Solid Performance Picks Earns One Championship Points Position

BRISTOL, TN (March 22, 2009) David Reutimann finished 12th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday earning his fourth top-15 finish in the first five races of the young season.  The solid performance gained the team one position in the championship points race moving it up to the 11th spot.

The Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry was one of the fastest racecars at Bristol all weekend posting top-five lap times in all three practices and qualifying sixth. 

When the green flag dropped, Reutimann quickly moved to fifth on the first lap of the 500-lap event and undeniably had one of the strongest cars in the field early in the race.  Asking for help to make the Dream Machine faster through the center of the high-banked turns, an early four-tire pit stop moved Reutimann back to 15th, the farthest back he would be all day.

Being better through the center of the turns was a frequent request throughout the day and Crew Chief Rodney Childers ordered small tweaks to the suspension at each pit stop trying to make the Dream Machine solid all the way through the turns.  The Dream Machine seemed to hit its stride at lap-100 advancing into the third spot and began moving forward toward leader Kyle Busch and second place Jimmy Johnson. 

However during a long green flag run midway through the race, the Dream Machine would prove to be a handful as the tires wore thin. 

Running solidly in the top-ten during the third quarter of the race, trouble arose in the pits toward the end of the race when Reutimann overshot his pit box once and the crew had costly stops twice in the closing laps moving the Dream Machine back to 13th.

Moving up one position and starting 12th for a dramatic green-white-checkered flag finish, Reutimann held his line on the last two laps and took his fourth top-15 finish of the year.

“We had a great car tonight.” Reutimann said after the race.  “Rodney (Childers) made good calls on the pit box and the guys made some great stops, but we were a little tight in the center of the turns and I just couldn’t get on the throttle as quickly as I would have liked.  The MWR cars are getting closer and closer and I’m proud of my guys, but it’s hard at this level.  I want to thank Aaron’s for all of their support.  We wouldn’t be able to do this without them and I appreciate everything they do for us.”

In addition to sponsoring Reutimann’s Aaron’s Dream Machine, Aaron’s had a large presence at the speedway as part of longtime partnership at Bristol Motor Speedway.  Aaron’s is highly visible with signage on the giant video monitors in the center of the speedway, a made-for television billboard in turn two and the Aaron’s Dream Seats perched on the main concourse.

Aaron’s hosted winners of the “Aaron’s Dream Seats” sweepstakes both Saturday and Sunday.  Len Newcomb of Phoenix, AZ and his guest David Hansen of Las Vegas, NV won the Aaron’s Dream Seats for Saturday’s Nationwide race.  Chad Curtis and his son Trent from New York were the Lucky Dog fans and won a seat upgrade to the Dream Seats.

Bill Morrow from Kenosha, WI won Sunday’s Grand Prize for the Dream Seats.  He and his son in-law James Hamel enjoyed the luxury recliners along with upgrade winners Greg Anthony and his son Tyler from Alabama.

Reutimann and the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine return next Sunday March 29 at the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, VA.