Random Thoughts

September 15, 2009

Ty Norris on Sirius Talking About Pat Tryson, Truex, etc...

Ty Norris, general manager of Michael Waltrip Racing, was on Sirius this morning. He started off talking about hiring Pat Tryson as crew chief for the #56 next season. They felt like Martin Truex, Jr. coming on-board was an opportunity to upgrade the program with every piece of ammunition they could get. Steve Hallam and Cal Wells put together a list of what they were looking for in a crew chief to make Truex a Chase contender. They looked at who had the best on-track record and who was interested and Tryson was at the top of the list. He told them that he really wanted to make a change.

Martin and Michael were involved in the discussions about who would be crew chief of the #56. The process was very deep. They interviewed four different candidates. It was difficult for Martin to be part of the process because he has such a good relationship with Bono Manion and that's the only crew chief he's ever worked with on this level. However, it appeared to them (MWR) that it was time to go in a different direction for Martin. Sounds to me like Martin would have liked to have brought Bono with him to MWR but MWR had other ideas.

They looked at leadership qualities for one. Pat commands his guys and they respect him. He doesn't get flustered and doesn't have a temper, though Ty was quick to note (probably with Michael in mind) that he loves a temper because it shows passion (I agree!). Pat is a good motivator and has a good track record. He listens to everything presented to him from the driver and engineers.

Pat owes it to Penske Racing and to Kurt Busch to try to win a Championship and that's where his focus will be for the rest of the year. They won't be talking to him about race cars. Same thing with Truex, he has races to win. They've been doing data analysis since last May about where they needed to be to get the cars in the Chase and since then they've been addressing their gaps and fixing their woes. When they all get together in December and January (with Pat and Truex) they'll be ready for next year.

MWR has reinvented themselves as an organization. They have a bright future under their roof.

They talked to Michael last year about his future and knew that Martin would be a free agent this year. They talked with NAPA in December and January about going after Truex.

Michael is at the shop every day. He works out there and his office is right there so they see him walking around in his underwear! He goes to all the competition meetings and is very involved. This is Michael's passion and it's all he has (compared to some owners who have dealerships or other business interests). Michael spends a tremendous amount of time there and has dedicated his life to racing.

Words can't describe David Reutimann. They've watched him grow since DW's truck team and it's like watching a child grow up even though he's just a few years younger than Ty. Watching him mature as a driver is remarkable. They've never run well at Atlanta but David finished top five and it put a smile on his face. JTG invested a lot in Marcos Ambrose and Marcos has been loyal. Tad G. just smiles when someone tells him how amazing it is how well Marcos is doing because he knew how good Marcos would be. It's a pleasure to have Marcos around because he smiles all the time and it just like he seems to be on TV.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2009

Michael Waltrip Racing Names Gene Nead Interim Crew Chief of the #55

Rumors surfaced this week that when the Cup Series returned to action at Atlanta in two weeks that there would be a new crew chief calling the shots for Michael Waltrip and the #55 team. Yesterday it was confirmed that Robert "Bootie" Barker was being replaced by Gene Nead, who had most recently been a crew chief for Michael McDowell at JTG-Daugherty Racing in the Nationwide Series, and has worked for Robby Gordon Motorsports and Bill Davis Racing among others. Michael has been unhappy for weeks now both with the cars he's been given to race and often with the calls that are made during races. Almost every week he complained bitterly over the radio during races about how terrible the cars were and how the changes that Bootie made never seemed to do anything to improve things. So it was pretty clear that as much as Michael seems to like Bootie on a personal level, things weren't working with Bootie as crew chief.

However, as upset and unhappy as Michael has been I'm still surprised that he got a new crew chief. I figured that given that Michael isn't going to be back full-time next season and the results don't really matter that much beyond making sure the #55 is in the top 35 in owner's points for Martin Truex, Jr. that Michael Waltrip Racing wasn't going to be inclined to make too many changes or put too much resources into the #55 team since they would probably want to do those things after Martin joins the team. But perhaps they were worried that if the results continued to be as poor as they've been that there was some danger of the #55 dropping out of the top 35 or Michael just couldn't stand to struggle as much as he has been.

Contrary to what some believe Michael most definitely does care about the results. If he didn't care anymore he wouldn't get as angry as he has been getting when the car isn't any good and things aren't going well. Michael feels just as much passion and competitive fire as any other driver even in his 25th season in Cup. He loves racing and loves NASCAR. But things have changed from the style in which a lot of the younger drivers race and also with the cars and I think that is contributing to why Michael - and some other drivers - are struggling. Perhaps a new crew chief will be able to set the cars up more to Michael's liking or at least help him adjust a little more to racing the COT if that's an issue. It sure would be great if Michael was able to race competitively and get some good finishes in his last few races as a full-time driver! Hope Gene Nead is the man who helps make that happen!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2009

Brian Vickers Wins at Michigan!

Brian Vickers enjoyed a very successful weekend at Michigan, winning not only the pole but the race itself. The win was just the second of Brian's career and the first not only in Cup but in all of NASCAR for Red Bull Racing. I'm very happy for Brian that he won! Brian had to struggle through all the challenges that the other Toyota drivers had to deal with in Cup in 2007 and it's good to see him rewarded with a trip to Victory Lane. Some will surely try to dismiss Brian's win by saying that the only reason he won is because Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas but Brian had to race his way to second place and then hold onto the lead when Jimmie ran out of gas. This win is just as much of a win as any other.

This win makes the way RBR is dragging their feet when it comes to re-signing Brian even more curious. Brian has done everything right for RBR - he's helped them develop into a successful Cup organization, he's won poles for them, he's raced competitively on a regular basis and now he's even won a race for them. What more could they be looking for? It make no sense to me that they haven't re-signed him and if they aren't careful another organization may lure him away - it's hard to win races on the Cup level and winning this race may make Brian very attractive to other teams. The excuse that RBR may be thinking about switching manufacturers doesn't hold water for me since it seems to me that they can re-sign Brian regardless of whether they'll be a Toyota or Chevy team. If they're thinking about signing Brad Keselowski I hope it's not in place of Brian - as good as Brad may be I doubt he'll put himself in a position to make the Chase as Brian has done this season.

Other drivers who had good finishes at Michigan included Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who finished 3rd, Sam Hornish, Jr. who finished 5th, Casey Mears who finished 6th and David Reutimann who finished 9th. For Junior it was his first top five since Talladega where he finished 2nd, and renews the hopes of Junior Nation that their hero may contend for wins sometime in the near future. We'll see. For Sam it was his second top five in his last three races which is good but I'm not ready to say that he's turned the corner and is developing into a successful Cup driver like some others since he also has five finishes of 32nd or worse in his last eight races. For Casey Mears it was his best finish all season which will hopefully quiet some of the rumors that he may be replaced next season.

David was the top finishing Michael Waltrip Racing driver. While it was great that he got another top ten, David remains 16th in the points and the chances of him making back into Chase contention don't look very good which is unfortunate. But at least he fared better than his teammates at Michigan. Michael Waltrip struggled all day with an ill-handling car and finished 27th. I'll always be a fan of Michael's and I'll always support and cheer for him whether he's racing up front or near the back but it's hard to listen to him during races these days. He's always unhappy with the cars he's given to race which based on his description are pretty bad and it leads to him being very frustrated, angry and miserable. Marcos Ambrose also had a difficult day - he finished 35th, one lap down but I'm not sure what happened to him.

Next weekend is Bristol, a track that drivers look forward to racing on and a race that fans very much look forward to watching. Hopefully we'll see some great racing!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)

Ryan Truex Wins at Lime Rock!

Ryan Truex continues to impress in his first season in the Camping World East Series! Not only did he win his third race of the season, his Lime Rock win meant that he swept both road course races this season! Winning one road course race as a rookie is no easy feat, winning both is incredible! Ryan credits Marcos Ambrose for coaching him on road course racing - Marcos certainly did a great job! In his first three races Ryan struggled a little but in his last six races Ryan's worst finish is third at South Boston and he hasn't finished out of the top two in his last five races. If the pattern keeps up Ryan will finish second in his next race at New Hampshire and then win the East Series's final race of the season at Dover.

The race may not be the only thing that Ryan wins at Dover - he's currently leading the points so he could very well win Michael Waltrip Racing their first ever Championship. When they signed him even though they knew he had talent I'm not sure anyone would have predicted that he would be in a position to win a Championship for them in his first season racing for them! In addition, Ryan is also leading the Rookie of the Year standings as well. Even if he doesn't win either - and I think there's a good chance he will - it will still be an outstanding season for Ryan!

