June 23, 2009
Good Day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Infineon and Other Sonoma Thoughts
Although I had high hopes for Marcos Ambrose at Infineon, I wasn't looking forward to watching the road course race at Sonoma this weekend, which is a big change for me about how I usually feel about road course races - normally they are a highlight of the season for me. But this weekend Michael Waltrip had replaced himself with Patrick Carpentier and I knew David Reutimann was going to struggle. So as much as I like Patrick, I considered skipping this race like many other fans of Michael's did. But I ended up watching and I'm glad I did because I turned out to be one of the better races all season mostly because there actually was some racing, and good, hard, exciting racing at that, particularly during the second half of the race. That Marcos raced his way through the field, not just once but twice, and was up front and in contention for the win also helped. Though Marcos didn't end up winning, I'm not too disappointed. I like Kasey Kahne and I was happy to see him win since he hadn't been in Victory Lane for a while. I was particularly impressed with the way he handled all the restarts and hopefully this win is the momentum boost his team needs to race up front more regularly.
As for the Michael Waltrip Racing teams, Marcos finished third which may be disappointing to him but is an excellent finish, particularly considering all the problems he had to deal with earlier in the weekend which included a blown engine which caused him to have to start from the back of the field for Sunday's race. Marcos has shown the ability to race well on every kind of track but he is particularly skilled on road course tracks and I have no doubt that he will contend for the win at Watkins Glen too - sure would be awesome to see him win! Patrick raced the #55 to a terrific 11th place finish - he did a good job with a car that he complained wasn't all that great - gee, wonder if it's really Michael that's the problem with the #55 if his replacement doesn't exactly rave about the car? At times he struggled at the back of the pack but the team as a whole did a good job with pit and fuel strategy and also on the pit stops to put Patrick in a position to get that top 15.
Then there's David. I think it should be considered a successful race for David that he made it through the entire race. He did go off track twice but I believe he got help both times. He just isn't very good on road course races and as many times as MWR sends him to test or get coaching from those who are more skilled then he is on road courses he seems to not be able to master racing on those kinds of tracks in Cup. Which is a problem - his 31st place finish dropped him to 14th in the points, and while he's not far out of 12th and Chase contention, there is another road course race coming up so it may be important how he races there.
MWR has a technical alliance with Germain Racing which makes Max Papis part of the MWR family in a way. I really like him and I knew he'd likely have good race at Infineon which he did. Max was actually on the verge of his first career top ten in Cup when someone - reportedly Patrick - got into him and caused a flat which led to him losing a few spots on the last lap which is unfortunate. He finished 12th which is still a career best for Max in Cup and it's still a very solid finish. I would love to see him get more successful on all kinds of tracks as he gains more experience in Cup so it was good to see him do well on Sunday.
Two other drivers who were in line for strong finishes until misfortune struck were Robby Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. With Robby the same thing always seems to happen - a great run is ruined by mistake, poor decision-making or just bad luck. On Sunday Robby stayed out one lap too long, taking the lead on lap 76 only to see the caution flag come out just as he was about to pit. Word is that Robby's crew chief actually told him to pit the lap before but Robby didn't listen so he has no one to blame but himself for the outcome. Robby attempted to race his way through the field but a late race tangle with Jeff Burton and another driver resulted in a 36th place finish. Although Robby is perpetually still considered by many to be a favorite to win on road courses, he really hasn't done much of note on those kinds of tracks in Cup for a few years and in light of that I'm not really expecting much from him at Watkins Glen either. He clearly is very skilled at this kind of track but these days so are many other drivers and his team doesn't have anywhere near the kind of resources that some of the larger teams do. Robby Gordon Motorsports fielded a second car for P.J. Jones this weekend and it appears - though it's not confirmed - that it was a start and park since it dropped out of the race so early. While I understand that Robby may have seen it as a good opportunity to make some extra money, I never would have thought that start and parking one of his cars would be his style and especially with a road course racer as good as P.J. behind the wheel.
Junior was on his way to a much needed top ten finish until he got swept up in a wreck and ended up finishing 26th. One of his PR reps, Mike Davis said the following on Twitter after the race,
"Just disgusted, b/c next wk Jr will face same Qs about god-awful season. Solid run was 2 quiet 2 b noticed by results-driven expectations."
I'm getting disgusted too - disgusted by the idea that I'm supposed to feel sorry for Junior or Davis for that matter. There are any number of drivers who get next to no media attention no matter how good or bad their finishes are. Sure, it has to be a pain-in-the-rear to have to field the same questions every week and have to talk about how bad his season has been. But that's part of what a driver - and his PR rep - has to deal with. There could come a day - yes, even for Junior - where there won't be this kind of media attention, and they'll be wishing they were in a position to have to answer the same questions over and over.
In addition, even though I get sick of hearing about Junior, the fact is that the most popular driver in the sport having a poor season is a storyline worthy of media attention. That Junior was racing in the top ten was most definitely noticed but the reality is that people pay attention to the end result. Michael has had countless strong finishes ruined by flat tires, blown engines or getting swept up in other driver's messes, as has every other driver on the track. That's part of the sport as is results-based expectations - should we be patting Junior on the head for his effort? Things don't work that way and if he can't take the heat - and based on his comment to Jenna Fryer about not having the mental strength to put up with a season like this again, maybe he doesn't - then he needs to get out of the kitchen. No driver is guaranteed that they will race up front in every race, nor are they guaranteed that they will have successful, Chase contending seasons, not even the most popular driver in the sport. And when expectations aren't met there may very well be questions that need to be answered.
There were more than a few drivers who seemed to run over and spin just about every driver they raced around - Boris Said, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson were just three of those who seemed to get into a lot of other cars on Sunday but they weren't alone. Even Patrick spun Casey Mears in an attempt to pass him. I think that just speaks to the aggressive style of racing that's necessary at Infineon and how competitive it is. What I was impressed by is that immediately after the race Jimmie approached Kurt Busch to apologize to him face-to-face for spinning him. So often these days drivers don't take the time to apologize in person and leave a voicemail, send a text message, wait until they see the other driver the following week, or in some cases don't bother to make an effort to talk to the other driver at all. So I liked that Jimmie went over to Kurt and spoke with him in person right away - that probably went a long way towards smoothing things over with Kurt.
This weekend the Cup Series will be racing in New Hampshire and while I don't think we'll end up seeing a race as good as we did at Sonoma, I'm looking forward to it because Michael will be back in the #55.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2009
End of the Weekend Not as Good as the Start for Michael Waltrip Racing at Dover
The weekend started off on a very positive note for Michael Waltrip Racing in Dover when David Reutimann won the pole for yesterday's Cup race but the race itself was a disappointment for the organization. Although David was able to lead 25 laps, he got caught a lap down due to an ill-timed caution during green flag pit stops. Even after he got back on the lead lap his car wasn't the same as it was in the beginning of the race and he was able to finish no better than 18th. Not terrible but not as good as had been expected after he won the pole. Marcos Ambrose also had a car that wasn't all that great and he finished 20th.
But if the race wasn't very good for David and Marcos, it was a disaster for Michael Waltrip. The #55 didn't seem to be very good from the time they unloaded on Friday and Michael complained about how bad the car was from the start of the race. Still, things might have improved had they gotten the opportunity to make changes to the car but Michael was forced to pit under green due to a flat tire and he ended up going three laps down. To add insult to injury on lap 272 the engine in the #55 blew, sending Michael to the garage and out of the race.
To say that Michael was unhappy was an understatement - he complained that he was tired of getting crappy cars and crappy engines and I don't blame him. The cars he was given to race were pretty competitive to start the season but as the season has gone on the handling and performance of those cars has gotten pretty bad. In addition, there's been multiple engine issues, including two blown engines out of the last three points races. What bothers me is that Michael is going to be judged on these poor finishes pretty harshly, meanwhile ill-handling cars, cut tires, and blown engines are all things out of his hands. I understand Michael's frustration and I think he has every right to be upset with what's going on.
Some fans think that there should be a crew chief change. Maybe there will be but I have a feeling that Bootie Barker isn't going anywhere. For one thing it's likely that Michael won't be racing full-time after this season so they may feel like there isn't much point in making a lot of changes and spending money on another crew chief for a driver who won't be back. In addition, as someone pointed out on the MWR forum, it sometimes seems like Michael has lost confidence in himself - who wouldn't when the rumor is that NAPA wants a different driver and the results haven't been very good the past few years? So if Michael believes that the problem is at least partially with him then we may not see a crew chief or any other change. It's really unfortunate because I really want Michael to have fun in his last full season and go out on a high note. Hopefully that will still happen since he's a talented driver who is capable of winning when he has a competitive car and especially on restrictor plate tracks.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2009
Michael Waltrip Survives a Wild Talladega Race to Finish 21st
I suppose I should be upset that Michael Waltrip got swept up in the second "Big One" at Talladega yesterday and could finish no better than 21st due to the damage to his car. But I'm not. I guess it makes me a bad fan but after seeing Carl Edwards go flying through the air at the end of the race I'm glad that Michael wasn't up front at the end of the race because that could have been him. Michael said something about karma during the race and as much as he surely wishes that his finish was better, maybe it was good karma that kept him from being a part of that mess on the last lap. What I am happy about is that Michael did get to spend some time up front - he got NAPA a lot of great airtime and he also made an outstanding save - that save was probably the highlight of the race for me.
Before I discuss the way the race went for Michael any further I have to express just how disturbed I was at the events on the last lap that saw a car nearly go over the fence and into the stands. I agree completely with what David Poole said this morning on Sirius - that crossed a line. I've seen fans say that yesterday's race was one of the best and most exciting races they've seen in a long time and I feel completely the opposite - to me yesterday's race was one of the worst we've seen because there were eight injured fans and a major disaster was only narrowly averted. Had Carl gone over the fence it would have not only been the end of racing at Talladega, but quite possibly the end to NASCAR racing as we know it. I also don't like the attitude that some seem to have that because the worst injury is "only" a broken jaw and "only" two people got airlifted out that the injuries aren't a big deal. Even one injury, significant or not, from a piece of debris flying over the fence into the stands is one injury too many.
Some fans want to see big wrecks but this fan wants to see racing, not wrecking. I want to see the race decided because a driver outraced their competitors not because they were one of the few who managed not to get caught in a wreck. I don't need to see cars flying through the air to be entertained and I think it's pretty sad that some fans think seeing that and a bunch of wrecks makes for a great race. There will always be an element of risk involved in racing and I don't know what the solution is to prevent situations like yesterday but it's essential that NASCAR looks at making changes and that they do it before someone, either a fan or a driver, gets killed because a car went over the fence into the stands.
As for Michael, although he wasn't happy with his car and said that it hadn't been very good from the time they unloaded, it was still good enough for him to be able to race it into the top five. It was really awesome to see him mix it up with the leaders and that he was able to do so with a car that may not have been as good as some of the cars he's raced at Talladega in the past shows that he's just as good at restrictor plate racing as he's ever been. However, what was really a testament to Michael's ability, not just at plate racing but as a driver overall was the save he made after he came across the front of Marcos Ambrose's car. That was an incredible piece of driving! I think anyone who doubts Michael's ability as a driver should be shown that video - it's a clear indication that he very much still has ever bit of skill behind the wheel as he ever did. Michael's save, and that of Kurt Busch not long afterward show how amazing the driver's reflexes and reaction time is that at in mere seconds while traveling at such a high rate of speed they're able to take evasive action to save themselves and their cars. I hope that whoever is going to be involved in the decision-making process about whether Michael continues racing next season or not was paying attention to that save and to what Michael did yesterday overall - he not only raced up front as is expected at Talladega, he got NAPA Auto Parts a significant amount of airtime.
One of the most interesting conversations over Michael's radio during yesterday's race was early on when Clint Bowyer was involved in the "Big One" on lap seven. On Saturday Michael had gotten bumped by Joey Logano during the Nationwide race which sent him into Clint Bowyer, wrecking them both. Clint's response over the radio was to yet again blame Michael, who was a completely innocent victim just like Clint was. So after yesterday's wreck happened Michael wondered who Clint was going to blame since he (Michael) wasn't in the wreck, to which Bootie Barker, Michael's crew chief responded by saying that Clint would probably find a way to blame it on him anyway. Michael continued by saying that he believes in karma and that good things happen to good people. He knows, he said, that he's a good person but that Clint's a prick, so he was basically saying that Clint got wrecked because karma bit him in the rear end for being a jerk. Bootie replied that Clint is indeed a prick. Based on what Michael said next about how one day he was going to "lose his mental focus" it sounds like if the opportunity presents itself there's going to be a little payback for the way Clint has treated him. Which is exactly why Clint and others who are so quick to lash out at their fellow competitors should put a sock in it - ripping on each other only creates animosity that can lead to problems on- and off-the-track. Michael isn't just a driver, he's also a car owner and maybe Clint won't be at Richard Childress Racing forever - I doubt that Michael would be inclined to ever offer him a ride. What I loved hearing was Bootie say that the team will fight with him if need be and how he clearly has Michael's back. Maybe the results haven't been quite as good as they'd like but I think Bootie and Michael make a great team and I really hope that they can work together past this season!
Unfortunately later in the race, just as he was starting to race his way forward again, Michael got swept up in the second "Big One." He was actually luckier than some others who were wrecked out completely since after his team made some repairs he was able to stay on the lead lap and continue to race but the damage to the car was enough to prevent him from being able to race his way back up front. If not for being caught in that wreck there no doubt in my mind Michael would have been up front with Marcos racing for the win. However, as I said above as happy as I would have been if Michael had finished in the top five like Marcos, part of me is glad that he wasn't up there at the end because I would have been beside myself if he had ended up being the one to go flying through the air instead of Carl. So maybe it was that karma thing at play in that karma dictated that Michael was an innocent victim of that wreck so that he wasn't involved in what happened on the last lap. That's a good thing in my opinion.
As for the other Michael Waltrip Racing teams as noted Marcos finished 4th which is awesome! However, Marcos may as well not have been on the track since from what I could tell he was almost never mentioned or shown during the TV broadcast. It's said time and time again that if a driver wants to get exposure and be shown on TV then they need to race up front - well, Marcos did race up front and he still got as far as I can tell very little attention during the broadcast. Just exactly what are teams and drivers supposed to do when they race up front and still get no exposure for it?
David Reutimann also appeared to be in line for a finish up front but a flat tire that led to NASCAR scoring him a lap down resulted in a 26th place finish. I still have no idea exactly what happened to David because the TV broadcast chose not to mention it. So here we have a driver who races up front for virtually the entire race but when they experience a problem it's not worthy of being discussed? It seems to me that's part of the story of the race, especially for David's fans who had no idea why he was suddenly at the back. If I understand correctly the team was upset about them being scored a lap down and tried to argue it with NASCAR to no avail. However, since TV never mentioned it I have no clue how David came to be a lap down and why the team felt that it was the wrong call.
