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Reutimann Gets A Drenching At Atlanta

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 29, 2007

HAMPTON, Ga. - By the time Zephyrhills' David Reutimann arrived at Atlanta Motor Speedway late Saturday night aboard team owner Michael Waltrip's plane, he already had thoroughly celebrated his breakthrough Busch Series victory at Memphis Motorsports Park.

But there was more celebrating to come.

'We landed at Tara Field, adjacent to the track and our sponsor from Aaron's and his wife were standing right there,' Reutimann said before Sunday's Pep Boys 500. 'I thought, 'Man, that's really nice that they made a special trip out here to see me get off the plane and congratulate me.'

'I got out and walked up to him, we started talking and all of a sudden he backed away real quick. Then it sounded like a herd of cattle coming my way. I turned to see my entire Cup team running at me and they had somehow secured bottles of champagne.'

The crew members from the No. 00 Toyota had made a sign - 'I won't tell you what it said,' Reutimann said - and doused their driver with champagne.

'It was pretty neat to get off the plane after having such a great day in Memphis and then to have all of my Cup guys there to see me,' he said. 'After having such a rough start to the weekend he failed to qualify for Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500, it was really cool.'

Reutimann's first Busch victory came in an ugly race in which there were 25 cautions for 117 of the 253 laps. That didn't subtract from the winner's satisfaction.

'I felt much like I did when I won my first truck race at Nashville in 2005,' Reutimann said. 'I felt lighter all of the sudden, like someone had taken all this weight off you and you could breathe again.

'I could jump around in Victory Lane, and really my biggest concern in my life at that point was how long of a burnout I was going to do. It's great to be in that time, and I wish I could be in that moment more often. ... It felt great to stand out there Saturday night and get sprayed with the beer and champagne later on - it was pretty amazing.'

ONE HARD HIT: David Gilliland and Mark Martin walked away from a violent collision early in Sunday's race - the kind that might have had serious consequences before safety improvements were made after Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s death in 2001.

Gilliland spun while passing a lapped car on the backstretch, and Martin, with nowhere to go, hit the No. 38 Ford at an estimated 190 mph at the left-front fender. Both drivers were examined in the infield care center and released.

'I told David I should have missed him,' Martin said. 'I couldn't see him in the smoke, and I really didn't feel comfortable driving into the smoke not knowing where he was. So I tried to get under him and he came out of the smoke coming to the inside.'

Said Gilliland of the safety enhancements that may have saved his life: 'I was looking at the inside of the car at all the stuff that gets moved around when you get hit like that and it's a testament to how good everything works.'

NOT THIS TIME: Rookie Juan Pablo Montoya's hopes of equaling or bettering his fifth-place finish in Atlanta's spring race ended with two blown right-front tires in the first 57 laps.

The first tire on the No. 42 Dodge shredded and tore up the sheet metal around the wheel well. The second tire failure caused suspension damage and all but ended his day.

'I think we probably had a car to win the race,' Montoya said, noting that teammate Reed Sorenson finished third.

SNEAK PREVIEW: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his Hendrick Motorsports debut today at Atlanta in a 'Car of Tomorrow' test, and his car will carry a special paint scheme.

That's right, a special paint scheme for a test.

Earnhardt will drive a No. 5 Chevy painted red and white to resemble the first car owner Rick Hendrick fielded (under the banner All-Star Racing) in 1984. Earnhardt is replacing Kyle Busch next year, although Casey Mears will move into the No. 5 car and Earnhardt will drive for a No. 88 team headed by his current crew chief, Tony Eury Jr.

Jeff Gordon's and Jimmie Johnson's teams will not participate because they're focused on their championship battle.

QUOTABLE: Predictably, the feud between Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards was a hot topic during ABC's race coverage.

'They don't have to be friends, just don't beat each other up on the track,' analyst Rusty Wallace said. 'They'll get over this deal. But I was talking to Carl, and he told me one thing: He said, 'You know what? I had no idea how many drivers didn't like me, and that really bothers me. I'm going to change that.''

Fellow analyst Brad Daugherty, a former team owner, took up for Edwards. 'I want a driver who has a little bit of salt and vinegar in his veins,' he said. 'This isn't a flower-picking contest, Rusty. I want a guy up on the wheel, trying to win. We can be friends another time.'

Tony Fabrizio

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