DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 17, 2008) – David Reutimann did a solid job for Aaron’s and Michael Waltrip Racing in his second Daytona 500 start crossing the finish line in 18th-place Sunday night in his #00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry.

“We would have had a top-15 finish, but a car ran into the Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota and I got a little sideways there at the end,” Reutimann said. “We were running 12th when that happened. Overall, we had a good race and the Aaron’s pit crew did a tremendous job. And, I can’t say enough about my crew chief, Ryan Pemberton. He made great calls and kept me calm during the race. I really enjoyed working with him.”

The Florida native started 42nd as his teammate and owner, Michael Waltrip, started on the outside pole and led the first lap in his #55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry. Gradually, Reutimann advanced his position. As the 43-car field began to make their first green flag pit stops at Lap 36, Reutimann entered pit road himself while shown in 15th-place.

“We needed to be tightened up a little bit at that point,” Reutimann said.

As Reutimann pitted again under green at Lap 75, he was in fear of losing the draft.

“The team changed four tires and made adjustments because the car was really tight and I thought we would never catch back up,” Reutimann said. “Ryan assured me we would be fine.”

Reutimann caught a break as a caution occurred five laps later. The Aaron’s Dream Machine team pitted their Toyota Camry again for right side tires and restarted 20th on Lap 84. As Reutimann climbed the charts, he reentered the top-15 on Lap 118.

“The car was good at that point,” Reutimann said. “We stayed out for a lap or two as cars began to pit under green. We were able to run a few laps in the top-10 before pitting again for tires.”

While the Michael Waltrip Racing team serviced the #00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Waltrip was credited with leading the field to the start-finish line on Lap 122.

“All of us were so happy for Michael to lead this race,” Reutimann said. “He’s a two-time Daytona 500 winner and this race means so much to him. To commemorate the 50th running, Michael had the Aaron’s, UPS and NAPA AUTO PARTS Camrys wheels painted gold. That was pretty cool.”

Leaving pit road 21st on Lap 124, Reutimann was 19th when a caution occurred for debris 27 laps later. Pit stop after pit stop, the Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry team continued to work on improving the handling of the car for Reutimann.

“As the race went on, we needed to be just a little tighter,” Reutimann said. “The team did a great job on making changes.”

Approaching Lap 178, another caution occurred when the #48, #11 and #1 were involved in an accident. Reutimann sustained slight damage to the driver’s side door of his Aaron’s Dream Machine, but nothing that would be detrimental to the outcome of his finish.

Inside ten laps to go in the 200-lap event, Reutimann was running in the top-15. As the #5 car bounced off the wall in Turn 1 on Lap 194 and brought out another caution, Reutimann was shown in 12th-place. On the restart at Lap 197, Reutimann was shuffled back to 18th with one lap remaining.

“A car got into the Aaron’s Dream Machine and I got a little sideways,” Reutimann said. “We fell back to 18th because of it and that’s where ended up finishing. We had a car capable of a top-15 finish and it is unfortunate that happened. All in all, everyone worked great together, we brought home the car in one piece and had a respectable finish. This is a good start for us.”
 
Reutimann currently sits 18th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings following the Daytona 500 – 81 points behind race winner Ryan Newman.

Dale Jarrett finished 16th and Michael Waltrip finished 29th.

California Speedway is next up for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Auto Club 500 is scheduled for February 24th. Live coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on FOX and 4 p.m. Eastern on MRN Radio.