By the way, speaking of invisible teams - did anyone notice that Max Papis finished 18th? Did anyone even know he was in the race? If you knew that Max was in the race it wasn't by watching the TV broadcast which barely or never mentioned quite a few drivers which actually makes it all the more impressive that Michael was able to get so much TV time for NAPA.
Talladega was certainly an eventful race but was it really a good race? Is any race in which numerous cars are taken out of contention by big wrecks and where a car goes flying through the air a good race? Not in my opinion. Sad to say I doubt I'll see much of anything different at the next race at Talladega though hopefully all the cars will stay on the ground and there will be no injuries.
Update: I didn't know until I read Michael's post-race report that by finishing 21st Michael moved up a spot in the points to 24th. Still not where he wants to be in the points I'm sure but any gain in the points is definitely a positive!
Update 2: Michael was among the many drivers who commented on the last lap in yesterday's race. In his opinion what happened was a result of Carl's decision to block Brad, which comes from a difference in the way the drivers race each other as compared to the past. He said,
“Back in the day, if somebody was faster than you, you didn’t cut them off. Nowadays you’ve got to fight for every inch. Don’t blame it on the yellow line, blame it on the two guys racing. It’s Carl’s fault. There was a time in history when you could protect your area, but those days are over. If you want to block, that’s fine. But be willing to pay the price. We went through this time when you respected each other. Now we’re more like daredevils.”
Some of Carl's fans are furious that Michael said it was Carl's fault but Carl himself pretty much said the same thing that he put himself in that position by the way he raced Brad. I think Michael has an excellent point that the style of racing has changed over the years and that the drivers have less respect for each other which contributes to some of these incidents.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)
April 09, 2009
JTG-Daughtery Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing Benefit From Technical Alliance
Outstanding article on nascar.com that details the technical alliance between Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG-Daugherty Racing and how it came to be. The roots of the partnership were planted last July at Indianapolis as Michael Waltrip watched JTG attempt to make their first Cup race. Knowing how hard it could be to try to do what JTG was going to attempt, Michael decided that he was going to see if he could help them. He said that he sent Ty Norris to find Tad Geschickter because he could save him two years of trying to figure out how to survive in Cup. Michael said,
"I was a year and a half in at that point and I knew that when he started in '09 [as a Cup owner], we'd be two years ahead of where he was going to be if he tried to do it himself. My car was locked in the show and I had lived the hell of 2007 in missing race after race and just struggling to get our legs up under us as a team."
Of course Michael wasn't just thinking about how he could help JTG but about how an alliance could help MWR since the organization wanted to continue fielding three teams in 2009 but didn't have the necessary sponsorship to do so. Michael said,
"We didn't have sponsorship for our third car for '09, and definitely wanted to continue at a three-car level. We began talking right there, that day at Indy, about how we might partner, provide him cars, provide his equipment and he'd essentially be a part of MWR -- and that's exactly what we did. I think the benefits are endless for both groups. But I think for Tad, it gave him a chance to get up and running immediately. ... He has manufacturing support not only from MWR, but also Toyota support as well.
The benefits are indeed tremendous for both organizations. There's no question that the results for Marcos Ambrose and JTG are significantly better because of their alliance than MWR than if they were competing on their own. And MWR not only fulfills their desire to field three teams but are doing so with a driver who appears to have the potential to have a lot of success in the Cup Series.
What's interesting is that JTG had spoken with Ford about being affiliated with them but were told that there was no place for them on the Cup level even though Marcos had previously been associated with Ford. I wonder if Ford has any regrets about that decision? Toyota was more than open to having JTG become one of their teams which opened the door to the alliance between JTG and MWR. The other interesting thing which I think has led to some confusion among fans is that even though JTG's Cup operation is housed in the MWR shop and they share information and as the article notes even tools, even though Michael often talks about the #47 team as if it's one of his own, once they're at the track the JTG and MWR teams are separate entities. In the article Brad Daugherty says that sometimes these alliances don't work out, that an owner will just take a team's money but will provide them with inferior equipment. That's not the case here - JTG has access to everything that the MWR teams have access to from parts to engineering to personnel, which is why the alliance has been so successful.
Brad said of Michael,
"One thing about Michael, we all see him as the affable television character, kind of off the wall. But he really is a passionate, passionate racer. He loves racing. I think that gets overshadowed sometimes because we're always looking at some of the off-the-wall things he may say or do -- but he's a passionate racer. He thinks about things. I've really been impressed with Michael. When you sit down and have a conversation with him, he's got a lot of great ideas and has put a lot of thought into the business structure of his organization. I mean, they tried to eat an elephant here in a couple of bites and it was hard. But they learned a lot from it. That organization is going to survive and be a strong, strong operation going forward because of their resiliency. Michael's got a real passion for this sport. He's not just there, hanging out. He wants to run well and be successful. He wants to win and build a great organization. We're lucky to be a part of it."
I love it when people, especially those in the garage area, recognize that Michael is a lot more than just the goofball he sometimes portrays on TV. As I've detailed many times in this space before it irks me sometimes that some don't think Michael is serious about racing or dismiss him and his opinions because he plugs his sponsors a lot or like to be funny all the time. But the reality is that there is a very serious side to Michael that is, as Brad points out, that is passionate about racing and determined to be a success. Michael does indeed think about things and that's a very good thing because he's come up with some terrific ideas such as this alliance with JTG.
It's really wonderful to see Michael and MWR continue to get so much positive media attention!
Posted by silverdsl at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)
April 06, 2009
Disappointing Day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Texas
Races like yesterday at Texas for Michael Waltrip Racing are hard for me to blog about. I'd much rather only write positive entries about how wonderful everything is for MWR and how much progress the organization continues to make but other than David Reutimann's 11th place finish yesterday really wasn't such a great day for MWR. The weekend started with a lot of promise when David won the pole for Sunday's race and I think a lot of people thought that this might be the weekend when David ended up in Victory Lane for the first time in his career but it wasn't to be. In addition, it wasn't a very good day for any of the other MWR teams, primary or affiliated.
Let's start with what went right - David won the pole and raced up front for much of the race. But on lap 154 when he was coming in for a pit stop David overshot his pit stall and instead of backing him up, the team started working on the car while it was still out of the box. That resulted in David being penalized a lap. The team was probably operating on instinct - the car's in the stall so they did what they always do and serviced it but Rodney Childers, David's crew chief, should have had the team back the car up. It would have cost them time but David probably wouldn't have lost a lap. While David was able to eventually get his lap back and finish 11th, odds are without that penalty he would have been in the hunt for the win at the end of the race. The #00 is still a young team that doesn't have any experience as a Chase contending team but if they want to remain in a position to be in the Chase at the end of the season they need to minimize costly mistakes like that.
David wasn't the only MWR driver who overshot his pit - apparently the same thing happened to Michael on lap 96. While Michael put the car in reverse so that his team didn't service it while he was out of the box, it cost him a lot of time - and positions. At the time he had been one of the first cars one lap down, a position he had raced very hard to put himself in, and had a good chance of getting his lap back on a subsequent caution, but losing all those positions put him behind quite a few other lapped cars and once the handling of his car went away Michael was unable to get back to where he needed to be to get the Lucky Dog. The car really wasn't to Michael's liking and the handling was particularly poor towards the end of the race so I suppose a top 25 should be considered a decent finish considering what Michael had to race, but Michael really needs to finish better than 24th on a regular basis.
The other issue is that for the first time this season Michael gave Bootie Barker, his crew chief, who he usually works very well with a hard time. Michael was argumentative and difficult and the old communication problems which I think were an issue in the past re-surfaced. I guess it's to be expected because Michael was frustrated that no matter what was done to the car they were never able to get the handling back to what it had been to start the race, and he was probably upset with himself on top of that for overshooting his pit at a particularly bad time. Some fans are concerned that the way Michael acted yesterday is going to chase Bootie away, but Bootie seems to be able to handle Michael very well - he doesn't back down from him, he calms him down and nothing seems to bother him. It's also no secret that Michael can be difficult to deal with at times so Bootie had to know what he was getting himself into when he accepted the job as Michael's crew chief. So I doubt that one race with poor communication is going to ruin things between them. I just hope that Michael doesn't let himself fall into some of the old patterns where it seemed like to those of us listening in that he would let his emotions get the best of him, lash out and try to crew chief from the car instead of focusing on racing. Yesterday wasn't that bad and he did seem to remain focused on what he was doing behind the wheel so hopefully this was just a minor blip on the radar due to frustration.
As for the teams that MWR has technical alliances with none of them fared very well either. Initially it looked like Marcos Ambrose was going to finish extremely well but mechanical issues ruined his race. First his throttle got stuck, then his engine lost a valve and then finally his engine gave up the ghost completely. It's very unfortunate because Marcos's 41st place finish doesn't reflect how well he raced and how until the mechanical issues it appeared he might finish in the top ten. For a driver with so little experience in Cup he continues to impress. Although Max Papis was able to qualify the #13 for Germain Racing into the show, he wasn't able to finish any better than 35th and that he finished that well was probably due to some other cars dropping out. I would guess that maybe that result was due to his inexperience at Texas - Michael said over the radio prior to the race that he had a discussion with Max about how to race on that track and told Ty Norris, his spotter, that Max might need to be reminded via his own spotter if he fell into bad habits. Then there's the #66 - Dave Blaney was in the garage with after less than 50 laps due to "brake" issues - more like Prism put a "brake" on the race for Dave and called him into the garage.
As for the rest of the race, as a fan of Jeff Gordon, I was very happy to see him get his first win since 2007! Unlike some who have written off Jeff as having lost something behind the wheel, I've never stopped believing that he could not only win again but that he would likely contend for a Championship again. That may very well happen this season - he leads in the points and I doubt that this will be his last win in 2009. As happy as i was that Jeff won I thought the overall race was pretty boring. Seemed like there were long stretches in which there wasn't much passing and that doesn't lead to a very compelling race to watch. Unfortunately seems like there's a lot of that this season.
This weekend is an off-weekend for the Cup Series but the Nationwide Series is in action on Saturday at Nashville. Michael is slated to be in the #99 and I hope he's able to erase some of the disappointment from Texas with a great finish in Nashville - sure would love to see him in Victory Lane!
Posted by silverdsl at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2009
Good Day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Martinsville; All Three Teams Finish in the Top 20!
Solid day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Martinsville - all three teams finished in the top 20! It's funny how things turn out - in the first half of the race it looked like David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose were in line to finish in the top ten and that Michael Waltrip might have a poor finish but by the end of the race Michael was the top finishing MWR car in 13th!
Michael and the #55 team did a really outstanding job of rebounding from an early spin that put Michael as deep in the field as 42nd at one point to finish 13th! Michael was very down on himself when he spun, saying that he made a mistake, then after he got back on the lead lap he went down a lap, had to race his way into position for the lucky dog a second time, got a cut tire and still raced his way into the top 15! If I had to pick one word to sum up the day for Michael and his team it would be perseverance. No matter what happened Michael and his team didn't let it defer them from a good finish! Michael said after he spun that he was going to put it behind him and finish in the top ten, that's almost what he did, in fact if not for that late cut tire he probably would have had the time to race his way into the top ten. After a couple of weeks in which the #55 team struggled it was good to see even though there were a few problems that things came together for them. Michael had a competitive car with speed and was able to race with it and Bootie Barker and the rest of the team did a great job of making the right changes so that the car stayed good and even got better as the race went along. Bootie also did a terrific job of complimenting Michael and giving him encouragement. Although it might not be the top ten finish that Michael wanted, I still think it was a finish to be happy with!
David spent most of the day in the top ten but during a late pit stop he lost seven or eight spots, restarting the race in 17th. Not long afterwards he spun which put him a lap down. Ultimately though David made up a couple of spots he wasn't able to finish any better than 20th, a disappointing finish considering how well he had raced for the majority of the race. I'm interested in finding out what happened on that pit stop because there must have been something that caused him to lose so many spots. Even though David didn't finish as well as it looked like he was going to early on, I'm not that upset because yet again David raced up front and looked to have an extremely competitive car. It's only a matter of time before he wins a race!
Marcos also spent a lot of time in the top ten before losing some spots as the race went along. Even though he wasn't able to hang on for a top ten, finishing 14th is still a finish to be extremely satisfied with considering how limited his Cup experience is. I'm so impressed with Marcos! Seems like just about every week he shows he can race competitively at all kinds of tracks, including tracks like Martinsville, where as far as I can tell he's never raced on before in Cup or even in the Nationwide Series.
Today was a very good points day for the MWR teams. David remains in 11th in the points which means that he would be in the Chase if the season were to end now. By finishing 13th Michael moved himself up four spots in the points to 17th - might not seem very good to some but considering the way he's finished in the points the past few years I would be very happy if Michael finished the season in the top 20 in points. Marcos also moved up a few spots to 21st - that's very good for a driver in his first full season in Cup!
I'm not sure what to expect for MWR next weekend at Texas, but hopefully it'll be another good weekend where all three teams race competitively and finish well!
Posted by silverdsl at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2009
Michael Waltrip Finishes 32nd at Bristol Due to a Cut Tire; Other MWR Teams do Well
I always prefer to start out with something positive and there definitely were positives today for Michael Waltrip Racing but since the TV broadcast never mentioned why Michael Waltrip ended up six laps down and a lot of people were wondering, in case anyone stops by this space looking for an explanation, I'll start off by saying Michael finished 32nd because he had a tire go down and had to pit under green and then had to come back in because of a loose or missing lugnut. It was unfortunate timing because just after he got back on track for good the caution flew when Brian Vickers got a blown tire. Michael didn't have as good of a car as his teammates had and was a lap down when his tire went down so he wasn't going to finish up front but he did seem to be able to make forward progress so odds are his finish was going to be significantly better than it was.
Very disappointing that Michael struggled for the second race in a row after starting the season so well. He's 21st in points which is much better than he was at this time the past few seasons and he doesn't have to worry about having to race his way into races which is definitely something to be happy about but I'm sure he was still hoping to be able to continue his strong start to the season.
Before I get into talking about the other MWR teams I have to express my frustration that the TV broadcast never mentioned that Michael cut a tire. I think that does a tremendous disservice to the drivers, the teams and their fans when they have problems - or when things go right - and it's never mentioned. It's said that a teams needs to make themselves part of the story of the race to be talked about on the broadcast but it seems to me that when something happens like a cut tire and the driver ends up multiple laps down it's part of the story of the race. I knew what happened to Michael because I was listening to his radio via Trackpass but a lot of fans don't subscribe to Trackpass so many are probably still wondering what happened to him. Not only are some of Michael's fans in the dark but some of those who don't like Michael, who look for any excuse to insult him will make him finishing laps down to be about his lack of talent when in reality the issue was something completely out of his control, that had nothing to do with ability behind the wheel. As I've said a million times, not every team can be mentioned all the time, but maybe if the TV broadcasts made more of an issue to cover when something does happen to a team that's worthy of being discussed then more fans would be tuning in each week.