In a recent article on nascar.com, Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan's bother, mentioned there was a possibility that he and Ryan could share a Nationwide ride next season, presumably for MWR. I'd like to see Ryan race some Nationwide races next season on a part-time basis if not a full-time basis since it's likely he has the ability behind the wheel to handle racing on a higher level given that he's beating more experienced veteran drivers like Matt Kobyluck and Steve Park on a regular basis. What would be even better to me than Martin and Ryan sharing a Nationwide ride would be both of MWR's young drivers - Ryan and Trevor Bayne - sharing the #99 next season. However, I'd guess that not only would sharing a ride have a lot of appeal to Ryan and Martin, it will probably be easier to find sponsorship if Martin is involved since most sponsors prefer to be associated with Cup drivers no matter how talented a young driver may be.

As for the previously mentioned veteran East Series drivers, Lime Rock wasn't kind to either Matt or Steve. Both had engine woes to deal with and Matt's were particularly costly since it made him a non-factor at a track where he's had a lot of success previously and likely eliminated him from Championship contention. The end result was better for Steve - though he couldn't repeat his win from Adirondack he ended up finishing 11th. Not the finish he and his team were looking for but good enough to move him up to 4th in the points.

Even though it continues to be difficult to follow the action in the East Series due to the lack of live TV coverage of the races and general lack of media attention given to the series, I'm very excited for the last two races of the season because I'm really hoping that Ryan can continue to race as well as he had been and win the Championship. Just wish the next race was sooner than mid-September!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2009

Ryan Truex Wins Thompson; Leads the East Series Points

While most of the attention lately when it comes to Michael Waltrip Racing has been focused on Martin Truex, Jr. signing with the organization or how David Reutimann is in the hunt for a spot in the Chase, there's another MWR driver making some noise. Martin's little brother, Ryan is on fire in the Camping World East Series! Ryan has won two of the last three races and the race that he didn't win, he came in second! As a result Ryan is currently leading in the points standings and if he keeps racing this well there's a very good chance that he could be the 2009 East Series Champion at just 17-years old!

What was so awesome about this past weekend's win at Thompson is that it was Steve Park who Ryan ended up battling for the win! Steve led the first 70 laps before giving up the lead to Ryan and the two raced each other for the remainder of the race. Steve ended up finishing second, his best finish of the season. It was really a dream top two for me - the driver who has been one of my favorites in NASCAR for the longest battling the driver who is one of my newest favorites! I would be in heaven if Steve and Ryan battled each other for the win in every race!

After the race Steve showed how much class he has, going over to Ryan in Victory Lane to congratulate him. In addition, Steve had nothing but high praise for Ryan, saying, "We were trying to pull every trick out of the bag and I thought Ryan, being as young as he is, would fall for one of them, but he's an extremely talented racecar driver. He's got a great future ahead of him." and that "You guys better get his autograph tonight because he ain't going to be around here much longer." I have to agree with Steve - Ryan is a driver with an immense amount of talent. While he started off the season slow, now that he's started to get used to racing in the East Series his ability is on display and it's clear he can race! What's most impressive to me is that Ryan is racing up front and winning poles and races on tracks he's never raced on before.

Ryan was on Sirius this morning and talked about how he'd like to race some Nationwide races next season.Although sponsorship is likely in short supply, if there's any way to make it happen MWR probably will try to get him some experience on higher levels as it's clear that Ryan is a driver on the rise with a very bright future. Sure hope that future includes winning a lot of races for MWR for many years to come!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)

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 17, 2009

Not Much I Want to Say Right Now

I've been a bit neglectful of this blog of late, not because I don't have anything to say but instead because I don't have the heart to do entries about some of what's on my mind right now. If there's anyone who is still stopping in on a regular basis they may have noticed I haven't at all addressed other than in a passing way the rumors about Martin Truex, Jr. going to Michael Waltrip Racing to take over the #55 and the likelihood that Michael will only be racing a few races next season. I have a lot of thoughts about all that but I've decided that I want to wait until the announcement is officially made before I blog about it. The fact of the matter is while I understand all the reasons why all of this is happening, like many other fans of Michael, I'm sad about it and having a difficult time like many other of Michael's fans. The rumor mill says that the announcement is coming by the Daytona race in early July and after that a lot of things will be very different for many of us.

I'm also disappointed in the results for MWR at Michigan this past weekend and I just didn't feel like writing a negative entry about their poor performance. Yes, David Reutimann finished 19th which isn't terrible but that finished dropped him out of the top 12 in points. With Juan Pablo Montoya on the rise, other top teams performing well, and the series racing at a road course this weekend which isn't the kind of track where David excels it may not be so easy to get back into Chase contention, though I very much hope that happens. It's also a downer that Michael continues to struggle. I very much want him in what's likely his last full-time season to have some races in which he races competitively up-front, and maybe even contends for a win. At the start of the season it had seemed like that was going to happen and it's disappointing that things went in another direction. I feel really bad for Michael because it has to be hard on him.

If I'm being honest the Michigan race overall didn't do anything for me. While some fans and media members have been falling all over themselves to say how exciting the race was I can't agree. The race was incredibly boring for 198 of 200 laps and not just because the MWR teams were struggling. Sure, there was some drama on the last two laps not knowing who was going to have enough fuel to make it to the end and who was going to run out. But to me exciting racing is watching drivers racing each other hard. I understand that strategy, fuel mileage and otherwise, is a part of racing and I don't think Mark Martin's win is any less of a win because he won based on getting better fuel mileage than others did. But I think it's a sad commentary on the state of things that fuel mileage, not good hard racing, is what passes for exciting racing these days.

There's other things on my mind as well. Michael said at the Wal-Nutz gathering in May that the sport is changing and it's true that it is. To some fans and those in the sport it's changing too fast and too much but to me in some ways the sport hasn't changed enough. Because of how much of a fan of Michael and MWR I am, as well as my long-time love of racing, I've continued to be a NASCAR fan, but sometimes I wonder whether there's going to come a time when like so many other fans I find other things to do on race day. Which is pretty sad considering I've always been the kind of fan to find something positive and fun in everything.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2009

Patrick Carpentier in the #55 in Place of Michael Waltrip at Infineon

I guess if I'm really a good Michael Waltrip fan I'm supposed to be excited about this but instead I'm sad and disappointed. Today it was announced that Patrick Carpentier is going to race the #55 instead of Michael at Infineon. Michael has to make decisions as owner based on what he thinks is best for MWR, the #55 team and the business overall, but I can't say I fully understand this decision. Infineon is actually one of Michael's best tracks and his average finish over the course of his career is 16.4. Meanwhile in the one race he raced at Infineon in Cup, he finished 23rd, just two spots in front of Michael. In fact, in the limited amount of road course races that Patrick has raced in Cup, he's not exactly been spectacular. Which I think is the problem. If we were talking about Boris Said racing the #55 I might be more enthusiastic, but we're talking about a driver who thus far really hasn't been any better than Michael on these tracks.

The other thing is that overall as hyped as the road course ringers are for the most part they never seem to do much. Yes, occassionally a road course ringer has a nice run but that seems to be more of the exception than the rule. In the press release Michael talks about getting a win for NAPA, but when was the last time a road course ringer ended up winning on the Cup level? I'd love for Patrick to be the one to do it, but I think the odds of seeing the #55 in Victory Lane probably aren't too good. Hopefully he'll at least be able to finish in the top ten and move the #55 up in the owner's points but that won't be easy given how many other talented road course racers he'll be racing against.

It's funny because it's often said that these decisions are made for business reasons to please the sponsor, which in this case is NAPA, that those sponsors want a better chance for their cars to be up front in front of an audience in a major market like California . Meanwhile, a lot of the fans of the driver who is getting replaced - and Michael has a huge fanbase - opt not to watch because they won't be seeing their favorite driver. After all, as someone said to me recently in reference to Michael not racing much next season - fans don't cheer for the car or the sponsor, they cheer for the driver. Luckily in this case the driver is also the owner so Michael's fans will be more supportive of this than they might be otherwise.

Hopefully Patrick will finish up front in the #55 at Infineon.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2009

Ryan Truex Wins at Watkins Glen!

