FORT WORTH, TEXAS (April 16, 2012) – Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) locked both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) teams into the top-35 for next weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway. David Reutimann battled the handling of the No. 10 Accell Construction Chevrolet to finish in the 26th position in the Samsung Mobile 500 and moved back into the top-35 in points. An engine problem ended Dave Blaney’s day early. The No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet finished in 37th place Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.
David Reutimann – No. 10 Accell Construction Chevrolet: Reutimann posted the 21st and 17th fastest times in the two scheduled practice sessions on Friday and Saturday. Having to qualify on time, he posted the 31st fastest time in the No. 10 Accell Construction Chevrolet, second fastest of the go-or-go home cars, and made the field of the Samsung Mobile 500.
The No. 10 Accell Construction Chevrolet started the Samsung Mobile 500 from the 16th row. While in the 30th position, Reutimann radioed that the car was tight in the center of the corner. Just before green-flag pits stops began, he told crew chief Tommy Baldwin that the Chevrolet was really loose on entry and throttle off the corner. Baldwin called the No. 10 Accell Construction Chevrolet down pit road on lap 43 for four tires, fuel and an adjustment.
Reutimann returned to the track in the 31st spot. He worked up to 30th place but fell a lap down on lap 56. NASCAR Officials called the first caution of the night on lap 68 for debris on the track. The Zephyrhills, Fla., native explained that the Accell Construction Chevrolet would start the run free and slide the nose worse and worse further in the run. Baldwin called the No. 10 Chevrolet down pit road during the caution period for another four-tire pit stop and adjustments.
The field returned to green-flag racing on lap 72 with Reutimann in the 30th position, one lap down. He held onto the position and was the first car a lap down when NASCAR called the second caution on lap 95. During the caution, Reutimann explained that the car still needed some help rotating in the corner and was tight on entry. Baldwin made another set of adjustments during the four-tire stop.
The No. 10 Accell Construction Chevrolet received the Lucky Dog and returned to the lead lap for the restart on lap 101. Reutimann restarted in the 28th position. He continued to struggle with a tight condition and fell a lap down by lap 145. Toward the end of the run, the Accell Construction Chevrolet got very loose both in and off the corner. By lap 193, Baldwin called the No. 10 down pit road to tighten up the Chevrolet.
On lap 203, Reutimann held the 27th position, two laps down from the leader, and still battled a loose condition. The No. 10 team made another green-flag pit stop on lap 232 for four tires, fuel and adjustments. The Accell Construction Chevrolet fell a third lap down on lap 277 of the 334-lap race. In the final laps of the race, Reutimann radioed that the car was better but still needed some front grip. He drove into the 26th position when Greg Biffle took the checkered flag.
The 26th-place finish moved the No. 10 team back into the top-35 in NSCS Owner Points and locked the team in by four points. The team is now in 34th place, nine points behind the No. 93 in 30th and three points ahead of the No. 83 in 35th. Reutimann is 31st in NSCS Driver Points. He is three points behind David Gilliland and two points ahead of Blaney.
“I’m relieved to be back in the top-35,” said Reutimann. “We struggled with the handling today, but the guys worked hard making adjustments. Going into the race, it was important that we post a solid finish to get us back in the top-35, and we did that. We’ll go to Kansas next week and hopefully continue gaining spots in the points.”
Dave Blaney – No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet: Locked into the Samsung Mobile 500, the No. 36 team focused on race runs in the two scheduled practices. Blaney posted the 43rd and 45th fastest times in the No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet. He ran the 44th fastest qualifying lap and secured the 41st starting spot.
Blaney started on the 21st row and drove into the 37th spot by the second lap. Grass debris from a car ahead forced Blaney to pit on lap six as the No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet started overheating. The team cleaned off the grill and sent the No. 36 back on track in 40th, one lap down.
By lap 16, the Hartford, Ohio native drove into the 38th position and radioed that the car was loose in and tight off the corner. As he raced beside other cars, Blaney radioed that the Chevrolet was really tight in traffic and worsened throughout the run. He continued in the 36th position, two laps down, on lap 40. By lap 52, crew chief Ryan Pemberton called for Blaney to make a green-flag pit stop for four tires, fuel and adjustments. The No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet returned to the track in the 37th position, three laps down.
NASCAR Officials called a debris caution on lap 68. Pemberton decided to have the No. 36 Chevrolet stay out on the track to get a lap back. During the yellow flag, Blaney explained that the car was on the verge of loose in but not horrible. He continued that the biggest struggle was as he pushed the throttle.
The No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet restarted in the 36th spot, two laps down, on lap 72. Blaney drove into the 35th position and radioed that the car was very tight on the top line of the racetrack. NASCAR Officials brought out the yellow flag on lap 95 for debris on the track. Blaney radioed that the Chevrolet would get loose into both corners. Pemberton called him down pit road for a four-tire pit stop and adjustments.
