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December 11, 2008
Michael Waltrip In the News (12/11)
This morning Michael Waltrip made an appearance on a Charlotte radio station 96.9 to take the gallon of milk challenge. His task was to down a gallon of milk and some cookies in an hour without puking and if he did it money would be donated to Toys for Tots and Motor Racing Outreach. And he did it! He didn't feel too good by the end but he came though for two very deserving causes! Video can be seen on the radio station's website and I'm very glad that it doesn't feature Michael puking though I suspect the station was hoping that would happen for the entertainment value! Michael is known for doing anything for his sponsors but he'll do anything for a good cause too!
Michael made another appearance today, this time online in a video on the official Michael Waltrip Racing Facebook page where he was shown with the #99 Aaron's Dream Machine Nationwide car that he'll be racing a few times next season. Michael talked about how they're hoping to get 500 fans to join the Facebook page by the end of the year and a thousand by Daytona so everyone who is a fan of Michael's or MWR, join up and spread the word!
During the video Michael also mentions the Wal-Nutz and how many of them have joined the facebook page. That was pretty exciting to hear! Although Michael once talked about the Wal-Nutz in an interview he did for the Most Popular Driver newsletter, to my knowledge it's the first time he's made reference to the Wal-Nutz in any kind of video. Michael has always been very appreciative of the support he's received from the Wal-Nutz and has said so when he's seen Nutz in person but it really makes people feel good to hear him talk about them without being prompted on the MWR Facebook page. (For those that don't know the Wal-Nutz are what the fans on Michael's official forum on michaelwaltrip.com call themselves though it really applies to any of Michael's fans since every fan of Michael is nuts about him!)
In other news that may not end up having much to do with Michael or MWR, Jayski is reporting that he's "heard" that Robby Gordon may switch manufacturer to Toyota. Gee, a manufacturer change for Robby, there's a surprise! Robby's been with every other manufacturer but Toyota so why not give them a try too! Just about every season there's a Robby Gordon Motorsports to Toyota rumor so we'll see if anything comes of it this time but it would certainly make things very interesting if RGM would enter into an alliance with MWR. There's no question that given how deeply some of Robby's fans hate Michael it would be very difficult for them to take a partnership between Robby and Michael so naturally I'm really hoping that's exactly what happens! The venom that's been directed towards Michael and often his fans as well by many of Robby's fans is really hard to take at times so it would be pretty amusing to see their reactions.
As much as I'd like for Robby and Michael to work together - and not just because of how it would drive some fans crazy - MWR may have all they can handle with the technical alliances with JTG-Daugherty Racing and Germain Racing. So I think Robby is more likely to end up working with one of the other Toyota organizations if he does end up changing manufacturers. It won't be Red Bull Racing since Monster Energy Drinks who sometimes sponsor Robby in both Cup and off-road are a direct competitor. It could end up being Joe Gibbs Racing, particularly since it appears they'll no longer be providing support to Hall of Fame Racing. But what about Bill Davis Racing? They've been pretty much written off on the Cup side but I have to wonder if they're contractually obligated to Toyota to field or support at least one Cup car next season? A partnership with RGM could fulfill that obligation if one exists. In addition, although BDR has had a lot of woes on the Cup side they still have more resources and are a bigger operation than RGM so there are ways in which Robby would benefit as well. But I'd still like to see Robby and Michael working together - I think they may be a lot more similar in certain ways than either of their fanbases would care to admit.
Posted by silverdsl at December 11, 2008 08:03 PM