If the #55 team was disappointed, the #00 and #47 teams surely weren't! In a surprise to almost everyone Marcos Ambrose spent almost the entire race in the top ten, including quite a few laps in the top five. Finishing 10th isn't a career best for him since he finished 3rd at Watkins Glen last year but it's his best finish on a non-road course track and I think it's a sign that Marcos is going to be able to race well on a variety of tracks which means he may end up developing into a very good Cup driver once he gains more experience on this level. That would be outstanding for both JTG-Daugherty Racing and MWR - I'm very happy that so far their alliance is working out extremely well! With his 10th place finish Marcos moved into 24th in points.
David Reutimann also spent quite a bit of time in the top ten, only losing some positions towards the end of the race. I suspect he may be a little disappointed to "only" finish 12th but it's good enough to move him up to 11th in points. I can't help but notice that once again David Ragan was a non-factor in this race and his 27th place finish drops him to 26th in points. I wonder what UPS is thinking now? Sure, it's still early in the season and things can change in a hurry but the longer MWR's David stays in Chase contention and the longer Roush's David looks like he may not live up to the hype - this season at least - the more I have to wonder if UPS has any regrets. Aaron's has to be thrilled with the amount of exposure they're getting since the #00 has been shown and talked about in every single race. Meanwhile the #6 is almost invisible on broadcasts.
Hopefully next weekend in Martinsville the #00 and #47 teams will race as well as they did this weekend and the #55 team will be up front with them!
Posted by silverdsl at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2009
Jimmy Watts from JTG-Daugherty Racing Suspended Four Races
During Sunday's race at Atlanta Jimmy Watts, the gasman for the #47 team of Marcos Ambrose at JTG-Daugherty Racing ran onto the front stretch grass while the race was under green in pursuit of a tire that had been knocked out of the #47 pit (reportedly either by a car or crew member from Yates Racing). NASCAR was forced to immediately throw a caution for safety reasons since a car spinning onto the grass towards Watts could have been a disaster. Although NASCAR would have thrown a caution anyway for the tire, had Watts not ran after it odds are they would have waited until the pit stops had cycled through so that most of the field didn't end up trapped a lap or more down, which is what happened when they had to throw the caution for Watts. To express how displeased they are with what he did, even though it was an honest mistake, Watts has been suspended for four races and the crew chief of the #47, Frank Kerr, has been placed on probation until December.
I think this penalty is ridiculous and excessive. I understand that NASCAR felt they had to send a message that crew members can't run onto the track or the grass for any reason, even if they aren't thinking and make a mistake like Watts. But four races? Placing Watts on probation or at most suspending him for a race seems appropriate, this seems overboard. Dave Moody from wondered on his Facebook page and on Sirius how NASCAR was supposed to prevent other crew members from doing what Watts did if they didn't penalize him. Well, considering I don't recall any crew member doing anything similar to what Watts did, it seems to me that the vast majority of crew members understood that they shouldn't run onto the track without Watts being used as an example. Moody also brought up the possibility of teams getting the idea to use their crew members to deliberately cause cautions by telling them to run onto the track - I think it's a stretch to think that a team would put a crew member in danger to draw a caution.
When NASCAR doesn't do anything when drivers deliberately cause cautions and only rarely penalize for drivers deliberately retaliating by using their cars as weapons against each other, a clear safety issue should something go wrong, it makes a four race penalty for being in the wrong part of the track seem over-the-top, as wrong as his actions might have been.
Update: Just saw that there's the possibility that the Yates Racing crew member who kicked the tire sending it into the grass might have did so deliberately. Where's his penalty? If NASCAR feels they need to send a message that crew members running onto the track won't be tolerated why don't they also want to send a message that deliberately trying to sabotage another teams is just as wrong?
Update Two: ESPN.com has a video interview with DJ Cobb from the #47 team in which he says that reportedly (he didn't see it himself but says that many others did) that a crew member from the #98 team that was pitted behind them actually pushed the tire off the wall where it had been placed by someone from the #47 team. From the sounds of it the #98 team was miffed because Marcos pitted in such a way that he was somewhat in their box. The actions by the #98 crew member should be immediately addressed by NASCAR as well.
Posted by silverdsl at 06:28 PM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2009
Not a Good Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing at Atlanta
Michael Waltrip Racing started off the season very strong but this weekend in Atlanta was the first weekend all season in which all three teams performed poorly. Both the #00 and #47 teams experienced engine woes, in the case of the #47 a terminal engine issue, a crew member from the #47 was involved in a pivotal race changing incident on pit road and the #55 was so ill-handling that Michael Waltrip could barely race it. Although every team and organization is going to experience problems and weekend when they're off-their-game, I was pretty disappointed that it happened to MWR in Atlanta since three of their sponsors - Aaron's, Coca-Cola and NAPA Auto Parts - are based there. It was particularly important for the #55 to have a good race considering that NAPA is only signed through the end of the season.
To their credit, the #55 team did the best they could with a bad car and rallied to finish 25th. In the past an ill-handling car meant that Michael would have spent the entire race riding around in 35th and would never have made any progress. Instead, with the help of some excellent pit stops, Michael was able to finish 25th - might not be great but could have been a lot worse. Even after Michael took a ride through the grass while avoiding a spinning car which caused damage to the splitter, the team did a great job of working together to make repairs and Michael never lost any positions. Still, it had to be a downer for Michael and the organization that his 25th place finish was the best of all three MWR teams.
Ill-handling race cars and missed set-ups can be fixed, but what concerns me is that there continues to be engine woes for the MWR teams. Since they don't build their own engines in-house MWR is completely dependent on the engines that Toyota Racing Development provides to them. It didn't seem like the engine issues in this race were related to the engine issues that the Toyota teams experienced in California and Las Vegas but it doesn't speak well for their reliability that one engine developed an issue that caused the #00 to have to spend time in the garage making repairs and the engine on the #47 went completely. There are always going to be mechanical problems and engine failures but TRD and MWR have to try to minimize them so that their finish is determined by how they race not whether the engines hold together.
What changed the course of the race for many of the teams was an unfortunate incident in which a tire got away from the #47 on pit road and Jimmy Watts, the gas man for the team, chased it all the way across pit road and into the grass. That resulted in a caution which trapped many teams - the #55 included - two laps down and earned Watts a suspension for the rest of the race from NASCAR for chasing the tire as far as he did. Being suspended and told to leave the track may not be Watts only punishment as NASCAR has indicated they may give him an additional penalty when they review the incident later in the week. I feel bad for Watts because many are blaming the way the race played out on him, not realizing that NASCAR was going to throw a caution for the tire regardless of whether Watts chased it or not.
Although it wasn't a good weekend for the MWR teams, things could have been worse. David remains in 12th in the points and Michael in 16th which is far better than than they've been after four races the past two years. Even Marcos Ambrose in 28th isn't bad considering his lack of experience in Cup. Although David, Michael and Marcos, are surely not very happy about the drop they've taken in the points, they still have to be relieved that there will surely be no worries about whether they're going to be in the top 35 after the first five races. This weekend is an off-weekend and then in two weeks they head to Bristol where they'll hopefully go back to racing as well as they did in the first three races.
What bugs me is that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 11th, a finish that any of the MWR teams, as well as many other teams, would be very happy with but the Junior fans are complaining as if Junior finished last. To be fair the #88 teams hasn't performed up to expectations this season and I don't blame fans for not being entirely happy with some of the issues that have plagued the team so far. However, the way some fans are complaining it's as if Junior's season is already a failure and the world is going to end because he hasn't won a race yet. Get a grip. There is room for improvement for sure but expecting that Junior is going to finish top five or win every race is expecting too much. Maybe this just isn't going to be Junior's year and he's going to miss the Chase - or maybe the #88 team will right themselves at Bristol and go on a tear which will put them back in the hunt for the Chase in a few weeks. It's understandable to be concerned and to wish things were going differently for Junior and his team but it's extreme to call for Tony Eury, Jr. to be fired immediately because Junior finished 11th.
Kurt Busch won the race which was well deserved considering how good his car was throughout the race. I was hoping that Brian Vickers was going to pull out the win, but I'm not upset that Kurt ended up winning. Kurt won a race last season but he and his team aren't usually among those that most pick to race up front and win on a regular basis these days so it's good to see someone who is perhaps a little unexpected end up in Victory Lane.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
March 01, 2009
David Reutimann Finishes a Career Best Fifth at Las Vegas!
Michael Waltrip had a tough race at Las Vegas but he was probably still happy at day's end because it was still an excellent day for his organization since for the third weekend in a row Michael Waltrip Racing fielded good cars that were able to race competitively. In fact the #00 was so fast that David Reutimann was able to finish fifth - a career best in Cup!! That finish came in spite of the #00 having to make an engine change which forced David to start the race from the back. Although there was some concern early on about an oil leak, his car ended up being so good that he was able to race his way though the field into the top five - outstanding! Not only did David finish fifth in the race, he's now fifth in the overall points standings. It may only be three races but it's still great to see an MWR driver so high in the points!
Unfortunately Michael's day didn't go as well as David's though in the first part of the race it seemed as if he was on his way to another strong finish as well. However, on lap 163 Michael spun and got into the wall causing damage to the back end of the car. The #55 team made repairs and Michael was able to keep racing but he ended up finishing 27th, two laps down which is kind of disappointing considering that he was racing pretty well prior to the spin. Still, as disappointing as the finish might be it was still great to see Michael qualify well this weekend and have a pretty good car. He dropped to 12th in the overall points but that's still light years ahead of where he was at this time the past couple of seasons so I continue to be optimistic about how Michael's going to do this season.
As for the teams that MWR is affiliated with Marcos Ambrose had a solid day for a driver with so little Cup experience, finishing 20th, one lap down. That moved him up a spot in the points to 20th which means that all three of MWR's primary drivers are in the top 20 in points. Sure hope that continues! Max Papis was the innocent victim of another driver's wreck early on which made for a difficult day since he was on and off the track and could finish no better than 36th. As much as Max must have been disappointed about how the race went for him I'm sure he was still thrilled just to be in the race since it was his first career Cup race ever. It definitely won't be his last and hopefully the results will only improve from here.
I'm hoping that next weekend in Atlanta MWR will continue to race as well as they have so far this season. NAPA Auto Parts is based in Atlanta and I believe Aaron's is as well so if David and Michael were able to race competitively up front next weekend it would look really good to both sponsors. It sure would be awesome if Michael or David won next weekend - I think that would convince both sponsors to stick around long term!
Posted by silverdsl at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2009
Great Qualifying Results for Michael Waltrip Racing at Las Vegas But...
Michael Waltrip Racing continued to show that they are a much improved organization in 2009 by qualifying three cars in the top fifteen today for Sunday's Cup race at Las Vegas. David Reutimann, who was second fastest in the first practice, qualified fourth, Marcos Ambrose fifth and Michael Waltrip 15th. In addition, Max Papis, whose Germain Racing team gets cars and technical support from MWR, qualified 26th. That MWR had so much success in qualifying, just two years after they struggled to make races, is outstanding. I'm very happy for them!
However, the news from qualifying wasn't all good. Both MWR and Red Bull Racing get their engines from Toyota Racing Development since they don't build their engines themselves and for the second week in a row the teams got a bad batch of engines. David and Marcos, as well as Brian Vickers, Scott Speed and possibly Michael will have to start from the back on Sunday because their teams all have to change engines. Apparently the exact same part that was a problem last weekend at California which caused Vickers to have to change engines and start from the back after winning the pole is the same problem this weekend. Talk about disappointing!
These teams aren't building their own engines, they're completely dependent on TRD to provide engines to them. There are always going to be some engine failures but there shouldn't be the same parts issue two weekends in a row that's going to result in so many engines having to be changed. While I have no idea what the details are about how this happened, I don't think it reflects very well on TRD that this issue wasn't addressed after last weekend. It puts the teams at a real disadvantage because it means that they have to race their way from the back to the front which isn't always easy even when they have good cars as these teams seem to have this weekend. As much as I want Michael to be able to start where he qualified it might be better for the #55 team to be safe than sorry and also change engines so that they don't have to worry about an issue during the race unless they know for sure that there isn't a problem with the part in the engine in their car.
In addition to the engine woes for the teams that get their engines from TRD, there was also an engine failure for another Toyota team - for the second week in a row a pole-sitter will start from the back after an engine change since Kyle Busch lost his engine during practice. The issue with his engine might be totally unrelated since Joe Gibbs Racing builds their own engines but one has to wonder if JGR possibly got some parts from the same source as TRD did.
Even with the engine problems I'm still very happy! Max didn't have any luck last season when it came to trying to qualify for races so I'm really glad that he was able to make the show today! I really like him a lot and I'd like to see him do well even though he's only racing part-time in Cup. But I'm especially excited that MWR qualified two cars in the top five and overall three cars in the top 15! That's awesome! Of course the results on Sunday are more important than how they qualify but assuming there are no other problems I'm optimistic that MWR is going to have a very successful race as well!
Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2009
Good Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing in California!
Although things started off rocky with engine problems with not only the Michael Waltrip Racing cars but their plane as well, the weekend finished very well with Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann finishing in the top 15 in Fontana and Marcos Ambrose finishing 21st. For some teams "only" finishing in the top 15 might be a disappointment but for the MWR teams it's another sign of how many strides they've made in the short time they've been in the Cup Series.
I'm particularly happy that Michael finished 15th! I wasn't sure how he was going to do, one, because the team had to change engines which meant that Michael was going to be starting from the back and two, because he wasn't all that fast in practice. However, much to my delight, Michael was able to race his way from the back into the top 15. Yes, it may come as a surprise to some of the doubters who are thinking that Michael finished in the top 15 because of pit strategy or for some other reason, he did in fact race his way up to the front. Michael's 15th place finish is his best finish at this track since 2005 and is ten spots better than his average finish at Fontana.
Even when Michael went a lap down at one point where in the past that might signal the start of a bad race, there was no panic. Michael simply keep racing as he had been, kept himself in position for the lucky dog and got it on the next caution which put him back on the lead lap where he stayed for the rest of the race. Later in the race there was some concern that his engine was overheating but removing some trash from the grill on a subsequent pit stop eliminated that issue. The communication between Michael and Bootie Barker continues to be excellent. Thus far even when Michael isn't happy he's remained calm and Bootie does a terrific job of handling him even when he's complaining. But the best thing is that Michael was actually able to race. So many times last season the handling on his cars was so bad that he couldn't actually race for position, but rather to just hang on and not wreck. But so far this season it's a much different story - even when the car isn't perfect Michael is able to pass for position. Of course it's only two races into the season but I love looking at the points standings and seeing Michael in 7th!
David finished one spot ahead of Michael in 14th and he also had to come from the back due to an engine change. David had been fast all weekend both in practice and in qualifying so he and his team probably weren't too happy that they had to change engines and start from the back. However, David quickly made his way forward and still ended up being able to race competitively. It's particularly impressive that David was able to finish in the top 15 considering he lost his brakes mid-way through the race which must have made pitting particularly challenging. David is currently 12th in points, and while just like with Michael's it's only two races and things can change a lot over the next few races, it sure is great to see him in the top 15 in points.
