Stewart, Reutimann make up after in-race altercation (cont'd)

At first he was that, and more. During one long rain delay on pit road, Stewart had plenty to say not only to Reutimann but to Dwayne Bigger, one of Reutimann's crew men who stood up to Stewart. Cameras caught Stewart and Bigger, a mechanic, angrily exchanging words before Reutimann tried to step in and gently move Stewart away.

Asked what he had gone down to Reutimann's pit box area to talk to him about by a television reporter, Stewart replied on air: "Just [about] being smart out there. We caught him and he raced us real hard. At that point we had 425 miles left in the race. I was just kind of questioning why he's racing us that hard. You know it's a long day and he's racing everybody like it's a Nationwide race. This isn't a Nationwide race and this isn't the Nationwide Series. When it comes to the end of the race, you race hard...

“

This was just another situation where [Stewart] was trying to help me out. We didn't see eye-to-eye on it, but I think Tony is one of the best guys out there and he's one of my heroes. That's what bothered me so much -- you don't want your hero to be mad at you.

”

-- DAVID REUTIMANN

"There are 43 of us out here and we all have to work together. He's having a hard time understanding that, I think. He says he gets that, but I'm not sure he does. Then he's got a bald crew guy down there who wants to jump up there and be Billy Bad Butt. Maybe he needs to ride in the car with him since they both seem to think they've got it all figured out."

Thus, a not-so-flattering nickname immediately was born.

Next time Bigger's bald dome gleamed on the television screen, it came with his new moniker attached across the bottom: Billy Bad Butt.

"I hate that it happened. But you know what? He's my crew guy," Reutimann said. "Anybody up and down pit road, even if their driver is wrong, is going to take up for their crew guy. I didn't want him and Tony to have any kind of altercation -- and that would have never happened. I hate that it went down like that, but he's doing his job and I don't want anybody to fault him for that.

"In the end, crew guys stick up for their drivers. At least if you've got a good crew, they do. I've had guys stick up for me even when they knew 100 percent I was wrong. They stood right beside me and made sure I didn't get beat up."

Reutimann said that it appears that Bigger is ready to embrace his new nickname.

"I think he likes that. I think there are definitely T-shirt possibilities for that at some point," Reutimann said.

Reutimann was just trying to play peacemaker.

"I was like, 'Man, this is kind of getting out of control a little bit -- and I was trying to be the voice of reason in there," he said. "I don't really know exactly what was said, and really, in the end, it wasn't all that big a deal. I think Tony was a little aggravated, but Tony is a fiery guy. That's just his nature.

"And Dwayne is equally as fiery. You put those two personalities together, you have those types of things happen once in a while. In the end, it was no big deal. It made for great television, I guess, but it's not a problem, I don't think."

Certainly it did not appear to be a problem from Stewart's perspective in the long run. He praised Reutimann after the win became official, while others noted that perhaps Reutimann won because he did, in fact, drive more like it was a Nationwide race.

Those races are shorter, and instead of the 600 scheduled miles, only 340.5 were run in this Coca-Cola 600. Reutimann was running 14th when he gambled at the end, right before the rain struck again to bring out a red flag for the third and what turned out to be final time. While the leaders and virtually everyone else pitted, including each of the 13 cars running in front of him, Reutimann placed his bet on more rain and stayed out on the track until the red flag was waved.

Then he waited on pit road for more than two hours before NASCAR finally called off the remainder of the race and declared him the victor.

"They've been running in the top 10 all year. So they put themselves in position to knock on the door. [Monday] they got to go through the door," said Robby Gordon, who finished third by making the same no-pit gamble.

Now Reutimann sits 13th in the points standings, only six points outside of the top 12. For the record, that's 26 spots higher than where Reutimann currently resides in the Nationwide Series after making only four starts there this season.

Like it or not, Reutimann is a winning, full-time Cup driver now. And even Tony Stewart knows it.

"A good guy won the race," Stewart said after his 19th-place finish. "They won it because they made the right call at the end. They put themselves in that position and you can't take anything away from that. It won't win you races consistently, but you're going to get some that way. It's good for David to get his first win and congratulations to him and his guys."

Presumably, that included Billy Bad Butt.