All David Reutimann wanted for Christmas was two days to test his Waltrip Racing Toyota truck for the first time, but inclement weather limited him to half a day of lapping the USA International Speedway track in Lakeland, FL on Monday. Reutimann will drive full time in the NASCAR Truck series in Toyota’s first year. “The truck was great. It was running fast,” Reutimann said. “The only thing that got us was the dadgum weather.” Toyota, trying to compete quickly with established Chevrolet and Ford teams, arranged a test Jan. 3-4 at Talladega, six weeks before regularly scheduled sessions at Daytona International Speedway. “They’re trying to get the speedway program up, and we’re a little behind,” Reutimann said. “We would have been ready for Daytona, but it’ll be pushing it to be ready for Talladega.”
Team owner Darrell Waltrip last week signed a sponsor for Reutimann’s truck, but no announcement was made. Waltrip saw Reutimann drive for NEMCO Motorsports in the Busch series, but Waltrip’s brother, Michael, suggested he put him in a truck for the first time.
“I had talked to Michael and asked him to give me some idea who I should be looking at, and he immediately mentioned David,” Darrell Waltrip said. “I didn’t know much about him, but I started checking into him and I like him a lot. He’s a hands-on guy, he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty.” And then there a couple of traits Waltrip especially admires. “He comes from a racing family,” he said. “And it always seems like those guys do well. Plus, he’s good-looking and young. I think he can help us, and we can help him.”(St Petersburg Times)(12-21-2003)
