Blast from the past: UPS, Reutimann a perfect match

CONCORD, N.C. -- Finally, some 20 years after he first proudly wore the UPS uniform, David Reutimann is being asked to drive for the world-wide, package-delivery company.

Only this time, instead of working part-time as a "jumper" whose job it was to hop out off the passenger's seat and deliver packages as the second fiddle to the driver on a two-man UPS delivery team, Reutimann will be asked to deliver Sprint Cup victories as driver of the No. 44 Toyota racecar.

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Reutimann will step into the No. 44 currently being driven by NASCAR veteran Dale Jarrett after the first five Cup races next season. After divulging Friday that he worked for UPS during the busy Christmas holiday seasons for three years in a row back when he was "around 16, 17 or 18" in the early 1990s, can't you just see the television commercial possibilities?

Jarrett can.

"I don't think there is any doubt about it," said Jarrett, the star of so many UPS spots in the past. "That was the first thing I thought about when I heard the story. I don't know what they're cooking up, but I know they're cookin' something and I know it's gonna be fun."

Home-spun goodness seems to spill from Reutimann, 37, every time he opens his mouth to talk. For as successful as he has been on the racetrack -- he entered Friday night's Busch Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway second in points to Carl Edwards -- Reutimann seems humble and extremely easy-going off it, with a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor ready at his lips all the time.

When Michael Waltrip announced Friday that Reutimann would be replacing Jarrett when Jarrett officially retires as a driver five points races into next season (not counting his planned cameo in the May All-Star Challenge, which will be Jarrett's true curtain call), the owner of Michael Waltrip Racing admitted that earlier this year he often wondered if Reutimann would come back when he sent the Cup rookie out for qualifying. Waltrip added that those fears subsided as the year progressed and his confidence in the "young driver" soared.

Then Waltrip paused and added, "Except, well, he's not that young, really."

Shortly thereafter, he introduced Reutimann at the news conference that began with Jarrett announcing his retirement plans. Reutimann shuffled to the podium in unassuming style, but soon had the attentive crowd rippling with laughter.

"The well-spoken part stops here, and the stuttering is about to commence," Reutimann said. "Michael talked about starting off, and wondering if I was going to make it back around. Well, there were many times when I wondered if he was going to make it back around, too."

His brown and checkered past

Reutimann is the son of East Coast racing legend Buzzie Reutimann, who won a reported 1,200 feature and 20 track championships in the 1950s and '60s. The younger Reutimann still counts winning races with his dad as among his most memorable moments in the sport.

But now, armed with a new contract to drive a car with a deep-pocketed sponsor for a team that suddenly is armed with an influx of cash from a new partner in billionaire Robert Kauffman, Reutimann appears ready to carve out a slew of new and thrilling memories.

First, however, he felt the need to share one more from his past. (Continued)