David Reutimann is hot! Can he back up that rainy Charlotte win with a solid run at Dover? He's on the pole

   
Red-hot Reutimann, aka 'the franchise,' puts a Michael Waltrip Toyota on the Dover 400 pole (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   
   

    By Mike Mulhern
    mikemulhern.net

    DOVER, Del.
    David Reutimann, fresh off a big win in the Coke 600, will start Sunday's 400-miler here just where he left off last Monday at Charlotte, after winning the pole Friday for Sunday's Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway.
   "It's been pretty cool," Reutimann (156.794 mph), in his third season on the NASCAR Sprint Cup tour, said of the three days since his rain-soaked victory, his breakthrough NASCAR win.
   "It's not exactly the way you want to win a race, by any means.  At the time we didn't have the best car, and we were going to have to work on it.  Rodney Childers made the right call and got us into the right position. 
   "As far as winning races, when you think about winning a race it is different. It's been pretty cool.
    "I've heard from a lot of people that I used to race with, and people I hadn't heard from in years. I had some drivers give me phone calls and text messages and stuff like that.  Tony Stewart called, for those of you who were curious. 
    "It was just a neat deal, a neat feeling, and definitely an amazing experience, something I'll remember for the rest of my life certainly.
    "When I turned my phone on, as the night progressed it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 text messages I got, and 78 voicemails.
    "It's been a little different than what I've been having in the past -- Just a lot of TV stuff, and a lot of print media, just a little bit of everything. 
    "It's been a relatively short week too, considering that our race was Monday.  The week went by fairly quickly. 
    "Now it's just back to business. 
    "The funny thing about having things go right and winning a race is the fact that we have a couple days to kind of savor the moment -- a day or two, for the most, and then it's right back to business as usual. 
    "It's one of those things where you're only as good as your last race, and then you've got to go try to do it again."

    Friday runs here were a bit unusual: four of the 10 fastest were in Richard Petty Dodges, Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson, AJ Allmendinger, and Elliott Sadler. The Petty men are using the new Dodge engine for the first time this month; it's been a staple for the Roger Penske Dodge team for some time. But the two Dodge operations have not been working with each, rather almost as rivals.
   However the Chrysler-Detroit-Washington situation may be having an effect on what comes down the technical pipeline from Detroit.
   The day's loser was Jeff Gordon. The Sprint Cup series tour leader slapped the wall and will have to start at the rear of the field.
   Richard Childress' guys, Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, and Kevin Harvick, had another ragged day, and Childress concedes he's got to get his men back on track.
   The men to watch in the Ford, meanwhile, are from the Jack Roush camp: Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray.
   Another man to keep an eye on is Mike Skinner, making his first start for new team owner Tommy Baldwin.
     
     

     
     

    Reutimann wasn't the only driver making news last weekend for team owner Michael Waltrip. The possibility that Martin Truex Jr. might be one of his new teammates next season has been raised.
   As ragged as things have been for Waltrip and his guys in the two years they've been on the tour as a new team, why would anyone go hunting for a ride there?
    "Because I'm there," Reutimann deadpanned.
   "The fact of the matter is things are going pretty well. Toyota is doing a great job. The people at Michael Waltrip Racing are doing an outstanding job.
   "A year ago you couldn't say that anybody would want to come to Michael Waltrip Racing, as far behind as we were. 
    "And now people are actually seeing the progress. 
    "We've made a great deal of progress in a short amount of time. I think that piques people's interest.
   "I think we're a pretty strong organization right now.
    "For a free agent (like Truex) wanting to do something different, it's something they have to look at.
    "It's a good place; I enjoy it. I've been there from the beginning, and I know how great a team we are compared to where we started. 
     "I know we've got some ground to cover, but I think people will take a look at us a little more."
    
    

    
Nope, it's not a dream. This guy's for real (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)