Even Marcos had a good day, spending most of the race in the top 20, though he lost a couple of positions at the end of the race and finished 21st. That's still pretty good considering he only has 13 races worth of Cup experience and he finished 32nd in his only other Cup start at California last season. I think a lot of people were expecting Marcos to struggle considering how little Cup experience he has but so far it's looking like he's making the adjustment to Cup pretty well. The season is still young so there may be some tracks he's going to struggle on, particularly if there are any that he's never raced on before, but I have a feeling he's going to have a decent season.
On the Nationwide side Michael also finished 15th and that may have been a little disappointing considering how fast of a car he had. Michael qualified 10th and I really thought he might be able to contend for the win - though no one really had anything for Kyle Busch as it turned out. However, Michael got hit on pit road by Brandon Whitt just as he was entering his pit, which resulted in Michael ending up backwards in his pit. He had the team pit him backwards and then spun around but that put him in 23rd, and if I understand the discussion over his radio during yesterday's race, there might have been a penalty. So he had some ground to make up which might have prevented him from finishing as well as he might have been able to without that incident. Michael had harsh words for Whitt yesterday, saying that he must be "retarded." As much as I hate it when drivers (or anyone) says things like that, I can't say I blame Michael for being upset - that was a pretty big mistake by Brandon.
All last week there were a lot of fans and the media dismissing Daytona, saying that the results there don't matter and how the "real" season starts at California because more tracks are like California than they are Daytona. So I don't think a lot of people thought much of MWR doing well at Daytona. But if California is a better measure of how teams are going to do this season, then MWR might end up having a very solid season. It's still only two races into the season but I think it's an extremely good sign that the finishes have been very good and the cars have been fairly fast and competitive at two different kinds of tracks. It was especially good to see MWR race well yesterday since they've struggled at tracks like that in the past and I'm hoping that it's an indication that they've made progress on getting a handle on those kinds of tracks. I know that there are still going to be bad races and tracks that the MWR teams struggle on but after the past two weekends I feel very optimistic about how MWR is going to do this season!
Posted by silverdsl at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2009
Michael Waltrip Finishes 7th in Rain-Shortened Daytona 500
What a great way for Michael Waltrip and the #55 team to start off the season with a 7th place finish in the Daytona 500!! Had the race gotten re-started Michael would likely have been contending for the win at the end as he was just positioning himself for a run up front when the last caution flag flew but I'm not in any way disappointed with 7th! Due to bad luck and non-competitive cars this is Michael's best finish at Daytona since his last Daytona 500 win in 2003! I'm so happy for him! It was a terrific day overall for Michael Waltrip Racing - David Reutimann finished 12th and Marcos Ambrose finished 17th so all three cars finished in the top 20! Awesome!
I'm also very happy with what I heard over the radio today - Michael and Bootie Barker are working extremely well together and the communication is the best I've heard between Michael and one of his crew chiefs since Tony Eury, Jr. in 2005. Of course it's only one race but if they can continue to work so well together and the cars continue to be competitive, then Michael is going to have one of his best seasons in quite some time. What I loved hearing was that other than some complaints about his car not having as much power as he would like, Michael was very happy with the car. He complimented Bootie and the team for giving him a good car and for the changes they made to the chassis. That's a big difference from the past few years when Michael would complain about everything and instead of racing for position would often be racing to not wreck. I feel so optimistic about this season after today!
I love the fact that right from the start all the MWR teams have put themselves in a very good position in terms of the top 35! Again, it's just the first race and anything can happen over the next few but all three teams finishing in the top 20 gives them a good cushion in case they run into trouble over the next few races. The progress that MWR has made since the start of last season - and especially since 2007 - is something for them to be very proud of!!
Posted by silverdsl at 06:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2009
Top Fifteens for the Michael Waltrip Racing Drivers in the Gatorade Duels
There were some feel-good stories from today's Gatorade Duels but I think the Michael Waltrip Racing drivers are probably a little disappointed even though all of them finished in the top 15 in their respective Duel. There were some nervous moments for Michael Waltrip and his team at the start of the first Duel when NASCAR told them that they had to put another transponder on the car so it could be scored. Although I suspect anything less than a trip to Victory Lane at Daytona is a disappointment for Michael since he's had so much success at this track, I think he had a decent race considering he was in a back-up that he hadn't turned any laps in due to the practice wreck the day before. Michael was able to spend some time in the top ten which was good to see but ultimately he didn't feel the car was the way it needed to be to really race up front like he wanted. He ended up finishing 15th and since there are two more practices between now and Sunday, hopefully Bootie Barker will be able to make some adjustments to give Michael a car that he can contend for another Daytona 500 win with! Marcos Ambrose, a MWR driver by way of their association with JTG-Daugherty Racing was also in this duel and quietly he finished 13th so it appears Marcos can hold his own racing a COT on a restrictor plate track, something he had previously expressed some uncertainty about.
David Reutimann is surely the most disappointed of the MWR drivers and he also had amends to make with one of his fellow competitors. At the start of the race David was racing in the top five and I was beginning to wonder if he had a chance to win. But during the first pit stop he lost quite a few positions and then disaster struck - http://www.scottriggs.com>Ryan Newman moved down while trying to avoid a much slower car and instead of just letting him in for some reason David though it would be a good idea to try to bump draft him. Instead of helping Ryan, it send him hard into the wall and the defending Daytona 500 champion was left with a wrecked race car. He was clearly livid with David and gestured at him when he drove by and later took a dig at David, saying that he was racing over his head. Based on his comments after the race David clearly felt horrible since he thought he was going to help Ryan and I'm sure he'll apologize profusely to him - if Ryan is willing to hear him out. I admit I was pretty surprised to see David give Ryan a shot like that as the timing didn't seem right but every driver makes mistakes from time to time.
The real story of the Duels was the drivers who raced their way in - Scott Riggs, Jeremy Mayfield and A.J. Allmendinger. I think a lot of people figured that A.J. would make it in but most weren't too sure how well Scott and Jeremy would do considering both were racing for brand-new teams that don't have a lot of funding, personnel or resources. Racing for Tommy Baldwin Motorsports, Scott did a terrific job of putting himself in position to make the race and staying there. Really outstanding work for a driver who was cast-off at the end of last season when Tony Stewart became an owner of Haas-CNC Racing. If Scott was outstanding, Jeremy was even more impressive. His team, which he not only races for but also is one of the owners of, was only assembled just a few weeks ago and is entirely made up of people who were laid off from other teams this off-season. If the odds seemed long for Jeremy to race his way in they looked even worse when his jackman was run over on pit road while helping another team in the first duel. But thanks to a great call by his crew chief, Tony Furr, to take only two tires on a late pit stop which helped give him track position, Jeremy did it - awesome job by Jeremy and his entire team! Regan Smith became a happy man before he even took to the track for the second duel - he found out he was locked in based on the way other go-or-go-homers had finished.
As for the winners of each duel, it was great to see Jeff Gordon win the first Duel and show some of the doubters that he's not done yet. I think Jeff is likely to have a pretty good season in 2009 and I'm looking forward to seeing him win some points races. Terrific way for the #24 team to start the season. Kyle Busch won the second duel much to the chagrin of the many fans who can't stand him. I'm not a fan of Kyle's but I admit I'm amused every time he wins because the reaction of many fans is so extreme. Kyle definitely showed today that he's picking up right where he left off last season.
Other than that the MWR teams didn't finish as well as I hoped they would, I enjoyed watching the Duels. I thought the racing was pretty good and it was exciting to see which drivers would be able to race their way in. Hopefully the races this weekend will be just as good!
Posted by silverdsl at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2009
Marcos Ambrose will be Locked in for the Daytona 500, Next Four Races
NASCAR told Marcos Ambrose and his team today that they are going to get the last spot in the top 35 in owner's points and will be locked in for the Daytona 500 and the next four races, something that seemed in doubt this week after a flurry of owner's points swaps were announced or proposed. I'm thrilled that Marcos is going to be locked in! It means that all three Michael Waltrip Racing cars will be locked in to the first five races of the season and it takes a lot of pressure off Marcos and his team because they don't have to worry about making races on time. I was particularly concerned about the Duels next Thursday because there are a huge amount of cars entered and there won't be many open spots so all the go-or-go-homers will be racing like maniacs to make the race which hate to say it will likely result in some wrecked race cars. Besides that Marcos expressed some nervousness about racing at Daytona since he's never been on a superspeedway in a COT before. This way Marcos knows he's in no matter what and he can focus on racing well enough in the first five races to be in the top 35 of this year's owner's points.
Apparently the reason why Marcos is going to end up being locked in is because NASCAR wouldn't approve the deal between Phoenix Racing and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to transfer owner's points from the #41 to the #09, a deal which to me would have made a complete mockery of things considering the #09 was only on the track for seven Cup races last season. The deal was going to take advantage of a provision in the rules that allows an organization to field a fifth car in spite of a four-car cap if they're fielding the car for a rookie driver who will be full-time in the future. Apparently NASCAR said that points transfers weren't meant to give an organization a fifth car for a rookie but I would guess they also realized how ridiculous that deal was going to make their rules regarding owner's points transfers look.
So now Brad Keselowski will have to qualify on time for the first five races (or race his way into the Daytona 500 via the Duels) and I don't have a problem with that. Brad isn't going to race the full Cup season this year and while it's important for him to get as much Cup experience as possible before he races in the series full-time, missing a race isn't going to be as damaging to his season as it would be for Marcos who is racing full-time in Cup. In addition, as Marcos brought up in an interview on Sirius this morning, full-time sponsors should have some protection, maybe even more so in the case of his sponsors since they're new to the Cup Series. These days given the economy there aren't that many new companies choosing to get involved in Cup - or in the sport overall. While things could still work out in such a way that Marcos is outside the top 35 after the first five races, eliminating the possiblity of missing those races will greatly increase the changes that he'll be in the top 35 by the sixth race of the season.
Two other drivers found out today that they would be starting the season in the top 35 via deals that NASCAR approved for their teams to acquire points from two DEI teams that won't be on the track in 2009. As expected John Andretti will be locked in by way of a deal for the #15's owner's points and Clint Bowyer will be locked in through a deal for the #01's owner's points that will make Bobby Ginn a minority owner at Richard Childress Racing. Personally, I think that last deal also kind of makes a mockery of things considering Ginn left the sport in scandal after things went so bad with Ginn Racing that he not only had to fold the team but couldn't pay all the money that he owed to various creditors including his former drivers.
It's certainly going to be interesting to see how things unfold in the first five races - and beyond - with the go-or-go-homers, and who ends up in the top 35 this season.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2009
Michael Waltrip Racing May Not Have Three Cars Locked in for the Daytona 500
It's a little over a week to the Daytona 500 and Michael Waltrip Racing still doesn't know whether all three of their teams will be guaranteed a spot not only in the Daytona 500 but for the following four races. That's because of the rush of teams trying to make deals to buy or transfer owner's points. MWR had been thinking that the #47, their third car via an alliance with JTG-Daugherty Racing, would be locked in via that team's use of the #00' owner's points. That team had finished 36th in owner's points in 2008 and was first in line to move into the top 35, something which appeared was going to happen after a number of teams in the top 35 folded. However, as it turns out it appears that those owner's points may all be transferred or sold to other teams instead of going unused. Apparently it all comes down to whether Richard Childress Racing can work something out to acquire top 35 owner's points for Clint Bowyer and his team - if they can, Marcos is out, but if they can't, Marcos is in.
My issue isn't whether it's fair or not. For one thing, JTG made a deal of their own to get owner's points to try to lock themselves in and they had to know that there was a risk that something like this would happen once the #00 finished 2008 36th in owner's points. What bothers me (besides the deal Phoenix Racing is trying to broker) is that it's so close to the Daytona 500 and Marcos Ambrose and his team still don't know whether they're locked in or not. Michael Waltrip said he doesn't even know what's going on,
“I don’t know. He was 36th, and then he was 34, and then he was 35th. I heard he might be 36th again. But I don’t know. He may be, but then again, he may not be. I haven’t heard from Daytona what the official top 35 in points is today. I know that there’s a lot going on.”
It most definitely does make a difference whether they're in or out because having to race their way in means that they'll have to approach Speedweeks, and the four races that follow, with an entirely different strategy and a lot more pressure. Supposedly NASCAR is going to finalize the top 35 on Friday so teams have between now and then to finalize a deal but it seems to me that NASCAR should have set a much earlier deadline. Or maybe they should tighten up the rules regarding owner's points transfers even more so that it's not so easy for teams to move points around unless they're making a transfer of owner's points internally between their own teams.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2008
Australian 60 Minutes to Feature Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose had a film crew from Australia's 60 Minutes with him all weekend at Homestead filming a piece for that show which will air next season. I sure wish it was filmed for this country's version of 60 Minutes! Not only did the film crew tape Marcos at the track, but they also spent time with him at Michael Waltrip Racing, at a film shoot for Bush's Bean, and best of all they went gold panning with Marcos at the Reed Mine near Charlotte. Turns out one of Marcos's hobbies is gold prospecting.
Can I love this guy anymore? I collect gems and minerals, and while gold prospecting isn't quite the same, it's probably the closest I'll get in the garage area! Hey, maybe Marcos could take Michael Waltrip gold panning and Michael will find a bunch of gold and he won't need to find more sponsorship for next season! Something that might be a little more realistic - maybe some of the video from this piece will end up on the MWR website once it airs so fans in the United States can see it too.
As mentioned above the film crew was there during a photo shoot Marcos did with Bush's Beans. That company announced last week that they'll be the primary sponsor on the #47 for two races next season, the first time they're going to be the primary sponsor of a Cup car. In addition they'll be an associate sponsor on the car for an additional ten races. That's pretty awesome! These days it's so hard for teams to find and keep sponsors, and not only is Bush's Beans continuing to sponsor Marcos, they're expanding their sponsorship.
I didn't give it any thought until I read it in the Bush's Beans press release but apparently Marcos will be in contention for the Cup Rookie of the Year next season. It might be tough with Joey Logano in the #20 but I sure would love to see Marcos win ROY!
Posted by silverdsl at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2008
Disappointing End to the Season for Michael Waltrip Racing
The Homestead weekend started out on such a high note for Michael Waltrip Racing with David Reutimann winning the pole for the Cup race, his first pole in the Cup Series ever. Things continued to go well for MWR during the Nationwide race on Saturday with Josh Wise and David finishing 12th and 13th respectively. But things didn't go as well for the three MWR teams yesterday.
For most of the race David was able to race in the top five and top ten but due to having to use different fuel mileage strategy, he only finished 20th, which was surely a huge disappointment considering where he started and how well he had been racing. When I saw the #44 pit late in the race I figured that he had such a good car he would be able to race his way into the top fifteen at least if not back into the top ten but that didn't happen. I don't know if he had to save gas after that and thus had to slow down or it was just a matter of not having enough time to make up the lost track position. David finishes the season 22nd in points and I have no doubt that next season he'll be a lot higher in points, maybe even in the Chase, considering that towards the end of the season he was racing in the top ten just about every week. The team just needs some better luck as there have been a variety of mechanical issues and other problems that no one can really control that have kept David's results from being as good as they could have been in some races.
