A hard hit and an early end to the day for Reutimann in Phoenix

David Reutimann and the No. 83 Horizon Toyota Camry finished 39th at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, November 10.  With a new sponsor and look, Reutimann had a strong racecar that was capable of racing inside the top 25.  After being involved in a multi-car accident just before the halfway mark, damage sustained to Reutimann’s car led to the brakes overheating and a hard hit to the outside wall to end the race for the No. 83 Horizon team. 

 

Reutimann rolled off 37th for the Advocare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.  With a competitive car, the driver immediately raced through the field to take over the 29th position by lap 60.  When the caution flag waved on lap 101, Reutimann picked up the lucky dog award allowing him to race into the top 25. 

 

While racing hard for position on lap 145, Reutimann was involved in a multi-car accident when the No. 43 machine made contact with the rear bumper of Reutimann’s car and sent him spinning across the track.  The spin caused a flat tire, which ultimately came apart to damage the right front fender on the Horizon Toyota Camry.  After making a series of well-timed pit stops to repair the damage, Reutimann remained on the lead lap of competition to restart the race.  Within 30 laps, Reutimann diagnosed a flat right front tire and returned to pit road under green flag conditions for a two-tire stop.  Shortly thereafter, Reutimann called back into the team to report a soft brake pedal.  The Horizon team gave instructions to help Reutimann cool the brakes, but within just a few laps, on lap 191, Reutimann’s brake pedal went to the floor while entering turn one.  Without slowing down, the No. 83 Camry went spinning into the turn and Reutimann made hard contact with the outside retaining wall.  With severe rear-end damage, Reutimann was forced to retire from the event and scored with a 39th-place finish.  

 

“We had a strong No. 83 Horizon Toyota Camry today,” commented Reutimann.  “We got caught up in an accident that wasn’t of our doing, but it set in motion a chain of events that ultimately led to an early finish for our team today.  We were put in a position where we had to tape our front fender together, but the tape cut down on the air flow to the brakes and ultimately led to them overheating.  When I stepped on the brake pedal and it went to the floor, the car turned around on me and there wasn’t much left that I could do.  I’m happy that we were able to avoid making any additional contact and that we didn’t take anyone else with us.  Clearly it wasn’t the finish we had hoped for, but we feel positive about the strength of our car during the opening laps.  Hopefully we got all of our bad luck out of the way this week and we can finish out the season strong next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.”

 

BK Racing PR