David Reutimann Darlington preview

Darlington Raceway 500

David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota

Photo by: Motorsport.com / ASP Inc.

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 00 Aaron’s Outdoors Toyota driver David Reutimann goes to the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway this weekend for the SHOWTIME Southern 500 hoping to race into the month of May on a positive note. The No. 00 team typically hits its stride in May. Last season, Reutimann kicked off the month with an 11th-place finish at Darlington, followed by back-to-back top-fives at Dover and Charlotte. In 2010, Reutimann left Richmond ranked 27th and finished the month of May ranked 19th following the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

DAVID REUTIMANN QUOTES

ON DARLINGTON: “I honestly don’t like Darlington much. It’s a cool racetrack and it’s a really, really challenging racetrack. A lot of times you hear guys talk about longer races where you are racing a track instead of a competitor. You hear that said a lot. I think Darlington is a racetrack that you race the track from start to finish. It’s almost like you forget about all the other guys out there racing and just concentrate on the track. Darlington is definitely a place that will reach out and grab you if you’re not paying attention or being very careful.”

DOES RACING DARLINGTON REMIND YOU OF DIRT TRACK RACING AT ALL? “Maybe a little bit, but the biggest difference is on a dirt track you aren’t going 180 miles an hour into a corner so the speed is a little different. We do race right up against the fence like you do on a dirt track without a lot of room for error so you can get yourself in trouble really quick if you’re not careful. It’s not hard to do. You can be racing along just like you’re supposed to be doing, but if you just slip up even the littlest bit, you’ll end up with a Darlington stripe.”