Waltrip Craftsman Truck Team - Fast Floridians

The names roll off the tongue like members of a law firm: Reutimann, Overstreet, and Kennedy. And senior executive "partners," Waltrip, Pattie, and Nemechek.

They're not barristers, but racers, and the objective of the first four is to get rookie driver David Reutimann to the finish line first in his NTN Bearings No. 17 Toyota Tundra truck in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Reutimann, a third-generation driver and a 34-year-old native of Zephyrhills, Florida, is already a Craftsman Truck pole winner. His story, and the story of how this team came together, both have a strong Florida background. One might say he was an overnight sensation after winning a pole at Atlanta, but it was a night that stretched 20 years.

Reutimann picked and chose as he raced early on, not concentrating on one track or series. "We won a couple of track championships on dirt and pavement," he says. "I was just more concerned with functioning day to day because I was racing for a living. I was just trying to make it to the next race. I always loaded up and went from track to track to whichever one paid better that week.

"I did win a Late Model championship at Ocala Speedway, a Limited Late Model championship at East Bay Raceway on dirt, the Powell Memorial 125 at Ocala, and a bunch of other stuff. We would win anywhere from 18 to 22 races a year on both dirt and pavement, racing all over the place just to survive.

"Where a lot of guys were just running on Friday or Saturday nights, I was running Friday, Saturday, and sometimes Sunday. I really didn't have any choice because I was just trying to live," Reutimann says of those early days.

Then it was on to the All Pro Series, where he was a three-time winner, and later the Busch Series, with the help of Joe Nemechek.

Reutimann's father, Buzzie, gained fame in Florida and the Northeast on both pavement and dirt as driver of the No. 00 machine-the number Reutimann left on the Kodak Elite Series Pennzoil machine to join the Waltrip team.

"My great grandfather was watching my granddad building his race car and said, 'That's the nearest thing to nothing I've ever seen,' so the No. 00 went on the car and it's been there since," young Reutimann says.

While dad Buzzie is now crewchief of a Mike Wakely-owned entry in the NASCAR Kodak Elite Southeast Series, mom Linda wasn't all that excited about seeing her son following the somewhat nomadic life she'd experienced with her husband.

Ironically, she had something else in mind-and not the firm mentioned at the beginning of this article.

"She wanted me to be a doctor or lawyer, but I think my mom's outlook is a lot different now than before," Reutimann says. "My father traveled extensively, and so she knew what it was about. My dad never tried to discourage me from becoming a race car driver. I knew I had a choice to become a driver or not. When I made my decision and he saw that I was committed, he pretty much pulled out all the stops.

"My dad and I built my very first race car together. I was 13 years old and obviously had no money. My dad always made sure that I was able to race. He was still racing, too. He would do without things so I could race. I didn't realize it at the time, but I do know now when I look back and remember all the things he did for me and how both my mother and father helped me live out my dream."