I wonder what UPS was thinking when David won the pole on Friday and spent most of the race up front? Sure, David Ragan has finished fairly well in the last few races of the season but how often is he ever mentioned during the race broadcasts except in passing? Meanwhile David Reutimann is getting all sorts of attention for winning the pole and racing up front because it's such a story that his team and MWR have improved as much as they have over last season. I have a feeling that trend will continue next season as well.
From the start of the weekend things didn't go well for Michael. He scrapped the wall during qualifying and had to start from the back and the car was junk from the start of the race. For the first time since the beginning of the season Michael had one of the slowest cars on the track. No matter what the #55 team did they weren't able to make it any better for him either. Based on what was said over his radio it sounds like they were experimenting with some things that they hadn't done before, maybe some things that the #44 team were doing, and those things didn't work out. I suppose the time to experiment and take a risk is in this race as opposed to next season, but it was still kind of a bummer that Michael didn't get to finish the season on a high note. Michael had said at the start of the race over his radio that he was ready to race, and he sounded so optimistic - it had to be so frustrating for him that he couldn't actually race anyone. The one positive is that even though Michael finished 38th it was still good enough for him to finish ahead of Dave Blaney and the #22 team in the points which means that Michael will race in the Bud Shootout next season. I just wanted so much for Michael to be able to race competitively at Homestead and have some momentum to take with him into next season.
The biggest disappointment to me though was that the #47 was also junk at Homestead. I would have thought that MWR would have done everything in their power to ensure that Marcos Ambrose had the best possible car to race with so that he had a good chance of finishing well and sticking in the top 35. But Marcos was slow all weekend and his already slim hope of staying in the top 35 was finished off when he and Reed Sorenson tangled midway through the race. That put Marcos behind the wall for 45 or so laps and out of the top 35 by 17 points. I think there's a good chance that Marcos will end up in the top 35 to start the season anyway since there will likely be several current top 35 teams that won't be around next season. So unless those teams find a way to sell their owner's points, Marcos will likely move up into the top 35. However, one of the goals for MWR this season was to finish the season with all three cars in the top 35 and they weren't able to achieve that. They came close but fell just short. Part of me wishes that they had taken Michael McDowell out of the car a lot sooner because that might have made the difference when it comes to those 17 points.
As much as the season didn't end the way MWR wanted it's important to not lose sight of how much progress they've made not only since last season but also since the beginning of this season. David and Michael's teams have developed into teams that are capable of racing competitively. David has been racing so well that I have to think that the chances of him winning a race next season are very good Michael has said that he wants the #55 team to be a top 20 team next season and I definitely think that's possible - you have to think that he'll contend for wins as he usually does at the restrictor plate tracks as well. And even though Marcos didn't end up finishing the season in the top 35, he's been very impressive in the Cup races he's been in. While he may struggle somewhat as he gets used to racing Cup full-time next season I expect that we'll see him race up front and contend for wins at the road course races next season. So MWR is going to have a very diverse driver line-up next season that is capable of putting them in Victory Lane at a variety of tracks. If MWR continues the progress they've made this season into next - and there's no reason to think they won't - at least one win is likely for MWR in 2009! This season just ended yesterday and I'm already excited and looking forward to next season - I'm hopeful that we'll see a lot more of all the MWR cars racing up front!
Posted by silverdsl at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2008
Mark Martin in the #84 at Homestead?
Dave Moody is reporting that Red Bull Racing will have Mark Martin race the #84 at Homestead instead of Scott Speed. This is a very smart move on the part of RBR since they are in a fight to finish the season in the top 35 in owner's points and right now they're on the outside looking in. While Scott has raced well in ARCA and the Truck Series, he's been less than impressive in Cup which is part of the reason why the #84 dropped out of the top 35 because the results haven't been very good for Scott. He's also qualified very poorly, and with the #84 not locked in next week, RBR had to have been worried that if they kept Scott in the car he might miss the race. Martin will not only almost certainly qualify for the race but he'll also likely race well if the car he's given to race is any good.
While I think this is a good move for the RBR organization, it's one that I wished they hadn't made because it's going to make things harder for Marcos Ambrose who is trying to keep the third Michael Waltrip Racing team in the top 35, and he's in by just 17 points. Some are thinking that MWR is really in trouble with Mark in the #84 because they're still thinking that MWR is fielding cars that aren't very competitive. However, as the season has gone on the MWR cars have gotten more competitive. The #00 has never been as strong as the #44 or #55 teams but that changed once Marcos got behind the wheel. It's not like they're racing in the top ten or anything but two finishes in the top 20 in a row is better than what Michael McDowell did with that team. I would expect that MWR will put everything they have towards trying to make sure Marcos has everything he needs to finish well enough to stay in the top 35.
However, I think the driver who has the most to worry about is Robby Gordon. Although Gordon is in the top 35 by a wider margin - 53 points - he hasn't raced particularly well at Homestead over the course of his career and he hasn't raced very well this season at all which is why he finds himself in the position of fighting to hang on in the top 35. Robby may also have more at stake. Marcos has full sponsorship for next season and his team has an alliance with MWR which will presumably remain in place regardless of whether Marcos is able to secure a spot in the top 35 or not, particularly since the car dropping out of the top 35 in the first place wasn't of his doing. But Robby doesn't yet have full sponsorship nailed down for next season and some of it might be dependent on whether he finishes the season in the top 35 or not.
Of course anything can happen. If any of these teams experience a mechanical failure or get caught up in a wreck it would be disastrous for them. But what this does is ensures that the top 35 battle will be as exciting as anything else happening on the track including the championship which is all but decided.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:46 PM | Comments (2)
November 09, 2008
Marcos Ambrose Races His Way Into the Top 35
The more I see of Marcos Ambrose the more impressed I am. Although he's had to battle the usual bad luck that always seems to spoil good runs for Michael Waltrip Racing teams, he's done a solid job the last few races in the used-to-be #00, now #47. The best part is that Marcos followed up a 21st place finish last weekend at Texas by finishing 18th today at Phoenix despite having been swept up in a wreck not of his own doing - he and his team did a great job of staying on the lead lap and hanging on for the last few laps of the race. That finish puts Marcos in the top 35 in owner's points! That means he's locked in to next weekend's race at Homestead and if he finishes well enough to stay in the top 35, he'll have ensured that he'll be locked in for the first five races next season! In addition, he will have helped MWR achieve one of their goals for this season - to have all three of their teams finish the season in the top 35 in owner's points. If that happens that will be huge for the organization - it might not be a big deal to some teams but considering where they were a year ago it would be pretty big!
It wasn't as good of a day for Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann. As per usual these days David was racing up front and it appeared that he might be in line for a strong finish. But then he had to pit because a cowl cover wasn't removed and things went downhill from there. At first I thought David was going to be able to recover from that incident and race his way back up front but it never happened and David ended up finishing 25th, two laps down. Michael Waltrip finished just ahead of David in 24th. The car was okay but not great in today's race and Michael never really seemed to be able to do much with it. But I can't say I'm too upset - both David and Michael finished in the top 25. While neither finish is stellar, that's still progress from where they were a year ago and even earlier this season when finishing in the top 35, particularly for the #55 team might have been considered a good result.
The other drivers in the top 35 battle besides Marcos didn't finish very well which is one reason Marcos was able to gain ground and get back into the top 35. Sam Hornish, Jr. who doesn't have much of a chance of racing his way back in was involved in two incidents, Scott Speed was involved in the big wreck of the day and finished 40th and Robby Gordon raced in the back all day long. It's puzzling to me that Red Bull Racing has Speed in the car. While I understand that they want to get him some experience for next season, they have to expect that he's going to struggle, thus jeopardizing their chances of finishing the season in the top 35.
Based on the way A.J. Allmendinger has been racing lately it's safe to say that the results would have been much better if they had just stuck with him and then odds are Speed would be starting the season in the top 35. But it's looking like he won't be locked in next season and he'll have to worry about making races - that's a horrible situation to put a rookie in and RBR should know that considering all that they've gone through with the top 35 for the past two seasons. Maybe RBR thought that the #00 (#47) team was so bad that they didn't have to worry about them racing their way back into the top 35. However, that was a miscalculation - MWR has been fielding much more competitive cars for a few months now.
All I know is that the decision that MWR made to take Michael McDowell out of the third car and put Marcos and a few other driver in was an excellent one. I'm not sure that the #47/00 would be back in the top 35 right now if McD was behind the wheel. Marcos has really done a great job for JTG/MWR!
Posted by silverdsl at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2008
Not Thinking Much of David Gilliland Right Now and Other Texas Thoughts
David Gilliland just put Juan Pablo Montoya into the wall and got parked by Nascar as he should have been. While JPM had stones enough to admit that he bumped Gilliland prior to that to send a message that he didn't like the way Gilliland was racing him, Gilliland claimed in his interview that he was trying to let JPM go and just "misjudged." Yeah, he misjudged all right - misjudged if it was a wise idea or not to allow himself to lose control of his emotions to the point where he put another driver into the wall. There is no excuse for punting a driver at this kind of track at these speeds. As much as I don't like it retaliation is a part of the sport but Nascar shouldn't have any tolerance for when it goes that far. No matter what the other driver might have done, drivers can't be wrecking each other like that. It probably won't happen since they parked him but I'd like to see Nascar hand out some additional penalties to Gilliland, even if it's something relatively meaningless like a fine or putting him on probation for the last two races.
What was interesting was that I was in a chat at the time this incident took place and someone was on Jeff Burton's directv Hotpass channel - apparently Burton was livid when he saw what Gilliland did and thought he should have been parked immediately. It would be interesting to find out what some other drivers thought - while there's no doubt that they all understand retaliation and how angry one can get behind the wheel, particularly when it comes to JPM who more than a few have been annoyed by on the track, there also seems to be some unwritten rules as to how and when you send a message to another driver.
As much as I don't like what Gilliland did I don't think he should be banned from Nascar as I've seen at least one person say they think should happen. The reality is that countless other drivers have acted out, lost control of their emotions or otherwise done stupid things. Some think Nascar should sit Gilliland for the rest of the season but if they didn't sit Michael Waltrip for blatantly retaliating against Casey Mears at Richmond earlier in the season, then I don't think they're going to sit Gilliland. They probably won't even penalize him further but I'm sure they'll make it clear to him that they don't want to see anything like that again no matter what another driver does to him.
Maybe though the worst penalty for Gilliland will be the one he receives in the court of public opinion. He's currently getting ripped on virtually every fan forum and I would guess the same will be true on XM and Sirius tomorrow, and possibly in the media. That's not good for a driver who is currently in need of sponsorship for his Cup car - although it's been reported that Gilliland has a contract with Yates Racing that goes through next season Yates only has one of their three cars fully sponsored and I wouldn't be surprised if they downsized by one car due to a lack of sponsorship. So it's probably a good idea for Gilliland to not be getting himself into any trouble on the track and attracting negative attention to himself and his team.
Otherwise, Michael and his team struggled to get the handling on the #55 right and he ended up finishing 27th, three laps down. That had to be a disappointment to him since he had qualified so well and the car had been so good last week, so I think the expectations were that he would be able to race up front again. Still, I can't be too upset since it appeared the car had decent speed - after he had been lapped and they had worked on the car they were among the fastest on the track and there have been times when the car has started out slow and stayed slow. In addition, as Michael said over the radio at the end of the race his team did a good job in the pits. I continue to be happy about all the progress Michael and his team have made - as Dale Jarrett pointed out during the broadcast, MWR is still a new organization and they are still growing. There is still work to be done but the pieces are starting to fall into place for them.
The result was much better for the other MWR teams. David Reutimann was among the fastest cars on the track as he had been all weekend and spent most of the race in the top ten, including quite a few laps in 2nd. Although he lost some spots at the end of the race he still finished 10th and it was awesome to see David race so well! If David and his team carry the momentum they've got now into next season he's going to be racing up front and contending for wins on a regular basis! Marcos Ambrose finished 21st, one of the better finishes for that team this season, and that was in spite of receiving some damage in an incident in which he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. If the points I saw is correct the #47/#00 team is just 44 points out of 35th on owner's points which means that strong finishes in the last two races could put that team back in the top 35 which would be good for Marcos for next season.
Overall, I didn't think this race was very exciting. Maybe the TV broadcast just didn't do a very good job of showing all the action on the track but it didn't seem like a very interesting race. I was happy that MWR continues to get some positive attention - they talked about how well David was racing and showed Michael a few times including a pit stop even though he wasn't racing up from. Usually drivers who aren't Chase drivers or are racing up front are mostly ignored unless they're involved in an incident so I was actually a little surprised by the coverage he got today. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to see it but I found myself wondering if ESPN was trying to make good with NAPA and Michael for playing Clint Bowyer's negative comment about Michael earlier in the season.
Carl Edwards won the race with a gamble on fuel mileage and closed the gap on Jimmie Johnson for the Championship. I still think that Jimmie and the #48 team are going to pull it out but I guess it creates some drama for the last two races.
Posted by silverdsl at 07:07 PM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2008
Additional Categories Added
Just a little house-keeping news - I've added new categories for a couple of drivers. Since I often discuss topics related to Michael Waltrip or Michael Waltrip Racing, I figured I should add categories for Marcos Ambrose and Max Papis since both drivers will be affiliated with MWR next season via the technical alliance that their respective organizations have formed with MWR. I'll likely be paying closer attention to what both drivers do - particularly Marcos since his team will be housed directly at MWR. In addition, I added a category for Robby Gordon. I'm not a huge fan of Robby's but I've been following his trial and tribulations as owner closely so given how many entires I've done on him and Robby Gordon Motorsports I figured it was about time to add a category for him. There may be some additional categories added as time goes on and possibly a few removed as I don't often discuss drivers like Brendan Gaughan or Elliott Sadler anymore.
Posted by silverdsl at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2008
Marcos Ambrose to Attempt Final Four Cup Races for Michael Waltrip Racing
Today it was made official that Marcos Ambrose will attempt the final four Cup races in the #47 (formerly the #00) for Michael Waltrip Racing with Frank Kerr as his crew chief. Marcos said,
"I’m thankful MWR is giving Frankie and me the opportunity to work together these last four races in the equipment we will be running next year. Driving Toyotas and working with MWR’s engineering staff these last four weeks will really get us ahead of schedule for 2009. Our goal is to learn as much as we can about these cars so we can represent JTG Daugherty and our sponsors better next year.”
I think it's a good idea for Marcos and Frank to get used to working at MWR (more for Marcos than Frank, who was at MWR last season), and also get started on working on things for next season. These days teams start working towards the following season earlier and earlier so waiting until after this season would be waiting too long. Based on what Michael said on his XM show last night Marcos tested at Kentucky this week in an MWR car which is a good thing as well.
