O'Reilly Raceway Park - Kroger 200
RACE WINNER: JASON LEFFLER
David Reutimann: 3rd (started 6th)
- Because of the rainy weather at Indianapolis, practice and qualifying schedules were tight. Mark Green set up and qualified the #99 Aaron’s Toyota for David. His great effort – 6th starting spot – didn’t help David out as he started in the back of the pack because of the driver change. Immediately he began his charge to the front and, according to the broadcast, picked up nine spots in the first 10 laps. The car was absolutely amazing and it wasn’t long before he broke the top-10 and then the top-5. As the laps ticked down I was getting that giddy/sick feeling I usually do when one of my drivers is in the position to win. Greg Biffle was leading at the time but was beginning to lose handling. However, Jason Leffler had pitted late and had tires with 50 less laps on them than the leaders. He was coming through the field with a passion. I knew he had a race winning car and my hopes for David dwindled. In the closing laps, Carl Edwards was putting pressure on Biffle but couldn’t seem to get by him. David pulled a great move and got around Carl with a little rubbing (short track, right?), but Leffler was right on his bumper. Then the real battle began! Leffler was all over the #99, was clearly faster, and gave David a couple warning bumps. Finally, he dove under David and pushed him around a bit to pass, but then immediately got loose to be passed by David again! After that came the move I didn’t like – Leffler drove into the corner way too deep and slammed into the side of the Dream Machine hard enough to put a sizable dent into the car. He pulled away, but when the caution came out later I said, “Leffler probably didn’t want to see that.” David caught up to him and pulled up next to his driver’s side, swerved a little towards him, and, in case Leffler didn’t notice the first time, swung over to the right side of the #38 and lingered there for a moment. Eventually, Leffler would get by Biffle (cleanly) and get Toyota’s first Busch win. David looked furious in his post-race interview but held his tongue. He only said that when Leffler needed help in the future, he wouldn’t get it and then made a slight threat.
- Quotes:
“I've never been able to pass cars here at ORP; we've always been out to lunch. This week everyone did a great job. Mark Green did a fabulous job getting the car set-up. Everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing did great. We came out of here with a pretty decent finish. I'm real happy for everyone at TRD and Toyota - they work real hard and they deserve it! They work hard to make these cars run good.”
- On Leffler:
“He drove underneath and knocked in our right front fender in and it made our car tight after that. It's hard to pass here and you have to do stuff like that towards the end, but it was the third time he did it. I'm just disappointed in that, but I'm real happy with my guys - they did a great job.”
- David is still 2nd in points and moves up to 6th in owner points.
Scott Wimmer: 7th (started 16th)
- A solid night. He made up spots on pit road by a strategy call, but could never get to the front.
Other Notes:
- I wasn’t very happy with Leffler after he body-slammed David’s car, but he did what he had to do since David wasn’t keen on letting him by. He did, however, say he was sorry. “He was kind of pinching me off and we had got together a little earlier in the race and didn't really give me all of the line on the race track. But it was no big deal. He just made it pretty hard for me to pass. But there comes a time where you can either run third or you can try to win the race. He kind of roughed me up and then I kind of roughed him up, but I eventually got by him. I'm sure he could have crashed me there, but he didn't and I appreciate it. I really like David and I'm sorry I had to do that. But he had a good run tonight too and finished third. I had to make a choice and I wanted to get by him.” I guess he could have been meaner. He could have wrecked David, too, so it could’ve been worse.
- Jose Wise, an MWR development driver, made his Busch debut in the #22 Family Dollar Dodge. He started 29th and ended up running into the back of David Ragan, wrecking him. Oi. Rookie mistake. Thankfully, he didn’t do that again and made it into the top-15. Unfortunately, he got spun out late in the race and finished 19th. Still, not too bad for your first Busch race!
- Ron Hornaday is a weapon. I wish he would just stay in the Truck Series.
David Reutimann: 3rd (started 6th)
- Because of the rainy weather at Indianapolis, practice and qualifying schedules were tight. Mark Green set up and qualified the #99 Aaron’s Toyota for David. His great effort – 6th starting spot – didn’t help David out as he started in the back of the pack because of the driver change. Immediately he began his charge to the front and, according to the broadcast, picked up nine spots in the first 10 laps. The car was absolutely amazing and it wasn’t long before he broke the top-10 and then the top-5. As the laps ticked down I was getting that giddy/sick feeling I usually do when one of my drivers is in the position to win. Greg Biffle was leading at the time but was beginning to lose handling. However, Jason Leffler had pitted late and had tires with 50 less laps on them than the leaders. He was coming through the field with a passion. I knew he had a race winning car and my hopes for David dwindled. In the closing laps, Carl Edwards was putting pressure on Biffle but couldn’t seem to get by him. David pulled a great move and got around Carl with a little rubbing (short track, right?), but Leffler was right on his bumper. Then the real battle began! Leffler was all over the #99, was clearly faster, and gave David a couple warning bumps. Finally, he dove under David and pushed him around a bit to pass, but then immediately got loose to be passed by David again! After that came the move I didn’t like – Leffler drove into the corner way too deep and slammed into the side of the Dream Machine hard enough to put a sizable dent into the car. He pulled away, but when the caution came out later I said, “Leffler probably didn’t want to see that.” David caught up to him and pulled up next to his driver’s side, swerved a little towards him, and, in case Leffler didn’t notice the first time, swung over to the right side of the #38 and lingered there for a moment. Eventually, Leffler would get by Biffle (cleanly) and get Toyota’s first Busch win. David looked furious in his post-race interview but held his tongue. He only said that when Leffler needed help in the future, he wouldn’t get it and then made a slight threat.
- Quotes:
“I've never been able to pass cars here at ORP; we've always been out to lunch. This week everyone did a great job. Mark Green did a fabulous job getting the car set-up. Everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing did great. We came out of here with a pretty decent finish. I'm real happy for everyone at TRD and Toyota - they work real hard and they deserve it! They work hard to make these cars run good.”
- On Leffler:
“He drove underneath and knocked in our right front fender in and it made our car tight after that. It's hard to pass here and you have to do stuff like that towards the end, but it was the third time he did it. I'm just disappointed in that, but I'm real happy with my guys - they did a great job.”
- David is still 2nd in points and moves up to 6th in owner points.
Scott Wimmer: 7th (started 16th)
- A solid night. He made up spots on pit road by a strategy call, but could never get to the front.
Other Notes:
- I wasn’t very happy with Leffler after he body-slammed David’s car, but he did what he had to do since David wasn’t keen on letting him by. He did, however, say he was sorry. “He was kind of pinching me off and we had got together a little earlier in the race and didn't really give me all of the line on the race track. But it was no big deal. He just made it pretty hard for me to pass. But there comes a time where you can either run third or you can try to win the race. He kind of roughed me up and then I kind of roughed him up, but I eventually got by him. I'm sure he could have crashed me there, but he didn't and I appreciate it. I really like David and I'm sorry I had to do that. But he had a good run tonight too and finished third. I had to make a choice and I wanted to get by him.” I guess he could have been meaner. He could have wrecked David, too, so it could’ve been worse.
- Jose Wise, an MWR development driver, made his Busch debut in the #22 Family Dollar Dodge. He started 29th and ended up running into the back of David Ragan, wrecking him. Oi. Rookie mistake. Thankfully, he didn’t do that again and made it into the top-15. Unfortunately, he got spun out late in the race and finished 19th. Still, not too bad for your first Busch race!
- Ron Hornaday is a weapon. I wish he would just stay in the Truck Series.
