news-record.com

CONCORD — Monday's Coca-Cola 600 will be known as the shortest in its 50-year history after rain limited the race to 340.5 miles. That would be a short-sighted way to look at it, though.

What one can't measure in miles can be measured in years.

The agonizing 24-hour stretch of rain and racing that fans endured — at least the few thousand left when the race was mercifully called — is nothing to what first-time winner David Reutimann and car owner Michael Waltrip have experienced.

The 39-year-old Reutimann, who inherited the lead when he didn't pit while the leaders did during the final caution for rain, says he never considered a Sprint Cup career when he was younger.

His goals were loftier.

He hoped to be like his father, Buzzie, a hall of fame short track driver. So, David Reutimann chased $350 paydays in late model races throughout Florida. As he progressed, his future seemed set. He'd be a short-track racer.

Reutimann was 32 before he made his first start in what was called the Busch series. That was when most Cup owners all but ignored any driver over 30, as the sport's youth movement took hold.

"I sat through many interviews where people asked me, 'How does it feel to know that you'll probably never get to the Cup level?'" Reutimann said. "I would say Why?' They would say 'It's a long shot.'

"Hey, it's a long shot that I even made it this far, so why should I start worrying about the odds?"

Good thing. The odds of a 1-2-3 finish with Reutimann, Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon — who all stayed out during the final caution that eventually became the finish after a 2-hour, 3-minute rain delay — would have been steep.

Reutimann had one top-10 in his last eight races. Newman pitted a second time during an early caution for loose lug nuts and didn't return to the top 10 until the end. Gordon earned his first top-five since 2007, although series officials found "an issue" with his car's rear axle housing in post-race inspection and will further examine the car this week.

Despite the odds, there Reutimann stood by his car without an umbrella throughout the final rain delay. He wasn't counting his paycheck of $403,998 but wondering who would get it.

"This deal never goes my way, so I don't see why it should now," Reutimann told anyone who approached him offering hope he'd win.

For a long time, Waltrip stayed away. He sat on the pit wall in Reutimann's pits, walked around the pit box or talked to anyone, waiting as jet dryers tried to dry the track, went to be refueled and returned to the same chore.

This represented his team's first win. Unlike Tony Stewart, who became an owner in an existing team, Waltrip started his team. His race shop is an old movie theatre.

His team's anticipated debut two seasons ago turned devastating when series officials found an illegal substance in the fuel after he qualified for the Daytona 500. The penalties were severe and Waltrip was embarrassed.

"You can't hurt me any worse than I am right now," he said shortly after that incident.

His season plummeted. He qualified for 14 races that season and admits that season still haunts him.

" '07 was so hard &ellipses; I haven't mentally been able to put it behind me," Waltrip said before the race was declared over and he placed 30th. "I'm still just on edge or something is not exactly right in my brain and that's been sad.

"I don't feel like I get in the car and think I'm better than these guys. I feel like I get in the car and think I hope I can do good today and that's not the way I want to be."

His struggles created financial burdens and he added a partner to continue his team. Yet, the team showed little progress, scoring only six top-10 finishes last year.

This year, Reutimann has been better and his victory puts him within six points of Mark Martin for the 12th and final spot into the title Chase.

Reutimann's win wasn't complete until after the event.

Father and son hugged. And then Waltrip hugged Reutimann.

"For me, as an owner to get to hug my driver, that's something that I dearly miss today with winning the (2001) Daytona 500," Waltrip said of car owner Dale Earnhardt, who died that day after a last-lap crash. "I was waiting for (Dale) to come hurt me because he would have hugged me in a way that would have hurt.

"I kind of warned David that I'm feeling pretty good about this hug I'm fixing to give you. That hug was for David and it was also for something that I missed out on."

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com