{"id":2334,"date":"2012-03-16T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-03-16T12:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=2334"},"modified":"2012-03-17T13:35:16","modified_gmt":"2012-03-17T17:35:16","slug":"a-conversation-with-nascar-driver-david-reutimann","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-nascar-driver-david-reutimann.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with NASCAR driver David Reutimann"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
David Reutimann (Photo courtesy of NASCARMedia.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unless you’re an avid racing fan, you might not be able to randomly identify David Reutimann as a NASCAR veteran. On the surface, he comes off like an average guy from Florida’s central Gulf Coast. But behind whatever fire suit he might be driving any given week beats the heart of a highly competitive driver who has won in all three major NASCAR series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series).<\/p>\n

Reutimann is noted for his time with Michael Waltrip Racing (which ended last season) and his legendary dirt track racing father Buzzie Reutimann who is still winning races in his 60s. Most recently, he picked up a part-time Cup ride spelling Danica Patrick in the #10 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet and a limited schedule in the #92 Ricky Benton Racing Chevrolet in the Truck Series.<\/p>\n

Even as he works his way back up to the consistent presence he enjoyed for a solid five years, Reutimann remains the same affable and approachable guy he’s always been. And his candid nature makes for some interesting responses to questions about his Christian faith. In this Inspiring Athletes interview (which took place about a month before he lost his job at MWR), Reutimann talks about his earliest influences, what he’s learned from some of the sports’ greats, and the minefield he walks as an openly professing believer in Christ:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: I\u2019ve always found it interesting that you worked for UPS some early on in your career and later on raced in the UPS car for a while.<\/p>\n

David Reutimann: I was raised around a racing family and you always had to do what you could to be able to race. Anything you did to bring in any extra money was so you could go race. I worked as a jumper for UPS during the offseason. I realized right away that I couldn\u2019t eat if I wasn\u2019t making enough money racing. I figured I\u2019d better do something.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How did your dad influence your career and what did you learn from him?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Reutimann talks to his father Buzzie Reutimann during a rain delay at Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina (Photo courtesy of NASCARMedia.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reutimann: My dad was a huge influence because I grew up around racetracks and watching my dad race. I was a part of his career, watching victory after victory and how the fans would react to him. In the beginning and still now, I was never racing to be like Richard Petty or David Pearson or Dale Earnhardt or any of those guys. I was racing to be like Buzzie Reutimann because I wanted to be like my dad.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How important is it for you to be able to say that you worked you way up through all of the lower series before getting your chance to race at the Cup level?<\/p>\n

Reutimann: For me it\u2019s very important. It wasn\u2019t a situation where I ended up here because of money or anything like that. I was fortunate. I was blessed. I was in the right place at the right time for a lot of good situations and I had a lot of people help me. That\u2019s the main thing I had going for me. It\u2019s important for me personally because when good things happen, I feel like I worked really hard to get to that point. But I didn\u2019t do it alone. I had a lot of good people help me along the way.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What have you learned from rubbing shoulders with some of the legends of the sport such as Dale Jarrett and the Waltrips?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Reutimann with NASCAR Hall of Fame member Darrell Waltrip (Photo courtesy of NASCARMedia.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reutimann: I\u2019ve learned a lot from everybody. The first guy I ever drove for was Darrell Waltrip. I learned a lot from him. DW has that old school mentality and (teaches you) those things you do in your mind to help you throughout a race. Joe Nemechek was one of the first guys to give me a shot. He taught me a lot as well. Dale Jarrett is such a class act on and off the racetrack. Being around Michael has taught me about dealing with the public and dealing with sponsors because he\u2019s so good at that. It\u2019s an honor to even drive some Nationwide races for Rusty Wallace and guys like that. These are guys you watched on TV and you never thought you\u2019d have the opportunity to shake their hand and you end up working with them.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Is your first win at Charlotte and the crazy circumstances that surrounded that race (it was shortened by rain) still a major highlight of your career?<\/p>\n

Reutimann: The Coca-Cola 600 was a huge win but I really feel like the Chicago win was the biggest win for me personally. We went out there and we just outran everybody. We had the best car and we ended up doing a good job of winning the race. That race sticks out more than the 600 does.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Tell me about your faith journey.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Reutimann, driver of the #00 TUMS Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after he won the LIFELOCK.COM 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway on July 10, 2010 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by John Harrelson\/Getty Images for NASCAR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reutimann: I stumble so much in everyday life. It\u2019s still such a work in progress. I should be a lot further along, quite frankly, than I am in that respect. I\u2019ve got more work to do on that side than I\u2019ve ever had to do career wise. Sometimes I just never seem to get it. Sometimes it\u2019s disheartening to see how bad you end up stumbling and saying things you shouldn’t say and acting the way you shouldn\u2019t act. The thing about this business and being in the world in general is that there are so many negative things that can creep in. Sometimes your head just buys into that stuff. It\u2019s not the way you’re supposed to do things. I don\u2019t think anybody should look at me as being the picture of Christian faith in racing because I\u2019m still struggling every day. And I think a lot of people (struggle), which is kind of reassuring. But you can\u2019t make excuses. There is definitely a rulebook in front of you of things that you should do. It\u2019s been around a long time. It\u2019s even more structured than the NASCAR rulebook is and it\u2019s the things you should do and you shouldn\u2019t do. There\u2019s no gray area. In our rulebook, we have gray areas. In the Bible there\u2019s no gray area.<\/p>\n

Bonham: But doesn\u2019t that make you a walking picture of God\u2019s grace?<\/p>\n

Reutimann. Absolutely. If there\u2019s anything that\u2019s a walking, talking picture of God\u2019s grace and His forgiveness and His tolerance for the stupidity of mankind, I\u2019m probably the poster child for that. I\u2019ve been blessed in so many different ways and a lot of times you say things or you act a certain way and you think, \u201cMan, I don\u2019t deserve any of this if I can\u2019t act better than that.\u201d Sometimes it a good reality check.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What inspired you to put the cross on your car right next to your name?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Reutimann drove the #93 BK Racing Toyota at the 2012 Daytona 500 (Photo courtesy of NASCARMedia.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reutimann: It\u2019s been a struggle for me personally to have that up there. If you\u2019re going to have that on your car, you need to do things a certain way. People look at that and say, \u201cListen to what he just said on the radio and he has a cross on his car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonham: It\u2019s a double-edged sword.<\/p>\n

Reutimann: Yeah, it is. It\u2019s just there for me as a person because that\u2019s one of the last things I see when I get in the car so I can try to remind myself what that\u2019s all about. But yeah, you\u2019re right. Sometimes it\u2019s a double-edged sword because I\u2019m like, \u201cMan, I went out there and acted like that on the race track.\u201d It\u2019s not always sending a very good message.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Is MRO an important part of your life?<\/p>\n

Reutimann: It is for sure. Let\u2019s face it, we race on Sundays the majority of the time and if it wasn\u2019t for MRO there would be no church. It\u2019s the only church we have and everyone knows that church is important. They do a lot of other things besides that, but that\u2019s the biggest role I think they have.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Do you appreciate NASCAR\u2019s support of MRO and its openness towards public expressions of faith?<\/p>\n

Reutimann: The fact that the whole organization embraces MRO and lets them set up shop and have free reign, I don\u2019t think you see many other organizations that let another group come in and have that freedom to do what they do, because they know how important it is.<\/p>\n

Track David Reutimann’s driving career by visiting his official website HERE<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. 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