David 8th in Camping World 200 by Kellyanne Lynch
30 June 2007
David Reutimann man-handled a struggling Aaron's Dream Machine throughout the Camping World 200, today's Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Car owner Michael Waltrip told the team to go for a splash and go on their last stop while the rest of the field put on tires. David's endurance and Mikey's call brought the #99 Toyota home in 8th place.
"We ended up having a carburetor issue there toward the end of the race and the motor seemed to be running flat," David commented after the race. "We just couldn't get the car to turn from the center-off. It would run down the straight-aways okay, but then coming off the corners it was just flat. The team kept freeing up the car because it was just way too tight to begin with and they made the car really good through the center of the corner. We would get beat off the corners, but we could get back underneath them and make them tight to get the position. The motor ran good all day and I don't know what happened with the carburetor -- on one of those last pit stops it started popping and spitting so something went wrong and they'll work to figure that out. All in all our flat track program hasn't been that great this year, but I'm real proud of the call that we made at the end to stay out and not take any tires. It was the right call and that's what got us a top-ten finish today."
David had qualified 12th for the race, and his team had selected pit stall #22. The team conducted a radio check at 3:10pm ET, and the call to start engines came four minutes later.
Crew chief Jerry Baxter said the actual pit road speed was 4,800 but to let them know. He told David to run ten laps before putting on the fans. Cars rolled off pit road at 3:17pm.
"All right, it's going to be third time by," spotter Shawn Reutimann noted. After a few moments, he said, "Pit road speed right there."
"I'm going to say five grand - 5,000 and second," David replied.
Jerry repeated what he said.
"One to go at the line," Shawn noted. Meanwhile, the #7, #10, #27, and #66 had to drop to the rear of the field.
"Coming to the green," said Shawn. "Have a good run."
"Have a good day," Jerry told his driver. He also reminded David about his fans.
"Nice clean start. Coming to the green," Shawn said.
Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag. David made gains immediately, and by lap 2, he had passed Reed Sorenson's #41 for 10th; however, David Gilliland got around him one lap later, and Sorenson was soon looking inside the Aaron's Dream Machine again. The #41 passed on lap 7 after side-by-side racing.
"Tight in the centre," David reported. "Bad, bad, bad tight on the exit."
The #77 passed on lap 9.
"Real tight in the centre, dude," David added. Jerry said the crew would look at it during the first stop. After David got around a slow lapped car on lap 13, Jerry said he would put a rubber in the right rear.
The #29 spun in Turn 4, drawing the first caution on lap 16.
"Staying out," Jerry made the call.
The field ran behind the pace car for a few laps.
"Next time by," Shawn noted. "Pass right, protect the right.
"All right, they're not going. Waving it off," Shawn said the next time around the track. A minute later, he added, "One to go when you get back around here.
"All right, next time by."
The green flag returned on lap 20. Harvick led, and David was 13th. Two laps into the run, Gilliland passed along the outside, but then David got back around him. He was soon clear by three car-lengths.
"Clear by five," Shawn said the next time around the track. "Slow car on the bottom. You'll catch him in 3 and 4."
The #22 dropped inside on lap 26 and passed.
"Keep your brake fans on, David," Jerry advised.
"It's just really bad tight, bud," David informed his crew chief. "You'll have to take a really bad swing at it."
Three laps later, Jerry read off the lap time. "30.60. That pack in front of you is running 30.70's."
Jerry continued to read off lap times. "30.70," he said on lap 30. "55."
Shawn warned his driver about a slow car on the bottom, and David passed.
"Clear by 8," Shawn said next. "Working lap 32. Long way to go." Two laps later, he added, "Clear by three, back to the 38."
The yellow flag waved for the second time on lap 36 for a wreck behind David. The #66 had washed up into the #47. Jerry said they would pit and put two rubbers in the right rear and go up on the track bar. He told David to stop short.
"All the way, all the way," Jerry directed after the stop. The #99 was slow out of its box, and soon other cars were to the outside. "Halfway!" He said David could have gone all the way if the car hadn't stalled.
"Yeah, it just fell on its face," David commented.
"All right, Dave," Jerry assessed. "That was a big hit, but hopefully, we helped you out there."
David was now back to 19th. Shawn said some cars hadn't stopped and would probably come back to the #99 quickly.
"Carburetor's not working right," David said. He said it kept "blubbering and acting up."
"Keep me updated on it," Jerry told his driver.
