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Is David Reutimann a Thief? ~ I Don't Think So

An Opinion



May 29, 2009

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson
It absolutely amazes me how many NASCAR fans are in melt-down mode because of the outcome of the Coca Cola 600 this week. You would think David Reutimann had walked into the track with a gun and held the place up in order to walk away with the winner’s check and the 250 pound trophy.

Guess what folks...he isn't the first person to win at mother nature's hands...and he won't be the last.

Remember the outcome of the Daytona 500 this year? Matt Kenseth won a rain shortened race. A few weeks ago...Mike Skinner won a truck race in Kansas...shortened by rain.

Last year, we had 10 weekends with rain delays in some way, shape or form.

Two years ago...Kurt Busch took home the win in Michigan thanks to a rain shortened race.

Five years ago, Reutimann's boss won his second Daytona 500 because it was called for rain.

For those that ask why we don’t race in the rain, take a look back to last year in Montreal, when the Nationwide cars DID race in the rain. It wasn’t pretty. Wipers broke and windshields fogged up so much it was virtually impossible to see out of them.

Trust me...calling a race early because of rain is nothing new.

Yes, Kyle Busch had the dominant car...and if it had gone green, maybe he would have won. Then again...how many races has he led the most laps this year...only to have something else not go his way? Just because you lead the most laps rarely ensures victory.

I heard an analogy not long ago that might put this into better perspective....The New York Giants are kicking the Washington Redskins butts all day long. We get to the 4th quarter, and the Skins make a hail mary pass with 1 minute to go to take the lead by 3.

And then the heavens open up and the game can't continue because of rain and lightning.

Does this mean the Giants should get the victory because they were ahead all day, and didn't get the chance to play one last series to possibly get the lead back because rain called the game?

I didn't think so.

You show me a driver who wouldn’t take a win because rain shortened the race, and I’ll show you a liar.

After the race was over, the majority of the drivers all commented there is nothing you can do when it comes to rain. NASCAR tried for two hours to dry the track, but every time the dryers took to the track, it rained a little harder. After the race was called, the sun appeared for about 5 minutes.

Maybe it was the late David Poole smiling down on the irony of it all.

By the time I left the track after the post-race press conferences and submitting my story to my editor, you could barely see out your front windshield it was raining so hard...and lightning was streaking across the Concord sky. It rained all night, and well into Tuesday.

They were NOT going to get the race on Monday night or Tuesday, no matter how much fans wanted it. End of story. And at some point, the teams had to get back into the shops to prepare for the road trip to Dover for this weekend’s race.

As for the call to stay out vs. take fuel and tires...every team on the track had the same options that the 00, 39 and 7 teams did. You could look at the radar and see that the rain was coming and hope it just kept raining...or you could take a gamble like Steve Addington that the rain would eventually stop and they would go back under green. It is a decision made any time there is green on a radar near a track on race day. Sometimes, it pans out. Sometimes, it rains on your parade.

David Reutimann is not a "wannabe" driver. Sure, he's older than most of the guys who have been in Cup the same amount of time as he has. Sure, he doesn't drive for a "marquee" team owner (even if the owner is one of the most recognizable fellow drivers out there…love him or hate him.) However, he has been in the top 15 all season, and up until 2 weeks ago, he was in the top 12 in points. He is not a back-marker or field-filler, and almost every prognosticator I have heard talk about him this year has said they fully expected him to win a race before they end up this season in Homestead. And it wasn't going to be a rain-shortened race he was expected to win, but a full, take the checkers at the end race. (They still are expecting that to happen, by the way...)

Before NASCAR officially called the race on Monday, after bringing the driers onto the track not once, not twice, not even just three times, but FOUR times in an effort to get the race re-started, drivers like Bobby Labonte, Max Papis, Carl Edwards and even second place Ryan Newman, came out in the rain to congratulate Reutimann on his win. Even Tony Stewart, who had had a "discussion" with Reutimann about racing hard so early in the race during one of the other red flag stops of the day, called David as he walked to the ad-hoc Victory Lane to offer his congratulations. (See, sometimes there IS a reason to race hard early in the goings…)

So complain if you must that David "stole" this win, or whatever you want to claim. In the end, a win is a win, no matter how pretty or ugly, how long or short. It came down to a decision to stay out and take a chance, or follow the pack in for tires and fuel.

Sometimes you roll the dice and get snake eyes...but every once in a while, they come up and allow you to pull in the winner's pot.



You can contact Kim at.. Insider Racing News
You Can Read Other Articles By Kim


The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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