• Martin Truex Jr. NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota finished eighth and is 19th in points
• David Reutimann No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota finished 15th and is 26th in points
MARTIN TRUEX JR. SUMMARY: No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished eighth in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver started eighth after rain cancelled qualifying on Saturday. Truex raced comfortably in the top-10 throughout the 400-mile race even leading lap 110. Truex battled a bounce on entry condition and needed more grip on the concrete track, but the team overcame the handling challenges to score a second consecutive top-10 finish. Truex is 19th in the driver standings only 46 points out of the top 10. Truex will defend his 2010 Sprint Showdown win and attempt to transfer into Saturday night’s NASCAR’s All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
TRUEX JR. NOTES:
• Truex started eighth and finished eighth.
• Earned a bonus point for leading lap 110
• Broke into the top five on lap 170
• Ran as high as first and as low as 14th
• On final restart, drove from 14th to eighth.
TRUEX QUOTE: “I’m satisfied. I’m not happy. I was looking for more. We got up to third about the mid-point (of the race). We just lost the handle a little bit. I think some guys got a little bit better. We didn’t really fight a major balance issue, we just didn’t have the overall grip and the car was bouncing back and forth between loose and tight, and it was hard to tell them what I needed. One lap it would try to spin out and the next lap it plows. So, it was just real hard to hit it just right. It was very, very hard to drive. It was hard to know what to ask for other than more grip, and a little bit of a smoother ride. It just got real bouncy out there on the rubber build-up.”
DO YOU THINK YOU HAD THE CAR ‘RIGHT’ WHEN YOU WERE RUNNING THIRD? “That was the best we were. That was the longest run I think we had all day long and that seemed to help us. It was weird because we weren’t very good on the short go with new tires. Then we would kind of — with 15 laps in we would hit a point for about 10 laps where we were really good. Then we weren’t good for 20 or 30 more laps. Then, right at the very end of the longest runs we were good again. It was really strange how much the car would go back and forth between too tight and too loose. Really, I think they did a good job adjusting on it just to get me some more overall grip. But, really we fought all day just being a little tight in certain spots and a little loose in certain spots. Every time we try to fix one, we hurt the other. We just kept going back and forth on both sides. So, it was real difficult. It was honestly the toughest race I think I’ve ever run here, as far as being line-sensitive. You would run two or three laps okay and then on lap four you almost spin out and just about wreck. And, then you’d run three or four okay, and almost wreck again. It was very, very crazy. Glad we make it alive.”
COULD YOU EVER DETERMINE HOW TO BEST FIX THE HANDLING? “I think we were just off a little bit on our set-up — overall grip-wise. If we could get some clean air, we could run as fast as the leader. But, we really struggled in traffic. I know a lot of guys did. You could tell, even at the end, it was hard to pass. I think that was part of what we were fighting. But, overall it was a solid day and a good job by all the guys on the team.”
DAVID REUTIMANN SUMMARY: No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver David Reutimann finished 15th in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver started 17th after rain cancelled qualifying on Saturday. Reutimann immediately raced his way into the top-15 until handling issues dropped him to 20th before he lost a lap to the leaders on lap 143. The No. 00 team raced the majority of the day one lap down battling for the “Lucky Dog” position. The Aaron’s Dream Machine finally returned to the lead lap via the “Lucky Dog” during the final caution on lap 363. Reutimann raced from 19th to 15th in the final 35 laps. Reutimann drives the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota in his second consecutive appearance in the Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Reutimann qualified for the All-Star Race by winning at Chicagoland Speedway in July.
REUTIMANN NOTES:
• Reutimann started 17th and finished 15th
• Fought an ill-handling car for most of the race
• Fell a lap down to the leaders on lap 143 while in 20th position
• Earned the “Lucky Dog” on lap 363 to get back on the lead lap
• Raced from 19th to 15th in the closing laps.
REUTIMANN QUOTE: “We battled today. The Aaron’s Dream Machine got pretty loose early in the race and we got down a lap, but I’m proud of all the No. 00 guys. They really gave it their all today. We had some great stops and eventually got our lap back toward the end and picked up a top-15 finish. We’ve had some tough luck this year, but this team never quits and we always battle for everything we get. We’ll try to keep it going next week during the Sprint All-Star Race in Charlotte.“
RACE NOTES
• Matt Kenseth won the Sprint Cup Series at Dover International Speedway
• Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-five
• Carl Edwards is the Sprint Cup Series points leader
• The race featured 23 lead changes among 11 drivers
• Six cautions slowed the race for 26 laps
• The race lasted approximately three hours, 11 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 82,000 fans
RESULTS
FIN DRIVER
1 Matt Kenseth
2 Mark Martin
3 Marcos Ambrose
4 Kyle Busch
5 Brian Vickers
6 Clint Bowyer
7 Carl Edwards
8 Martin Truex Jr.
9 Jimmie Johnson
10 Kevin Harvick
11 Jeff Burton
12 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
13 Brad Keselowski
14 Kurt Busch
15 David Reutimann
16 Denny Hamlin
17 Jeff Gordon
18 Bobby Labonte
19 Greg Biffle
20 Jamie McMurray
21 Ryan Newman
22 David Gilliland
23 Casey Mears
24 Paul Menard
25 Mike Bliss
26 Dave Blaney
27 Joey Logano
28 David Ragan
29 Tony Stewart
30 Landon Cassill
31 Travis Kvapil
32 Juan Montoya
33 Andy Lally *
34 Regan Smith
35 Tony Raines
36 Kasey Kahne
37 A.J. Allmendinger
38 Scott Wimmer
39 Joe Nemechek
40 J.J. Yeley
41 Mike Skinner
42 David Stremme
43 Michael McDowell
Point Standings
RANK DRIVER POINTS BEHIND
1 Carl Edwards 416 Leader
2 Jimmie Johnson 392 -24
3 Kyle Busch 379 -37
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 364 -52
5 Kevin Harvick 362 -54
6 Matt Kenseth 342 -74
7 Ryan Newman 340 -76
8 Clint Bowyer 336 -80
9 Kurt Busch 336 -80
10 Tony Stewart 328 -88
11 Mark Martin 324 -92
12 Greg Biffle 311 -105
13 Denny Hamlin 304 -112
14 Jeff Gordon 299 -117
15 Juan Montoya 296 -120
16 A.J. Allmendinger 295 -121
17 Paul Menard 291 -125
18 Kasey Kahne 286 -130
19 Martin Truex Jr. 282 -134
20 Marcos Ambrose 281 -135
21 David Ragan 270 -146
22 Jamie McMurray 267 -149
23 Jeff Burton 258 -158
24 Brad Keselowski 251 -165
25 Bobby Labonte 251 -165
26 David Reutimann 244 -172
27 Brian Vickers 238 -178
28 Joey Logano 238 -178
29 Regan Smith 226 -190
30 David Gilliland 202 -214
31 Dave Blaney 174 -242
32 Casey Mears 168 -248
33 Robby Gordon 144 -272
34 Andy Lally* 127 -289
35 Tony Raines 109 -307
