Michael Waltrip Racing completed its driver lineup Tuesday by announcing that 36-year-old rookie David Reutimann will drive one of its Toyotas next year in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series with Dale Jarrett and Waltrip.

Reutimann is third in the truck series standings, driving for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, and has run select Busch races this season. Reutimann has one career truck series victory. He has one career Cup start.

The decision was not unexpected. Reutimann had been a driver Michael Waltrip talked about as a likely choice to fill the team’s third ride. Reutimann’s ride will be sponsored by Burger King and Domino’s.

Reutimann joins a rookie class next season that is expected to include Juan Pablo Montoya with Chip Ganassi Racing and Paul Menard with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Other first-year drivers who will compete in a part-time schedule next season include Stuart native Jon Wood, who will share a ride with Ken Schrader with the Wood Brothers, and Regan Smith, who will split time with Mark Martin in a ride with MB2 Motorsports.

Say what?

Jimmie Johnson got around to checking his phone messages and said Tuesday that Brian Vickers called.

Vickers’ tap sent Johnson into leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap Sunday at Talladega. Johnson and Earnhardt both crashed as Vickers drove by to collect his first Cup victory. Vickers said afterward he made a mistake in clipping his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

So, what did Vickers tell Johnson in the message?

“If I look at the interviews and the quotes and the message that Brian left me, I wouldn’t take it as an apology,’’ Johnson said.

Restrictor plate future

Nextel Cup series director John Darby sees restrictor plates continuing to be in NASCAR’s future.

“With the use of aerodynamic applications and everything, I don’t think the elimination of a restrictor plate is possible, but we can look at … many different engine-gear combinations to make the restrictor plate larger and still accomplish the same speed at the end of the day,’’ he said.

NASCAR has used restrictor plates since 1988 to prevent the cars from exceeding 200 mph at Daytona and Talladega.

NASCAR tested various restrictor plates at its car of tomorrow test Monday at Talladega Superspeedway. A 1-inch plate left cars running in the 193-194 range. The holes in the plate were 1/8 of an inch larger than what was used in Sunday’s race.

Small fuel cells

Cup teams again will use the 13.8-gallon fuel cell this weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The cells, which hold about eight gallons less than normal fuel cells, were used there in May because of tire concerns with the repaved track. A smaller fuel cell means fewer laps between pit stops and more chances to change tires.

Driver search

General Motors trimmed its list of 16 young drivers to 10 for a test taking place this week at Nashville Superspeedway. The drivers will pilot Busch cars.

The 10 drivers being evaluated are Landon Cassill, Jeremy Clements, Marc Davis, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Drew Herring, Woody Howard, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Joey Logano, Tim McCreadie and Jason Sarvis.

Crew chief change

Brandon Thomas replaces Philippe Lopez as crew chief for Tony Raines at Hall of Fame Racing. Lopez becomes competition director for the single-car team, which is affiliated with Joe Gibbs Racing.

2007 truck schedule

NASCAR announced the 2007 truck schedule Tuesday. The 25-race schedule begins Feb. 16 at Daytona and ends Nov. 16 at Homestead. Fifteen truck races will be held at the same track on the same weekend with the Cup series, including races at Martinsville Speedway on March 31 and Oct. 20.

Team debut

Team Red Bull will attempt to make its Cup debut this weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Bill Elliott will drive the car, which will run a paint scheme promoting the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Elliott will drive a Dodge. The Toyota team will run Dodges at Charlotte, Atlanta and Texas in its three-race run because Toyota is not approved for this season.

Pit stops

Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned 32 on Tuesday. Saturday will mark his 250th career Cup start. … Darby said the Toyota engine has been approved “for the most part’’ for next season. … Sprint Nextel announced that executive chairman Tim Donahue will retire at the end of the year. Donahue played a key role in Nextel becoming the series sponsor.