David Reutimann and the No. 83 Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team finished 37th at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Sunday afternoon. After starting at the back of the field, Reutimann raced into the top-20 competitors before suffering a broken gear with less than 50 laps remaining in the race.
Reutimann rolled off 43rd for the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500. When the green flag waved at the historic speedway, Reutimann kept his left side tires tight against the inside line and immediately began climbing the leaderboard. Picking up 15 positions in the first 25 laps, it was obvious that Reutimann had the speed and skill needed to race through the field. With the No. 83 Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry handling nearly perfect, the BK Racing team made one minor adjustment during their opening pit stop and otherwise left Reutimann to log laps at the track commonly referred to as the “paperclip.”
Despite getting turned twice to spin on the track near the midway point of the race, the No. 83 Camry did not sustain any damage in either incident and was able to not only continue, but also gain ground in the event. With a series of caution periods and restarts, Reutimann was scored as high as the 12th position by lap 350. Within 100 laps, Reutimann’s car began expelling smoke as it suffered a gear failure. NASCAR responded by displaying the black flag and ordering Reutimann to the garage. With less than 50 laps remaining and no “quick fix” available, the No. 83 Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team was forced to retire from the event. Reutimann was credited with a 37th-place finish.
“We had a really good racecar today with our No. 83 Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota Camry,” commented Reutimann. “We didn’t have the best qualifying run, but we were able to take off as soon as the green flag waved and ran competitive lap times all day. We had a couple of spins on the track, but we were able to rebound from those and it appeared as though we would easily finish inside the top 25. Historically speaking, Martinsville Speedway can be tough on gears, but you don’t usually see them fail anymore. Our BK Racing team will evaluate the part when we get back to the shop this week to try to determine what caused the failure. It’s unfortunate that we were not able to finish the race-we had a great car all day and the results don’t reflect what our team was capable of this weekend. I’m excited to get to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend, and to put together the whole package for a great finish.”
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