CONCORD, N.C. -- If anyone needed validation of David Reutimann's victory in May's rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Michael Waltrip Racing's lead driver might've provided it Saturday night.

And before anyone writes off Reutimann's 15th-place finish, be aware he was coming forward at the end of the NASCAR Banking 500, and it was preceded by a couple IVs and punctuated by Reutimann figuring out the cleanest way to vomit inside his helmet in the process.

Like so many other things in racing, preparation was the key.

“

One notch above death, I think, is where we're at right now. Any time you finish up here, you're not exactly ready to go run a marathon or nothing. I won't have any problem sleeping.

”

DAVID REUTIMANN

"Thankfully we had things in [the car] for just such an occasion, because I was throwing up right until I got in the car," Reutimann said. "I had some big Ziploc bags in there, yellows would come out and -- I know it sounds terrible -- but I'd fill 'em up, zip 'em up and fling 'em out the window.

"I feel bad for the cleanup guys that had to clean that stuff up, but you gotta do what you gotta do, I guess. The guys gave me a couple bags and some wet towels to try to keep me going --- [they] were able to keep fluids in me and stuff like that. I just needed to have some place for the stuff that was coming out to go.

"Oddly enough, both times that it happened it was under a yellow, so thankfully it ended up being pretty minimal. I guess when you have time to settle down for a second and relax, when you do that -- or maybe I was just thinking about it, I don't know.

"But either way, I wouldn't recommend it."

Despite his illness, Reutimann ran the fourth-fastest last lap of the 500-mile race. It was faster than 67 percent of the Chase field, as fast as Chasers Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart and slower than only the top-three finishers -- just .18 seconds off the pace of the race winner, Jimmie Johnson.

It certainly impressed Johnson, the three-time defending series champion and Chase leader.

"I can't imagine it -- that's manning-up, for sure," Johnson said in Victory Lane amidst a mob of Lowe's well-wishers. "Damn, I hate that for him, not only when you're nauseous and not feeling right, but your equilibrium's thrown off. So for him to just keep it between the walls and not hit anything is pretty damned amazing, too."

Reutimann, after he slowly climbed from his No. 00 Toyota, either looked like a 100-year-old man or a totally-fit Cup driver who'd just done 1,000 miles around Lowe's dauntingly-fast oval as he slowly, painfully walked to the side entrance of his car's hauler.

Is he a tough guy? He said he would pass on doing a 400-lap late model race he'd planned on Sunday at Winchester, Ind.; but that he hadn't yet called off participating in a two-day tire test at Lowe's scheduled Monday and Tuesday.

But it's a fact that Reutimann, even though he was still moving slowly, did come out of his hauler, bundled in a parka and a wool ski cap, less than 20 minutes after he got out of his car; and after a brief visit by four fully-equipped fire department paramedics -- though he declined any treatment. (Continued)