Marcos racing the final four races for MWR (assuming he qualifies the car into each race) likely spells the end for Michael McDowell at MWR. I had thought that they might put McD back in the car at his hometown track at Phoenix but it appears that's not going to happen. Given that they're going to be fielding Nationwide cars for both David Reutimann and Josh Wise in the remaining races in that series the chances of them putting something together for him on that level at the end of the season doesn't seem very likely. I suppose that some are going to be pretty sad about McD leaving MWR but I think Marcos is going to end up doing very well for MWR and JTG.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2008
Marcos Ambrose to Race for Michael Waltrip Racing at Atlanta
While I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off for work the past few days, Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Marcos Ambrose would be racing for them in the Cup race at Atlanta. In addition, MWR is switching the car number of their third team, the current #00 to #47 for the remaining races. Although it's only been announced that Marcos will race the car next weekend, I would think that he will be in the #47 for at least three of the remaining four races with the possible exception of Phoenix where I could see MWR letting Michael McDowell make one more start for them since I believe that's his home track. I would assume that even though the team will be using the #47, the owner's points will end up going towards the #00 - I'm not sure how it all works but Bill Davis Racing did it last season with the #36 where it was renumbered for one race but the owner's points still ended up going to the #36.
Michael Waltrip said,
"It's really nice to have a head start on the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and integrate Marcos with our team. We are pleased that NASCAR worked with us to switch our number so that Marcos and his sponsors have continuity. I, of all people, know the importance of car numbers to sponsors. We are very appreciative that everything worked out. This is a great opportunity for Marcos and it gives him a glimpse of what next season may look like for him. We are really happy about that."
I'm very happy that Marcos is going to be racing for MWR next weekend too! As soon as I heard that Marcos might be affiliated with MWR next season I got excited and I was thrilled when it was made official so I'm all for him racing for them sooner rather than later. I think it's a good way for him to gain more experience in Cup but more importantly get a feel for working with some of the people that he'll be working with next year.
One thing that I was wondering about when I saw that Marcos would be racing at Atlanta is whether he had any experience at that track and it turns out that he does. He said,
"I feel good about making the race at Atlanta. Fortunately, I have made some laps at Atlanta in a NASCAR Nationwide Series car and a Craftsman Truck. Next weekend, we need to qualify, log some laps and gain experience. In preparation, we're going to Kentucky to test to ensure that I am comfortable in the car."
Even though Marcos hasn't made a lot of starts at Atlanta he's done fairly well there in those starts with his best finish being an 11th place finish earlier this year in the Spring Nationwide race. I think it's a good thing that they're not just going to throw Macros in the car either but instead they're going to do some testing with him. Although he's made seven Cup starts already this season, he'll be racing different cars for a different team and manufacturer with some different personnel so there may be some differences from what he was used to prior to the JTG-Daugherty Racing alliance with MWR.
The other piece of news is that it was made official that MWR is going to give the #44 back to Petty Enterprises who had allowed them to use the number for the past two years. Of course officially Nascar controls the rights to the numbers and they are the ones who decides who gets to use which numbers but they don't generally let teams use numbers that "belong" are in use by other teams unless that teams gives the okay for the number to be used by someone else which is what happened in the case of the #44, PE and MWR. Should MWR need to use a third number if they find sponsorship for an additional Cup team they could either apply to use the #66 since that team is getting renumbered as the #39 next season at Stewart-Haas Racing or if Michael is successful in getting the #15 from DEI the third team can use the #55.
What will be interesting is how everything is going to work out with the owner's points. David Reutimann is presumably going to get the owner's points he earned for the #44 to use with the #00, the number he'll be racing next season. The plan seems to be for the #47 to get the owner's points from the #00 and for the #55's owner's points to remain with that team. Nascar has seemed willing to allow those kinds of points transfers during the off-season in the past but with increased scrutiny on the transfer of owner's points, particularly between two different organizations like what would happen with the transfer of the points from the #00 to the #47, I'm a little nervous that they might turn around and not permit something that they've allowed in the past.
But for now I'm just looking forward to seeing what Marcos and the #47 can do at Atlanta next weekend!
Posted by silverdsl at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2008
In the News: Michael Waltrip Racing (10/13)
Over the weekend Cal Wells discussed Michael Waltrip Racing's plans for 2009 with the media. Those plans are for them to field two MWR cars and a third car for JTG-Daugherty Racing. In addition, if there's sponsorship there's a possibility that MWR will field an additional car of their own. Cal said,
“Our plan right now is two plus one [of JTG Daugherty], and we’re working on some other opportunities for next year. We’re all in to make those three cars race-winning contenders every week. We’re not going to spread our resources unless we can really find the right kind of deal. We did this year, but next year we’re going to make sure that we’re [sponsored].”
Some fans seem upset by the idea of MWR only having two cars of their own with the third team being one that is a JTG team but I think it's a good plan by MWR to only field an additional Cup car of their own if there's the sponsorship for it. Costs have continued to rise and the difficult economy only makes things work. It's one thing to field a car for a handful of races with little or no sponsorship but I don't see how any organization can field an unsponsored car for an entire season anymore, particularly if they want it to be anywhere near competitive. It's essential that MWR continues next season to build on the progress they've made this season and if they are to truly become an organization that fields cars that can contend for wins on a weekly basis, they have to be sure that they're making wise decisions which I think they are doing.
Another reason some fans are unsettled is because the more time that goes by the less likely it is that Michael McDowell is going to be racing for MWR next season, which would be the first time that Michael and MWR would have made the decision to part ways with a driver. McD said,
“They didn’t exercise the option on me. I know it’s due to not having funding, but being out these few races here, I’m not really sure where that’s driven from. I don’t know if I’m racing next week. Hopefully I’ll be in at Martinsville or in at some races before the end of the year. But in the meantime, they’re working hard on sponsorship and I’m working hard on trying to stay in the garage.”
Sponsorship is definitely a big factor in why McD's option wasn't picked up since they can't field a car for him if they don't have a sponsor for it. However, I think he needs to be paying a little closer attention to what's going on around him if he can't figure out why he was taken out of the #00 for the last races of the season. The reality is that whether it's due to a lack of experience or something else his performance in the #00 hasn't been good enough to keep the #00 in the top 35 in owner's points and MWR has more confidence in other driver's ability to try to get the car back into the top 35 by the end of the season. It may be over-confidence in his own abilities or that he's not self-aware enough (he is just 23, something that's easy to forget) but this isn't the first time I've gotten the sense that McD can't fathom the idea that there's still something for him to learn or that he might make some mistakes behind the wheel at times.
I've always wondered what the reaction would be from fans the first time Michael/MWR releases a driver and whether fans will be angry with Michael. Almost every time a driver parts ways with the organization they were racing with there's a segment of fans who view that organization in a very negative light. Hopefully if McD does leave MWR, it will make things easier that they simply didn't pick up his option for next season as opposed to releasing him before the end of the season. I suppose some may view what they're doing now as releasing him since he may not race the #00 any more this season but he did sign autographs at MWR's Fan Appreciation Day at Raceworld last week and he's been with the team at the track so they've still retained him for now. The reality though is that even if it's a amicable parting of the ways for McD and MWR now, the odds are that sometime in the future there will be drivers who are released and it might not be on good terms - that happens with every organization that's been in the sport for a long time from time to time as there are always going to be difficult decisions that have to be made for business or competition reasons. I just hope that fans are understanding that Michael and MWR have to make the decisions they feel are best for their organization which may not always be the decisions that fans want them to make.
McD also said,
“I just want to race – I don’t care if it’s a truck, Nationwide or a Cup car. I’m ready for any of the above. You’re not going to be extremely picky, choosy at this point. I need a job.”
Ideally someone will put him in a Nationwide or Truck ride. Given time, more experience and if he's open to learning from others, McD will likely develop into a good driver who is capable of success on the Cup level. He also has a lot of personality, "gets it" when it comes to the fans and is very media savvy which would appeal to sponsors. So he has the potential to be an asset to a team but I think he really needs to race at least one full season on a lower level if not more before racing Cup again.
In other MWR news, as some had already guessed, MWR will be returning the #44 to Petty Enterprises since that organization intends on adding an additional, part-time team next season. Prior to the start of 2007 MWR had gotten permission to borrow the #44 from PE but now that they might not field an additional team next season it makes sense to give it back to PE. If MWR needs another number the #66 will likely be available next season to keep with the double-number theme, or if Michael is successful in getting the #15 from DEI as he's expressed some interest in doing, they could use the #55 for their third team.
Of course the question most fans have is what happens to the owner's points associated with the #44 and #00. I think that's where things get a little sticky and confusing. Odds are unless sponsorship for an additional team comes through the plan is for the #44's owner's points to shift to the #00 for use by David Reutimann who will be racing that number next season. The #00's owner's points would then go to the #47 that will be raced by Marcos Ambrose. The sticky and confusing part comes in because the #47 is owned by JTG not MWR. So Nascar has rules related to how a transfer of owner's points between two organizations can take place, even when those two organizations have an alliance like JTG and MWR do. Whatever happens with all the owner's points transfers will have to be approved by Nascar. I just hope they approve David getting to keep the owner's points he earned in the #44. It already happened once before that Nascar wouldn't let a mid-season switch of owner's points to allow David to take the points from the #00 to the #44 at the beginning of the season, and while they've indicated they will allow points swaps during the off-season, there seems to be increasing concern by fans, the media and maybe Nascar themselves about points swaps even between teams at the same organization so I just hope they don't make some rules changes about what they're going to allow in terms of points swaps.
Last week there was a Jayski "I heard" rumor that indicated that J.J. Yeley might race the #00 at Martinsville. Many fans were horrified but I actually liked the idea because Yeley had very good stats when it came to qualifying at Martinsville which is important. But as it turns out J.J. won't be racing the #00, but he did have some conversations with Cal Wells and Ty Norris not only about the #00 but apparently about whether there might be any future opportunities for him at MWR according to what he said this morning on Sirius. I thought that was interesting that he was talking to them about whether there might be anything for him at MWR next season because it's a further indication that McD likely won't be back at MWR even if they find sponsorship for another Cup car.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:26 PM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2008
Michael Waltrip Racing Day on "Tradin' Paint" (10/7): Frank Kerr, Crew Chief for the #47
If I'm going chronologically Cal Wells and then Michael Waltrip himself would be next in the order of how they were interviewed on Sirius yesterday, but I'm going to jump ahead to Frank Kerr, who is the crew chief for Marcos Ambrose because I thought he said a lot of interesting things regarding the alliance between Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG-Daugherty Racing, as well as about Ambrose.
As most MWR fans remember Kerr was the crew chief for David Reutimann last season and did an excellent job of working with Reutimann, but Kerr was replaced with Ryan Pemberton during the off-season. Kerr went back to work for Robby Gordon and eventually ended up at JTG, which reunited him with an organization he worked for from 2001-2003 in the Busch Series when Stacy Compton raced for them. One of the first things that Kerr said during the interview in relation to the JTG-MWR alliance was that it was "good to be back home." That probably applies in more ways than one for Kerr, since it sounds like he's working with a lot of old friends both at JTG and MWR.
Kerr spoke glowingly about the cars at MWR, saying that MWR builds "beautiful" race cars and that you can't find nicer cars anywhere in the garage area. He said that Michael should be very proud of what he has at MWR. Of course one of the first questions that Chocolate Myers and Steve Post asked was how the alliance between MWR and JTG was going to work and Kerr said that they will be all combined at MWR and all the teams will work together as one. The #47 will get the same cars that the other MWR teams will get - the cars that are built can be a #55, a #00, etc... All are the same and the playing field is the same for all the teams. Kerr said that's important because you can't go to the race track and learn from a teammate if things are different from team to team. I really like hearing that everything is going to be the same for all three teams and that they will be working so closely together. I know this bothers some fans for reasons that relates to the limit on the amount of cars a team can own but I think this is an arrangement that will help the MWR teams and the #47 be more competitive.
From here on out, the #47 team will be housed at MWR and they will get brand new cars for Marcos to race at the end of the year. That's a piece of news that I don't think has been reported elsewhere that apparently Marcos will be racing Toyotas in Cup for the last five races of the season. Of course Kerr spoke highly of his driver, saying that Ambrose never gives up that he keeps digging. Apparently at Kansas the window net came loose so Ambrose spent 45 laps holding up the window net with one hand so he actually raced one handed for those 45 laps until he had to pit because his hand fell asleep. I think that speaks to his determination, not to mention his ability as a driver, that he drove with one hand and held the window net in place with the other for so many laps and would probably have kept racing that way if not for his hand falling asleep!
Kerr also had high praise for David who he is clearly extremely fond of. He said that David is an unbelievable talent and that it's a shame that it took this long for someone to find him. I agree. It boggles my mind that no one put David in a Cup car years ago! If he's able to do as well as he's doing for MWR in spite of not always having the most competitive cars on the track, imagine what the results are going to be for him as the cars get more and more competitive! Unfortunately for David he probably never had sponsorship to bring with him to a team, and he's not traditionally "cute" and while he's very funny and personable he can come off at times like he's nervous and shy which may not appeal to some sponsors, so that may be why teams passed him by until DW decided to put him in a truck I'm so glad that David ended up in that truck because it paved the way for him to race for MWR! He's such a huge asset to the organization!
Kerr sounded really happy to be back at MWR even if he's not working for them directly, and he sounded really excited about working with Ambrose - sure hope they have lots of success together!
Posted by silverdsl at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2008
JTG Daugherty Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing Form Alliance for 2009
Today it was made official that Michael Waltrip Racing will have an alliance with JTG Daugherty Racing for 2009 under which JTG will move into the MWR shop and also receive cars, engineering, mechanical and other technical support from MWR, as well as engines from Toyota Racing Development. That means that Frank Kerr, who was David Reutimann's crew chief last season, and is currently Marcos Ambrose's crew chief on the #47 will be working at the MWR shop once again. What this does is fullfill MWR's contractual obligations to Toyota to field three Cup cars. Michael Waltrip said,
“The alliance with Tad, Jodi and Brad happened because MWR has shown over the past few months that we can field a competitive product. This allows MWR to maintain the economies of scale we currently enjoy as a three-car team. We continue to invest in our development, and this alliance helps keep the momentum we’ve gained in our fabrication and engineering departments this summer."
This alliance will also allow Michael, David and everyone else at MWR to work with another talented driver - Marcos. While he has a very aggressive racing style at times, Marcos has shown that he has talent behind the wheel and he will contend for wins at road course races. He also seems to be a great person who is friendly to the fans. What's also good about this deal is that the #47 has full sponsorship for next season from a variety of sponsors including Little Debbie, Clorox and others so there are no worries about where money is going to come from to pay expenses related to this team like MWR has now with the #00 team - everything will come from JTG and their sponsors.
