CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 00 TUMS Toyota driver David Reutimann races on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend looking to rebound after on-track incidents in the season’s first two NASCAR Sprint Cup races relegated him to 31st in points. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver believes the season’s first visit to a 1.5-mile racetrack will turn his season in the right direction. Reutimann’s two career victories came on 1.5-mile track—his first at Charlotte and again last summer at Chicagoland Speedway with TUMS as the primary sponsor.
QUOTES
ON SUCCESS AT 1.5-MILE RACETRACKS: “I like the 1.5-mile tracks. I think our program is pretty good at those places. I think our program is pretty good everywhere, but if I had to pick out an area that we’re strongest at it would be the 1.5-mile racetracks. I look forward to going to those. They’re fast, a lot of those racetracks are really cool and multiple grooves for racing. I enjoy places like that.”
ON SEASON: “It hasn’t started the way we were hoping it would. Before the season started we talked about being consistent and racing the way we know we are capable. So far, the only consistency we’ve had is torn up racecars. The deal at Daytona is just one of those things that can happen with that type of racing on a restrictor plate racetrack and last week we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m proud of my No. 00 team though. These guys have worked hard to get us back out there as fast as they could both weeks. And it has helped us gain about an extra 20 points and that is huge. We just have to keep working on it and do what we can to dig ourselves out of the early season hole that we are in. I think we’ll be okay, but we want to get it turned around fast.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST
- Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00 Toyota Camry features TUMS as its primary sponsor at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The No. 00 TUMS Toyota also will appear at Kansas, Kentucky, Chicago and Phoenix-2.
- Reutimann plans to visit the media center at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at 10:30 a.m. on Friday for a TUMS sponsor announcement and media availability.
- Reutimann and team owner Michael Waltrip plan to visit The Pub at the Monte Carlo from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday night in Las Vegas. Both will join Claire B. Lang on SiriusXM Satellite Radio for a live remote and sign autographs for race fans. TUMS will host the event.
- On Saturday, Feb. 26, Reutimann, Michael Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Truex all spent the morning at spring training with the Chicago White Sox baseball team. All the drivers took part in batting practice and fielding drills with the team. Following the morning practice at Camelback Ranch, several White Sox players including: Mark Buehrle, Adam Dunn, John Danks, AJ Pierzynski and Gordon Beckham visited the racetrack to watch Ryan Truex in the Nationwide Series race.
- On Feb. 22, Reutimann was 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.
- In three career NSCS starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Reutimann has one top-five and two top-15 finishes. Reutimann has started in the top-five once and never started worse than 17th. His average starting position is 12th and average finish is 18th.
