David Reutimann recently dubbed himself “The Franchise” at Michael Waltrip Racing, a tongue-in-cheek reference to his growing confidence and improving performance in NASCAR’s Cup Series.
On Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, Reutimann backed up the franchise tag with a pole-winning performance at the 1.5-mile high-speed intermediate track, turning a lap in 28.344 seconds (190.517 mph) to edge Cup points leader Jeff Gordon (190.194 mph) for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Samsung 500.
Matt Kenseth (189.954 mph) qualified third, followed by his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, David Ragan (189.934 mph). Paul Menard (189.907 mph) was fifth in Friday’s time trials, followed by Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and rookie Joey Logano.
“I guess that puts an exclamation mark on just how things have changed,” said Reutimann, driving the No. 00 Toyota owned by Waltrip.
A year ago, the No. 00 was driven in Texas qualifying by Cup rookie Michael McDowell, who escaped unscathed from a horrific, tumbling crash when he slammed into the wall and rolled at least eight times before coming to a rest at the bottom of the track.
Reutimann, 11th in season points, won his only other pole in last season’s finale at Homestead. Waltrip will start 34th Sunday in the Samsung 500.
Carl Edwards, who won both Texas races last year to become the track’s first three-time winner, qualified 13th.
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