Unassuming Reutimann refreshing in sports today

David Reutimann could have become a free agent. He could have put himself out there on the open market and lined up his own hour-long television special to announce where he was headed next to drive.

OK, maybe not on the latter.

A nice win

For one of the most admired drivers in the garage, others couldn't help but be happy for David Reutimann.

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It wouldn't have been Reutimann's style to go all Lebron James on us anyway. The king of self-deprecating humor in the Sprint Cup garage never had any intention of leaving Michael Waltrip Racing if it would have him back to continue driving its No. 00 Toyota.

After Reutiumann's victory in the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday night, there was no doubt. Ty Norris, MWR's vice president, said Reutimann and crew chief Rodney Childers "proved that they deserve a contract. They deserve to be around."

An announcement to make it all official will be made July 23 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It won't take an hour unless maybe Reutimann starts telling jokes -- perhaps using himself as the punch line.

Reutimann confirmed this as only he could.

"We're in good shape," he said of his contract status with MWR. "We basically shook hands on the deal and we got things all lined up. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be at Michael Waltrip Racing. I may be cutting the grass, but I'll be at Michael Waltrip Racing."

Week that was

In a week in which NBA star James felt the need to buy an hour of prime-time television to tell the world where he would play basketball next season and for the foreseeable future, Reutimann's victory, by contrast, was popular sports-fare fodder for the common man.

First, let it be said that James has been crucified by many fans unfairly. You might disagree with the arrogant manner in which his message was delivered -- not to mention the indifferent way in which James dissed his former owner and the very fans who helped line his pockets for the first seven years of his career. But the fact is that this is America, and James had every right by the rules of his game to change his playing address if he so desired.

Speaking from personal experience, having toiled for more than 11 years total in the Cleveland winters, it's a great place to be in the summertime. What young person wouldn't prefer to change working and partying locales from Cleveland to Miami -- trade the Warehouse District for South Beach -- if given the chance?

That doesn't mean you completely turn your back on the folks who helped make you what you are as a professional athlete. That doesn't mean you need to start buying air time to promote yourself when you're perhaps over-promoted in the first place.

In truth, though, what James did -- the way he attempted to make his sporting universe stop spinning until his decision ultimately was made official -- was not all that much different than what happened in NASCAR during the Great Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sweepstakes in the summer of 2007. Except that Junior's saga dragged on even as his sport's season was taking place, arguably making it even more of an annoying distraction.

In the end, like James, Earnhardt chose to go with the team that supposedly was going to give him the best chance to win championships. It was, like in James' case, a team that already had two other superstars on it at the time in drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

One of the little guys

So here we are in the summer of 2010, and Reutimann's victory proved that the little guys still can get it done. For even though Michael Waltrip Racing clearly is coming on and making improvements, MWR remains, in the larger scheme of the entire Sprint Cup garage, lingering in the shadows of bigger giants such as Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing and even the recently struggling Roush Fenway Racing.

Reutimann's victory at Chicago shook things up a bit. It reminded the garage -- and the fans who follow the sport -- that all things are possible, that the favored guys don't always win.

So maybe the Miami Heat won't win it all in the NBA next season. Or maybe they will.

Regardless, you know where you'll be able to catch Reutimann's act. He'll be back where he is right now, knocking on the door, trying to win more races and get into the Chase while driving the No. 00 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing.

In an era when there seem to be fewer and fewer unassuming guys such as Reutimann roaming the arenas of professional sports, it's a refreshing thought.

For Reutimann, whose only other Sprint Cup victory came in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 in 2009, Saturday's win was about stamping his team with a sense of legitimacy. There was no rain this time; there was no doubt. He won the race on merit alone.

"I think what happens is, I think drivers can either respect you or not regardless of if you win races. It's how you conduct yourself on the race track," Reutimann insisted. "I've made mistakes. Sometimes you lose the respect. It takes years to gain any and one race to lose it, it seems like.

"I think what ends up happening [when you win] in the eyes of some fans and our sponsors and stuff, I think they know now. I think they knew coming in they were making a really good investment in a really good organization. But now I think they know they have. To be able to go out there and fight for wins and have good finishes, a shot at getting in the Chase, I think it makes you more legitimate in the eyes of a lot of different people."

In other words, sometimes less is more away from the track or the arena or any other field of play. But in the end, more is always more when it comes to how you stack up against the competition during the actual competition. It is what matters most.

You have to back up the hype, even when there isn't much of it, with results. That's what Reutimann did Saturday night.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.