Vegas long shots nearly break the bank on Sunday (cont'd)

"You are just kind of relieved, if anything," he said of the accomplishment. "You run around here for a couple of years, and trying to get close to winning one of these things and so we're a little closer than what we were. It feels good to be where we are. Having Aaron's onboard for a full year, the only way you can repay a sponsor like Aaron's is to get them some good runs, and I think we're trying to pay back a little bit for what they've done to us. It's been great. I love my team. My crew chief is doing a great job. The organization is doing great and the cars are exceptional. If we just keep doing this, knocking on the door, we'll get ourselves in the right position."

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I was really worried because I was a little groggy from having a cold, and I didn't feel like I was as alert as I needed to be. When that was over, I thought, 'Pretty alert.'

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JAMIE McMURRAY

In addition to his Friday engine issue, Reutimann developed an oil leak during the race. Pit stops necessitated to fix the problem left him deep in the field, but the team used pit strategy to get back toward the front.

"People say, 'Well, it's a fluke,' or 'They've lucked out.' But we started about last and we came up through there up into the top 10 and had an oil leak and went back to about 25th or so and drove up through there and ended up getting a top-five finish," Reutimann said. "At the end of the day, I'm proud of my guys. They did a great job, and it doesn't get any better than that."

He wasn't alone. There was Brian Vickers, who also had to start at the back because of an engine change, rolled off with 35-to-1 odds, yet finished eighth. He had problems, too, ranging from belts to batteries, but his team weathered it all. "I'm really proud of the effort from the guys," the Red Bull Racing driver said. "I think we had a car that could win, but to have all of those problems and get a top 10, that's how you win championships."

There was Jamie McMurray, so sick this weekend he was shuttling back and forth to the care center, the lateral forces carried through the corners making his eyes hurt. No wonder Vegas listed him as 25-to-1. Thanks in part to a huge save when his car went sideways, he wound up ninth. "I was really worried because I was a little groggy from having a cold, and I didn't feel like I was as alert as I needed to be," McMurray said. "When that was over, I thought, 'Pretty alert.'"

And then there was the granddaddy of all underdogs, the longest of long shots. Was that really Bobby Labonte, 125-to-1 Bobby Labonte, challenging for the lead with 30 laps remaining? Indeed it was. A $20 bet on the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing entry would have paid a handsome $2,500 had the former series champion been able to reach Victory Lane. Still, the fifth-place finish was Labonte's best since he placed third at Martinsville in the fall of 2006.

Was he excited? "I am down deep, but, dang it, just a little bit more," he said. "We had one more position we probably could have got on [Reutimann] in one more lap, but my car was really good. I just feel like I did all I could do, but I know there's more for me to prove in these race cars and I can't wait to do it."