For those mad at Reutimann

you might as well be mad at the rules. It was the cause & effect. The top 35 rule.
Rooty was 34th while limping around. If he finishes the race limping around he is still in the top 35 in points.
Well his car fails him with 3 laps to go (also adding more laps to complete the race)
He is now one point out of the top 35. Ironically it was his teammate that passed him for 34th, which knocked him out of the top 35 in points. Now if he gets off the track the lap he says he was trying to get off, then they only run 500 laps & he is still in the top 35. Thanks to the extra GWC, Blaney passed him for position with those extra laps. If Rooty doesnt complete the last lap that he did complete, then he would have lost another position to kyle.

34th Blaney 439 laps completed (of 515 laps)
35th Rooty 436 laps completed
36th Kyle 435 laps completed
Rooty one point out of the top 35.
So there is the reason he did what he did, & why it was so important to his team. I cant really blame him for that.

Thanks for the info, I was wondering if he made it or not. I felt so sorry for him after the race,he was visibly upset. He really is a good guy that has really had a hard year. Most everyone was racing to win, he was racing to survive. Hope he does.

I don't get why so many are so mad at him. He isn't the first driver to have his car stopped on the track, and he won't be the last. People will say "oh he was like 80 laps down and came back out" so was Kasey Kahne, and he broke too and caused a caution. Only difference is Kasey Kahne races for HMS, has more fans, and is a pretty. Yup I said it and I like Kasey too!

I don't get why so many are so mad at him. He isn't the first driver to have his car stopped on the track, and he won't be the last. People will say "oh he was like 80 laps down and came back out" so was Kasey Kahne, and he broke too and caused a caution. Only difference is Kasey Kahne races for HMS, has more fans, and is a pretty. Yup I said it and I like Kasey too!

I think what got the drivers in an uproar which in turns gets their fans into a frenzy, is that he was driving around broken for so many laps before pitting.It was the black flag that he was gonna acknowledge, or else I dont think he would have pitted. Also the drivers I dont think knew he lost the engine. So when they made a stink about it, the fans go even more crazy. I didnt know he had a blown engine til after the race either. All the spotters kept saying is he had a flat, so the driver thought he just stopped on the track to get a yellow I guess

I thought you had to maintain race speed to stay out on the track.. He seemed like he was going was slower that would be allowed to stay on the track. Just was wondering about it.....

I thought you had to maintain race speed to stay out on the track.. He seemed like he was going was slower that would be allowed to stay on the track. Just was wondering about it.....

he had recevied the black flag & was going to come in the next lap

didnt bother me any, i rarely get emotional over racing...

I wasn't mad at him at all.

In fact, his interview after the race actually made me feel just awful for him. He was honestly upset. My question is, if the role had been reversed and Johnson or Gordon had the problem that cost Reutimann the win, would fans really have made a big deal out of it? Probably not!!!

you might as well be mad at the rules. It was the cause & effect. The top 35 rule.
Rooty was 34th while limping around. If he finishes the race limping around he is still in the top 35 in points.
Well his car fails him with 3 laps to go (also adding more laps to complete the race)
He is now one point out of the top 35. Ironically it was his teammate that passed him for 34th, which knocked him out of the top 35 in points. Now if he gets off the track the lap he says he was trying to get off, then they only run 500 laps & he is still in the top 35. Thanks to the extra GWC, Blaney passed him for position with those extra laps. If Rooty doesnt complete the last lap that he did complete, then he would have lost another position to kyle.

34th Blaney 439 laps completed (of 515 laps)
35th Rooty 436 laps completed
36th Kyle 435 laps completed
Rooty one point out of the top 35.
So there is the reason he did what he did, & why it was so important to his team. I cant really blame him for that.

Who's mad unless you're HMS,Rutti toot toot is my hereo, he helped SHR three times in one day and Jr.finished where he was going to anyway, provided he didn't run out of gas!

I thought you had to maintain race speed to stay out on the track.. He seemed like he was going was slower that would be allowed to stay on the track. Just was wondering about it.....

he had recevied the black flag & was going to come in the next lap

ohhhh. Ok cool

I thought you had to maintain race speed to stay out on the track.. He seemed like he was going was slower that would be allowed to stay on the track. Just was wondering about it.....

he had recevied the black flag & was going to come in the next lap

ohhhh. Ok cool

You can also get a clearer understanding of what happened on "Jimmy's Take" either on SPEED or NASCAR.com. You can listen to the team's radio chat while all that was going down. Pay close attention to the "something is broke in the steering..." I'm happy with Jimmy Spencer's take.

just watched the hub this morning, the 10 car is one point out of the top 35, so cant fault him for staying out.....