Another winner for Michael Waltrip Racing! Ryan Truex followed up his pole and 3rd place finish last week in last week's East Series race at South Boston in a very big way yesterday at Watkins Glen by winning the race with a last-lap pass of Patrick Long. Ryan becomes the third member of his family to win in the East Series following his father Martin, Sr. and his brother, Martin, Jr. Ryan won in just his 6th East Series race of his career and one has to think it may not be the last time he ends up in Victory Lane this season. Given that Ryan has previous road course experience I had a feeling he was going to do well, I just didn't expect that he was going to do that well! I think it's pretty cool that he can say that he beat Steve Park, a former winner in Cup at Watkins Glen.

In the short time he's been racing for MWR, I've come to be a big fan of Ryan's so I'm thrilled that he won this race! I admit that I didn't know much about him prior to when he joined MWR, but I was impressed by what I found out, particularly that he's already a Champion having won the Legends Championship at Wall Stadium when he was just 15. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to interview him for a fan newsletter and speak with him again at MWR's Fan Appreciation Day and even though he's very quiet, he's not only very nice but intelligent too. So I'm really hoping he races for MWR for years to come and continues to win races as he moves to higher levels - sure would love to see him race in the Nationwide Series for MWR if not next season then in 2011!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2009

This Week in NASCAR With Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus (6/1)

Since there was no show last week, This Week in NASCAR with Steve Byrnes, Chad Knaus and Michael Waltrip, started off with a discussion of David Reutimann's Coca-Cola 600 win. I thought it was kind of neat how both Chad and Michael are part of teams that have won the last two races and both of them won in very different but equally as good ways.

Michael said that it was a great day for Michael Waltrip Racing last Monday in just the beginning of their third season. He's real proud. David's not a good hugger, if you look at the way he hugs, he's a sideways hugger according to Michael, who joked that David wasn't apprehensive about the rain, he was thinking about how Michael said that if he wins he wanted it all, that he wanted to feel the love from David in a real hug. All joking aside but with Michael's comments last week about how important it was for him to hug David because he never got a hug from his owner when he won his first Cup race and how touched he was to see David and Buzzie hugging that hugging David had quite a bit of significance to Michael?

The conversation turned to Jimmie Johnson's win and Michael said that if the fastest car or truck had won all the races lately Kyle Busch would have won them all but it's so hard to win. What Chad and the #48 team accomplished racing to the front with the fastest car was almost an anomaly. Which I think highlights a problem that some fans have with the racing these days is that even though strategy of various kinds has always been a part of the sport, a lot of fans are bothered that a driver can have an extremely fast car but things are often determined by how they come out of the pits, fuel mileage strategy or other things besides racing their way up front.

Chad said that a cool thing about Michael's win is that it shows that this is a team sport. A driver can go out and do their job, the pit crew does their job but if they don't have the right crew chief they won't be able to win. The #00 was running well, the pit crew did good and Rodney Childers made the right call to win the race. Chad made an outstanding point - as much as some fans believe that racing is an individual sport where only what the driver does behind the wheel matters, it's very much a team sport where the driver needs help from their pit crew, crew chief and other team personnel to be successful and win races. Some seem to think that the only reason David won the race is because it got rained out but David still had to race well enough and the pit crew had to do good enough pit stops to where the team was in a position for Rodney to make the call that he did that ultimately won them the race.

Back to Jimmie's win, Chad said that Tony raced them clean. Jimmie led close to 300 laps but they had trouble on the last pit stop which is why they came out 9th. Chad said that they had a great race car and Jimmie was still fresh because he hadn't had to race a whole lot so he had a lot of energy left. So Chad told Jimmie that he had a shot at a top five. Michael asked what I thought was a great question about whether Chad thought they could still win and Chad said that he though they had a shot at it but he wanted to first get into the top five and then reassess from there. The top five was the initial goal. Of course as it turned out they were able to win. I thought it was interesting that Chad set the goal as the getting a top five, at least at first. What he was doing was making sure to keep the goal reasonable instead of shooting for the moon right away and potentially being disappointed if they couldn't get the lead back.

Unfortunately MWR didn't fare so well at Dover. The #55 lost its 2nd engine in three races and Michael said that shouldn't happen these days and that it's unacceptable. Of course MWR gets their engines from Toyota Racing Development and I believe there have been other engine problems even prior to now. I was surprised that Michael had such strong words openly about how unacceptable it is to blow so many engines but I'm glad that he did because it should be known that the poor results recently aren't the fault of Michael or MWR when they've had engine issues to deal with. Michael said that his car wasn't great but in the middle of the race it wasn't bad, that they got it tuned up and he was pleased with the way it was running. Um, what?! Michael complained from start to finish about how bad the car was and at no time did he indicate that he was okay with the way it was running.

Michael said that David started out with a great car but it eventually went away. The cars are really difficult to keep on target. It's easier when you start out with a good car and then you either not touch it or just tweak it a little. But if you have one like he or David did then it makes for a hard day. David is still in great shape to make the Chase though and that's where the focus of MWR is, making sure he has all the resources, parts and pieces to make the Chase. Hopefully that will happen! Chad said David has momentum with the win and the pole. It's fun to see when things start to click for guys like David. The whole team has smiles on their faces and it's fun to see. I think it's especially fun to see all those smiles considering all the struggles all at MWR had to endure since 2007. Michael said that everyday that goes by he loves Rodney more and more. He analyzes and dissects the cars. Michael better be careful because the last crew chief whose praises he started singing was Ryan Pemberton who became a hot commodity in the garage area and eventually ended up over at Red Bull Racing. Pemberton reportedly had concerns about how competitive the #00 would able to be since the team didn't have full sponsorship at the time that he was still there, now that David is outracing his driver, I wonder if Pemberton regrets his decision to leave at all?

Some video of Greg Biffle talking about how his race went was played and Greg talked about his 3rd place finish as well as how he didn't understand what happened when the caution flew during the green flag pit stops. (He was put a lap down but eventually got it back). Chad explained that Jimmie was able to stay on the lead lap because they were able to get Jimmie back to the start/finish line before the leaders came around. Michael said that drivers shouldn't judge NASCAR for when the caution came out because they have it all figured out. They should just accept that they're a lap down and there's a lot of racing left. NASCAR has computerized scoring and timing so they don't mess up often. Well, I can't say I blame some drivers for being a little unhappy given how many of them got trapped a lap or more down and especially since the #34 (or #37) supposedly bounced off the wall and NASCAR didn't call a caution just prior to the pit stops but for some reason didn't wait until the pit stops were over as they often do to throw the caution for a piece of debris.

Steve Byrnes asked Chad whether the #88 crew chief change was a distraction and of course Chad said that it wasn't. He said that the change worked out well for him because he was able to send Tony Eury, Jr. to go testing with his team so he could focus on getting the car ready for the next race. Michael, who of course had Eury, Jr. as his crew chief in 2005 and has made no secret of how much he adored working with him said that any time you can free up someone like Eury, Jr. with all the knowledge he has it helps the organization since now he's going to contribute to every team. Michael said that he knows him well and would see him walk by and look unhappy. Now he's been able to unbridle himself from all "that." Michael continued by saying that Tony, Jr. is a "good dude," he's smart and he "doesn't deserve all the crap that he's been going through." I got the impression that Michael was saying something that wasn't all that different from Kyle Busch's "it's never Junior, it's always the crew chief" comment and that he felt Tony, Jr. was being unfairly blamed for the woes of the #88 team. Sure would love to see Michael and Tony, Jr. work together again but I don't think that's too likely to happen.

A lot of people were a-buzz after this show that Michael let the cat out of the bag about double-file restarts at Pocono but there was an article about it on thatsracin.com and it was a topic of discussion on Sirius before the show even aired. I don't think NASCAR can expect anything to stay a secret that they hand out to the drivers and teams at a drivers meeting where there's media members and others in attendance. But maybe that was the point - maybe NASCAR wanted to float the idea and see how it was received before they made it official. If it helps make for more exciting and compelling racing I'm all for it.

Michael mentioned that he's been getting rides with other drivers to the track and back, presumably because like so many of them he's trying to save money by not flying his own plane separately when he can catch a ride with someone else. Apparently he flew to Dover with Kurt Busch and back with Denny Hamlin, whose race also ended early. I thought it was interesting that he and Kurt flew together. Some have floated the rumor - which I never believed - that Michael hates Kurt with a raging passion for some unknown reason. I really doubt that he would be flying to Dover with him if there was ill will between them. It's been said that Kurt might be a free agent at the end of the season. I would love to have him go to MWR, much more than Martin Truex, Jr. but that probably won't happen.

