David Reutimann doesn’t have a Nextel Cup contract just yet, but he’s thinking that he might be a little closer to getting the #00 Michael Waltrip Racing ride for next season. Reutimann is the leading candidate and has met with officials from sponsors Domino’s Pizza and Burger King. “Michael talked to me [Thursday] some about it – he said they have a couple of final things to hammer out, but he’s really encouraged by it,” Reutimann said Friday night after Busch Series practice at Kansas Speedway. “He hasn’t said it’s a done deal, but it is the first time that he has said we’re in a pretty good position.”
“It looks like it will probably be a week to 10 days,” said Michael Waltrip Racing General Manager Ty Norris. “There’s some internal things going on with both corporations. It’s a pretty lengthy process when you’re dealing with so many franchisees. A lot of communication has to happen before we’re ready to decide.”(SceneDaily.com)(10-1-2006)
UPDATE: David Reutimann feels better about his chances to be named the driver of Michael Waltrip Racing’s #00 Toyota Nextel Cup entry for 2007, but admits waiting is difficult. Reutimann, 36, a full-time truck series driver, said Waltrip and team general manager Ty Norris have been increasingly encouraging as they continue to pitch him to co-sponsors Burger King and Domino’s Pizza. “I think there are still some hurdles we have to overcome there, but I’m feeling like in the next couple weeks we’ll be to the point where we at least make some kind of decision so everybody knows, including me, because it’s tough not knowing,” Reutimann said. “You want it to happen, but sometimes you want to know no matter (what) the outcome is so you can just move on.” Reutimann is already signed to drive a Busch Series car for Waltrip in 2007.(St Petersburg Times)(10-2-2006)
