Catchfence

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  Michael Waltrip Racing Logo
  · Martin Truex Jr., NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota, finished second and is 17th in points
• · David Reutimann, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, finished 36th and is 28th in points

MARTIN TRUEX JR. SUMMARY: No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished second in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Truex raced at the front of the pack throughout the 500-lap race. During a pit stop with about 80 laps remaining, crew chief Chad Johnston called for two new tires while the rest of the contenders opted for four. The move put Truex in the lead on the restart. Eventual race winner Brad Keselowski raced past Truex but nobody else could as Truex held off Jeff Gordon by just a few feet culminating a scintillating battle over the final 50 laps. The second-place finish marks the No. 56’s best performance of the season and vaults it to 17th in the standings. Truex and the Michael Waltrip Racing team return to action next Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

TRUEX JR. NOTES:

• · Started 27th and finished second – the best finish of the season.
• · Raced in the top 10 throughout the race.
• · Opted for two new tires instead of four new tires during final round of pit stops with about 80 laps remaining in the race.
• · Truex restarted the race in first and only Brad Keselowski could pass him.
• · Truex and Jeff Gordon waged huge battle over the final laps before Truex narrowly held him off for second place.

TRUEX QUOTE: “It was a great night for all of us on our NAPA Toyota. I’m so proud of all the guys at Michael Waltrip Racing and Chad (Johnston), my crew chief , who is still pretty new to this stuff. Plus, I want to thank all the guys in the pits. Once we got the lead we were just a little too tight on restarts to be able to stay with Brad (Keselowski) there. On the long run we were as good as anyone. We just couldn’t quite hang with Keselowski on two tires and I was a little disappointed because I thought we had a shot at it. Again, I want to thank all these guys. Bristol has been a tough track for me in the Cup Series. We’ve had a lot of good runs here and we led over half the race in the spring but finished 20th or something. We just hadn’t ever had the luck we needed here or a good enough car in the second half of the race. We worked really hard this weekend on being good in the second half of the race and not the first half. All-in-all, it was a fantastic night. We were really good on long runs all night and just needed a little more on the restarts.”

DAVID REUTIMANN SUMMARY: No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver David Reutimann finished 36th in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Reutimann raced in the top 15 early in the event, but his chances for a good finish ended when he and David Stremme made contact on lap 297 sending Reutimann hard into the inside wall. The No. 00 spent about 67 laps in the garage before returning to the track. Reutimann and his Michael Waltrip Racing teammates visit Atlanta Motor Speedway to race under the lights on Sunday.

REUTIMANN NOTES:

• · Reutimann started 34th and finished 36th.
• · Raced in the top 15 early in the race.
• · Appeared very good on longer runs.
• · Made contact with David Stremme twice.
• · Second contact on lap 297 saw No. 00 pushed into the inside wall suffering heavy damage.

REUTIMANN QUOTE: “Obviously, that was a pretty disappointing night. We started out pretty good and were working on some things in the middle of the race when we got wrecked. There isn’t much you can say when something like that happens. Atlanta will be a much better race track for us and we’ll certainly have a better result.”

RACE NOTES

• · Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway by 0.951 seconds over Martin Truex Jr.
• · Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five.
• · The race featured 22 lead changes among 10 drivers
• · Six cautions slowed the race for 42 laps for an average speed of 96.753 MPH.
• · The race lasted two hours, 45 minutes and 16 seconds.
• · NASCAR estimated the crowd at 156,000.