Reutimann Finds New Home With "Racer" Tommy Baldwin's Team

David Reuitmann was both taken by surprise and hurt when Michael Waltrip Racing let him go with just three races remaining in the 2011 season. With hardly any rides open, it looked as if the driver of the No. 00 would need to find something else to do.

That is until the news broke late Tuesday morning that Reutimann did, indeed, have a ride with Tommy Baldwin Racing. On the surface, this looks like a poor move on Reutimann's part, signing with an unproven, underfunded operation like TBR. But the Zephrhills, Fla. native made his name racing for the mid-pack, mediocre, Michael Waltrip Racing and winning two races in their equipment. The other plus side to this deal is that, like Reutimann, Baldwin is a racer and nothing else.

"One of the things I like about Tommy and what's refreshing about him is that he is just a racer" Reutimann said in a statement. "As you walk through the garage and you build relationships through the years, there are not as many of what I would consider to be a racer, and having a true racer's mentality, as there used to be. James Finch [owner of Phoenix Racing] is one of them who just works his butt off to go race, and so is Tommy."

Reutimann knows all too well about racing to pay the bills, spending his childhood racing with his father, dirt racing legend Emil "Buzzie" Reutimann, around the Florida area. Baldwin also raced around the northeast with his father, modified legend Tom Baldwin so both he and Reutimann are wheelmen. "It's the way I was raised with my dad, so we are on the same page" Reutimann said. "I'm just really looking forward to the season to see what we can do."

"How he was brought up and what he's done in his career definitely raises my comfort level," Baldwin said of Reutimann. "He's won a couple races in these cars and that's only gonna help our program."

Baldwin made his name in Nascar as crew chief for Ward Burton at Bill Davis Racing. The pair managed to win the 2002 Daytona 500 and, in later years, Baldwin went on to Robert Yates Racing and crew chief Elliott Sadler's No. 38 entry.

Baldwin started his own team in 2009 and they have been gaining momentum ever since. 2011 saw Dave Blaney lock the team's flagship No. 36 car into the top 35, land sponsorship from Golden Corral and finish third in the fall Talladega event, the team's best finish to date. Who knows what TBR will be able to achieve in 2012.

"In addition to having Blaney, Reutimann will come in and help us with that; raise the bar a little bit on our program" Baldwin said." Just where [Reutimann] has been and the successes that he's had [made me want him for our team]. We feel like he can help Dave and Dave can help him and hopefully we can pick up on our competition."

As of now, Reutimann will run 26-races, ten short of the full schedule, but the team is hoping that sponsorship will materialize so they can race the full Cup Series tour. They will also show up to race each and every event they start. Starting and parking is not in the works for this scrappy, little team.

Reutimann was impressed by the progress TBR had made over the past season, finishing 33rd in owner points when the checkers waved in Homestead. TBR will also field cars with Earnhardt-Childress Racing engines, some of the best, most reliable power in the garage. But what really drew Reutimann in was Baldwin's no-nonsense, aggressive, racer mentality.

"Tommy would be a success no matter what he chose to do, but he's a racer" Reutimann said of his new boss. "Some team owners would race and make money, but a racer comes up with money so he can go race, and that's Tommy Baldwin. He wants to come up with the money so he can go and be competitive, and to me that's the definition of a racer."

Yes TBR is underfunded and Reutimann may not run a full schedule, or even the Daytona 500, but in this era of corporate sponsors manipulating every move an owner makes and those same owners demanding their drivers to be clean cut and dressed up, Reutimann's move is refreshing. Both he and Blaney grew up racing dirt cars, while Baldwin raced modifieds so racing is all they have ever known. This is a blue collar team made up of hardcore racers and they are building their operation up the right way.

If Blaney and Reutimann can run like they're expected to, there may be two different faces in victory lane in 2012. Best of luck to TBR and their new tandem of wheelmen.