CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 00 Best Western Toyota driver David Reutimann is heading to the 1-mile, tri-oval Phoenix International Raceway looking to rebound after an early crash resulted in a 30th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver owns a career-best finish of eighth at PIR and is looking to build momentum as the season get into full-swing. This will be the final race on the current track surface and configuration before a project to re-pave, widen the front stretch by 10 feet, add variable banking and pushing the dogleg curve between Turns 2 and 3 out 95 feet begins at the conclusion of Sunday’s event.
QUOTES
ON PHOENIX: “Phoenix is a flat racetrack and it’s certainly the opposite end of the spectrum from spending two weeks at Daytona. This is where you start to find out what you have in the car under you. This is a flat race track with a lot of speed. These are really, really tough racetracks, it taxes everything you have – motors, brakes, forward grip, side bite – all the things you need in a racetrack to go fast. Phoenix is one of the racetracks that you need to have all those things.”
REUTIMANN ON REPAVING AND NEW CONFIGURATION: “You’ve really got to applaud the folks at Phoenix. It’s just a great racetrack every time we go out there and I think they are just going to make it even better. That says a lot about what they’re trying to do there. They are continually trying to make the racing better for the fans and more competitive. It’s a great racetrack already – I just think they are going to make it even better. The fans pay to see side-by-side racing and that new configuration is definitely going to give it to them.”
REUTIMANN ON STARTING TO BUILDING MOMENTUM AT PHOENIX: “We’re going out to Phoenix to try and bounce back a little bit after a tough Daytona 500. We had such a horrible race at Phoenix last year. We were just not anywhere near where we needed to be, but we’re going to be there with the folks from Best Western this weekend and we love having them on the racecar. They’re a great company and we have a lot of fun with them. I’m looking forward to getting out there to Phoenix and hopefully we’ll run good just in time for them to change configurations before we go back in the fall and try to figure it out all over again.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST
· Reutimann spent Tuesday night as a guest speaker to a University of Alabama sports journalism class. Reutimann, who used the computer program SKYPE and a web camera, logged in for a 30 minute question and answer session to approximately 20 undergraduate and graduate students to talk about his daily interaction with motorsports media.
· When Reutimann moved to North Carolina, Joe Nemechek hired him in the NEMCO Motorsports fabrication shop as a welder until he found a job as a driver. Nemechek gave Reutimann his first opportunity to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2002 driving the No. 87. High school friend Brian Pattie, now Juan Pablo Montoya’s crew chief, introduced Reutimann to Joe Nemechek
· In seven career Sprint Cup Series starts at PIR, Reutimann has qualified in the top-10 three times and has two top-10 finishes. Reutimann has an average starting position of 17.6 and finishing position of 19.9. Since 2008, Reutimann has gained a total of 32 positions on the track at Phoenix International Raceway, making 269 green flag passes.
· Best Western, the world’s biggest hotel family, is now offering three types of hotels to customers, Best Western Core, Plus and Premier. The Best Western Core provides guests great value and service for a reliable hotel experience, the Best Western Plus offers that little something extra with an affordable price tag, and the Best Western Premium offers distinctive style and personalized guest service for a lasting impression. For more information visit www.BestWestern.com
· Crew chief Rodney Childers will return to the No. 00 Best Western Toyota with Reutimann in 2011. Childers served as crew chief of the No. 00 for the entire 2009 and 2010 seasons.
· Sirius XM listeners can tune into channel 128 every Tuesday at 5 p.m. to hear Reutimann’s weekly visit on Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody throughout the 2011 season.