When Michael flew back on "Ham-air" he got to listen to the MRN call of the race because Denny has Sirius on his plane. He doesn't usually get to listen to the race like that but really enjoyed it because he grew up listening to races on the radio. He got so into it listening to they they painted the picture of what was happening in the race and it was very dramatic.

One of the questions of the week was "what is the minimum speed?" Michael said that there's a mathematical equation that's used to figure out the minimum speed based on happy hour speeds and normal fall off. So I guess that means it varies from track to track. NASCAR gives drivers a chance to make the minimum speed then they have to go to pit road to work on it if they can't make that speed. NASCAR wants the teams to be able to finish races if they can so they'll work with them and give them more than once chance. However, if a team keeps not being able to make minimum speed eventually they'll be told to park it.

Good show as always!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:23 PM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2009

Trevor Bayne to Race the #99 for Michael Waltrip Racing in Eight Natiowide Races

Michael Waltrip Racing has signed another talented young driver to race for them - 18-year old Trevor Bayne, who finished 4th in points and won a race in the East Series last season, will race the #99 in the Nationwide Series for eight races. Trevor's first race will be this weekend at Nashville, a race Michael Waltrip was originally scheduled to race but since the Cup Series is racing at Pocono, and I would guess in light of the struggles of his team, they must have decided that it was better for another driver to be behind the wheel of the #99 so Michael could concentrate on the #55. Trevor will also race the #99 June 13 race at Kentucky Speedway, June 20 at the Milwaukee Mile, July 18 at Gateway, July 25 at O’Reilly Raceway Park, August 1 at Iowa Speedway, August 21 at Bristol and November 14 in Phoenix. Although nothing was mentioned in the press release about sponsorship I would guess that there must be some sort of sponsorship or at least money changing hands to make this deal possible since it had been said at the start of the season that MWR would only field the #99 in races they had sponsorship for.

I'm really happy that Trevor is going to race for MWR! I think he's a promising young driver and I'm excited to see what he'll be able to do in the #99. I think it's also good that MWR is going to be able to field the car for some races that perhaps they were unsure about earlier in the season. It would be good if MWR could field the car in every race this season and preserve a lock-in spot in the field via owner's points, not just for this season but for the first five races next season, assuming they'll be fielding the #99 car next season as well. I think some fans are disappointed that Michael isn't going to race these races but since many of them aren't companion races it makes sense to have someone else behind the wheel. I hope Trevor has a lot of success for MWR - maybe he'll end up racing more than just these eight races for them!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

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)

May 31, 2009

David Reutimann and Ryan Truex Make it Two Pole Wins in One Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing!

Great start to the weekend so far for Michael Waltrip Racing! On Friday David Reutimann followed up his Coca-Cola 600 win by winning the pole for today's Cup race at Dover and yesterday Ryan Truex won the pole for the Camping World East Series race in South Boston. David's pole win was perhaps one of the best things that could happen for the #00 team besides another win because it shows that the Charlotte Victory wasn't a fluke - this is an extremely competitive team that races in the top ten - or better - just about every week. As evidenced by their pole win on Friday, they are fast and they will likely win at least one more race, if not multiple races, before the season is over.

As for Ryan, it was his first career pole award in the East Series and it comes in just his fifth race ever in the series. Ryan backed up his pole win by leading quite a few laps and finishing third. His third place finish moves him up to eight in the overall points. The results in the first three races have been somewhat uneven for Ryan so I'm really happy that things came together for him at South Boston and he was able to finish so well! Probably because I've been lucky enough to interview him for a fan newsletter and then speak with him briefly again recently at Michael Waltrip Racing's fan appreciation day, he's becoming my favorite MWR driver after Michael. So I'm really excited that South Boston was such a great race for him and I hope that success will continue at Watkins Glen!

Sure hope David, Michael and Marcos Ambrose have are able to race up front at Dover this afternoon as much as Ryan was at South Boston!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2009

David Reutimann Wins the Coca-Cola 600!!!!

Whooohoooooooo!!!! Thanks to a great gamble by his crew chief Rodney Childers to stay out when others were pitting, David Reutimann won the Coca-Cola 600 today, his first career Cup win! It's also Michael Waltrip Racing's first win on the Cup level! I'm so happy for David, the #00 team, Michael and everyone at MWR! A lot of people never thought they'd make it past their first season in Cup and now in just their third year of racing on the Cup level they've won a race! I'm so happy and excited!!!!

As I continue this entry on Tuesday I'm still smiling from ear-to-ear when I think about David winning yesterday! But before I discuss how excited I am about David's win any further I have to address the complaints by some fans that this wasn't a "real" win. Get real! A win is a win no matter how it comes! As I've said before in this space, I'm so tired of all the reasons that some fans come up with to dismiss or demean wins - they came because of rain, it was only a result of pit strategy, it was a gamble on fuel mileage, etc... or all the crazy conspiracy theories like the person who said that NASCAR gave David the win because they want to help keep Michael Waltrip in the spotlight. Oh please! Strategy has always been and always will be a part of this sport. This is also a team sport and it's not just the actions of the driver behind the wheel that determines the outcome of a race. In this case David and the #00 team won the race because of a terrific decision David's crew chief made, a decision that every other crew chief could also have made. So I think it's a little unfortunate that David felt like he needed to apologize for his win afterwards. There is nothing to apologize for. I totally understand that some fans are disappointed when races are decided by rain but David won fair and square and so would any other driver who had ended up in his position.

I'm not going to let sour and negative fans take anything away from David's win though! As happy as I am for David, I'm even happier for Michael - the past few years have really been a struggle for him and to get to the point where he has a Cup car in Victory Lane has to feel so good! Michael should be so proud of what he built with MWR - I was just at Raceworld last week and it was an incredible sight to see! There was so much enthusiasm and excitement in the air, and I would imagine even more so today! Everyone at MWR works so hard including Michael and it's awesome to see that hard work paying off!

Michael spoke after the race at length about David's win and said how meaningful it was to see David's father, Buzzie hug him after he won and also how much it meant to be able to hug his driver himself. Apparently Michael teared up when he was talking about that - when he won his first Cup race neither his father nor his owner was there to hug him since his father had passed away a year or two before and unbeknown to Michael on that day as he celebrated his win in Victory Lane, his owner and good friend, Dale Earnhardt, had died in a last lap wreck as Michael was winning the race. So what a rush of emotions it must have been for Michael yesterday to feel so happy about David's win but at the same time be reminded of the hugs that never were to be with his own first Cup win. There are some drivers who seem to take winning for granted and don't get very emotional about it - I loved the fact that Michael showed some true emotion and David and the entire MWR organization was clearly excited to win!

Some seem to think this will be MWR's only win and those people need to get the idea that MWR is a fly-by-night organization on the verge of collapse out of their head - this is a professionally run organization with talented employees that is continuing to grow and develop. They have an extremely impressive facility and anyone who sees it in person as I did has to take them seriously. But I didn't have to go there in person to know that MWR has been making progress. David has raced up front consistently this season and even though the results haven't been as good recently as they were earlier in the season Michael has still raced better than he did the past few years. It was only a matter of time before David ended up in Victory Lane and this won't be his - or MWR's - last win! It's just the first of many trips to Victory Lane for MWR that will come in the future and hopefully one day they'll be celebrating a Championship too!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2009

Lowes Food to Sponsor Michael Waltrip Racing Entires in Three Races

Yesterday Michael Waltrip Racing announced a partnership with Lowes Foods, a chain of 109 grocery stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Lowes Foods will be an associate sponsor on both the #00 of David Reutimann and the #55 of Michael Waltrip for the Sprint Showdown/All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 this month and will also be the primary sponsor of the #99 for the Nationwide race at Charlotte in October with David behind the wheel. Lowes won't just be on the MWR cars, they'll also be doing some promotions including a sweepstakes in which winners will get a trip to the October Cup race in Charlotte or a shopping cart race for $500 worth of groceries against David. Lowes customers who show a receipt for $25 or more worth of groceries will also receive one free entry to Raceworld during October. Michael said,

“It’s great to have Lowes Foods as a Michael Waltrip Racing partner. Lowes Foods is where I do my grocery shopping and I want my fans to know about the quality and variety they offer at affordable prices.”