The other thing I like about this alliance is that unlike some alliance/partnerships where the teams are very separate and stay in their own facilities, the #47 is going to be in the MWR shop. I think being able to work so closely together will benefit everyone from the crew chiefs to the drivers, and will mean that the cars for all three teams are prepared the same. Although JTG is retaining ownership of the #47 and will be presumably responsible for everything related to sponsorship, marketing and everything else on the business side with the team, this is very much like a third team for MWR and will likely be treated very much that way.
However, Michael said that the plan is still to try to find sponsorship for another MWR-only car. He said,
“This doesn’t change anything from our original plans, as our sales team is working hard on securing sponsorship for another MWR Cup entry. And those plans currently include McDowell. That’s the same position we were in before the JTG Daugherty alliance was formed.”
Their plans might currently include McD but I suspect that if there's another MWR car he won't be the driver. Being taken out of the car for Talladega and possibly for the rest of the season isn't a good sign - while everyone at MWR may like McD, I'm not sure they have confidence in him right now... or maybe that's just how I feel. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the members of the #00 team working on the #47 next season if MWR doesn't field another car.
I admit that I had heard something about this being in the works awhile back - someone accidentally came across something about this and didn't even fully realize what it meant but together we put two and two together. I've been very excited about the possibility of MWR working with JTG ever since that information came my way and it's been hard to keep that excitement to myself! I love the fact that MWR has gotten to the point where they can enter into an alliance with another organization and I think it's great that it's with the team that Marcos races for! Some were convinced that MWR wouldn't be around next season but instead they're actually growing to the point where they may even have four teams!
Posted by silverdsl at 01:31 PM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2008
Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (9/29)
*I have to admit that when Tony Stewart spun through the grass in yesterday's race after bumping Brian Vickers in what might have been an attempt to retaliate against Vickers for whatever it was that happened on pit road between the two and their teams, I laughed my arse off. It's a good example of why drivers need to keep control of their emotions because instead of sending a message to whoever they're angry with, it could result in a ruined race for themselves. Stewart ended up with a broken splitter as a result of his trip through the grass and he finished the race in 40th, seven laps down after having to spend time on pit road under green while his team made repairs. Stewart's chances of winning the Championship already weren't that great heading into this weekend, and yesterday's poor finish probably eliminated him from contention.
*Stewart's teammate, Kyle Busch had yet another disastrous race due to mechanical issues. I have to feel bad for Kyle and his team. They had an incredible regular season in which they won eight races but the Chase has been a horror show for them - in the past three races Kyle's finishes are 34th, 43rd and 28th . It has to be incredibly frustrating for Kyle to be eliminated from Chase contention for reasons out of his control. There are more than a few fans celebrating that Kyle won't win the Championship this season but I think it's a real shame that all the hard work that Kyle and his team put in during the regular season to be one of the best teams in the garage isn't going to result in more. It's really puzzling how Joe Gibbs Racing and particular this team was so strong in the regular season but as soon as the Chase started the entire organization has all but fallen off a cliff.
*Another driver with Chase woes is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He started the Chase well with a 4th place finish at Loudon but in his last two races Junior has finished 24th and 13th. Michael Waltrip said on his XM show that a problem for Junior and his team has been that they'll often start a race strong and race up front at first but as the race goes on they often fade, and that they needed to put together a strong race at Kansas where they raced up front the entire race. I agree with Michael, but I'm not surprised that Junior wasn't able to finish better in this race. Problems with sealing the deal and racing up front all race long aren't a new problem for Junior and his crew chief, Tony Eury, Jr. - this is something that has carried over from when they were at DEI. When Junior was at DEI fans blamed lousy cars that fell apart, well now Junior's at Hendrick Motorsports where the cars are some of the most competitive in the garage area and they don't have many mechanical failures. Most fans are blaming Eury, Jr. for the #88 team's woes but Eury, Jr. is one of the better crew chiefs in the garage area. Some seem to think there might be a crew chief change for Junior for next season (please let it happen and may Eury, Jr. end up at Michael Waltrip Racing!) - I suspect the results might not be that different for Junior with a different crew chief.
*There was some great racing in yesterday's race, particularly at the end of the race during the last lap battle between Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson, which makes the second race in a row in which there was an exciting battle to the finish for the win. Incredibly some fans are still complaining that yesterday's race stunk. I have no idea what else these fans want. Sure, the racing isn't exciting on every single lap but there was actual racing, including up front during yesterday's race. Maybe some fans are disappointed that there weren't more cautions for wrecks or they feel a race is boring if there isn't edge-of-your-seat, thrilling racing action on every single lap but it seems to me that these races are showing that it's definitely possible for there to be good racing with the COT. That doesn't mean the COT is perfect or there are no issues with unexciting racing - we've definitely seem some races that were total snoozers and I wouldn't mind if there were tweaks to the COT, the tires or the tracks in an effort to produce better racing on a more consistent basis. But I liked what I saw yesterday and at Dover for sure.
*There's been rumors for a while that JTG-Daugherty Racing and MWR might either partner in 2009 or merge completely which would result in Marcos Ambrose racing either directly or indirectly for MWR, something I would be very happy to see happen. There were several rather large clues this weekend that there's truth to those rumors - JTG used a MWR hauler and other equipment at the track, a JTG official went on the record to acknowledge that they have a "relationship" with MWR, there was talk over the #55 radio about asking the #47 for help during the race and perhaps the biggest thing that said "Oh hai, we are racing for MWR" is that the #47 was sporting MWR chrome wheels during the race. Somehow I don't see Michael handing over some of his prized chrome wheels to a team unless there was some sort of close of affiliation. It was said prior to the race on Raceday that there might be an official announcement this week and I can't wait to hear the details about what might be planned for JTG and MWR for next season!
*Last week Ted Musgrave and HT Motorsports parted ways rather suddenly between practice and the truck race (on the same day) at Las Vegas. Turns out according to what Musgrave reportedly said on Sirius a few days ago the reason they dissolved their partnership so abruptly (Musgrave says he quit) is because a team official accused him of deliberately wrecking the truck in practice. I can understand why Musgrave was so upset. That's probably one of the most insulting accusations that can be hurled at a driver other than "you suck!" and I think it's very disrespectful and unprofessional for HT Motorsports for them to make that accusation about Musgrave. It's very hard for me to believe that any driver would deliberately wreck their car or truck and particularly a former Champion of the series. Did they think the same about Stacy Compton, who raced the #59 in the race for them and wrecked on lap 37?
*There's a number of Steve Park fans who are hoping that Steve ends up back in the #59, a truck he raced for ten races in 2006. As much as I don't think Steve can be fussy about what rides he considers, I hope this is one ride he takes a pass on if it's offered to him. Steve has enough problems with the way that some perceive him without risking that they'll accuse him of something like what they accused Musgrave of. Back when Steve left the #59 it was under strange circumstances in that HT Motorsports announced that it was because he was getting a ride with Bill Davis Racing, a ride that it turns out didn't exist. Most excused that as being a misunderstanding or miscommunication, but I always thought that never felt right since the team a driver is leaving usually doesn't make an announcement for that driver of what their next ride is. So in light of some funny business with Musgrave, I have to wonder what went on with that team and Steve.
*A.J. Allmendinger finished 9th in yesterday's race in what could be his last race for Red Bull Racing. Somehow I suspect that neither Mike Skinner nor Scott Speed, who are both rumored to be racing the #84 in place of A.J. for the rest of the season will race up front or finish as well as A.J. has lately.
*Claire B. Lang just said on her XM show that she's heard that BDR will be focused on the Truck Series next season, and her guest, Brian Scott, who will be racing a truck for BDR next season said he's heard they'll also have a Nationwide team. So it's sounding more and more like BDR won't have any Cup teams next season, which goes along with some of the recent rumors that they might sell their Cup assets, including the points from the #22 team to Gillett Evernham Motorsports. One has to wonder if BDR doesn't have a truck program next season what happens to Dave Blaney, not to mention Tommy Baldwin, Jr.?
Posted by silverdsl at 03:35 PM | Comments (3)
September 24, 2008
Michael Waltrip on "The Morning Drive" on Sirius
A lot of times I stop listening to the "The Morning Drive" on Sirius after the first hour or two but I sure am glad that I kept listening this morning because they interviewed Michael Waltrip in the last hour! The usual hosts are David Poole from The Charlotte Observer and Thatsracin.com and Mike Bagley from MRN, but this morning Nate Ryan (who I really like) from USA Today was filling in for Bagley.
David Poole started out by being very complimentary of Michael in relation to Dover. Michael said it only took him one lap to know he had a good car. Within a couple of laps he passed Kasey Kahne and a few other cars and he knew he had a better than average car and something he could race with. He had been sitting on pit road lined up 40th and at Dover there’s a lot of stuff that can go wrong so it’s a tall order to get up front. You’re just trying to see if you can survive. Well, Michael definitely did survive and a whole lot more! I loved that Michael got a top ten at Dover but what really made it even more awesome to me is that he got that top ten even though he started so far in the back!
Michael continued by talking about how everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing really believes in their new car (the 3rd generation COT). It’s lighter and has a lower CG (center of gravity). It’s led to a lot of improvement. They got a little proud of themselves with it so they were setting themselves up for a fall if they couldn’t back it up. They’re moving forward in a very positive area, building a better product and making themselves a real part of the story like David at Richmond. Thing is if the gen 3 COT is working out this well for them, imagine how great the gen 4 COT is going to be? That's the thing with these teams is that they don't ever stand pat, they can't - they're constantly doing research and development. So as soon as MWR finished the gen 4, they probably started thinking about and working on the gen 4 COT.
Perhaps the most significant thing to me that Michael said in the whole interview was that the Steve Hallam hire was in the works for months. The reason I think that was such an important comment is that at times it seems as if some fans think that because a team isn't mentioned all the time on Jayski's or otherwise in the rumor mill then it means they aren't doing anything. However, even though at times it seems as if there are no secrets in the garage area, the reality is that teams are always looking at ways to get better, whether it's hiring personnel on the competition side, looking for additional sponsors or thinking about making changes to their driver line-up. So there's no telling what teams may have up their sleeves like the Steve Hallam hire which seemed to surprise a lot of people. The way the Hallam hire came about is through their connections at Toyota they heard that he might be interested in moving to Nascar and it went from there. They plan on introducing him in a more formal way with the Toyota engineers. He’s going to watch and learn, at first it might be a slow process since he’s new to Nascar but he’s going to take his knowledge from F1 and apply it. Nate pointed out that Hallam’s hire is huge for the team.
MWR is confident in their future direction. Hiring Hallam should send a signal that they’re in it for the long haul. They’re working in different areas, in different parts of the world to improve. Every move that MWR makes to secure sponsorship, add personnel or equipment, etc... should be a signal that MWR is in it for the long-haul. It's amazing to me that there are still some who are convinced that MWR is on the verge of folding next week even though they have plans in place for 2009 and beyond. Of course this is a difficult sport to survive in and there's no telling what the future might hold for MWR, but they definitely plan on being around for a long time to come!
Poole asked about the talk that MWR might have as many as four cars next season. Michael said that from the business side it’s more economical to operate four cars than three cars. The costs are spread out more, and there’s money that can be reinvested in other parts and pieces. Michael is comfortable where MWR is. He likes what Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing are doing with their three teams, how they all race up front. You can do it with three or even two but you need to do what makes the most sense and what will help you be the most competitive. The more teams you have the better chance you have to be successful. They’re listening, talking and seeing what will happen. He’s okay with three teams but will go with four if it won’t take away from the other three teams. There's been some rumors circulating via Jayski that Marcus Ambrose could end up bringing the Little Debbie sponsorship to MWR next season. I suspect that's where the third team will come from - Marcus might not even race directly for MWR but via a partnership between JTG Daugherty Racing and MWR. There's no telling how things will actually play out but I would be very happy if those rumors were true and Marcus ended up racing for MWR!
They asked him about Tony Stewart and what Michael might have done differently when he was first starting out as an owner, and how that might apply to Tony’s situation at Stewart Haas Racing. Michael said that obviously there were some stumbles and one right out of the gate, that being what happened at Daytona that could have been the knockout blow. That set MWR back in terms of morale, money and reputation. He gave directions that weren’t followed. So it’s difficult to say what he would do differently (since his directives weren’t followed).
It’s a hundred times easier to make races this year. Last year there were a lot of circumstances that Michael couldn’t control. Tony is partnering with an existing team, whereas MWR didn’t even have a copier or a coffee machine when they started out. Tony has the parts and pieces so it’s more realistic to think that he might be able to be competitive right away. I think that's something that a lot of people don't seem to realize - MWR was a completely new organization to racing full-time in Cup and even now they've still only been doing it for less than two years! The Cup Series is Nascar's most competitive series and it's difficult for teams that have been around for years to race up front let alone an organization just starting out.
As far as sponsorship and details for 2009, Michael had thought they might be able to lay out a rough idea this weekend at Kansas but that’s not going to happen. He thinks that in the next week or so they might have all the details set. Part of it is that they need to know what’s going on (I think with other teams, how other things like mergers and all will play out) so they make sure they don’t leave any stone unturned. Which I suspect may be what a few other organizations may be waiting for as well since no one wants to miss out on an opportunity to improve. I'm really excited to find out what MWR has in store for 2009!
Posted by silverdsl at 11:36 AM | Comments (2)
August 11, 2008
Random Thoughts On Watkins Glen
*Slump? What Slump? Kyle Busch continued to show that he is one of the best drivers in the Cup Series right now by picking up his 8th win in the Cup Series and 16th overall in Nascar if one counts his Nationwide and Truck wins as well. Truly an incredible season for Kyle. Odds are he's going to win at least one or two more before the end of the season so his stats are probably only going to get better before the season's over.
*Another driver who was impressive this weekend was Marcos Ambrose. Not only did he win the Nationwide race on Saturday, but he also raced the #21 from 43rd to 3rd. That's a car that has been less than competitive for a few years now and he didn't get up front by pit strategy - he raced his way up there. His Nationwide win was not only the first of his career but also the first win for an Australian in Nascar and also the first win for JTG Daugherty Racing. Only time will tell if he'll be able to have success in Cup on tracks that aren't road courses but I have a feeling he's going to race pretty well next season, or at least as well as he can for a one car team.
*Once upon a time Robby Gordon was always a threat to win at road courses but those days are over. Not surprisingly he not only didn't contend for the win yesterday but he didn't even race up front. Finishing 27th has to be considered a major disappointment for him on one of his best tracks. The pit strategy his team used was truly puzzling and resulted in him being a lap down for a good portion of the race. Robby complained over his radio about the engines he's getting from Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and I have to think that's a sign that partnership won't last too much longer - not only did anyone listening to Robby's radio via Trackpass hear what he said but Robby was also a featured driver on Directv Hotpass and his comments were repeated on a variety of websites so odds are someone from GEM is going to hear about it and I can't imagine they'll be too happy. I have to wonder if Robby is going to make yet another manufacturer change in the off-season. One thing's for sure when Robby Gordon Motorsports struggles even on road courses that's not a good sign about the health of their program.
