Reutimann’s NASCAR Memorial Day Parade Rained On–YES

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

May 26, 2009 9:54 am CDT 5 Comments

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Some of the media were referring to the Coca-Cola 600 as the 24 Hours of Charlotte because the holiday weekend dodged rain storm after rain storm.

Mike Bliss won a rain shortened Nationwide Series race on Saturday night, but the 600 couldn’t roll off the starting line on Sunday because of persistent rain. By the time Memorial Day Monday rolled around, the teams, drivers and media had had enough of trying to kill time. But it didn’t take long for the first of several rain delays to stop the action at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

It looked early on as if the scheduled 400 laps would never be seen and a race to halfway was going to be the order of the day. Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann got the teams first Sprint Cup win by staying on the racetrack when the final rain delay hit the speedway.

I think we sat on pit road eight hours today is what it felt like. We just kept waiting. Rodney and I talked. I was like, I’ve been in situations like this before, obviously not in a Cup race, but different situations. This deal never goes my way, so I don’t see why it should now. We talked about what we were going to change on the car when we came down pit road. Rodney told me, I’m either going to get us a win or lose us 10 spots, one or the other. It’s a gamble. I said, I’ll stay out. That’s what he told me to do. That’s what I do. When I’m told to do something, I generally do something.

NASCAR waited about two and a half hours before finally calling the race over and done. By that time there weren’t many fans left in the grandstands to celebrate. MWR, had seen its share of adversity throughout its first two-plus years of competition. From the jet fuel incident it first year, to not making races times have been tough. Reutimann made all those heartaches and mis-steps seem long removed when he was able to paddle his #00 into the winners circle.

This week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW ponders:

How does Reutimann’s win stack up as far as first wins go?

Let us know what you think and we could us your comments to this weeks ON PIT ROW radio show. Listen live every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET at onpitrow.com. Call the show at 1-800-645-2946 and you could win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead if your call is the Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day.

Filed under: David Reutimann, Lowes Motor Speedway, Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio

Tagged with: David Reutimann, Lowes Motor Speedway, Michael Waltrip, NASCAR

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NASCAR is already full of surprises

by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

February 11, 2008 10:25 am CST 4 Comments

We are barely started in the 2008 season and who can believe what has happened?

One year after “fuelgate” Michael Waltrip has put his NAPA Camry on the front row for next week’s Daytona 500. Oh yeah and the not so surprising part; joining him on the front row–Jimmy Johnson. Johnson hasn’t missed a beat from 2007, by putting his Lowes Chevrolet on the pole.

Here are this week’s Fast lap questions:

1– Should Tony Stewart or Kurt Busch be penalized for their confrontation on the race track during Budweiser Shootout practice?

2– Was this the best Bud Shootout ever?

3– Whose qualifying effort was more surprising; David Reutimann’s or Joe Nemechek’s?

4– Will Casey Mears become an after thought at Hendrick Motorsports?

So, what do you think? Remember; if we like your comments, whether we agree or disagree, we could use them on this week’s broadcast of ON PIT ROW. ON PIT ROW can be heard live via streaming audio every week, Tuesdays at 5pm ET. Just click on LISTEN LIVE on the home page.

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett - Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports, It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Jimmy Johnson, Joe Nemechek, NASCAR, NASCAR officials, Sprint Cup Series, The Busch Bros, The Fast Lap, The Waltrips, Tony Stewart