chase to drop out. And, Jeff Burton lost a 20-point advantage over the 13 races leading into the Chase to drop out.

Kasey Kahne was 66 points out of the Chase after the 13th race, Brian Vickers was 131 points out, and Juan Montoya was 92 points out. All three overcame their deficits to make the Chase.

In 2008, Kahne was in the Chase after the 13th race but he lost an eight-point advantage and fell out 13 races later. Meanwhile, Kenseth made up a 95-point deficit over those 13 races to earn his way in the Chase.

In 2007, Mark Martin was in the Chase after the 13th race. He lost a 26-point advantage over the next 13 races to fall out. That allowed Kurt Busch to make his way into the Chase; he overcame his 88-point deficit. Over those 13 races, though, Martin missed four races because he was racing a part time schedule and sharing his car with Aric Almirola.

In the last three years, Busch’s 67 points is the largest advantage a driver who didn’t make the Chase has had after the 13th race. And, Vickers’ 131-point deficit was the largest to be made up before the Chase.

Applying those numbers to the current Sprint Cup Series points’ standings, this means that Carl Edwards at 59 points ahead of 13th place and Ryan Newman at four points ahead of 13th place could be in danger of falling out of the Chase.

It also means that Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr, Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Joey Logano, and David Reutimann are in contention for the one Chase spot that is likely to change because they are each within 125 points of 12th place.

But, who’s likely to overcome their current deficit to earn that spot? Let’s look at the stats from the last three seasons to find out.

Over the next 13 Sprint Cup races, Tony Stewart has the best average finish (10th) of those currently outside looking in. Clint Bowyer is the second best with an average finish of 15th in those races. The remaining drivers in contention are: Dale Earnhardt Jr, Joey Logano, and Martin Truex Jr (each with an 18th-place average), Jamie McMurray (22nd-place average), and David Reutimann (23rd-place average).

Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman are the two drivers in the danger zone (less than 67 points ahead of 13th place.) Edwards has an average finish of 11th over the next 13 races, while Newman has a 17th-place average.

Using the current points standings, that means that Stewart will earn roughly 1,795 points. Edwards will earn 1,746; Bowyer will earn 1,566; Newman will earn 1,461; Logano will earn 1,437*; Earnhardt Jr will earn 1,427*; Truex Jr will earn 1,399*; McMurray will earn 1,250; and Reutimann will earn 1,237.

* Logano, Earnhardt Jr, and Truex have the same average finish over the next 13 but will earn a different number of points because of rounding of their average finishes.

If you factor in wins, Stewart, Edwards, and Logano* are the only ones whose average number of wins over the next 13 is greater than one. In other words, they’re the only ones who have averaged one win per season in the last three seasons over the next 13 races.

* Logano only has stats from last year, but he did win one of the next 13 (New Hampshire Motor Speedway).

Over the next 13 races, Stewart has averaged at least 5 bonus points nearly two-thirds of the time. That means, statistically, he’s likely to get bonus points in nine of the next 13 races. That will give him an additional 45 points. Edwards earns bonus points nearly 60% of the time over the next 13, which is roughly seven races, or 35 points.

Earnhardt Jr earns bonus points nearly half the time, though most of those were in 2007 and 2008. Still that will translate to roughly 30 bonus points in six of the next 13 races. Applying these stats across the board means that Truex will earn 20 bonus points; Newman will earn 15, Bowyer and McMurray will earn 10 apiece; and Logano and Reutimann will each earn 5.

That means that over the next 13 races Edwards will earn 1,781 points, including bonus points. Newman will earn 1,476; Bowyer will earn 1,576; Truex will earn 1,419; McMurray will earn 1,260; Stewart will earn 1,840; Earnhardt Jr will earn 1,457; Logano will earn 1,442; and Reutimann will earn 1,242.

If you take those totals and add them to the current standings, you’ll find that Edwards will hold onto 11th-place in the standings with 3,383 points. Stewart will move up four positions from 16th to 12th, and the final Chase spot with 3,360 points.

Newman, who is currently in the Chase, will drop two spots to 14th, out of the Chase with 3,023 points.

