David Reutimann and the UPS Team will start the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway from the 14th position after being the second car to take to the track in qualifying on Friday afternoon. After posting the 13th quickest time in Friday's practice session, Reutimann posted a fast lap time of 21.577 seconds to secure the top-15 starting spot.
"Our qualifying run wasn't quite what we'd hoped for," said Reutimann. "We made a couple of changes after practice but it just made the car really, really loose. For going out so early (in the qualifying order) I'm pretty pleased with starting 14th but I think our car is better than we showed during this run."
Friday's practice session was the only one of the weekend for the Sprint Cup Series competitors as this weekend's race is an impound event. In an impound situation, the teams are not allowed to work on the cars prior to the start of the race following the qualifying session. Crew chiefs are faced with determining a race set-up that will also be successful during two laps of qualifying.
During the practice session, Reutimann worked mostly on race simulated runs with his UPS Toyota under the leadership of crew chief Ryan Pemberton. With RIR being a three-quarter mile track short track, brakes are a concern for all teams. During practice, a problem ensued with the brakes on the #44 Toyota causing the car to shake violently through the turns when the brakes were used.
With this issue, Reutimann was unable to give a clear diagnosis on the changes to the set-up that Pemberton was trying during practice. The team was forced to change the brake package on the #44 with less than a half hour remaining in the session. After the change was made, Reutimann had time to make one final run, which proved beneficial as it shot the #44 up the leader board into the 13th position.
Reutimann's teammate and car owner Michael Waltrip will start the race from the 27th position with a fast lap speed of 124.573 mph followed closely by the third member of the MWR line-up, driver Michael McDowell in the 29th spot. McDowell posted a fast lap time of 21.698 seconds at a speed of 124.435 mph.
Denny Hamlin will lead the 43-car field to the green flag for Saturday's Sprint Cup race at RIR. Mark Martin will roll-off second followed by teammate Martin Truex, Jr. in third. Rounding out the top-five starters are Patrick Carpentier and Reed Sorenson.
Television coverage of the Dan Lowry 400 is scheduled to broadcast live on the FOX Television Network on Saturday, May 3. The green flag is scheduled to fall at 7:30 p.m. ET. Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN).
