CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 00 Aaron’s Outdoors Toyota driver David Reutimann goes to the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway this weekend for the SHOWTIME Southern 500 hoping to race into the month of May on a positive note. The No. 00 team typically hits its stride in May. Last season, Reutimann kicked off the month with an 11th-place finish at Darlington, followed by back-to-back top-fives at Dover and Charlotte. In 2010, Reutimann left Richmond ranked 27th and finished the month of May ranked 19th following the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
DAVID REUTIMANN QUOTES
ON DARLINGTON: “I honestly don’t like Darlington much. It’s a cool racetrack and it’s a really, really challenging racetrack. A lot of times you hear guys talk about longer races where you are racing a track instead of a competitor. You hear that said a lot. I think Darlington is a racetrack that you race the track from start to finish. It’s almost like you forget about all the other guys out there racing and just concentrate on the track. Darlington is definitely a place that will reach out and grab you if you’re not paying attention or being very careful.”
DOES RACING DARLINGTON REMIND YOU OF DIRT TRACK RACING AT ALL? “Maybe a little bit, but the biggest difference is on a dirt track you aren’t going 180 miles an hour into a corner so the speed is a little different. We do race right up against the fence like you do on a dirt track without a lot of room for error so you can get yourself in trouble really quick if you’re not careful. It’s not hard to do. You can be racing along just like you’re supposed to be doing, but if you just slip up even the littlest bit, you’ll end up with a Darlington stripe.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST
• Good Things MAY Be On The Horizon: Last season in the month of May, Reutimann recorded three consecutive top-15s – including his first back-to-back top-five finishes of his NSCS career (fifth at Dover and Charlotte). Reutimann also collected bonus points for leading laps in all three May point races. In 2009, Reutimann recorded his first NSCS win at Charlotte and won the pole award at Dover.
• What is Aaron’s Outdoors? A television show that strives to promote and preserve the great American tradition of families in the outdoors. Each week, The Brannen family and their guests remind us that natures greatest gift is the time we spend together in it. The first episode of the new season of Aaron’s Outdoors will premiere Thursday, April 7th on VERSUS at 12:30 p.m. and premiere on Fox Sports South Saturday, April 9th at 8:00 a.m.
• Aaron’s Outdoors at MWR: On Wednesday, May 4th, the Brannen family visited the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Michael Waltrip Racing in Cornelius, N.C. to get a personal shop tour from team owner Michael Waltrip and driver David Reutimann. The family also participated in pit crew practice with the No. 00 team and spent time at the NASCAR Hall of Fame filming several segments for an upcoming episode of Aaron’s Outdoors.
• Reutimann at Darlington: In four career starts at Darlington, Reutimann has an average start of 17th, average finish of 23rd, led three laps and has one DNF. In 2010 Reutimann posted his best career Darlington start (fourth) and finish (11th). He ran 88 percent of the race (324 laps) in the top 15 and finished with a driver rating of 98.4.
• Career Numbers: In 144 career Sprint Cup Series starts, Reutimann has two wins, 11 top-fives, 23 top-10s and three career pole awards and has led 327 laps.
• Social Winning: Fans can win an autographed Reutimann hat from Aaron’s when the No. 00 logs a top-10 finish. To win you must follow Aarons @AaronsSports on Twitter or become a fan on at www.Facebook.com/AaronsSports.
