NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Reutimann's lofty preseasonexpectations at making the Chase have been whittled to a bundle offrayed nerves with nine championship-or-bust races to go.
He has no desire to scan the points standings to check how faraway he is from landing a spot in the 12-car field.
"There's no really point," he said. "I figure when you get closeto where you need to be, someone will let me know."
No one has told Reutimann he's close enough to drive for thetitle - yet.
Reutimann has been as steady as any driver over the last nineraces, finishing somewhere between fifth and 20th. He's beenconsistent enough in the No. 00 to make the Chase reachable, justnot strong enough to make a huge leap in points.
At least he hasn't wrecked his way out of chances.
Reutimann knows he's running out of time to catapult his way intothe top 12 and qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cupchampionship. With nine races left until the field is set, Reutimannis finding himself a long shot.
He's 150 points behind Carl Edwards for the 12th and final spot.It's not out of reach, but the 19th-place Reutimann would have tosurge past six drivers to run for the championship over the last 10races.
"We need top-fives everywhere you look in order to gain ground,"Reutimann said. "We definitely have our work cut out for us, but ifwe run like we're supposed to run, we can legitimately still do it."
Reutimann can point to some disastrous bad luck early in theseason if he fails to make the Chase. He suffered blown motors atAtlanta, Bristol and Texas - all races where he was running insidethe top 10. He finished 28th or worse in four of five miserableraces from Atlanta to Texas earlier this season to sink in thestandings.
"The stuff we had happen to us at the beginning of the year, it'shard to make up for that," he said. "We've been as far back as 30thand we've been able to kind of claw back to where we are now."
Reutimann knows how to claw back as well as just about any driverin the Cup series. He made his debut in NASCAR's top level at 35,competing in one race in 2005. Reutimann didn't drive in the seriesagain until 2007 and for only 26 races.
One of the nicest guys in the garage, he landed a full-time ridein 2008 and won his first Cup race last year.
Reutimann, who drives for Michael Waltrip Racing, flirted withmaking the Chase for the first time last season. He was within sixpoints of Mark Martin for 12th place at one point, before fading tofinish 16th overall.
His run heightened expectations at MWR that he could bust throughand find his name in the championship hunt with Chase veterans suchas Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick.
"Our performance has been well above what we did last year," hesaid. "We just had some mechanical failures that have relegated usto 40th or worse in some of those races. We had good cars in allthose races, and just had some failures. That's all that put usback. Performance-wise, we're better. Finishing, not so much."
He's heating up at the right time.
In the last nine races, Reutimann has scored 1,147 points -eighth most of any driver - and moved from 30th in points to 19th.The 11-position gain is the largest of any driver over that span.Reutimann and Harvick are the only two drivers to finish on the leadlap of the last nine races.
Up ahead this week is a return trip Daytona, where Reutimannfinished fifth in the season-opening Daytona 500.
Reutimann is looking for more than a few wins - he's stillwaiting to sign his new contract with MWR. He's signed a series ofone-year deals since joining MWR in 2007, and extended job securitywas something he wanted during talks on another extension that havelingered for months.
Team owner Michael Waltrip said in May that a new deal was"imminent."
Both sides are still apart.
"It would help a lot just to be done with it and not have toworry about it anymore," Reutimann said. "Everybody's trying to getin the same place. I think we're pretty close to being on the samesheet. You used to shake a guy's hand and go drive his race car.That's not the way it works anymore."
Reutimann isn't overly concerned about putting the finishingtouches on his deal or reading the updated standings after eachrace.
He wants to reward MWR for its faith in him by qualifying for theChase. This deep into the season, there's really only one way to getthere.
"We need to win some races," he said. "Not just a race, butraces."
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