Of course, this is assuming that all drivers keep consistent with their averages, which any fan of NASCAR knows rarely happens.

Busch Wins All Star Event, $1 Million

Michael J Smith — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:50:09 +0000

Kurt Busch overcame hitting the wall not once, but twice to win an action-packed All Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch charged to the front at the beginning of the final segment. Then, he survived two late-race cautions and held off Martin Truex Jr, who won the Sprint Showdown to earn a spot in the event, to earn his first All Star victory.

Top 5: Busch, Truex Jr, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Tony Stewart.

Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Ryan Newman (11th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (12th), Jimmie Johnson (13th), Kyle Busch (14th), Kasey Kahne (15th), Casey Mears (16th), Mark Martin (17th), Jamie McMurray (18th), David Reutimann (19th), Jeff Gordon (20th), and Carl Edwards (21st).

In the final 10-lap segment, Denny Hamlin was leading teammate Kyle Busch when Busch got a run on the outside. Hamlin moved up to block Busch, pinching him into the outside wall. The two never appeared to make contact, but Busch hit the wall hard and began losing positions.

With two laps to go, Kyle Busch blew a tire and hit the wall. Kasey Kahne attempted to pass him on the inside, but the two made contact sending Kahne hard into the outside wall.

Busch was not pleased with Hamlin, and drove his car to Hamlin’s hauler. After the race, Hamlin did not go to his hauler. He stopped his car at the garage entrances and was escorted to his hauler by his crew. The doors were closed behind him.

At the time of the incident, Busch said over the radio:

Someone better keep me away from Denny Hamlin. … I had this race won. It was won.

Jimmie Johnson, who had a strong car, was racing hard inside of Hamlin when he spun and slid through the infield grass. He damaged his splitter and was not a factor over the final few laps.

Also, on the first attempt at a restart, signalling the beginning 10-lap sprint to the finish, Joey Logano tried to pass Johnson to the inside, but ended up on the infield grass. He wiggled and hit Mark Martin, who was to his outside.

Martin spun in front of most of the field, setting off a chain reaction that collected Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards (who earned his spot in the All Star race by winning the fan vote), David Reutimann, Tony Stewart, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Several of them were done for the night.

Report: Harvick Re-signs With RCR

Michael J Smith — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:10:01 +0000

SceneDaily is reporting that Richard Childress Racing and Kevin Harvick may have reached an agreement on a contract extension that will keep Harvick in the No. 29 Chevy beyond the 2010 season. An official announcement is expected Saturday before the All Star race.

Earlier this month, team owner Richard Childress said that he hoped to have Harvick re-signed by the end of May. Harvick, however, sidestepped a question about contract talks during a media session at Dover International Speedway.

Last July, it was reported that Harvick asked to be let out of his RCR contract. At that time, rumors were circulating that Harvick wanted to take Shell/Pennzoil with him to Stewart Haas Racing in a third car.

But, last month Kasey Kahne signed with Hendrick Motorsports, despite HMS having a full stable of drivers signed through 2011. Rumors began circulating that Kahne would spend 2011 in a HMS-backed car due to the lack of an open seat at HMS. That limits Kahne’s options to Stewart Haas Racing, Phoenix Racing, and Furniture Row Racing.

With PR being put up for sale by team owner James Finch, and FRW not even being mentioned as an option, many believe Kahne will end up at SHR for one year, despite representatives for SHR saying that they have not had any discussions with HMS reps about Kahne.

That coupled with SHR’s recent struggles may have removed SHR from the Harvick running, as Tony Stewart, owner of SHR, is not likely to be thinking about expansion to four teams when his current two-car operation is struggling.

Further fueling speculation that Harvick would leave RCR was the news that Shell/Pennzoil decided to leave the team and head to Penske Racing and driver Kurt Busch.

Still, the news that Harvick is likely to have signed an extension with RCR is not very surprising. Early this year, I wrote an article indicating the four teams that realistically had a shot of landing Kahne — I did not include HMS because they had a full stable through the end of next year.

