* David Reutimann won the rain-shortened Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway after a strategic move that resulted in his first series victory. Reutimann was 14th when the rain came, but elected not to pit and took over the lead before the final red flag for rain was displayed. Reutimann posted his first career victory in his 75th series start. He started 21st. Reutimann completed 227 of the 400 laps. The last time the 600 was shortened by rain was in 2003 when Jimmie Johnson won with 276 of 400 laps completed. Reutimann became the eighth different winner in 12 races this season, joining Kyle Busch (3), Mark Martin (2) and Matt Kenseth (2), and Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch with one each. Reutimann led once, for the final five laps, all under caution. * Reutimann scored his first victory in five races at Lowe’s. His previous best Lowe’s finish was 10th in this race one year ago. He is the sixth first-time winner of the 600, joining Gordon, David Pearson, Bobby Labonte, Kenseth and Casey Mears. * This is the first victory for Michael Waltrip Racing. It is the third team to score its first victory in the Coca-Cola 600, joining Paul McDuffie Racing (Joe Lee Johnson, 1960) and Rahmoc (Neil Bonnett, 1983). * Reutimann climbed from 15th to 13th in points, just six points behind 12th-place Mark Martin. Reutimann has ranked among the top 15 all season. * This is the first series victory for Toyota at Lowe’s. This is the first time that the #00 has won a NASCAR race. The previous best finish by the #00 was third by Junior Johnson at Martinsville in April 1964. * The last postponed series race came at Richmond on Sept. 7, 2008, when the Saturday night race was moved to Sunday. * This was the second rain-shortened race in 2009. They ran 152 of 200 laps at Daytona. * This was the eighth Coca-Cola 600 run on May 25 — three have been rain-shortened, 1968 (won by Buddy Baker), 1997 (Jeff Gordon) and 2003 (Jimmie Johnson). * This was just the 23rd time in 101 races at Lowe’s the race was won from a starting position outside the top 10. * Kyle Busch led the most laps (173). He has led over 2,000 laps in NASCAR competition this season. * Ryan Newman (finished second) scored his sixth top-10 finish in 2009, all in the last eight races. Newman has scored top-5 finishes in the last four races. He climbed from eighth to seventh in the points standings, his highest points ranking of the season. Newman was 15th before the caution and one of three drivers who elected to stay out, thus advancing his position. * Robby Gordon (third) scored his best finish of the season. It was his best finish since he finished second at Watkins Glen in August 2005. Gordon was 24th before the caution and one of three drivers who elected to stay out, thus advancing his position. * Carl Edwards (fourth) posted his seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Lowe’s. Edwards scored just his second top-5 finish of the season. He had five top-5 finishes after 12 races one year ago. He climbed from 12th to 11th in points. * Brian Vickers (fifth) tied his best finish of the season set at Atlanta. He climbed from 17th to 16th in points. * Joey Logano (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie of the three rookies in the race. Logano celebrated his 19th birthday Sunday. This is the fourth time this season that a rookie has scored a top-10 finish. Logano matched his career-best finish of ninth for the third time this season, all in the last four races. * Jimmie Johnson (13th) has led in 10 of the 12 races this season including the Coca-Cola 600, more than any other driver. Johnson remained fourth in points. * Jeff Burton (25th) ended a nine-race streak of top-15 finishes since Las Vegas. * Clint Bowyer (36th) has finished 18th or worse in his last six races. He has dropped from second to 17th in the points during that six-race period. * Forty-two of the 43 cars were running at the finish, the most in any race at Lowe’s.(ESPN)(5-27-2009)