It's definitely great that Lowes is partnering with MWR! Love that MWR was able to secure additional sponsorship and therefore additional money coming in which can only help make the cars even more competitive!! Another good thing is that this deal will put David behind the wheel of the #99 for a race - some fans were upset when it was announced that Michael and Scott Speed would be splitting time in the #99 but not David. So this way David will get to race the car at least once. I also love that Lowes is doing the promotions, particularly the sweepstakes. It's hard for the sponsors these days to do as many promotions and marketing campaigns as they once did because there is less in the budget to pay for these things but I think the companies that are willing to be creative and do these kinds of promotions are the ones that make the most of their sponsorships and are the ones that reach the most fans.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:02 AM | 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 22, 2009

This Week in NASCAR With Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle (4/20)

About time I got around to doing an entry on this episode! Ratings for Monday night's show were probably pretty high since a lot of people likely tuned in to hear what Michael Waltrip would say about the incident with Robby Gordon. Well, they wouldn't have been disappointed because Michael had a lot to say.

It didn't take long for that incident to come up - Steve Byrnes asked Michael about how the race went for him right away and Michael said that it's really hard as an owner/driver, more difficult than he thought it would be - David Reutimann is continuing to race for wins or in the top five, Marcos Ambrose is racing in the top ten and his night was bad. Thing is as much as Michael may not like when it happens it's not unusual that even when an multi-car organization seems to have a track figured out for one of their teams to miss on set-up or otherwise have issues. Those who think Bootie gave him a bad car take note - Michael said that he had a good car and that they were running well until he got loose under Robby and wrecked them both.

Michael said that he saw Robby after the race but gave no details about what they talked about - wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation? Said he heard Robby made some comments about him on TV, a reference to Robby's comment about how he looked forward to a new driver in the #55 next season. Turns out Steve was the one holding the mic and what I thought was pretty telling that Michael asked Steve why he didn't hit him with it and joked that he should have gone "boom" and bop him right in the head with the mic because Michael is his (Steve's) friend. To me, that sounds like for as apologetic as Michael was for the incident and for as much responsibility as he took for making the mistake that caused it he still didn't appreciate Robby's comment. Biffle said - and he's 100% right - like Robby's never wrecked anyone? Some of Robby's fans are ripping Greg for making that comment but what's the big deal? The reality is that Robby and every other driver on the track have wrecked other drivers, many of them in very similar ways as what Michael did. Robby has definitely made his share of mistakes on the track - as his fans are always quick to point out when things don't go well.

Michael continued by saying that Robby didn't deserve to get wrecked which is true - contrary to what some fans believe no driver deserves to get wrecked. That said, I wonder if he'd still feel that way if he knew that one of the comments Robby made after the incident on his radio was "he couldn't drive a nail into a frog's a**" and that wouldn't be the first time Robby has made a disparaging comment about Michael over his radio. Michael said that the wreck was his fault, that Robby is teetering on the line for the top 35 and he knows what the world is like and that he was sorry that it happened. Michael does indeed know exactly how difficult it is to race knowing that one small mistake or problem could result in a poor finish that would drop him out of the top 35. Thing is Phoenix is one race. Robby being so close to the top 35 cut-off isn't because of anything that Michael's done and staying in or falling out of the top 35 is entirely up to Robby and his team.

Apparently the incident with Robby changed Michael's attitude towards Carl Edwards in relation to how Carl wiped him out in Friday night's Nationwide race. Friday night he was racing up front and Carl wiped him out. He thought that was the dumbest thing he'd ever experienced at the time but on Saturday Robby's riding along (actually moving backwards at the time) and he's passing Robby and he wipes him out. So he can't be mad at Carl. Greg asked whether Michael ran into his back bumper (which is what Carl did) and Michael said that no, he ran into the side of Robby. IMO, Greg was pointing out that what Carl did was worse which was interesting considering Carl's his teammate. Michael said that he made a mistake and Carl made a mistake. It's so hard he said, it's a tough job and sometimes things don't go right and it makes him sad. It makes me sad too when things don't go right for Michael because at times he seems to get so down about it. Racing is his life and his passion and he wants to be successful at it as much as any other driver on the track.

Greg said he had a good car and ran a little better than where he finished (top five) but overall he was happy with his finish even though it wasn't quite where they needed to be. I'd say if they keep racing in the top five then eventually he's going to end up in Victory Lane so they aren't too far off from where they need to be! Michael asked him when he got his braces and Greg said he got them the Monday after Texas. They joked about Greg refining himself as he gets older and Greg noted that he was starting to wear makeup (the makeup they wear on the show). Greg said he has to impress the ladies and that there's a lot of girls out there - I wonder what his wife thought about that comment?

Mark Martin's 36th career win is Hendrick Motorsports 5th straight win at Phoenix. Greg said that Mark is an amazing driver and that he was excited to see him back in Victory Lane. Michael said it was so cool to see one for the old guys - since Michael is turning 46 in a week he probably considers himself among the "old" guys (they really aren't that old) and Mark's success probably makes him feel like he can be still win as well. For a while everyone was making such a big deal out of age in the sport but Michael never really saw it. There are good young guys in the sport who came along, guys in their 30's and 40's that could still do the job. Mark just took it to a new level. Greg noted that he didn't luck into that win, he had a good car.

There was some discussion about David continuing to race well. Michael said it's awesome to see, that David is so thankful and just wants to race his car. He joked about how he told David that not only was he "The Franchise" he was also "The F-Bomb." :lol: There was some joking about how being The bomb is good but not when the F is in front of it!

Steve made note of how Michael stayed out to lead a lap and Michael said that because they just avoided being the (un)lucky guy (avoided getting passed by the leader so they were the last car on the lead lap) and they were going to make a spring rubber adjustment on pit road and wouldn't be passing anyone on pit road there was no price to pay for staying out to get the five bonus points. Michael said it was a great call by Bootie and the guys because you never know how important those five points might be some day. Michael called Bootie "The Boot-meister." He seems to really like Bootie - there are some fans who are already calling for Bootie to be replaced but other than at Texas when he was a little testy with Bootie over the radio, Michael seems very happy with him and seems to work better with Bootie than he has with any crew chief since Tony Eury, Jr.

The #48 team had a slow pit stop due to a lugnut issue and Greg noted that the lugnuts have been a problem for all the teams. However with the #48 they were slow on that stop but fast when it counted. Even on the slow stop they took their time, got the lugnut secure and only lost nine spots. When it happens in the middle of the race it's fine but when there's a problem on the last pit stop you can't make it up. Michael said the #48 team made the slow pit stop a footnote. Which is why they've won the Championship so many times - the #48 team has shown the ability to minimize the damage from mistakes and overcome most challenges.

There was more discussion about the incident between Michael and Robby - Michael said it's a shame it had to happen. They were both on the lead lap and running well. He didn't have an excuse other than that he messed up and he hates that. When the #44 spun out (earlier in the race) he only hurt himself but he spun out and took out another guy. There's no excuse for it, that shouldn't happen and he's bothered by it. Michael said that Talladega's a big track and there's plenty of room there so he should be alright. While I think Michael said all the right things and handled himself really well on the show in relation to what he said about the incident I also think he was a little too hard on himself in that he kept saying that he made a mistake and how much it bothered him. Fact of the matter is that mistakes are going to happen. While it's unfortunate when it results in others getting wrecked no one is perfect, not as a driver and not overall. At times Michael seems to lose confidence in himself and it sounded as if this was one of those times. But he shouldn't. He didn't do anything that other drivers haven't done before - including Robby.

There was some brief discussion about Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s woes and the incident with Casey Mears. Once again it seemed to me that they kind of glossed over what happened to Junior, maybe because they don't see it as big of a deal as many fans and the media do. Michael said that what happened with Casey was kind of what happened with his car. Casey was on the inside and just couldn't hold it. Both Michael and Greg completely dismissed Junior spinning Casey and Casey bumping him back after the race as no big deal. Greg said that they kept it on the track and it wasn't on pit road where the pit crews are so it won't be an issue (with NASCAR). As it turns out they were right since NASCAR put Junior and Casey on probation for six races which is a meaningless, nothing penalty.

Next there was some discussion about Talladega. If you've heard one preview of Talladega, you've heard them all. Close racing, one wiggle, big one, yadda, yadda, etc, etc.... Greg joked that the only way to avoid the big one is to stay on pit road but something tells me that even that might not be a safe place if the "Big One" was big enough! Michael said he's been in second and been in the Big One and been in the back and been in the Big One. Steve brought up how one time Carl wrecked Greg and Michael said to him - "Carl hit you to?" To which Greg slyly said "He didn't mean to." Maybe I'm reading into things but I took that to refer to how Carl acts out and then smiles that big smile, apologizes and says that he didn't mean to do it which some drivers and fans are getting tired of.

