RICHMOND, Va. (September 8, 2008) – David Reutimann finished 34th after his #99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry sustained significant damage from hitting the retaining wall before halfway in the 250-lap NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) Sunday night.

“The car just jumped sideways on me,” Reutimann said. “I apologized to my guys and felt really bad about the deal.”

Before the race on Sunday, Tropical Storm Hanna wreaked havoc on RIR Friday. As David Reutimann strapped into his #99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota for NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying at 4:05 p.m. Eastern, rain started to fall on the .75-mile D-shaped oval. Rain forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying for both the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series and set the 43-car fields by the NASCAR rule book. With the potential threat of more rain the next day, NASCAR postponed the running of both events for the safety of the fans presenting a doubleheader situation at RIR on Sunday.

“It was a good call because we didn’t know what the weather would be like on Saturday,” Reutimann said. “It was for everyone’s safety.”

David interviewed with SPEED Channel on Trackside Live Friday celebrating its 250th show.  Reutimann presented the talent and producer with gifts provided MWR sponsors.

The gifts included were a JVC camcorder provided by Aaron’s, a t-shirt and gift card given by Best Western, and a Microsoft Vune MP3 player presented by Microsoft.

As the green flag waved Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, Reutimann started in sixth-place. He immediately moved his #99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota into the top-five on the first lap. By Lap 15, Reutimann was in third-place trying to reel in the leader.

“The Aaron’s Dream Machine needed help in the center,” Reutimann said. “It was free in the center and off.”

On Lap 28 under caution, the team changed four tires and made an air pressure adjustment. Reutimann returned to the track in third-place for the restart at Lap 37. On Lap 49, Reutimann slid to fourth-place.

“In the throttle, I had to pedal it because it was so free,” Reutimann said. “That’s why the cars ahead of us were getting away from us.”
The next caution occurred at Lap 53. Reutimann and the rest of the frontrunners did not pit. The Zephyrhills, Fla., native restarted in fourth-place on Lap 59. At Lap 72, Reutimann slipped outside the top-five.
“We were free on exit and the car wouldn’t turn like I needed it to,” Reutimann said. “It was tight in the center and free off.”

As the field was under caution at Lap 97, Reutimann entered pit road for four tires and a track bar adjustment and restarted sixth three laps later.

“I couldn’t get in the corner with it,” Reutimann said.

While running in the top-10, Reutimann’s car snapped loose and hit the retaining wall on Lap 108 causing significant damage to the right side of his #99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota. Reutimann brought out the fourth caution of the race (Lap 109-112).

“The car jumped sideways on me,” Reutimann said.

As sparks were flying out from underneath the #99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Reutimann turned down to pit road on Lap 109 for the team to access the damage. The A-frame was not bent, but the toe was knocked out and there was enough damage to take Reutimann out of contention.

The field took the green as the Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota was still on pit road for repairs. The team released Reutimann from the pits at Lap 117, but NASCAR called Reutimann back to pit road for the team to make more adjustments to keep the car from dragging the track. 

“The guys did a great job and they kept working on the car the rest of the race,” Reutimann said. 

Reutimann finished 34th and is currently sixth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver’s points standings. Carl Edwards won the event. 

The top-10 in driver points are the following: 

1) C. Bowyer 4,088;(2) C. Edwards 3,881;(3) Brad Keselowski 3,809;(4) M. Bliss 3,604;(5) D. Ragan 3,583;  (6) D. Reutimann 3,564;(7) K. Busch 3,478;(8) M. Wallace 3,254;(9) M. Ambrose 3,206;(10) J. Leffler 3,202.

Following an off weekend, the NASCAR Nationwide Series will return to action at Dover International Speedway. Live coverage of the Camping World RV Sales 200 on Saturday, September 20th airs on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. ET and 3:30 p.m. ET on MRN Radio.