It was and up and down kind of race for David Reutimann and the #44 UPS Racing Team at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. Reutimann bounced back from trouble early in the Goody's Cool Orange 500 to lead a handful of laps late in the race before a part failure forced the UPS Team into the garage for repairs. Reutimann was able to return to the track only to suffer a complete failure in the rear end department and was forced to leave the race early. The UPS driver finished the race in 39th position.
A loose-handling race car resulted in Reutimann sliding down the running order during the early stages of Sunday's 500-lap race. The slight handling issue was compromised when the #8 car of Aric Almirola got into the back of Reutimann and turned the UPS Toyota on lap 119. The team went on to lose a lap to the leaders shortly after.
Things started looking up however as the team made great improvement on the handling of the UPS Toyota. Good fortune struck during the 15th caution of the day when Reutimann was the first of the lap down cars and earned the lucky dog award, placing the UPS Toyota back on the lead lap.
Reutimann flexed the power of the UPS Toyota when crew chief Ryan Pemberton elected to stay out during the 16th caution of the race, placing the UPS Toyota in the lead. Reutimann led for a few laps and although he did get shuffled from the lead, he maintained contact with the leaders.
The down part of the day happened around lap 392 when the something broke in the rearend department of the UPS Toyota. The team pulled the car into the garage for repairs and replaced the necessary parts to allow Reutimann to return to the track where he continued to log laps, earning valuable points. Less than 20 laps later, the rear end gear went up in smoke, retiring the UPS Team from the race.
"What can I say it's disappointing," Reutimann said. "It's not the finish we wanted to get in our first race for UPS. I'm not sure what happened there with the rear end the first time but it pretty much burnt up that last time. It's unfortunate for the team, UPS and Michael Waltrip Racing."
Car owner and teammate Michael Waltrip found trouble on lap 119 in the same incident that collected the UPS Toyota. Waltrip's #55 NAPA Toyota sustained more damage than the UPS car, requiring an extended stop on pit road for repairs. Waltrip returned to the race only to encounter more problems later in the race and eventually finished the day in 35th position.
Teammate Michael McDowell earned the best finish of the day for Michael Waltrip Racing in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut. McDowell started the race in 34th and kept the #00 Aaron's Toyota out of trouble throughout the event to earn a 26th-place finish in his Cup Series debut.
Denny Hamlin picked up his first win of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Hamlin's win also marked Toyota's second win of the year. The rest of the top-five finishers were Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.
It's off to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend for the Samsung 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The event is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CDT start. FOX will provide live television coverage of the event beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m. CDT.