The questions of the week - First, was what is a sealed engine? Greg gave a technical explanation but basically there's a wire in there that you can't cut so you can't take the engine apart. NASCAR wants them to use the engines for four races to save money. Greg said he couldn't do a burnout because of his sealed engine since they had to use it again. Next question was what is the entry fee? Michael said that the entry fee is $3650 and that's what each team has to pay (not sure if that's just Cup or the same amount in N'wide and Trucks as well). NASCAR calls it an inspection fee. If they go to a back-up car they have to pay that fee again - that must make some of these small teams with limited financial resources extremely careful during practice and qualifying because for them $3650 is a lot of money.

To wrap up the show, Greg promoted his online radio show that he's started doing each week on gregbiffle.com. Michael is going to Atlanta this week to sign autographs for NAPA employee appreciation day. He's taking Macy who just got a new dog, Darla that speaks freaky-deeky Dutch so you have to give it orders in a weird language. He said that him and Darla - and presumably Macy - are loading up in the Lexus and are heading to Atlanta. Something tells me that car ride from NC to Atlanta with a new dog that only takes orders in a foreign language might be an eventful one! Maybe the next video for Facebook?!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2009

Tough Weekend for Michael Waltrip in Phoenix

Really tough weekend for Michael Waltrip in Phoenix - first he gets run over by Carl Edwards in the Nationwide race on Friday night while he was battling to stay in the lead and then last night in the Cup race he got loose and wrecked both Robby Gordon and himself.

Last night Michael had complained about being loose for virtually the entire race but he had still been able to make forward progress which came to an abrupt halt when he got loose under Robby, the worst possible person to get into an incident with considering their past history. While Michael got enough damage to cause him to have to go to the pits for repairs and limp around the track for the remainder of the race, the damage was much worse for Robby and he spent significant time behind the wall before returning to the track. Naturally he was angry and said during an interview with FOX that he "couldn't wait until there was another driver in the #55 next season." Seems to me that Robby needs to spend more time worry about his own team than about whether Michael or someone else is going to be racing the #55 next year. For one thing Robby is a giant hypocrite to get on another driver for wrecking, when Robby has caused plenty of wrecks and otherwise brought out the caution numerous times himself. In addition, it's not like Robby has done anything impressive of late on the track himself. So maybe if Robby thinks that Michael shouldn't race anymore he should also consider replacing himself?

Michael took complete responsibility for wrecking Robby, not just once but twice over his radio. What was sad to hear was how upset and down he sounded at the end of the race. He said how he had screwed up and that he needed to "get my brain working," that he gets nervous and that it's overwhelming - I would assume that's a reference to the pressure he feels to finish well and how it gets to him sometimes. There are some who think that Michael's ready to retire but he said that he wants to be able to race hard and wants to be able to drive. So there's no doubt that Michael still very much feels the desire to race - if he didn't then what happened last night wouldn't have been so upsetting to him. He continued by telling Bootie that he was a good man and that he deserved better. Bootie's response was great - he told Michael that it was just a bump in the road and that there were a lot of positives in the race, and that he wasn't bullshitting him.

As strange as it may sound I have to agree with Bootie - the team was able to make the car better for Michael as the race went on and he was able to pass for position to the point where he had raced his way into the top 25. Had he not gotten into Robby he probably would have been able to keep moving forward. In addition, the team had at least one excellent pit stop so it was also a good day for the team on pit road which is important since these days a lot of drivers have good runs ruined by issues on pit road. Still, I can understand why Michael's so down about last night - if he doesn't finish well this season NAPA may opt to either ask for a new driver in the #55 next season or leave Michael Waltrip Racing all together. I think both options would be a mistake for NAPA right now but they may not see things the same way I do. Michael is a talented driver, if he wasn't he wouldn't have lasted in Cup this long no matter how well he can plug his sponsors and I hope starting next weekend at Talladega he can get back to the way he was racing at the start of the season.

What probably bothers me as much as anything is that the incident with Robby is going to set off a whole new round of bashing and negativity directed towards Michael, particularly by Robby's fans who seem to be some of the most negative fans around, some of them even about their own driver. That's what's so amazing about Robby's fans is that many of them believe that "keeping it real" involves insulting their own driver and giving the impression that he's incompetent as a driver and owner. So unfortunately this incident is going to give those fans reason to direct their negativity towards Michael - again. All because of what's nothing more than a racing incident. Yeah, it stinks when your driver gets wrecked but sometimes things happen - it's not like Michael intended on wrecking Robby. Of course if Robby was in Michael's position they'd not only defend him but celebrate him wrecking Michael. Odds are Robby's comment will be a big topic of discussion not only on the various fan forums but also on Sirius though it's lucky that Junior had such a bad race because that may take some of the focus away from the incident between Michael and Robby.

As for Friday night Michael had stayed out when everyone else went to pit road to get track position and lead laps. Unless there was a quick caution he was going to lose the lead because those behind him were on newer tires. Well, Carl Edwards apparently didn't have the patience to pass Michael cleanly he ran him over and wrecked him out of the race. Carl's excuse was that Michael ran him up into the wall and maybe from Carl's viewpoint that's what he thought but in watching replays it's hard to see anything that Michael did wrong - he got run over plain and simple. Which is really a shame since Michael not only seemed to have a good car that he was going to be able to race up front with but he was surely hoping to get Best Western a top finish or even a win since they're based in Phoenix.

During his post-wreck interview Michael commented how Carl would just say he's sorry like he always does. It's true - Carl always flashes that big smile of his and apologizes as if it makes it okay that he ran someone over or otherwise did something to anger another competitor. But I don't think only Carl should be singled out for insincere apologies. I really wonder how many of the drivers actually mean it when they say they're sorry. I'm sure some of them do feel bad when they wreck another driver but for some drivers they probably don't care all that much when there's no consequences for them, they're able to advance their position or they don't like the person they wreck. What says it all to me about the sincerity level of the apologies is that last year Michael said that these days many drivers don't bother to even pick up the phone to call to apologize, they just send a text message with an "I'm sorry." Seems to me that if a driver is really sorry that it would be important enough for them to call the other driver or even better apologize face-to-face.

The good news is that Talladega is next weekend. Michael's won on that track before and is capable of winning there again - he almost did last year if not for his engine blowing on the last lap. So it's the perfect track for Michael to jump start his season and get things going in the right direction again. Hope to see a great finish for him and all of MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:46 PM | Comments (2)

April 15, 2009

Patrick Carpentier To Race the #99 for Michael Waltrip Racing at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

Today it was confirmed as had been rumored in a Canadian newspaper a couple of weeks ago that Patrick Carpentier will race the #99 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota in the Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in August for Michael Waltrip Racing. Robert Hattem, the president and COO of UAP Inc., the Canadian arm of Genuine Parts Company, NAPA's parent company said,

"Patrick was our first choice and we are undoubtedly very happy with this agreement. Not only is he from the region but his name is synonymous with talent, perseverance and sportsmanship wherever he performs. It was a natural fit for us to offer Patrick the wheel for this event and allow the public to witness his unique know-how.”

Based on the announcement the decision to put Patrick in the #99 sounds like a decision that was completely NAPA's which isn't a surprise since not only are they sponsoring the #99 for that race but they're also the title sponsor of the race itself. Patrick is a good choice.

Patrick said,

"By being the official race sponsor, it is clear to me that NAPA wishes more than anything the success of this important event for the City of Montreal. It is an honour to partner with such a talented team like NAPA. My greatest desire is to give the spectators and viewers a great performance that meets their expectations.”

Although he only has 12 Nationwide starts and didn't have much success in his limited stint in Cup, Patrick excels at road course races. In fact, in last year's race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Patrick finished 2nd so if he has a competitive car he can most definitely give a great performance! Sure would be outstanding to see him better that this season and win this year's race for NAPA and MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:53 PM | 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 07, 2009

Michael Waltrip Racing Pairs With Ryan Truex in Camping World East Series

Today Michael Waltrip Racing announced what had been rumored among those in the Camping World East Series for a while that they would be partnering with Ryan Truex to field a car for him in the East Series this season with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts. When I heard about this I have to admit that I wasn't exactly jumping up and down about it because the person who first discussed it also speculated that this was because MWR hoped to sign Ryan's older brother, Martin Truex Jr., for next season to replace Michael Waltrip in the #55 - I'm not exactly thrilled to hear talk about Michael not racing past this season and if MWR is going to be looking at a replacement for Michael, Martin wouldn't be very high on my list of drivers that I'd want to see in the #55.

