NASCAR locals going in opposite directions

This season began with considerable uncertainty for both of the Tampa-area drivers racing in NASCAR's top series.

Zephyrhills' David Reutimann was returning with a team that had managed one top-five finish in 194 Sprint Cup starts, and he was losing prized crew chief Ryan Pemberton. He didn't land a season sponsor (Aaron's Rents) until the day before arriving in Daytona in February.

Tampa's Aric Almirola was taking over the famed No. 8 Chevy full time for newly merged Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. But he also was getting a new crew chief, and he didn't have a sponsor beyond the first few races.

Nearly a quarter of the way into the season, the Bay area's two ambassadors to NASCAR have pushed apart. Reutimann enters Sunday's Aaron's 499 a shocking ninth in the standings, while Almirola, one of racing's most promising young talents, is parked for lack of sponsorship.

Reutimann, 39, ranks ahead of such stalwarts as Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. While there's skepticism he'll be able to hold on and make the Chase after finishing 39th and 22nd in his two previous seasons, history suggests he could.

Since the Chase field was expanded to 12 drivers two years ago, 87.5 percent of the drivers who ranked in the top 12 leaving Talladega (race No. 9) made NASCAR's equivalent of the playoffs. Last year, only Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya didn't get in.

"There's still a lot of racing to go, but things have been good," Reutimann said. "It's been a good year."

Reutimann did close out last season with some promising results - three top-10 finishes in the final 12 races and a pole in the season finale at Homestead - but losing Pemberton at the end of the year to Red Bull Racing looked like a huge setback.

Pemberton was replaced by Rodney Childers, whose results with Scott Riggs and Elliott Sadler had been mediocre.

Chemistry is a funny thing, though, and the low-key Childers has meshed nicely with Reutimann and the rest of Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 00 Toyota team. Already, they've almost doubled Reutimann's career top-10 finishes total with three, including a fourth at Las Vegas. They won a pole at Texas.

This is easily the best stretch of Reutimann's Sprint Cup career.

"I knew Rodney from the past, and the first time I sat down and had breakfast with the guy, I left there thinking, if we can get him, he's going to be the guy we need," Reutimann said.

Reutimann insists he isn't driving any differently, other than doing some of the little things better, such as getting on and off pit road. He says the biggest difference is the "stuff" he is driving.

The built-in-house MWR cars, powered by Toyota Racing Development engines, are close to being right when they come off the trailer at the racetrack. That allows Reutimann and Childers to fine-tune the setups rather than gamble with wholesale changes.

The improvement isn't entirely reflected in teammate Michael Waltrip's 25th-place ranking, but Waltrip did finish seventh in the Daytona 500.

"We're just a better organization, man," Reutimann said. "We're paying a lot closer attention to the details, the little things that make your cars better. It's just paying off."

Almirola started the year knowing he'd only get to run the first seven races if his team didn't secure additional sponsorship. Funding didn't come through, and boss Chip Ganassi suspended operations of Almirola's No. 8 team after the Texas race April 5.

The 25-year-old Almirola, who has yet to run a full Cup season, allows that the uncertainty probably affected his performance - an average finish of 32.9 in his seven starts.

"In the back of your mind, you know the situation," he said. "It affects the guys. It affects the mentality of the guys that are working on the car, because of the uncertainty and everything."

Almirola led "40 or 50 laps" and finished third in a short-track race a couple of weeks ago in Hickory, N.C. He has been "knocking on doors and beating the pavement" trying to get sponsorship to put Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s old number back on the track. He's open to other offers, he says, but his dream is to race the No. 8.

Reutimann, meanwhile, has been contemplating his once-unthinkable prospects for contending with the likes of Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart for the championship.

"People ask me, 'Are you a contender for the Chase?'" Reutimann said. "'Yeah, we are.' And then they ask, 'Are you a contender to win the Chase?' Well, if you're in the thing, you've got as good a chance as anybody.

"I feel like if we keep doing the things we're doing, we're going to be pretty good."