July 14, 2010
By Chuck Abrams
The Saturday night race in Chicago looked like it was going to be another Jimmie Johnson snooze fest.
But fate has a funny way of leveling the field.
With some of the usual stars having unexpectedly rough nights, David Reutimann, MWR coined "The Franchise", took a decent starting position, held onto it throughout the night and finally made his way to only his second Sprint Cup Series Victory Lane celebration.
Reutimann's other Cup win was a rain-shortened affair at Charlotte last year, thus staining the win for many fans -- and drivers.
I have no idea why. Many drivers have won rain-shortened races, Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch among them. No one challenged the legitimacy of those wins that I can recall. Perhaps it is because of Reutimann's late career move to Cup. Perhaps it's his association with Michael Waltrip Racing. Perhaps it is the 00 on the side of his car, a number made infamously lame by Buckshot Jones.
Perhaps it is sour grapes.
In any case, Reutimann gained respect in the garage and helped MWR gain some respect as an up and coming Toyota team. It also gives huge bragging rights to pitchman/owner Michael Waltrip, as if he needed any reason to talk.
"The Franchise" took the lead late in the race and passed none other than Jeff Gordon for the lead. After that, the only serious challenge was Carl Edwards, but Smilin' Carl never got close enough to mount a serious run on Reutimann.
As a fan, it was nice to see someone else finally win a race in a season that has been dominated by the Hendrick, Gibbs, Childress and Penske racing teams. Those 4 teams have combined for 16 of the 19 wins this season.
Before the race, Reutimann had said he was very proud of the advances MWR has made in their mile-and-a-half mile program. He felt very good about their chances for a good run at Chicago. How prophetic those words turned out to be.
So, way to go Franchise. Let's hope it is not another year before we see you again. You were a shoo-in to return to MWR in 2011, and this is just icing on the cake.
And speaking of shoo-ins to return to their team, Elliott Sadler may be on his way out at Richard Petty Motorsports. With Kasey Kahne already leaving, Sadler was not a shoo-in to return since he has not won a race since 2004 and sits mired deep in the points -- again. While some consider him a sponsors dream, this sport is about winning, not talking. If that were the case, Michael Waltrip would be driving 'till he was 60. Sadler seems to be a nice enough guy and his Virginia accent is the best thing in the garage since Ward Burton, but he is not winning (or even coming close) even though he has been with some, debatably, good teams.
While RPM says that his return is not out of the question, I think Sadler is looking for greener pastures. But where? Red Bull? EGR? Roush? There are not too many top tier teams with vacant seats and anything less than a serious competitor would not make for a good chance for Sadler to break the cycle of losing. Needless to say, Silly Season is just beginning and we can expect more on this topic once the Chase is set.
Let me know your thoughts.
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
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