That said, I'm going to put that aside and be happy that MWR is going to be fielding an East Series car! For one thing it gives me another driver besides Steve Park to cheer for in the East Series. Beyond that I'm glad that MWR is working with another young driver since it's important for them to develop some young talent for the future. Sponsorship hasn't worked out for them to be able to field a Nationwide car for Josh Wise unfortunately and Michael McDowell lost his Cup ride with MWR due to a lack of sponsorship as well. It's also likely a lot cheaper to field an East Series car, particularly since it's only for ten races and the Truex's are bringing some resources of their own into the partnership. So this is very definitely a good thing for MWR and I certainly have no complaints about them giving a driver from New Jersey an opportunity!

Ty Norris said,

“In essence, Ryan was ready to move to the next level. The Truex's had the cars and the engines, but needed someone to house, employ the staff and operate the team. I've known the Truex's since we approached Truex Jr. about driving for DEI's nationwide team in 2003. Ryan has the bloodline and needed the opportunity, so we partnered in this entry. We heard he was aggressive and fast and we can’t wait to see him compete.”

I guess it surprises me that MWR is entering into this partnership without having seen Ryan race if I understand what Ty is saying correctly but maybe that's common when it's a partnership as opposed to putting a driver in a car that they're fielding for him completely as their own entry. Or maybe that happens with young drivers on lower levels where there isn't as much money being put in so there's not as much risk of losing a lot if things don't work out. Regardless I hope this works out great for MWR and that Ryan has a lot of success - sure would be great if he won a few East Series races for them this season!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:31 PM | Comments (0)

April 06, 2009

Patrick Carpentier to Race the #99 Nationwide Car for Michael Waltrip Racing?

Jayski has an interesting item that comes from RueFrontenac.com, that apparently (the original item is in French so what Jayski has is a translation) that Patrick Carpentier will race the #99 Nationwide car for Michael Waltrip Racing in the road course race in Montreal and possibly also in the race at Watkins Glen with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts. I had saw somewhere that MWR might possibly field the #99 for the race at Montreal which didn't surprise me since that race's title sponsor is NAPA, who of course sponsors Michael Waltrip's #55 Cup car at MWR but there was no indication as to who the driver might be.

I was thinking that driver would likely end up being one of the drivers that MWR is currently working with, maybe Marcos Ambrose or Max Papis since are known for their road course expertise. But I'm excited that Patrick might get a couple of races in the #99. Although he didn't have much success in the brief time he was in Cup he seemed like a good guy so I'm glad that he may get another opportunity in NASCAR with MWR even if it's just on a very limited basis.

I wish I remembered some of the French I learned in High School so that I could read the original article as it's possible that something is being lost in the translation between the article and what ended up on Jayski. I really hope it happens though - I think it would be really cool for Patrick to race for MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

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)

April 03, 2009

David Reutimann on the Pole at Texas!!

2009 continues to be a success for won the pole for Sunday's Cup race at Texas the second pole of his career! It sure is wonderful to see David and his team continue to do so well this season! It's only a matter of time before David is in Victory Lane. I'm not sure it'll be on Sunday but I'm certain it'll be soon - all the pieces are really coming together for David and his team! I'm not only very happy for David, I'm also very happy for Michael Waltrip and everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing -They went though so much the past few years, it's really terrific to see them finally have things to celebrate! The cars are competitive more often than not, the finishes are much better and overall the organization has made so much progress!

I can't help but think "ha-ha!" in the immortal words of Nelson Muntz from The Simpsons that David not only won the pole and out qualified David Ragan but did so on this particular weekend because apparently UPS is debuting a new ad campaign and series of commercials with their David this weekend. It's very fitting to me that "The Franchise" outshined Ragan for today at least as he has the entire season putting the exclamation point on what's becoming more and more obvious - that perhaps UPS made a mistake when they opted to leave MWR to sponsor Ragan at Roush-Fenway Racing. Perhaps youth doesn't always triumph over older veterans.

The other items of interest from qualifying involved the go-or-go-homers as this was the first weekend that the top 35 and thus the locked in spots were determined by this season's owner's points. It was the first race weekend that Scott Speed had to qualify on time this season and not surprisingly he failed to make the race. I have no idea why Red Bull Racing thinks that the outcome is going to be any different if they keep doing the same thing over and over again - Speed may have some additional experience than A.J. Allmendinger did when RBR threw him in a Cup car and expected him to be success but he still doesn't have enough seat time in my opinion to be able to keep the car in the top 35 and consistently make races when he has to qualify on time. Speed - and Joey Logano - would benefit from spending at least one full season, if not two, in a Nationwide car before being put in a Cup car full-time. I can't help but wonder if RBR would have more success over the long-term if they had given Allmendinger that multi-year contract he was looking for and kept Speed on a lower level for another couple of years, even if it meant that Speed didn't race Cup full-time as soon as they would have liked?

I'm also not surprised that Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield also missed the race. I'm sad for those two drivers and their teams because I'd like to see them make races and do well but I think the challenges of trying to compete at this level with very limited budgets and few resources are probably going to be difficult for them to overcome. Hopefully they'll have the money to keep showing up at the track and both teams will continue to try to make a go of it - if the trails and tribulations of MWR in 2007 showed anything it was that an organization can come back from the brink of disaster and build into a successful organization. But it's not going to be easy for either team since they don't have the resources that even MWR did. Regardless of how things turn out, I applaud both teams for attempting something that a lot of people would be too scared to try.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2009

Steve Hallam, Michael Waltrip Racing's Director of Competition on Sirius

Seems like it's been quite some time since there's been an interview on Sirius with someone from Michael Waltrip Racing to recap. David Reutimann is a guest on Dave Moody's show every Tuesday but as much as I like David it seems that he doesn't often have much to say of substance that's recap worthy. So I was happy to hear that Steve Hallam, MWR's Director of Competition, was going to be a guest on "The Morning Drive" on Sirius this morning, particularly since I've never heard an interview with him before.

One of the first questions for Steve was about the differences between F1 (where he worked for many years prior to joining MWR) and NASCAR. Steve seemed to be trying to show how it's similar - said racing is all about the people that make up the team and that no matter what form of racing it is, the cars are difficult and that there are no perfect cars. There's always limitations and it's up to the people to extract the maximum performance from the cars. How you go about that is dependent on the boundaries and regulations in that particular series. That led to him being asked about the differences between the boundaries - in F1 the material constraints are defined but less, they can have on-board data systems in F1 but can't in NASCAR. The challenge is still the same though. He didn't say it but I have to wonder whether the challenges are greater in NASCAR because they don't allow the on-board data systems and because they aren't as technologically advanced in some areas as they are in F1.

Steve said that the attention to detail at McLaren where he spent the last ten years was the key to their success. They had a really detailed approach to racing which became embedded in his DNA and that's what he brings to MWR. What he's been doing is looking at where at MWR that attention to detail can be applied. .He repeated that it's about the people, that if they have the will to win they'll be successful - Michael certainly has the will to win and so do his drivers!

David Poole brought up how the public perception of Michael is often that he's just a big goofball jokester but when you understand that he built a race team from the ground up and got it to this point you realize that he has to be very dedicated and that maybe not a lot of people see that part of him. Steve agreed and said that Michael is very charismatic. That he inspires a lot of loyalty from the people at MWR and that there's a lot of passion - people really want Michael to succeed. The way Michael is perceived as opposed to what the reality is (and the same for other drivers) is a topic I've touched on in this space before so I won't get into again other than to say that I think it's unfortunate that because Michael likes to entertain people he's often dismissed and not given the respect he deserves.

The next question was about whether there's a culture clash that Steve has to deal with coming to NASCAR. Steve said there can be. Basically he said it was about attitude. If you're arrogant and act like it's better somewhere else it won't work. So have to have a common sense approach. The focus is on the cars, finishing races, listening to the drivers and adjusting the cars to their needs, as well as on making the cars better, more consistent and marshaling the resources at MWR each week. Basically he's trying to work with everyone at MWR as a team and not impose himself and his way of doing things on them in a way that's going to rub people the wrong way because that wouldn't be productive.

