Kentucky Speedway - Meijer 300
RACE WINNER: STEPHEN LEICHT
Scott Wimmer: 3rd (started 25th)
- In those last 20 or so laps, I really thought we’d be celebrating Scott in Victory Lane, but it just wasn’t the night. He had an awesome car there at the end. Unfortunately, he had an incredibly hard time passing then-leader Brad Coleman and as he recollected himself for another go, Stephen Leicht shot around him and Coleman. After that, it seemed as if either Scott had used everything up or just rode, realizing nothing more could be done. Very disappointing and frustrating! He didn’t look as giddy after the race and even apologized to the Holiday Inn crew for giving bad setup information during the start of the evening. I know I’m probably paranoid, but I’m just worried that every time he’s in position to win that he’s expected to win. I’m afraid when he’s expected to win and doesn’t, that’s another chip away from his job. He’s so talented…it would be such a shame if only a win would prove that.
David Reutimann: 16th (started 14th)
- His car was tight at the beginning of the race, but the #99 crew did a good job of adjusting it. David drove all the way to 3rd and it sure would have been nice if ESPN gave him attention once in a while. But bad luck smacked again when Steven Wallace ran into the back of leader Carl Edwards on a late restart. Carl spun and somehow kept the car on the track…and kept driving! Good car control by Carl, but it caused a huge backup behind him which David appeared to have some trouble in. And again, it’s just like ESPN to puke up because Steve caused another wreck and completely ignore the other victims of his lapse in sense. Apparently, the left rear wheel kept coming loose too. The team soldiered on for the remainder of the race and grabbed a decent finish.
- Quotes:
“I felt like we had an excellent car. It was tight at the beginning of the race. Then, we made good changes to it and it got better and better. We were in a position where we needed to be and for some reason the lug nuts on the left rear (tire) came loose. We had to come in and put wheel spacers on to make it stay tight. Then, late in the race it was coming loose again. It's disappointing. Things were going according to plan before that. We still needed one more stop to tune on it a little bit more and throw something at it. I felt like we were on track -- we made smart changes and it got better every stop. Then we had that problem again.”
Race2Win
- D-Reut remains 4th in points and 9th in owners points.
Todd Kluever: 23rd (started 32nd)
- It was kind of a cruddy day for Todd, but despite being 2 laps down his finish wasn’t anything to really throw a fit over. The team just kept at it and avoided the wrecks to get more cars behind them. It would have been great to see Todd perform better at a race where Busch regulars get more of a chance, but it could have been worse.
Other Notes:
- Although I was disappointed that Scott didn’t win, I was happy for Stephen. It looked like he was going to keep his cool in Victory Lane, but once he hugged his already crying father, his own tears started to flow. I love emotional wins like this!
- I had a bad feeling that Steve Wallace was going to cause some problems. On the infamous restart, I said, “Wow, Steven got a really good start.” Only moments later, Carl was spinning and smoke billowed everywhere. It’s funny – ESPN praises Steve constantly to suck up to Rusty, but when he pulls a stupid move they just sit around in discomfort. Rusty sounded disgusted and furious with his son, who had almost wrecked his uncle Mike earlier in the race. In Carl’s post-wreck interview, he was a class act and you could tell he was holding back because he didn’t want to say anything bad knowing Rusty was in the booth. I think he went too far in admitting fault to the wreck, but Carl is good like that. Steve, from what the broadcast said, blamed it all on Carl blocking him.
- Shannon Spake was back and as senseless as ever. Her pit road reports are weak and her Victory Lane interview with Stephen was rudely done. Hello, he’s celebrating with his team and family! It’s called having some tact, but Spake probably doesn’t even know what that word means.
Scott Wimmer: 3rd (started 25th)
- In those last 20 or so laps, I really thought we’d be celebrating Scott in Victory Lane, but it just wasn’t the night. He had an awesome car there at the end. Unfortunately, he had an incredibly hard time passing then-leader Brad Coleman and as he recollected himself for another go, Stephen Leicht shot around him and Coleman. After that, it seemed as if either Scott had used everything up or just rode, realizing nothing more could be done. Very disappointing and frustrating! He didn’t look as giddy after the race and even apologized to the Holiday Inn crew for giving bad setup information during the start of the evening. I know I’m probably paranoid, but I’m just worried that every time he’s in position to win that he’s expected to win. I’m afraid when he’s expected to win and doesn’t, that’s another chip away from his job. He’s so talented…it would be such a shame if only a win would prove that.
David Reutimann: 16th (started 14th)
- His car was tight at the beginning of the race, but the #99 crew did a good job of adjusting it. David drove all the way to 3rd and it sure would have been nice if ESPN gave him attention once in a while. But bad luck smacked again when Steven Wallace ran into the back of leader Carl Edwards on a late restart. Carl spun and somehow kept the car on the track…and kept driving! Good car control by Carl, but it caused a huge backup behind him which David appeared to have some trouble in. And again, it’s just like ESPN to puke up because Steve caused another wreck and completely ignore the other victims of his lapse in sense. Apparently, the left rear wheel kept coming loose too. The team soldiered on for the remainder of the race and grabbed a decent finish.
- Quotes:
“I felt like we had an excellent car. It was tight at the beginning of the race. Then, we made good changes to it and it got better and better. We were in a position where we needed to be and for some reason the lug nuts on the left rear (tire) came loose. We had to come in and put wheel spacers on to make it stay tight. Then, late in the race it was coming loose again. It's disappointing. Things were going according to plan before that. We still needed one more stop to tune on it a little bit more and throw something at it. I felt like we were on track -- we made smart changes and it got better every stop. Then we had that problem again.”
Race2Win
- D-Reut remains 4th in points and 9th in owners points.
Todd Kluever: 23rd (started 32nd)
- It was kind of a cruddy day for Todd, but despite being 2 laps down his finish wasn’t anything to really throw a fit over. The team just kept at it and avoided the wrecks to get more cars behind them. It would have been great to see Todd perform better at a race where Busch regulars get more of a chance, but it could have been worse.
Other Notes:
- Although I was disappointed that Scott didn’t win, I was happy for Stephen. It looked like he was going to keep his cool in Victory Lane, but once he hugged his already crying father, his own tears started to flow. I love emotional wins like this!
- I had a bad feeling that Steve Wallace was going to cause some problems. On the infamous restart, I said, “Wow, Steven got a really good start.” Only moments later, Carl was spinning and smoke billowed everywhere. It’s funny – ESPN praises Steve constantly to suck up to Rusty, but when he pulls a stupid move they just sit around in discomfort. Rusty sounded disgusted and furious with his son, who had almost wrecked his uncle Mike earlier in the race. In Carl’s post-wreck interview, he was a class act and you could tell he was holding back because he didn’t want to say anything bad knowing Rusty was in the booth. I think he went too far in admitting fault to the wreck, but Carl is good like that. Steve, from what the broadcast said, blamed it all on Carl blocking him.
- Shannon Spake was back and as senseless as ever. Her pit road reports are weak and her Victory Lane interview with Stephen was rudely done. Hello, he’s celebrating with his team and family! It’s called having some tact, but Spake probably doesn’t even know what that word means.