*Speaking of Robby, it used to be that I thought the way he pieced together a full season's worth of sponsorship for his car from a variety of companies was a good idea because it allowed him to ask for less money from multiple companies instead of having to ask one company for $15 or 20 million. However, I've since reversed my thinking. That approach to sponsorship has left Robby with multiple races in which he hasn't had a sponsor and with less money than he needs to field a competitive car. It also prevents him from developing a close relationship with a sponsor in which he's identified with a particular sponsor in fan's minds like Michael Waltrip with NAPA Auto Parts.
*The #88 also had a puzzling pit strategy that hurt their result. I can't understand Tony Eury, Jr.'s thinking, though I'm sure he had his reasons for what he was doing. It's just unfortunate for Junior because it seemed like he had a very good car and he ended up finishing 22nd instead of up front. There was some interesting discussion about this on Sirius this morning in which David Poole said that he thought that the #88 team doesn't look like a Championship team even though they often race up front and I have to agree. Championship caliber teams make good decisions on the track and show an ability to overcome challenges - that's always been a strong suit of the #48 team and a big reason why they've won two Championships in addition to Jimmie Johnson's talent.
*The top 35 situation is getting pretty interesting. A.J. Allmendinger has done an amazing job of racing his way back into the top 35 despite DNQ'ing for three races. A.J. has been outstanding behind the wheel since he got back in the #84 and it would be a real shame if he lost his ride to Scott Speed. A.J. is showing that he can not only overcome adversity but also that he can race up front. The #00 and #66 are both outside the top 35 and even though it's not by much I suspect that's where both will remain since both teams seem to struggle to race well. Of course that's true of all of the teams that are near the bottom of the top 35 but I've seen some more signs of life with some of the other teams. And poor Michael Waltrip has been bit by bad luck three weeks in a row - he took responsibility for the Indy wreck but his engine blowing and then getting swept up in the big wreck that his own driver started are things that are out of his hands - has to be frustrating!
Posted by silverdsl at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2008
Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/16)
*A few days ago Bob Dillner reported on Speed that Colin Braun would be making his Cup debut for Yates Racing at Watkins Glen in August, something that was denied the following day. The report really didn't make much sense considering Yates doesn't have sponsorship for their existing two cars let alone a third and there's really no reason to replace one of their drivers with a ringer considering they're both comfortably in the top 35. So I have to wonder where did Dillner get his information from? Of course this isn't the first time that he's been burned by reporting bad information that his sources tell him - in 2006 Dillner reported that sources told him that Nascar found issues with the #29 and #31, something which appears to have been a complete fabrication though Dillner insisted that the story was legitimate in spite of there not being a single shred of evidence to support what he reported other than what his anonymous source told him. One would think after that incident Speed would have made Dillner be more diligent about throughly checking out what his sources tell him before he reports it on-air. Of course it's possible that no one wants to confirm that Braun will be in a Cup car because they aren't ready to announce anything yet but given that he'll be racing at Nashville in the Truck Race that weekend it doesn't seem too likely that he'll be at Watkins Glen.
*As part of the pre-race festivities prior to the Cup race on Saturday there was a tribute to Richard Petty and his 50 years in racing in which all the Cup drivers were given hats like his to wear and then they all posed for a photo. I was amazed to discover that not all 43 drivers took part. Apparently Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards (as well as one other driver) were a no-show for that part of the driver introductions and only showed for the actual introductions themselves. I don't want to completely throw those drivers under a bus because they might have had a good reason why they weren't there but all the teams and drivers are given a schedule of events listing specific times for things and there was surely some discussion of recognizing Petty during the driver's meeting so I kind of doubt it was a case of them not knowing that it was happening. I couldn't help but think of the conversation between Bill Engvall and Michael Waltrip on Michael's XM show recently regarding how some drivers had an attitude at Michigan during driver introductions and didn't bother to acknowledge Bobby Allison who was standing next to him on stage. Ingvall felt that some of the drivers had no respect for Allison and others, and again, barring a good excuse for why there weren't present it seems to me that those four drivers who didn't take part in the tribute to Petty weren't really showing much respect either. It seems to me that it should have been a priority to be sure they were there to pay tribute to someone who paved the way for them and has had a major impact on the sport.
*Speaking of Michael, he'll be no less busy even though it's an off-week for the Cup series. I was very happy to find out that Michael will be going to Kentucky to be a part of Speed's broadcast team for the Truck Race at Kentucky Speedway. Michael is outstanding in the booth during the truck races and really adds to my enjoyment of watching! His excitement about the series, its driver and the racing is infectious. I'm also glad that he'll be in the booth during the practices and qualifying as well, something that he often can't do because of his responsibilities to his team(s) on normal race weekends. However, he won't have any teams to worry about in Kentucky so he can just have fun broadcasting the race. Michael will also be making an appearance of a different kind next week, an autograph signing in Madison, AL on Tuesday, July 22, to support a longtime friend of his, Paul Finley, who he graduated high school with who is running for Mayor of that city. Finley helped Michael with Operation Marathon in 2005, and I think it's pretty cool that Michael is returning the favor now. It says something about Michael that he's still in touch with someone that he was friends with before he became a Nascar driver - I would guess that isn't the case for all the drivers.
*Marcos Ambrose and JTG Racing are going to move to the Cup Series next season with help from current ESPN Nascar analyst Brad Daugherty. The team will change its name to JTG Daugherty Racing, and in addition to fielding the #47 in Cup for Ambrose will field two Nationwide cars as well. I have to wonder how well this is going to work out for them. Although having sponsorship in the form of Little Debbie gives them a leg up in comparison to other teams that are struggling to find sponsorship dollars, it's very difficult for one-car teams to be successful in Cup and it's probably going to be even more of a challenge for a driver with just one race's worth of experience on the Cup level, particularly since the team will start the season outside the top 35 in owner's points.
*What troubles me a little is that Daugherty will be the third member of ESPN's Nascar broadcast team who is an owner since Rusty Wallace and Ray Evernham also own teams. I think it's a problem in general that most members of Nascar's broadcast teams whether they work for FOX, Speed, ESPN or another station have some sort of ties to teams or other entities in the garage area that aren't always completely spelled out for viewers so they know when there might be a possible bias on the part of a particular announcer or analyst. I think for the most part all of them do a very good job of being fair and objective but it's human nature that at times their biases might come through. I think most people are well aware that Michael Waltrip is an owner, that Kenny Wallace drives a Nationwide car and that Rusty is a team owner. However, how many people know that Jeff Hammond owns a truck team or that Phil Parsons owns a Nationwide team and also is on the board at Michael Waltrip Racing? Where I'm especially bothered is with Rusty - he never got along with Ryan Newman when they were teammates at Penske Racing and Rusty seemingly doesn't miss an opportunity to take a dig at him on-air. In addition, as they were discussing the other morning on Sirius at times Rusty seems to use his position as a media member to advocate for changes that would benefit his Nationwide team and other Chevy teams. David Poole pointed out that Rusty will talk about the Toyota teams having an advantage over other teams as if it's a proven fact without presenting any evidence it's true other than his opinion (like so many others). Then he pushes for Nascar to do something about it. I have no problem with Rusty giving his opinion but it should be clear that he's speaking as a Nationwide owner who would benefit if Nascar made a change regarding the Toyota teams.
*Someone wondered on SPC whether Steve Park could end up racing for DEI again given that all their drivers seem to be leaving (or at least trying to leave). I think the odds of Steve racing Cup again are slim to none, and the odds of him racing Nationwide or trucks aren't much better but since he's seemed to have maintained a relationship with those at DEI given that he spends time with DEI employees when he's in the garage area, seems to be pretty friendly with Kerry and Jeffry Earnhardt at East Series races and participates in Dale Earnhardt Day alongside Teresa Earnhardt at DEI each year, I'd say if there's any organization on one of Nascar's three highest levels that might consider giving Steve a ride it's DEI. However, in light of DEI's sponsorship woes he would likely have to bring a sponsor with him. Steve had trouble finding a sponsor to bring with him to a team when the economy is good so the chances of him finding a sponsor now that the economy is bad seem even worse now. Of course Steve would also have to get over his insistence that the only ride he'll take is one that races regularly in the top five and contends for wins which isn't any of the DEI cars right now.
*It would certainly be interesting to see how fans would react if Steve ended up back at DEI. Some would surely be extremely unhappy about it. I was just as upset as anyone when DEI released Steve but the more time that's passed the more I understand some of the reasons why they might have felt they needed to make that move. It's been five years since Steve was released from DEI in 2003 and it seems to me it's time to get past the anger over the way that situation played out - Steve certainly seems to have. Some also hate Teresa Earnhardt passionately and while I understand the reasons why some have issues with her, as it relates to Steve I think he should be the guide - that he has no problem appearing at Dale Earnhardt Day with her tells me he probably doesn't have any issues with her.
*Speaking of DEI whenever there's discussion of Martin Truex, Jr's contract situation there's mention about how there's some sort of option that DEI has on him for next season so he's not truly a free agent like some other drivers despite how most refer to him as being completely available to sign with another team. Apparently DEI picked up that option on Truex for 2009 back in April, but there's some confusion over whether there's an "out" for Truex or not. It was said somewhere that Truex really wants to leave DEI and that lawyers might get involved to find a way for him to negate that option in his contact so he can go elsewhere. On one had if a driver is that unhappy that they make it known they want to leave and consider getting their legal team involved it seems to me that an organization is better off releasing them and moving on. However, there's something to be said for being held to the terms of one's contract. More and more these days it seems like contracts are meaningless because there are so many "out" clauses that allow drivers and sponsors to leave their teams or for teams to make a driver change before whatever deal is in place expires. Even when there's not an "out" clause it seems like all a driver has to do is make a big issue of wanting to leave like Tony Stewart did and they're granted their release. It's often in everyone's best interests to make changes and move on but there almost doesn't seem to be any point in signing long-term contracts anymore.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2007
Robby Gordon Gets Penalized
Since I was at Pocono this weekend I didn't get to do an entry about Robby Gordon's action in Montreal on Saturday, but believe me I've been giving it plenty of thought. Although Nascar parked Robby for Sunday's Cup race in response to his actions the day before, they penalized him further today by placing him on probation and fining him $35,000. At first I had thought that Robby got off easy but there's a stipulation to the probation that I think might be Nascar's harshest punishment of all. Nascar said,
"...if, during the remaining NASCAR events in 2007, there is another action by Gordon that is deemed by NASCAR officials as detrimental to stock-car racing or to NASCAR, or is disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event, he will be suspended indefinitely from NASCAR."
Why is that such a harsh punishment? Because over the course of his career, as evidenced by his actions this past weekend, and many other instances, Robby has shown an inability to keep his emotions under control, which usually leads to behavior that gets him into trouble. There's the helmet toss, deliberately causing a caution, ill-advised comments about Danica Patrick and so much more. What Nascar has forced Robby to do is either change his pattern of behavior or not race, possibly for a long time. As a result Robby might be forced to change his racing style to be less aggressive - spinning another competitior like what he did to Marcos Ambrose, regardless of what was done to him first, likely won't be tolerated. But Robby will also be forced to be careful in terms of his overall attitude and behavior - "actions detrimental to stock-car racing or Nascar" is extremely broad and Nascar can apply that (and often does) to virtually any situation where they feel there needs to be some sort of penalty. One way or another Robby will have to conform and accept Nascar's authority.
As for Robby's actions in Montreal, I think he was competely over-the-line. Yes, he had reason to be angry with Nascar. Good reason. But the fact of the matter is that Nascar is the governing body of the sport. If he doesn't feel like abiding by their directives and rules he can find another series to race in, and I think that's the message that Nascar is trying to send with the stipulation to the probation. Most of Robby's supporters are glossing over his actions after Nascar black-flagged him and are only concentrating on how unfair it was that Nascar wouldn't let him stay in second place on the re-start. But in my mind, it's Robby's actions afterwards that overshadow any mistakes that Nascar made.
As soon as Robby was told to get off the track for deliberately wrecking Ambrose - something Robby admitted to in an interview that was played on XM yesterday - he was obligated to comply. Robby claims that he felt he had to stay on the track and "win" so that if he appealed and won he would be declared the winner. Give me a break. There's no way Robby was going to win that appeal once he refused to get in line and then failed to comply with a Nascar directive to go to the garage. What's worse though is what Robby did after the race - his victory "celebration" with the burnouts and the show for the fans was an embarassment. That showed a complete lack of respect not only for Nascar, but also for Kevin Harvick, the real race winner, and Richard Childress, who happen to be Robby's former teammate and owner respectively. I think his antics displayed not only a lack of respect for everyone else around him but also an incredible selfishness because in that moment not only did Robby not care about Nascar, Kevin or Childress, he also didn't care about how his actions would effect his Cup team, his organization overall or his sponsors.
Robby was practically begging for Nascar to take action against him - and they did. I completely agree with Nascar suspending Robby for Pocono, and I would have fully agreed with them parking him for more races too. Regardless of how in the wrong Nascar might have been in relation to some of their calls against Robby, they are the governing body of the sport and they have to send a message that no competitor can ignore their rules or create a sideshow like Robby did, something which completely overshadowed not only Kevin's win but what should have been a feel-good story about how great the racing was in Nascar's first race in Montreal.
Many of Robby's fans think his behavior is wonderful because he's standing up to Nascar and making them look foolish. Most of them think that not only did Robby "win" the race in Montreal, but he also "won" some sort of battle against Nascar. I don't think so. In the long-term Robby's actions could be quite costly. For one thing it's never a wise idea to be on Nascar's bad side, and there's no doubt that those that run Nascar were furious with Robby. What if Robby needs their help with something down the road - they might not be so willing to help him out. But beyond that on Sirius yesterday morning there was some discussion about how some of Robby's sponsors aren't all that thrilled with his antics. While it's true that there's no such thing as bad publicity in many cases, that doesn't mean that sponsors condone bad behavior. At some point sponsors would rather that exposure comes from good results on the track or other more positive things rather than a driver constantly acting out. Plus, Robby already has some sponsorship issues - some sponsors may think twice about getting involved with him, which could be especially costly considering Robby wants to get a second Cup team going full-time. In addition, there's Robby's Cup team to consider - I think by getting himself parked, Robby really let them down. Perhaps that's what's most unfortunate of all to me - Robby doesn't seem to understand that he's not only a driver now, he's also an owner and that brings additional obligations and responsibilities.
So Robby's response is to put Ambrose in a second Cup car at The Glen. I suppose it's his way of making amends with Ambrose and also generating some additional PR. But part of me wonders if it's not an additional way of saying "screw you" to Nascar by doing something to ensure that this incident keeps getting talked about through next week. It seems that Robby's pattern is to screw up and them do something splashy to make up for it. In this instance he's giving Ambrose a ride, when he threw the helmet at Michael Waltrip, he ended up auctioning it up for charity. Those are nice gestures, but I think it's unfortunate that he's not just doing those things anyway as opposed to doing them because he needs to do damage control.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)