Tommy Baldwin Racing Perseveres in Crazy Night at Daytona

Tommy Baldwin Racing persevered in a crazy Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola on Saturday night. David Reutimann secured the team’s best finish this season when he drove from the 39th starting spot to an 11th-place finish in the 400-mile event at Daytona International Speedway. Dave Blaney drove back from a late race incident to a 22nd-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.
 
 
David Reutimann – No. 10 CarportEmpire.com/TMone.com Call Centers in America Chevrolet:
Reutimann started Saturday night’s race from the 39th position. He quickly moved into the top-30 and worked up to the 18th position before the first round of green-flag pit stops. Crew Chief Ryan Pemberton called the No. 10 CarportEmpire.com/TMone.com Call Centers in America Chevrolet down pit road for a four-tire pit stop on lap 41.
 
The No. 10 Chevrolet returned to the track in the 29th position, and Reutimann drove into the top-15 by lap 54. As he worked into the 13th position, he radioed that the CarportEmpire.com/TMone.com Call Centers in America Chevrolet was really loose and needed to be tightened up on the next pit stop. The No. 22 lost a tire on the backstretch and brought out the first caution on lap 82.
 
Pemberton call Reutimann down pit road and the CarportEmpire.com/TMone.com Call Centers in America crew changed four tires and made a trackbar and air pressure adjustment. The field returned to green flag racing on lap 86 with the No. 10 in the 21st position.
 
On lap 91, Kurt Busch and Trevor Bayne made contact and caused a multi-car incident. The CarportEmpire.com/TMone.com Call Centers in America Chevrolet was hit from behind and had damage on the back-left corner. During the caution period, Reutimann pit two times for the crew to change four tires and fix the damage.
 
The Zephyrhills, Fla., native returned to green-flag racing on lap 96 while in the 33rd position. He moved into the 25th position and hooked up with teammate Blaney. The twosome drove into the 20th and 21st position. By lap 106, Reutimann maneuvered into the 14th position. As the run continued, the No. 10 Chevrolet developed a loose condition. Reutimann asked the crew to make another change to tighten the car.
 
A seven-car incident brought out the caution on lap 125 with the CarportEmpire.com/TMone.com Call Centers in America Chevrolet in the 19th position. Pemberton called for the crew to change four tires and make a trackbar and air pressure adjustment. The field restarted on lap 131 with the No. 10 Chevrolet in the 20th position. Following the restart, Reutimann radioed that he was struggling to put the car into fourth gear.
 
He continued to race in the top-25 when the No. 2 car spun on lap 146 and brought out the yellow flag. The team elected to stay out and restarted in the 16th position. On lap 154, Denny Hamlin spun and triggered a multi-car incident. The No. 10 CarportEmpire.com/TMone.com Call Centers in America Chevrolet had damage on both sides of the car, but the team went to work on fixing what they could for Reutimann to finish the race.
 
Reutimann restarted on lap 159 from the 15th position. During the green-white-checkered finish, he drove the No. 10 CarportEmpire.com/TMone.com Call Centers in America Chevrolet into the 11th position.
 
“After everything we went through tonight, I am thrilled to have an 11th-place finish,” explained Reutimann. “We struggled with a loose racecar but were still fast. Unfortunately, we were involved in two incidents that caused damage to our car. Considering all the damage, we are extremely happy with 11th.”
 
The No. 10 team is currently in 32nd place in NSCS Owner Points and locked into the top-35 by 111 points. The team is 11 points ahead of the No. 83 and trails the No. 38 by 25 points. Reutimann is in the 33rd spot in NSCS Driver Points. He is leading teammate Blaney by two points and behind Landon Cassill by six points.
 
 
Dave Blaney – No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet:
Blaney started the Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola from the 33rd starting spot. He drove into the 25th position by lap 10. On lap 23, he radioed that the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet was free into the corner and tight off. He continued explaining that he could not run the middle line while running in the 23rd position.
 
Crew Chief Tommy Baldwin called Blaney down pit road for a green-flag pit stop. The Golden Corral crew changed four tires and made an air pressure adjustment. When returning to the track, Blaney lost the draft. He worked with two other cars to stay on the lead lap and held the 36th position.
 
On lap 80, the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet fell a lap down. On lap 82, the No. 22 spun on the backstretch and brought out the first caution with Blaney in the 36th position. Baldwin called the No. 36 Chevrolet down pit road for another four-tire pit stop. The Hartford, Ohio native returned to the track and restarted in the 34th position, one lap down, on lap 86.
 
Six laps later, a six-car incident brought out the caution. The Golden Corral Chevrolet was the first car a lap down and received the Lucky Dog pass. Blaney pit for four tires and restarted on the lead lap in the 32nd position. By lap 100, Blaney drove into the 20th position and told the crew that the car’s handling was still a struggle. He worked up to the 18th position by lap 105 before telling the crew the car was so loose it was out of control.
 
A seven-car accident in turn four brought out the yellow flag on lap 125. Blaney pit for four tires and major chassis adjustments. He held onto the 22nd position for the lap 131 restart. He continued to race in the top-26 until the fourth caution was called for a spin in turn two. Baldwin elected to keep the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet on track. Blaney restarted in the 20th spot on lap 149.
 
Denny Hamlin triggered a multi-car incident on lap 154, and the No. 36 Chevrolet received significant damage. Blaney drove down pit road, and the Golden Corral team worked to get the car fixed enough to finish the race.  As the field restarted for a green-white-checkered finish, Blaney restarted 23rd and drove into the 22nd position when the checkered flag dropped.
 
“We really struggled with the handling,” commented Blaney. “I think we were hitting the splitter. We were on point to have a decent finish but were caught up in the final big one. Our car was pretty damaged. I’m glad the guys could fix it enough for me to finish. All in all, it was a decent day. I just wish we could have had kids eat free at Golden Corral on Monday, but we’ll have another shot at it in Talladega.”
 
The No. 36 team is currently 35th in NSCS Owner Points. The team is locked into the top-35 by 85 points over the No. 33 Chevrolet and trails the No. 32 in the 34th position by 11 points. Blaney is 34th in NSCS Driver Points. He trails teammate Reutimann by two points and is ahead of J.J. Yeley by 129 points.

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