David Reutimann - Driver

Birthdate	03/02/70
Birthplace	Zephyrhills, Fla.
Residence	Terrell, N.C.
Wife	Lisa
Children	Emilia
Height/Weight	6'0" / 175 lbs.

Growing up around auto racing makes it easy to fall in love with the speed and competition associated with the sport. David Reutimann is a third generation driver and knows all too well about the need for speed. After laboring his way through the short tracks in the south Reutimann earned his big break with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007 when he was hired to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In 2008, Reutimann will not only embark in his sophomore season but he will do so with the support and sponsorship of one of America's most recognized brands in UPS.

Like his predecessor of the UPS Toyota, Dale Jarrett, Reutimann walked in the footsteps of his father to a racing career. Reutimann's legendary father, Emil "Buzzie" Reutimann, is a successful and respected dirt-track racer that continues racing today at tracks all along the Eastern seaboard. Cutting his teeth on many of the same dirt tracks, the younger Reutimann competed in Modifieds and Late Models on Friday and Saturday nights for the majority of this youth.

The first break in the Florida native's career took place in 1997 when he started competing in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Southwest Series where he earned Rookie of the Year honors. He competed in the series throughout the next seven years with a culminating second-place finish in the point standings in 2002.

Coincidentally it was during the 2002 season that Reutimann landed a career-changing break courtesy of a connection with his long-time childhood friend Brian Pattie. Pattie was working with NASCAR standout Joe Nemechek, heading up the driver's NASCAR Busch Series team as the crew chief. Nemechek was in need of driving services and under the advisement of Pattie, he offered Reutimann the opportunity to drive in a handful of races in 2002. As a result, Reutimann made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Richmond International Raceway on May 5 where he finished with a respectable 16th-place finish after starting the race in the 34th position. Reutimann competed in three more races in 2002 and performed well enough for Nemechek to give him a seven-race schedule in 2003 where he earned two top-five and three top-10 finishes, with his worst finish being a 32nd-place effort that was the result of ignition problems.

It was Reutimann's sporadic appearances and performance in the NASCAR Busch Series between the 2002 and 2003 seasons and ultimately his pole award at Memphis Motorsports Park in 2003 that captured the attention of three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip. Collecting his first career pole allowed Reutimann to say on national television that he was looking for a job. At the same time, Waltrip was starting a NASCAR Truck Series team with new manufacturer Toyota, which was making its first foray into NASCAR racing. For Waltrip, Reutimann was just the guy he wanted to build his team around. As a result, the 2004 season marked Reutimann's first as a full-time driver in one of NASCAR's top touring series and he didn't waste the opportunity.

During his first Truck Series season Reutimann competed in all 25 Truck Series events, winning his first career pole, as well as the first pole for Toyota, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in just his second career start. Reutimann would win another pole later that year and set the track qualifying record during the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to finish the year with four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. His performance helped him to win 2004 Rookie of the Year honors in the series and solidify his position as the driver of the Darrell Waltrip Motorsports driver for the next two years.

Reutimann continued to hone his skills in stock car racing during the 2005 and 2006 NASCAR seasons, picking up his first career Truck Series win at Nashville Superspeedway on August 13, 2005. Reutimann experienced his best year in the series during the 2006 season when he finished the year with two pole awards, seven top-five and 19 top-10 finishes that placed him third in the driver point standings at season's end.

During the 2006 season, Reutimann competed in a handful of NASCAR Busch Series races for Darrell's younger brother Michael Waltrip. The younger Waltrip had announced in 2006 in Reutimann's hometown of Zephyrhills, Fla. that he would be starting a full-time Cup Series team in 2007 with support from Toyota, which was also planning to make its Cup Series debut in 2007. Reutimann's performance in 2006 led to his hiring at the newly formed Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) for the 2007 season as a full-time driver for Waltrip's NASCAR Busch and Cup Series teams.

Reutimann competed for the Busch Series title in 2007 while also competing for Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Cup Series. During the 2007 season Reutimann scored his first career Busch Series victory, winning in dominant fashion at Memphis Motorsports Park on October 27, 2007. Although Reutimann did not win Rookie honors in the Cup Series, he displayed a lot of promise during the inaugural season for the newly formed MWR organization.

For the Zephyrhills, Fla. - native, his seemingly quick rise to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was anything but fast, but he hopes he has built a solid foundation for a bright career.

"It always seems to take a long time to get to this point and when I tell the story, it sounds like it happened in a real short time but it took a while to get here," Reutimann said. "It's hard to put into words how much it means and how excited I am to drive for UPS in 2008. We want to win races for UPS and Toyota and hopefully we're heading in the direction we need to be able to do that as we look to the future."