From that article, Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s No. 1, Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11, Richard Childress Racing’s No. 29, Front Row Motorsports’ No. 34, Tommy Baldwin Racing’s No. 36, TRG Motorsports’ No. 71, Red Bull Racing’s No. 82, and Robert Yates Racing/Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 98 could have open seats at the end of this season.

The Nos. 00, 1, and 11 are more than likely going to re-sign their current drivers. MWR is currently working on an extension for David Reutimann. It would be hard to imagine Earnhardt Ganassi Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing would release Jamie McMurray or Denny Hamlin, respectively, given the way both of them are running.

That leaves the Nos. 34, 36, 71, 82, and 98 as potential open seats. The No. 98 isn’t likely to lose Paul Menard as a driver because if they cut ties with him, it’s extremely likely that his sponsor Menards, which is owned by his father, will leave with him. That would effectively end that team, if another sponsor could be found.

Assuming Scott Speed is out of the No. 82 — and there’s nothing to indicate that this is the case — that would have been the most competitive team with an available seat. But, considering the No. 82 is a Toyota, it’s unlikely Harvick would have gone there because of his interests in Chevy with his Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series teams.

That leaves the relatively uncompetitive teams of the Nos. 34, 36, and 71. If for no other reason, it is highly unlikely Harvick would have even considered these rides as they would be a step down for him. Those teams are working on shoestring budgets and are in building mode. They are not yet close enough to competitive to be able to attract a driver of Harvick’s caliber.

Had he been interesting in going the same route as Tony Stewart, buying an interest in an underfunded team and turning it into a contender, perhaps he would have considered these teams. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

At the end of the day, Harvick looked at the available seats out there and determined that no situation — including a brand new team — would give him as much of a chance to win as RCR. So, if the reports are true and Harvick did in fact sign an extension with RCR, it comes as no surprise.

Reutimann, MWR Working On Extension

Michael J Smith — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:05:25 +0000

ESPN is reporting that David Reutimann is working on a deal to stay with Michael Waltrip Racing past the end of this season. Reutimann indicated that there are no major sticking points that should keep the two sides from reaching an agreement.

Hamlin Completes Darlington Weekend Sweep

Michael J Smith — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:12:52 +0000

Denny Hamlin became the first driver to sweep both races at Darlington Raceway in a weekend by following up his victory in the Royal Purple 200 with a win in the Southern 500 after mistakes took Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton out of contention.

Throughout the night, Hamlin had a strong car, but Gordon and Burton also appeared to have cars capable of winning. While attempting to make a late pit stop under green, Gordon slowed down to enter pit road, but aborted at the last second to avoid being hit by cars closing quickly behind him. When he hit pit road one lap later, David Reutimann spun, bringing out the final caution of the night. Gordon had to hurry out of pit road to avoid getting caught a lap down.

Burton came to pit road under caution with the leaders and came out the pits in third. But NASCAR black flagged him for running over his air hose as he left his pit stall. He lost a lot of track position. He never fully recovered, finishing eighth.

Top 5: Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, and Juan Montoya.

Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Burton, Ryan Newman, and Brian Vickers finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: David Reutimann (11th), Brad Keselowski (12th), Matt Kenseth (13th), Carl Edwards (15th), Mark Martin (16th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (17th), Kasey Kahne (19th), Greg Biffle (22nd), Tony Stewart (23rd), Joey Logano (27th), and Jimmie Johnson (36th).

Jimmie Johnson had a difficult night. Early in the race, he hit the wall but was able to continue on. Later in the race, Greg Biffle spun in front of Martin Truex Jr, who spun to avoid hitting him. Johnson also spun to avoid hitting Biffle and Truex. He made contact with Truex.

Later in the race, Kevin Conway hit the wall, bringing out the caution. As the cars slowed, AJ Allmendinger went down to the apron to avoid hitting other cars when his brakes failed. He spun and slid up the track and made hard contact with Johnson who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He finished 36th.

Tony Stewart also led the race, but hit the wall on lap 196. A few laps later, he spun out but he didn’t hit anything. He finished 23rd.