Reutimann Debuts With New Team At PIR

David Reutimann will attempt to qualify for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Advocare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway for a new, start-up race team. 

Xxxtreme Motorsport is owned by businessman John Cohen, a New York nightclub entrepreneur who owns M2 Ultra Lounge on West 28th St. in New York City. The club has hosted artists like the Pussycat Dolls, John Mayer and Keyshia Cole, with a celebrity clientele that includes Sean "Puffy" Combs, Marc Jacobs, Jamie Foxx and Selita E. Banks. Cohen reportedly has extensive contacts in the rap music industry, and hopes to use those connections to secure sponsorship for his new race team.  

 

Cohen fielded a handful of NASCAR Nationwide Series entries under the Xxxtreme Motorsport banner for drivers Josh Wise and Chase Austin in 2009, with sponsorship from ADP Payroll Services, CAVI Clothing, Extreme Sports Performance and Macy’s. After working sporadically with other Nationwide Series teams in recent seasons, Cohen has set his sights on a full schedule of Sprint Cup Series competition in 2013. 
 

Former Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing crew chief Frankie Kerr is overseeing the operation. He and Reutimann have worked together in the past, with Kerr serving as Reutimann’s crew chief at MWR beginning in 2007.

“Frankie is steering the ship, getting all the basic parts and pieces together,” said Reutimann. “They’re trying to run the last two races of the year at Phoenix and Homestead to get their feet underneath them for next season.” 

Xxxtreme Motorsport will field a former Richard Petty Motorsports Ford this weekend at Phoenix, with horsepower from Roush Yates Engines. The team is operating out of the former TRG Motorsports shop, a 40,000 square foot facility in Mooresville, North Carolina. 

Kerr said the team will likely start and park in each of the next two weeks, focusing instead on gathering data for next season.