Racing resumed on lap 41 with Denny Hamlin in the lead, but the yellow flag waved the next time around the track. The #25 had run up into the #59, collecting the #1 and the #47. David reported to his team that the car was really free on exit, and Mike Harmon's #44 received the free pass back onto the lead lap. David was marked in 18th.
NASCAR red-flagged the race at 3:55pm.
"The 59 parked up on the hood of the 1," Shawn explained. "They're having problems trying to hook up the wrecker."
"Doing all right there, D Reut?" Shawn asked his cousin while the #99 was parked on the track.
"I'm doing fine," David replied. "How are you?"
Shawn said Jennifer looked like she was doing good, because she had a plate full of food on pit road.
Engines restarted at 4:00pm. Shawn said nobody had laid down any oil and that the track looked clean.
"Scuff those tires for me, brother," Jerry told his driver. Shawn commented that the #11 and the #6 at the front of the field had only taken on right side tires earlier.
Harvick led the lap 50 restart with David in 18th. The #99 went three-wide on lap 54 with the #22 and the #10. David passed the #22 for position, but the #10 was looking inside moments later. The two ran side-by-side, and David came out ahead. The #99 dropped inside #9 on lap 59 and passed the next time around the track. David then looked under the #90.
"Starting to come to you now, David?" Jerry asked.
"A little bit."
Jerry told him to put on his fans. After Shawn cleared David passed lapped cars on lap 62, Jerry said he had run a 30.40, which was right around his fastest lap. The #44 was slow on the bottom in front of him, and he got around it.
"30.28," Jerry read off the last lap time. "Best lap by two tenths."
"Clear by five," Shawn said. "Catching the group in front of you."
David moved to the inside of the #6 and passed on lap 65.
"Clear by five, pulling away," Shawn noted.
"35," said Jerry. "Good lap."
"Just wicked tight on exit, bud," David reported.
"10-4," Jerry replied. "35 again."
"Yeah, but the closer I get, you know."
On lap 69, Shawn said David was clear by eight, back to the #22. Jerry asked about the car again.
"Still too tight in the centre, Jerry," David responded. He then spoke to his spotter about Greg Biffle, who was being held up by the #91 of Bobby Santos. "Shawn, watch that 37. He's about tired of that guy in front of him."
"Yeah, I know," Shawn answered. "I was fixing to tell you the same thing. Clear by three."
"35," Jerry read off the lap time.
"Clear by 3, working lap 77."
"37."
"Clear by one." Shawn said on lap 78. He then warned David about a lapped car up high on the outside and cleared him past it.
"I think the motor's laying down," David reported on lap 80 when Denny Hamlin's #20 took the lead.
Shawn said that Dave Blaney's #10 was having problems too.
"Dead off the exit," David added. "Flat, real flat."
Jerry told him to let him know if he needed a carburetor. The #22 passed him on lap 83.
"Yeah, it's got issues," David said. "It won't run."
Jerry said he had only lost three tenths since he talked about the problem so keep going. "Vot gauge?"
"40."
"Volts," Jerry repeated.
"13," David replied. "Sorry."
Shawn cleared him by ten car lengths.
"65," Jerry told him his last lap speed.
"I mean, I'm not imagining anything," David stated to his crew chief.
Jerry confirmed that David wasn't; he had lost three-tenths on his speed immediately after reporting the issue.
The fourth caution came on lap 87 after Eric McClure's #0 rode the wall through Turn 3 and 4. Meanwhile, Blaney's #10 had an ignition box problem. Jerry wanted three turns on the track bar and also told the crew to look at the b-box.
David said the exit was reading 9,200. He said he couldn't turn more than 89 RPM and reported the car was running okay but was flat from the centre off.
The team talked about making a stop.
"Pit road has not been opened yet," Shawn reminded the driver. Jerry told him to stop short in his box.
"It must be carburator related," David assessed. He said when he popped the clutch, it was "just dead on its face. I put it on the chip and popped the clutch and it still won't go."
Jerry agreed.
After the stop, Shawn pointed out that only three cars behind them were on the lead lap and asked if they wanted to pit again. Jerry said they would lose the lead lap with a carburetor change and would not be coming in again and risking that.
"This place is just too frickin' small," David commented. "Yeah, we're pretty much just roped into what we got here. Let's try and get all we got." He said the car stumbles and spits like fuel is coming out of the vent hose.
