MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 5, 2010) – David Reutimann has spent most of his life around short tracks. Maybe that’s why Martinsville Speedway feels so much like home to the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver.
His dad is short-track legend Buzzie Reutimann, who has more than 1,000 victories in his career, and at age 68, is still racing. David grew up traveling with his family from short track to short track all over the country.
“This feels a little more familiar here. It kind of takes you back to where you started,” David Reutimann said Tuesday during a press conference at Martinsville Speedway. He was on hand to help promote the upcoming TUMS Fast Relief 500, scheduled at the track on October 24.
“Most guys in our sport started out at a track similar to Martinsville or one even smaller. It’s a great venue. It’s great for the Chase.”
In more than three full seasons with Michael Waltrip Racing, Reutimann hasn’t done particularly well at Martinsville, but that doesn’t lessen the track’s appeal to him.
“It’s a great race track, but a tricky race track. It’s not one of my better race tracks, but one of my favorite race tracks,” said Reutimann, who in addition to answering questions for the media Tuesday, took about 25 media members on rides around the half-mile oval in a 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid pace car.
“It has its own unique challenges. It’s definitely a track where there’s a lot of stuff going on in a small area. I think it’s going to be a great race … it always seems to be an exceptional race. That’s why fans come out here and support the track the way they do.”
Reutimann says the finish of last spring’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville, where Denny Hamlin charged from fourth to victory in the final two or three laps, is a perfect example of the excitement Martinsville offers.
“I’ve watched the replays of the (spring) race and I can’t believe what was going on,” said Reutimann. “Not that anything was wrong with it, but it was something. It was just good racing. You really have to work long and hard to find anything better than that.
“This race track is not that wide and those guys were going a hundred and something down these straight-aways and let me tell you, business picks up in a hurry. It’s amazing those guys did what they did and nothing got tore up and nothing got wrecked. There was some beating and banging, but that’s what Martinsville is all about.”
Tickets for the TUMS Fast Relief 500 begin at $25 and range to $77.
Tickets to the Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on October 23 are $30 in advance, with children 12 and under admitted free.
Tickets for Farm Bureau Pole Day, which features practice and qualifying for both the Kroger 200 and the TUMS Fast Relief 500, are $15, children 12 and under admitted free.
Tickets for all events may be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com online.
