David 25th at the Glen by Kellyanne Lynch
11 August 2007
David Reutimann finished 25th in the Busch Series' Zippo 200, his first race at Watkins Glen. His Michael Waltrip Racing #99 Aaron's Dream Machine was midpack throughout the afternoon.
"Today was just a tough day," David said after the race. "I had never raced on the track before this weekend, and it was only my third road course race, so I didn't come in here with too high of hopes. The track is a pretty fast road course, but going into turn one gets pretty tough on restarts with all those cars going in at once. Overall, we lost a little bit in points, but we have some tracks coming up that I think we're going to be real good at, so I'm optimistic."
The green flag waved at 3:52pm ET. Kurt Busch led the field to the stripe while David started 26th. The Aaron's Dream Machine maintained that position throughout the first couple laps.
The first caution came on lap 3 for Max Papis; his #1 Miccosukee Chevrolet lost its engine. A few drivers pit, including Kevin Harvick, who had gotten into Boris Said during green flag laps.
Racing resumed on lap 6 with Busch's #39 in the lead and David in 22nd. Brad Coleman pit from the 9th spot on lap 8 for a scheduled stop. David was up to 21st with Coleman's stop, and he gained another position on lap 10 when Matt Kenseth pit. Others came onto pit road over the next few laps. David came in on lap 11. Leader Kurt Busch pit at the end of the next circuit and took on four tires and fuel.
Ron Fellows picked up the top spot with Busch's departure. At that time, David was 37th and the last driver on the lead lap. On lap 15, he picked up three positions, and he was 31st the next time around the track. Brent Sherman drove off the track and slid through the gravel on lap 17 but continued with no incident or caution. David was 30th at that time and was 27th the next time around the track. David gained 26th on lap 21. Meanwhile, Marcus Ambrose got into the corner too deep and spun Alex Garcia.
Lap 22 saw David gain 25th, but he lost the spot to Stephen Leicht the next time around the track. Fellows made his stop on lap 24, giving the top spot to Kevin Harvick. David lost a spot to Denny Hamlin on the same lap.
David lost the lead lap in 28th on lap 28. Jason Leffler spun off the inner loop on the same lap; however, the race remained under green. David picked up 27th from Derrike Cope on lap 31. Steve Wallace passed him the next time around the track, but the #99 regained the spot one lap later. Jeff Burton got into David shortly thereafter.
Wallace drew the second caution on lap 38 when he spun on his own and ran into the wall. Bobby Hamilton Jr received the free pass, and many drivers pit under yellow.
The green flag returned on lap 40. Kurt Busch led as he had not pit. Jorges Goeters drove off the track, and as he moved back on, he spun. David was 27th and one lap down, and ESPN commentators noted that Goeters may have hit him. The #99 was 26th by lap 42 while Scott Pruett had to pit after speeding on pit road. Lap 45 saw him fall to 27th.
Some drivers pit on lap 47. Leader Kurt Busch pit with 34 laps to go. As he came off pit road, the yellow flag waved for the third time. Greg Biffle was in the lead, and Andy Pilgram received the free pass. Some drivers made stops, including Biffle. Kevin Harvick was back in the top spot.
Harvick led the restart with 31 laps to go. Robby Gordon struggled to get going. Well behind him, Jeff Burton shoved Juan Pablo Montoya into Ron Fellows, and Gordon went to the garage.
Meanwhile, David was 29th. He picked up two spots one lap into the run. Gordon's departure gained him 26th by lap 54. David Gilliland spun but continued.
The fourth caution came on lap 67. Bobby Hamilton Jr got into David Ragan and spun them both. Their accident happened right behind David. Todd Kluever received the free pass, and teammate and points leader Carl Edwards went to the garage with a broken trackbar.
Racing resumed with 13 laps to go but the fifth caution came right back out for fluid on the track. Jeff Burton had cut off Montoya, causing a wreck that also involved Wallace.
Harvick led the restart with ten laps to go. David was 25th and the first driver one lap down. Patrick Carpantier cut off Marcos Ambrose and hit the wall with six laps to go, but the race remained under green. The yellow flag also did not come out when Denny Hamlin spun independently and kept going with two laps to go. Harvick went on to win while David finished one lap down in 25th.
NASCAR goes to Michigan next weekend. Coverage of the Busch Series' Carfax 250 begins Saturday at 3:00pm ET on ESPN2. Next Sunday is the Nextel Cup's 3M Performance 400, which airs at 1:00pm on ESPN.