David 'You-Are-The-Man' and Goliath
David's last name is Reutimann, and I'd always kid him and call him David You-Da-Man. That's what I told him when he was driving for us on the truck team. I'd tell him that all the time. But on Saturday, David WAS the man.
My buddy has become a big part of the Waltrip family. We all love him and treat him like he's one of the Waltrip boys. We are just so excited and pleased that David got his first Busch win.
I was with him in Nashville two years ago when he got his Craftsman Truck win. His dad, Buzzie, was there. What a thrill that was! But having the dominant car at Memphis — like he did — and driving superbly — like he can — and not beating himself — like he's been taught — it was a great day.
It came at a good time for him because he was beating himself up about missing the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race in Atlanta. But he took it out on the competition in the Busch Series race. In Cup this year, it's been David against Goliath, and old Goliath has been winning almost every week. In Busch, it was also David against Goliath, and we saw that there was a shot that we might be able to whoop up on old Goliath sooner or later. Saturday was the day.
It's probably a Tennessee thing. Of course, David runs well everywhere, but he got his Truck win here a couple of years ago. This year in Tennessee, he's had great runs at Bristol and Nashville before the win at Memphis. I told him I was going to give him my old sticker that I used to put on the back of my car, "Follow me in Tennessee." That's what people did most of the race.
When Michael and I talked about David running both series — the Busch car and the Cup car — I said, "I don't know, Mikey. That's a lot to ask of a guy." But David has done such a great job of preparing himself physically, and he's been able to do both series without any problem at all. Jerry Baxter has been with Michael for a long time, and the Busch team has been able to stay together for quite some time, too. He's got pretty much the same people, and Jerry is a great leader, a great organizer and a good crew chief. He and David hit it off. They really communicate well.
It doesn't surprise me to see the Busch team doing as well as it's doing. It's a lot like David's time with my Craftsman Truck Series team when we had Bobby Kennedy and Jason Overstreet. They worked together a couple of years and had good chances of winning races every week and winning the championship.
That's what I see with David and Jerry's Busch team now. They're working well together. If David can run all of the races next year, he'll be a serious contender for the championship. That's not to say he's out of it this year. He keeps causing poor old Carl Edwards to have a lot of heartburn, staying just close enough that Cousin Carl can't wrap up the championship. But David could have the greatest comeback of all time. Who knows? With the bad luck Carl has been having and the way David has been running, nothing would surprise me.
The Busch car had been the bright spot until recently. When Michael got his new partner, Robert Kauffman, and some help internally, it took pressure off of him. I'm not writing this because I'm his brother. I'm just looking at the numbers. The last three or four weeks have been good. He won the pole at Talladega, came back with a great run at Charlotte and another great run at Atlanta. Dale Jarrett qualified third on Friday and had a top-20 run. Unfortunately, David didn't make the race. which was a shocker to all of us.
MWR has made a huge turn, and it's really helping run the place and organize it. Ty Norris, Michael and Bobby had so much on them. It's really been a big breath of fresh air and made a huge difference for Cal Wells, Robert and these guys to help him run the team. I'm excited for Michael. I know Toyota is, and I know all of you fans are, too. It was a pretty good weekend for Michael.
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Then there were two
Atlanta was almost predictable. Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus just have this magic. They have a way of figuring out how to win races. That's Jimmie's eighth win of the year. Now, he and Jeff Gordon are nip and tuck for this championship. Like I told you going into these last few races, I liked Jimmie at Atlanta. I like him at Texas. It's a tossup between Jeff and Jimmie at Phoenix. Where they are in points will dictate how they run at Homestead. If all they've got to do is get a good top 10 or 15 finish or finish ahead of each other, each one of those guys is capable of turning in that kind of race.You have to give it to both of them. Jimmie struggled a little bit on Sunday but pulled out a win. Jeff struggled through the day, but got his car better and ended up with a top-10 finish. Clint Bowyer is doing nothing wrong, but he just keeps losing points. Most people would agree that it's just a two-man battle, which is what we all predicted way back when.
Texas Motor Speedway normally has given Gordon problems. This year, they turned it around, so I'm sure he'll be very competitive and his team will have a car capable of winning. It's basically just Jeff and Jimmie keeping an eye on each other. How exciting can that be for Rick Hendrick! Two guys on the same team are competing for a championship. Rick's got to be feeling pretty good about everything that they're doing right now as they prepare for next year.
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