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Montreal: David Reutimann preview

Reutimann Prominently Displays NAPA Shield on No. 99 Toyota Camry during NAPA AUTO PARTS 200 in Canada MONTREAL (July 30, 2008) -- After NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice at Pocono Raceway, David Reutimann crosses the Canadian border to ...

Published: Jul 30, 2008, 6:39 PM

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Reutimann Prominently Displays NAPA Shield on No. 99 Toyota Camry during NAPA AUTO PARTS 200 in Canada

MONTREAL (July 30, 2008) -- After NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice at Pocono Raceway, David Reutimann crosses the Canadian border to race the No. 99 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA AUTO PARTS 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday afternoon.

"Traveling back and forth is the easy part," Reutimann said. "The track is a very tough, tricky technical road course. We'll have a different look on the No. 99 Toyota this weekend and we are so fortunate to have NAPA Canada on board with us. Aaron's, who is also a strong partner of Michael Waltrip Racing like NAPA, will be back with us next week."

Before Reutimann travels to Montreal, Chris Cook will practice and qualify the No. 99 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry. Reutimann turned to the experienced road course racer this season to help shorten his learning curve on road courses. Cook has extensive experience in a number of road racing series including the Fur Rondy Grand Prix Series, where he won multiple championships.

"Chris is a good guy and a super road course racer," Reutimann said. "He is good at what he does and he has helped me with my learning curve. He taught me techniques to help reduce lap time and build consistency. Everything I have learned will come into play this weekend in Montreal."

The 2.71-mile road course, with 15 turns on a man-made island in the St. Lawrence River, hosted the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series race last season. Reutimann started 29th and finished ninth in his No. 99 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry in the 75-lap event.

"It was a wild race in the end, but we were able to capitalize and finish in the top-10," Reutimann said. "I'm looking forward to going back to the city. The people are very nice and we had a great turnout for the race. I think it was close to 70,000 people there to watch the NAPA AUTO PARTS 200."

Reutimann is not the only one looking forward to going back. Yves LaFrance, Reutimann's engine tuner, is originally from the Montreal area. Reutimann was instrumental in LaFrance making his way to the No. 99 Michael Waltrip Racing team.

"My father (Marcel) raced Dirt Modifieds and was racing in Middletown (New York) some time around 1992 and he wrecked his car during the heat race," LaFrance said. "We repaired the damage and asked Buzzie Reutimann, who is David's father, to race the car because he was guaranteed a starting spot. David was there and helped us work on the car. After that, we sort of stayed in touch and he helped me make contact with Jon Dysinger at TRD South. It's a great experience to be able to work with David's Nationwide team and for me a win in Montreal would be incredible."

Reutimann and his Michael Waltrip Racing team are hungry for their first victory of the season and look to add to their one pole award, along with seven top-five and 11 top 10-finishes. The Zephyrhills, Fla.-native has led 180 laps in 22 starts and currently sits fourth in the championship standings.

"We're fourth right now, but we have had some bad stuff happen to us that have been out of our control and also of our own doing," Reutimann said. "We've got to make sure we are not worrying about the points and focus on each race weekend. The points will fall into place if we continue to run well, finish strong and win races."

Live coverage of the NAPA AUTO PARTS 200 on ESPN2 starts at 3 p.m. ET and 3:30 p.m. ET on MRN Radio.

-credit: mwr

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