Blaney restarted in the 35th position, two laps down, on lap 101. By lap 106, he radioed that it felt like a wheel was loose. He continued that the car was 50 percent tighter than the last run. Hoping to fix the issue on lap 116, he drove the No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet down pit road to change four tires, add fuel and make adjustments. Blaney returned to the track in the 37th position, four laps down.
By lap 123, he radioed that the Chevrolet had a huge vibration. He explained that he did not think the engine was missing but the car was shaking a lot and increased through the straightaway. On lap 139, spotter Fat Boy radioed that he could see smoke coming from the No. 36 Chevrolet. Pemberton called the Blaney to the garage on lap 140 to assess the problem.
The team worked on the car and sent Blaney back out on track on lap 158 hoping the problem was resolved. Five laps later, he radioed that the car was better but was still shaking. The team made a pit stop on lap 190 for four tires, fuel and an adjustment. Eight laps later, the No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet temperatures were high, and Pemberton elected to pit to clean off the grill. Still struggling with the vibration and a loose racecar, Blaney came back down pit road on lap 206 for another adjustment.
The team continued to struggle to fix the handling of the No. 36 Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine Chevrolet and called Blaney down pit road on lap 227 for another four tire pit stop and adjustments. By lap 253, the vibration brought Blaney back to the garage. The team finished in 37th place, 106 laps down.
The No. 36 Chevrolet fell to 31st in the NSCS Owner Points. The team is now five points behind the No. 38, tied with the No. 32 and 14 points ahead of the 36th position. Blaney moved to 32nd in NSCS Driver Points. He is now two points behind teammate Reutimann and 13 points ahead of Landon Cassill.
“We had a rough day at Texas,” explained Blaney. “We struggled with handling all weekend, and the team worked hard to try different adjustments. We got a vibration near halfway and tried to fix it, but it ended up ending our day early.”
Both teams will be locked into the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. Blaney and Reutimann will practice their TBR Chevrolets Friday, qualify on Saturday and race Sunday.
About Accell Construction: Accell Construction, Inc. operates as a full service site civil contractor for the petroleum terminal and bulk storage industries and specializes in tank farm construction, tank foundations and other related site civil construction. Accell Construction’s clients know they can expect excellent safety, reliability and top-notch job performance. Accell, whose projects are always in budget and completed early, enjoys a 20-year reputation that is second to none.
Oklahoma based Accell Construction operates civil construction projects in numerous states across the U.S. and has constructed some of the largest petroleum storage facilities built in the U.S. in the last 15 years.
Accell benefits from a team of employees who bring decades of civil experience. The Accell team, many of whom have been with the company since inception, is committed to excellence and safety. All field personnel are also required to be TWIC certified. Accell has a well-known reputation in the petroleum storage industry for performing the highest quality work—always in an expedient, but safe manner.
For more information on Accell Construction, visit www.accellconstructioninc.com.
About Autumn Games: Autumn Games is a premier publisher of interactive entertainment focused on empowering independent, world-class game developers to create cutting-edge video games, and related media. As the pace of change accelerates in the games’ business, digital and mobile gaming explodes, and the best game developers increasingly look for independence, Autumn Games’ mission is to support talented creative teams in their efforts to make culturally impactful entertainment.
For more information, please visit www.autumngames.com.
About TMone: TMone (pronounced T-M-one) is a leading U.S. call center insourcing firm specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Customer Service Selling (CSS). When it comes to business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) customer interactions, TMone is unsurpassed in its ability to provide best in class results in performance, cost, quality, and client satisfaction. This approach has made it one of Inc. Magazines Fastest Growing Private Companies of 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa with offices in Des Moines, Iowa, North Sioux City and Spearfish, South Dakota. To learn more about TMone, visit http://www.TMone.com or http://twitter.com/tmone.
About Tommy Baldwin Racing: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Crew Chief Tommy Baldwin formed Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) in 2009. Baldwin utilized a declining economy to open a NSCS team with a stringent budget. The team worked to build to full-time competition, and by the 2011 season, the team’s third season, TBR competed in every race and locked the No. 36 Chevrolet in the top-35 in NSCS Owner Points. Dave Blaney drove the No. 36 Chevrolet to TBR’s highest finish of third in the October 2011 event at Talladega Superspeedway. TBR also fielded a second car for select races in the past two seasons with multiple drivers.
Based in Mooresville, N.C., TBR will compete in the NSCS in 2012 with NASCAR veterans David Reutimann and Dave Blaney. The team will also compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with Ryan Blaney, Bobby Santos and Ryan Truex.
For more information on Tommy Baldwin Racing, visit tommybaldwinracing.com or follow us on Facebook, facebook.com/TBR.HBR, and Twitter, twitter.com/TBR_Racing.
