« Brendan, Brendan, Brendan... | Main | Photo of the Day - Cape Cod »
October 31, 2007
In the News: Michael Waltrip Racing (10/31)
Rumors have been circulating for a couple of weeks that the #00 truck team, officially owned by Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, but in actuality appeared to fielded by Michael Waltrip Racing was going to be sold. I had hoped that this rumor would turn out not to be true because I love the Truck Series and I love that MWR had a team affiliated with them in that series. Unfortunately it turns out the rumor was in fact true - it was announced today that the #00 team has been sold to The Racer's Group. Andy Lally will take over as the driver immediately and will also race the #00 truck next season. I don't know what assets from Darrell Waltrip Motorsports The Racer's Group actually acquired, particularly since most of the personnel were probably employed by MWR, but at the very least instead of starting from scratch, they're getting a team that's in the top 30 in owner's points and is therefore guaranteed a spot to race, at least through the first five races of next season, and they're getting some trucks that have been competitive. David Reutimann was very successful in the #00 truck from 2004-2006, even winning at Nashville in 2005.
What really makes me sad about the sale of this truck team is that it means that it's much less likely that Michael will get to race a truck in the future, something he's said he'd like to do if the opportunity were to present itself since he likes truck racing so much. I would love to see Michael race a truck, but I think not having a truck available through his own organization makes that tough to make happen. It's actually kind of surprising with how much Michael appreciates truck racing that he would sell this team (okay, okay it's supposedly Darrell who sold it, but it's been assumed for quite some time that Michael really calls the shots with this team), but I suppose it eliminates conflict of interest issues in relation to him working in the TV booth for Speed for truck races while owning a team.
The other thing that bothers me a little is that MWR was using the #00 truck for driver development. While they plan on having a second Busch team next season they have three drivers in their driver development program, Ken Butler III, Josh Wise and Michael McDowell, all of whom have seen time in the #00 truck. How is MWR going to develop those drivers and get Wise and McDowell enough experience to where they might be able to take over the #00 Cup car if they're not racing regularly? Seems like they need more than just one Busch car to develop those drivers, but maybe they'll form some sort of partnership with another truck or Busch team to get them seat time.
Speaking of McDowell, he'll be in a second MWR Busch car this weekend at Texas, as well as at Phoenix and Homestead. What about Wise? Is he going to race at all for them for the remainder of the season? I hope he's not getting forgotten about in the excitement of them signing McDowell. Wise has so much talent, a great attitude, plus with his good looks and youth he seems like he would be a sponsor's dream in the mold of a Kasey Kahne. I think both he and McDowell could be very successful for MWR if they have the patience and ability to develop them both. Not much has been said recently about Ken Butler III, but given that his father owns Aaron's, a major MWR sponsor, I have to assume he's still in the mix somewhere.
This weekend Trucks, Busch and Cup will all be in Texas. I don't know what to expect in terms of performance from the MWR teams. I have to admit that Texas isn't one of my favorite tracks (nor is Phoenix). The MWR teams seem significantly improved from the way they were earlier this season, but given that they still have to qualify in on time, there still has to be some concern. I never imagined that David would DNQ last week at Atlanta, but he did and it's a good reminder that even though they've been better there's still more room for improvement. Ideally I'd like to see all three MWR cars in the Cup race, but at least David and Michael. I'd love to see all the MWR cars that race at Texas finish in the top 15 at least, but I'll take just a solid race without any major problems where they finish on the lead lap.
Posted by silverdsl at October 31, 2007 07:58 PM