Engine failure ruins strong top-five run for Reutimann

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The twin dark streaks on the pavement leading to the No. 00 Toyota, coupled with the fingerprints still present on the greasy, gray rear bumper and a strong scent of burnt oil in the air, spoke volumes about the way David Reutimann's day ended at Talladega Superspeedway.

But it doesn't come close to describing how good the Nextel Cup rookie's day had been to that point -- or the resignation Reutimann felt about being under what seems to be a permanent dark cloud.

Lap-by-Lap

David Reutimann ran up front for most of the day, but a blown engine ruined what could have been his first top-five finish.

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He sat quietly in his car, the one that just a few moments before had been tantalizingly close to leading the Aaron's 499 with a handful of laps to go. Instead, as the oil and water dripped from underneath the engine compartment, Reutimann slowly removed his helmet and belts, climbed from the car and disappeared into his hauler.

Reutimann composed himself, then began to talk about how fates had intervened again to turn what appeared to be a sure top-five finish into a dismal 32nd, the sixth time this season he's been 30th or worse. So it came as no surprise Reutimann was expecting the worst as Sunday's race concluded.

"To be honest, I was sitting up there just waiting for something to happen," Reutimann said. "I didn't know if somebody was going to run over me or if something was going to break.

"Things were going too good all day long, you hate to look at it that way, but that's Talladega. I'm thankful that today was a pretty safe race, but I'm disappointed I didn't get to race for the win there at the end."

Reutimann's fears were realized on Lap 184 when the engine expired in a huge way while he was running third, sending smoke into the air and the innards of his powerplant spilling onto Talladega's pavement as the rest of the field tried to avoid running into the slowing No. 00 (watch highlights).

"I hated to oil the track down like that, but I couldn't see to get down to the bottom of the track," Reutimann said. "All I was doing was looking out at the wall."

The dejection was evident in Reutimann's voice as he stood next to his hauler, the rest of the crew quietly packing equipment for the trip back to North Carolina. After such bad luck, to come so close Sunday perhaps was the biggest disappointment for the Floridian.

"I'm so bummed out," he said. "I had a chance to run pretty good today, I thought. That stuff happens and I'm just disappointed for the whole team. The way we ran out there today had nothing to do with the driver -- it had everything to do with the car this team built."

Still, before Reutimann walked away to be with wife Lisa and daughter Emilia, he reflected on how far his team has come since the Daytona 500 -- and vowed he'd be back with a renewed determination.

"I'm proud of everybody at TRD and within Toyota's organization -- I'm not disappointed with that at all," he said. "Today was just a situation where stuff breaks no matter how hard you work on it. We'll regroup and we still have a good speedway car for Daytona so we'll go from there."