David Reutimann will start 19th in the Subway 500, best of any Raybestos Rookie. Reutimann has been the top rookie qualifier in two of the last three NEXTEL Cup Series races.

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 DOMINOS.COM TOYOTA: “We were just glad to get in. It’s one lap, you know, in the span of 500 that you’ve got to run here. We’re still playing catch-up a little bit but it’s in the show and it’s not a bad spot. I think we can make it better and hopefully we’ll have something that’s competitive.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO RACE HERE? “Man, it’s tough. I don’t even know sometimes that you actually race here unless you can get up underneath a guy on exit. A lot of times your only alternative is to bounce him up out of the way. I’ve been on the receiving end on a lot of that this year [smiles]. It’s part of this type of racing. You have to work a guy. You can run a guy down from a straightaway but then you get to ‘em and you just can’t get past ‘em. It can get aggravating and you’ve just got to be really patient and sometimes that’s really hard.”

YOU HAVE RACED HERE WITH THE YELLOW STRIPE AND WITHOUT IT IN THE CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES. “Obviously the first year in trucks guys come to you and they just move you a lot of times. It’s like ‘Well, he’s in the way anyway.’ That changed as I stayed in the truck series and now that I’m in the Cup Series, you’re kind of back to square one. You see a lot of guys getting moved, whether they’ve got a stripe or not. It doesn’t really matter too much.”

ALL THREE MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING CARS MADE THE RACE THIS WEEK. IS THAT A SIGN THAT THE ORGANIZATION IS IMPROVING? “I definitely think so. You figure this race last year Michael missed it and DJ and I just barely made it in. I think over the last month things are moving forward and going upward. We’ve still got ground to cover but we’ve made some ground.”

YOU ARE NOT COMPETING IN A NASCAR BUSCH SERIES RACE SOMEWHERE THIS WEEKEND. IS THAT WEIRD? “It’s really weird. You’re standing around and you feel like you ought to be doing something. It’s definitely weird, different, but I’m trying to enjoy it.”

DOES IT CHANGE YOUR FOCUS? “No, not really. I’ve always been able to just focus on the car I’m driving and leave and go drive something different. It just seems like you have more free time that you don’t know what to do with.”

YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED EVERYTHING THIS YEAR FROM INTENSE QUALIFYING SESSIONS TO CONTRACT NEGOATIONS. YOU’VE DONE A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING. DID YOU EXPECT ALL OF THAT IN YOUR FIRST YEAR OF NEXTEL CUP RACING? “No. I didn’t really know what to expect. As you go you just learn. It’s like ‘Wow, there’s a lot to this.’ Whenever it came to negotiate contract stuff I learned a lot there because I’ve never really been in that position. It’s an eye opening process and I learned a lot. There’s a lot more to this business than just driving and you kind of lose sight of that sometimes.”

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH IN THE REMAINING RACES THIS SEASON? “I’d like to get in the top-35 in points somehow. Continue to make the races and gain in the points. If we get in the top-35, that would be really awesome for Daytona next year. That’d make me have a little spring in my step when I rolled in the gate in February down there knowing that we were going to be locked in. That’s kind of looking ahead to next year but continue to make the races, try to get in the top-35, get close to being in the top-10 on a regular basis, trying to start doing a consistent top-15 kind of deal, just small steps. Once you start running in the top-15 kind of regular then you can think about running in top-10. You’ve got to have small steps.”

COMMENT ON YOUR OFF-SEASON TESTING SCHEDULE. “I’m not really clear. I’m sure it will be pretty extensive, though. It’s gotta be. You’re going to be trying to do a lot more. Everybody is going to try to get the hang of their COT program. There’s been some testing this year, obviously, but I think next year you’re going to have to really put it into overdrive and make up some ground.”