Wheels & Deals: MWR Priority Is To Fill Sponsorship For Reutimann

Reutimann Could Have As Many As 12 Cup Races Open Next Season

Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) VP & GM Ty Norris yesterday said that Michael Waltrip "wants to race next year but the priority ... is to fill the sponsorship for Sprint Cup driver David Reutimann." Depending on how deals "fall in the next few weeks, Reutimann could have as many as 12 races open" during the '10 Sprint Cup season. Norris: "We are going to make some announcements in the next two or three weeks on a number of other (sponsors)" (SCENEDAILY.com, 10/11).

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: NASCAR driver Ryan Newman said he and Jeff Gordon will have special paint schemes at next weekend's Sprint Cup NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America in Charlotte to promote the DVD release of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” Newman: “I’m Optimus Prime of the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, and to me that’s all that really matters.” ESPN’s Mike Massaro: “I’m no casting agent … but I would have thought that Jeff Gordon would have gotten the nod to be the good guy” (“NASCAR Now,” ESPN2, 10/9).

ENGINE DELAY: Ford Racing Technology N.A. Operations Manager Doug Hervey said that Ford "will delay the debut of its new Sprint Cup engine." In Virginia, Dustin Long noted the engine was "scheduled to have debuted" this Saturday during the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Instead, Ford "will debut the restrictor-plate version of the engine" during the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on November 1 (Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT, 10/11).

FULL SPEED AHEAD: Roush Fenway Racing (RFR) and Copart have reached an agreement for Copart to sponsor Carl Edwards' Nationwide Series entry. Copart, an online vehicle auction site, will appear as the primary sponsor on the No. 60 Ford for 16 races beginning in '10 and will appear as an associate sponsor on the Ford entry for the remaining races (RFR).