Jerry said there was a needle in there that was sticking. "Keep scuffing them for me, brother," he said of the tires.
"I am on box speed, but I don't think that's it," David replied.
Jerry said there was no chip in the b box so to be aware of that.
"10-4. I'll restart on the a and go to the b."
"All right, try it again, next time by," Shawn prepared his driver for the restart. A moment later, he said they were still not going.
"Looks like they're just hanging out," David commented about the safety workers. He was told they were looking for one bolt on the back straightaway.
"All right, next time by," Shawn assured him.
Hamlin led the lap 96 restart with David in 21st.
"105 laps to go," Shawn pointed out. "All by yourself, no pressure." He warned about a slow car on the bottom groove and cleared David past it. On lap 100, the #7 was slow in the middle, and the #38 was looking inside. He was soon cleared by three car lengths.
"Car in the wall in front of you," Shawn warned just before the yellow flag waved for the fifth time when the #91 of Santos had spun through Turns 3 and 4.
"Loose at first," David told his team. "Pretty well screwed here unless the thing changes." He said he put the pedal to the floor, and the car falls on its face. He asked why they were having so many carburetor issues. "Why can't we put on something that will run? Gosh dang it!" He said the car took off like it would be okay on restart then went back to doing the same thing it did before.
Jerry said they would adjust the car during the next stop. They couldn't go to the end anyway on fuel. When David said they couldn't go higher on the track bar than they already were, Jerry agreed.
Kevin Harvick led the lap 107 restart. Two laps later, David dropped inside the #16 in Turn 4, and the pair ran side-by-side. Lap 110 saw the #27 drop inside, taking them three-wide.
The #16 got back in front of David, and then the #27 got around the #99 too. The #6 was outside next on lap 112. David was ahead by three car lengths, and he passed the #90 on lap 114.
"Doing a good job, David," Jerry praised. "I can see that thing laying down on the back straightaway.
"30.50. Good job."
"Jerry, this thing is really bad loose in the centre now, bud," David reported on lap 117.
"10-4."
Shawn said David was clear by two car lengths on lap 120 and by three back to the #41 the next tiem around the track.
"30.50," Jerry read off the lap time.
"Clear by 1," Shawn noted. Clear by three."
"30.40."
"It gets in the corners good, buddy, but it won't run," David added.
Jerry told him to hang with it and remember who he's racing. He said the last lap had been a 30.40. David dropped inside the #16 and cleared it on lap 125.
"Good job, D," Jerry praised. I can see it. Keep with it, brother."
Shawn cleared David by two car lengths.
"50," Jerry continued with lap times.
"Clear by 3, working lap 128."
"35. Almost yoru best lap. Keep digging, brother," Frankie encouraged. "30."
"Clear by ten," Shawn said on lap 134.
"You are the fastest car right there," Frankie noted. "Keep digging, brother."
"Clear by ten."
"35," Jerry read. "18."
"No pressure, all by yourself."
"30."
Lap 139 saw David pass the #25 for position.
"Clear by one," said Shawn. "Let's go get that 9 car."
"32," Frankie noted. "The next three cars in front of you are 50's and 80's.
"18."
Shawn warned that the #30 was a lapped car and was catching him in the corners on lap 142. He cleared him by twenty two laps later.
"50."
On lap 145, David drove outside the #9 and passed in Turn 2.
"Clear by 3," said Shawn. He noted that the #14 car in front of David was a bunch of laps down.
"35," Frankie continued with the lap times.
Shawn again warned that the #14 was on the bottom. "Clear by five. Let's go get that 66."
Jerry told David that the car was coming to him. "You ran a 40 right there."
"Clear by 30," Shawn said on lap 152. "No pressure.
"70."
David passed the #66 along the inside one lap later.
"Clear by four," Shawn said. "Racing those two in front of you."
Frankie said that David was catching the group in front of him three tenths of a second every lap.
"Clear by ten, pulling away," Shawn observed on lap 156.
Frankie told his driver they were going to need to pit the car on lap 182 for fuel.
On lap 158, David got around the lapped #7 and the #24 for position. The #88 and the #29 were next in line.
"Run a 39," Frankie commented. "Good lap."
"Clear by 20, brother. Nice and smooth," Shawn said.
David ran a 30.20 on lap 161.
"The car is really, really good," David said just after he passed the #88.
"30.08 - fastest lap of the race," Frankie reported.
