NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series driver David Reutimann will spend a couple of hours signing autographs and visiting with fans Friday at the Granite City, Ill., Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership store.

The store is at 1300B Schaefer Roa, and Reutimann will be there from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Reutimann’s Aaron Dream Machine show car also will be at the story from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The car will make two other stops in the area in conjunction with the Nationwide Series Missouri-Illinois Dodger Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway:

– Thursday, July 17 at 2011 WEST HIGHWAY 50, Fairview Heights, IL from 12pm to 5pm

– Saturday, July 19 at 519 Jeffco Blvd., Arnold, MO from 11am to 4pm

And if you can’t make it Friday to chat with Reutimann, here are some quotes about Gateway sent by his publicists.

Gateway experience: “I really like Gateway, it’s one of my favorites,” said Reutimann. “Last year, I led a lot of laps at this track and finished in third for the Nationwide race. It’s a different, odd race track. You have to drive it differently from the other tracks we usually go to. We seem to run well at this race track. I hope that we can unload the car off the trailer and run well right away this weekend.”

Nationwide points position: “I would like to be much further ahead in the points this far into the season,” said Reutimann. I would like to be leading the series at this point in the season. It just takes us being consistent. It will take us winning a race and Clint [Bowyer] having some bad races for us to gain on the first place position.”

Success at short tracks: “We have kind of struggled with our short-track program in the past and earlier this year, so we tested Lakeland (Florida) a couple of weeks ago,” said Reutimann. “We have had some good runs on the short tracks. We just need to step up and be more consistent.”

Off week for Sprint Cup Series: “Having the off week in Sprint Cup does not happen a lot,” said Reutimann. “So when we do get time off, I usually spend it doing nothing at all. I will take this time to spend with my family and just relax.”

The No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine for Gateway: Chassis No.40 is the car that Reutimann will race in Gateway for the Nationwide race. This Aaron’s Dream Machine is the car that ran at Dover earlier this season finishing fourth. This chassis has been tested at Vegas this year.

2008 NNS points: David Reutimann is now in third place in the NNS driver points, 217 points behind leader Clint Bowyer. Michael Waltrip Racing sits 5th in the NASCAR Nationwide owner points with the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry.

Race information: Live coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race is Saturday, July 19th at 8 p.m. (St. Louis time) on ESPN2.

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