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Memphis: Reutimann post race interview

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 99 Aaron's 'Dream Machine' Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finished: 2nd How were you able to get through the field today after starting in the back of the field? "We ended up having a great car. Josh (Wise) did an ...

Published: Oct 28, 2008, 5:18 PM

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DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 99 Aaron's 'Dream Machine' Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finished: 2nd

How were you able to get through the field today after starting in the back of the field?

"We ended up having a great car. Josh (Wise) did an incredible job practicing and qualifying the car. The car drove phenomenal the whole race. We just stayed out. Three-quarters of the field was in the same situation when we ended up being two laps down. We got one of our laps back the old fashion way. I fought for it and got it back and then the second time we got the 'Lucky Dog' and were able to get up there. Yellows fell just our way to the point where it put us in the right situation to be able to win the race. The green-white checker was one of those deals where you could've easily drove down in there and drove in the back of him and moved him up the race track and went on, but that's just not generally how I like to do things so I didn't and we were in second."

Was there any temptation for you to get into Carl Edwards to try to get past him for the win?

"Yeah there was. You are sitting back there and you're thinking, 'Well, if Carl (Edwards) was in this situation what would he do to me?' I know what he would've done, you know. I got all of the respect in the world for Carl Edwards. I think he's a great guy and a phenomenal driver but when it comes down to it he's a competitor just like we all are and he would definitely move you out of the way. It's just not my deal. Maybe someday it will pay off. Today it hurt me. It absolutely hurt me. I had two opportunities to do it and I can't tell you why I didn't do it. That's not the way my father taught me to drive. That's not the way he raced. That's not the way my family raced and that's not the way I do it, but it cost me a win today so I don't feel too good about that."

What was your pit strategy at the end of the race?

"I think we had our first yellow around 24 laps or something like that and you think this will go another 20 laps and we'll have another yellow. So surely you can't come now. And that just shows how unpredictable the racing is. There's no way of knowing. I would not want to be a crew chief ever because there's just too much pressure. You want to talk about pressure -- those guys have to make the right calls and I live and die by those calls. We made the same call three-quarters of the field did and it could've bit us but in the end we still came back and still managed to get a second place out of it. It would've been nice to stay up front like that and be able to race. I think we could've been in front at that point and been alright but the way the day was going you can't complain too much for second I don't think."

What has it been like to be a part of two totally different races at Memphis in the past two years?

"Judging off the way things went last year -- but you know you have to look at it -- we took off and we went 25 laps green right off the bat and I don't think we had any 25 lap runs last year. The race had a whole different feel to it from the beginning. Last year you would have a caution every five laps and it seemed like this time we couldn't get a caution when we needed one. It's a situation where it was two completely different ends of the spectrum. People asked me last year, 'What is it about the race track?' Well, there's nothing with the race track. It's the guys that are on the race track that end up making things happen. I'm proud of my team. The race track is great, very competitive, very racy and I think we've maybe redeemed ourselves a little bit from the race we had last year."

Are you able to be more carefree at the Nationwide Series races than at the Cup Series races?

"On the Cup side it's a pressure cooker over there. It's almost like whenever you have conjunction races where you are at the same race track, it's almost as quick as you walk across the fence from one side to the other it's almost a different feeling. It's a different world all together. There's so much pressure on the other side of the garage. And there's pressure on this side, too. Everybody is looking to perform and run well but it's totally different. It's good to come over here. This series is so competitive and such a good series and then you've got such a good group of drivers that you learn from. You learn from racing with guys like Kenny Wallace and Carl Edwards in various types of cars and it's good to have that. I stay stressed out most of the time anyway and that's my own fault. That's just my nature. It has nothing to do with the profession I don't think. It's just how I am."

-credit: toyota motorsports

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