Shawn cleared him by half a straightaway.
The sixth caution was on lap 164 for the #2 turning the #42 in Turn 2.
"Jerry, it's Michael," team owner Michael Waltrip came over the radio under the yellow.
"Yeah, go ahead," the crew chief replied.
Static followed.
"You know, Mike, I might agree with you," Jerry replied.
"I couldn't hear what Mike said," David said.
Jerry relayed Mikey's message - no tires on the stop.
"Have someone stand in front of the car so he can see..."
Jerry cut off the car owner to guide David the rest of the way into his box as Mikey had been talking when the #99 was on pit road. He yelled at Mikey to get off the radio. "We're right here!"
After the stop, he said the back end looked good. He apologised to David for the radio traffic, because he wasn't able to guide David to pit road.
Mikey also apologised and said he didn't realise they were coming in just yet.
"No problem," Jerry replied. He and Shawn talked about everyone else taking tires, and Mikey pointed out that David was the only one running his fastest laps.
"10-4," David responded. "Who got the 42 there, Shawn?"
"The 2 car," Shawn replied.
Jerry said would be just fine and that there were 31 laps to go.
"David, just know that was the right thing to do," Mikey told his driver. "Jerry, good stop."
"10-4," was David's response. "I just drive." He said if he tries to pick up the throttle too quick, he is the flattest in the corners.
"Hey, David, you're the only one who has the fastest lap lap 66," Mikey stated. "Be confident in what you have."
"10-4," David said. "I'm a believer."
Hamlin led the lap 173 restart with David in 7th. Harvick took the lead the first lap back to racing while the #37 passed the #99. David was cleared by a lapped car the next time around the track.
"Clear by four," Shawn observed. "Keep digging, Bubba."
"30.30," Jerry read off the lap time on lap 176. "Doing good."
"Clear by fifteen. No pressure."
"30.16," said Jerry. "19."
"No pressure, all by yourself," Shawn encouraged. "Go get him."
"33.
"20.
"19," Jerry continued with the lap times. "Good job, David. Got 19 to go.
"19.
David got around the lapped #28 on lap 183. He was clear by thirty, back to the #41 the next time around the track.
"30.09. There's your fastest lap," said Jerry. "Good job, brother.
"29.96 - your fastest lap."
"Clear by twenty-five," Shawn noted.
"30.13."
"13 to go," Shawn told his driver. "Keep digging, bud. Good job!"
"10."
"Clear by 20."
"05. 11 to go."
"Clear by 20."
"09."
David was getting into a lot of lapped cars on lap 190.
"Try to help him with these lapped cars, Shawn," Jerry directed the spotter. "He needs everything he's going to get." With eight laps to go, he added, "Coming back to you, brother."
Shawn cleared him by ten car lengths. "12. 6 to go."
"28," Jerry said. "5 to go."
"Clear by five."
"25. 3 to go. Keep digging, brother."
"Clear by four."
Jerry said the #14 was lapped and to keep it out of the way.
"Clear by two."
Sorenson's #41 dropped inside on the last lap, and Jerry told him to run the last lap hard to beat the #41. Harvick went on to win as David protected 8th.
The team talked about getting spare radios and everyone being sent to the garage. Jerry praised his driver for the run.
"The call was awesome," David commented, and then told the team they had done a good job.
Tune in to the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 tomorrow. Coverage starts at 1:00pm ET on TNT.
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How much does it affect you to run both the NNCS and NBS races in one weekend?
"I like the double event weekends and it really doesn't bother me to go from the Busch car to the Cup car. I can separate the two and I don't think about one when I'm in the other. I've had to do that my entire life because years ago I had my own dirt car and then I would drive for other people on the same night in a different class. So you would have to jump from class to class and you would have to just figure out what you're driving pretty quickly. That seems to have paid off over here in this situation. It's still tough and I don't think I have it quite as figured out as some of these guys over here."
Can you talk about the point's battle?
"Carl (Edwards) has a heck of a lead and he seems to just keep padding it every week. But we just keep grinding away and we'll find out where we end up once Homestead rolls around. I'm really not even paying attention to how far out he is in the points because I know he's a long way out there. It really doesn't matter because it's our job to try to catch him. He's got things pretty well covered, but we'll keep blasting away at him. Our cars are good every week and we are right on the verge of getting a win so we feel like we're doing everything we need to do -- now we just need a little luck to go our way."