He and his wife enjoy living in Charlotte - they used to live on the outskirts of London. He looks forward to going to work every day. They just got a rescue dog and his wife is spending a lot of time imposing the family will on the dog.

The interview ended with Steve saying that racing never stands still, what's good one day might not be the next and the important thing is to keep the development going. Which I have to think is one of the biggest challenges in racing is that your work is never done - the other teams are always trying to make gains so you have to as well to keep up. Those gains might be measured in the tiniest of fractions but they can end up making a big difference.

I'm glad that MWR was able to hire Steve - odds are that he's a big part of why they've made so much progress and are racing so well this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2009

New Forum and New Design For michaelwaltrip.com

For the past four or five years there's been a fan forum on michaelwaltrip.com that's been the online home for the Wal-Nutz, aka Michael Waltrip fans. But for the past two years even though many fans have wanted to join the forum, registration has been closed to new members - until now that is. A re-design of michaelwaltrip.com has brought with it a brand-new fan forum that is open to any fan who wants to be a part of the fun! The forum has been open for less than 24 hours and there's already been an influx of new and returning fans - not just Wal-Nutz but also fans of the other Michael Waltrip Racing drivers, and hopefully a lot more fans will join!

The Wal-Nutz are essentially Michael's fan club members. Really though any fan of Michael can be considered one of the Wal-Nutz since all of Michael's fans are Nuts about him! Sometimes people are surprised by just how many fans Michael has but he really has a huge fanbase. The Nutz are very active when it comes to supporting Michael - there are projects for his birthday, holidays, at other special times and sometimes just because. The Wal-Nutz write weekly messages for Michael that are delivered to him at the track. One of the Nutz puts together a monthly newsletter with news and information about Michael and MWR. In addition, over the past three years, the Nutz have raised a total of $10,000 for two different charitable causes that Michael supports. Of course the Nutz also cheer loudly and proudly for Michael and his drivers, buy merchandise and support NAPA Auto Parts and all of the MWR sponsors.

Prior to the formation of the Wal-Nutz I was never into organized groups of fans that named themselves. In some cases it seemed like some fans got a sense of elitism or entitlement as if those fans in some groups thought they were better than other fans or some would use it as an excuse to bully other fans. But that's none of that is the case with the Wal-Nutz. They're a fun group who welcome everyone! They are friends to each other and friends to Michael as well, never wavering in their loyalty even when times were tough. It's really a pleasure to be one of the Wal-Nutz and I hope that now that the forum is open to new members again, we'll gain a lot more Nutz!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2009

Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann on Their Finishes at Martinsville

After the race both Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann commented on the way they finished at Martinsville. Not surprisingly Michael was a lot more positive and happy about his finish than David was.

Michael said about battling back to get the lucky dog three times after spinning on lap 21,

"[The team] did a great job. To battle back from being down a lap three times and race back on the lead lap was great. I am so proud of my team. They prepared a good car for me. That’s how this deal works – I want top-10 finishes bad."

The team from driver to crew chief to pit crew did indeed do a great job! The competitiveness of the cars that Michael is racing has improved a lot but so has the performance of the team as a whole. They work much better together and I think they are much stronger on pit stops than they used to be. A lot of that probably has to do with good leadership from Bobby Kennedy to Bootie Barker to Michael himself and others, the #55 team has really started to gel into a solid team that's capable of good results on a regular basis! I want to see Michael get those top ten finishes as badly as he wants them! He came close today!

Post-race David wasn't pleased with getting spun by David Stremme. He said,

“We just got run over by a lapped car that had his eyes rolled back in his head and ran over us for no reason. It’s disappointing when you run top-10 all day and you don’t really touch anybody all day for Martinsville and then have somebody spin you out. That’s hard to take, but we’ll just move on.”

The truth is that David did touch someone since contact between he and Carl Edwards much earlier in the race resulted in a cut tire for the #99 which sent him to the pits and ruined the race for him. But I can definitely understand being upset about getting run over by Stremme. I would still like to know why David lost so many spots after that pit stop since that was what put him in position to be racing Stremme there.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

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 05, 2009

Lots of Positive Media Attention for Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann and MWR!

Just about every day recently there's another positive article or commentary on Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann or how improved Michael Waltrip Racing is as as a whole and it's great! For the past few years either there hasn't been much media attention given to Michael and MWR or when there was it was often negative, dismissive of the improvements they were making or predicted that the organization was in such trouble that they wouldn't make it to the following season. Things have really changed! Instead of stories about tainted fuel, misplaced sway bars or poor results, the focus is on how competitive the MWR cars are this season and how Michael and David are both in Chase contention right now. Every time I read one of these articles or hear positive things being said about MWR on Sirius or elsewhere it makes me smile!

Today there was a great article by David Caraviello on nascar.com about how MWR wants to show their strong start to the season isn't a fluke. In the article, Ty Norris, MWR's Vice President and General Manager said,

”We have said as an organization that we think we will win three races this year. People look at us like, that's crazy with Kyle Busch winning all these races, you've got Jimmie Johnson, you've got Jeff Gordon back on his game. I said, look at the lap speeds. If you just watched the lap speeds at California, if you watched them at Las Vegas, even back to last year. We started gaining a tremendous amount of momentum last fall, and you started seeing David Reutimann in that mix all the time. We would make a mistake on pit road or make a mistake somewhere else, but the lap times were always there, very, very fast. So that's what tells us that we can win races, and what tells us that we're not a fluke. It shows us that David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip have a legitimate shot at the Chase this year."

I don't think it's crazy at all to think that MWR could win three races this season and I thought that even before they started the season so well. What I think is one of MWR's biggest assets is that they have drivers who are strong on different kinds of tracks - Michael is a master on restrictor plate tracks and has shown that he can race well on many other tracks, Marcos Ambrose will contend for wins in road course races and David is capable of winning at just about any track. That makes MWR a threat to win just about every race weekend as long as the cars they show up to the track with are fast. So far the cars have certainly had speed and been competitive so if the pieces fall into place in the right way, I definitely think MWR could have more than one win this season!

I agree with Ty that David and Michael have a legitimate shot at the Chase by starting out the season so well though I think making the Chase will perhaps be even harder than winning races since it will necessitate racing competitively on a weekly basis which may be a tall order for an organization in just their third year, as improved as they may be. But it sure would be awesome if David and/or Michael did it!

Another article by Monte Dutton highlights how it's David's time to shine. In the article David says, speaking of flukes,

"You're out there, and things are going well and you get that confidence built up, but you also want to know in your own heart that it's not a fluke. That we're not just 'lucking' into this deal. I think that's what some people think from time to time."

Although how well MWR has started the season has quieted many of their harshest critics, I think there are still some who are convinced that things are going to fall apart for MWR and that they're going to revert back to finishing poorly every weekend. Without question there are going to be problems, bad races and issues because there are for every single team and organization, even the best of the best, but MWR has made real progress since 2007 and it's not likely that they're going to go back to being an organization that struggles to qualify for races any time soon. My hope is that Michael, David and Marcos continue to race well and show that it's not just luck - it's that MWR has developed into a competitive organization that fields fast cars.

Yesterday, Michael and David were guests on NASCAR Now on ESPN to talk about their success so far. Surprisingly Michael was holding a bottle of Coke during the interview and not the Vemma Energy Drink he plugged numerous times on Facebook yesterday. What I liked hearing is that when Michael was asked about his retirement comments he made prior to the start of the season he seemed to back away saying that he was racing well and that he hoped to continue for a year or two more because racing "provides something to his soul that he needs" - which is something that I don't think many fans outside his own always understand.

Michael may play the clown a lot and make it seem as if plugging his sponsors is more important than anything else but the reality is that he's just as serious about racing as any other driver. Racing is all he's known for most of his life, it's a part of who he is and the competitive fire burns just as strongly in his blood as it does for any other driver. Michael said that he made the comments that he did so that people would pay attention to what he did this season - that definitely worked! In addition, he wanted it known to any "star" drivers that might be available that if things didn't work out and he didn't race well that there might be an open ride next season at MWR. Something tells me that if Michael keeps racing well there won't be an open ride in the #55 but MWR might add another car for a "star" driver if they were interested in joining the organization and sponsorship was available.

Last weekend at Las Vegas Michael met with the media and he said that he was committed to doing everything he could not just as an owner but as a driver as well to ensure that the results were the best they could possibly be. He said,

"I have also made sure I didn't leave anything on the table," Waltrip said. "I work out every day and I'm very dedicated. I pushed all in for 2009. I want to run well and I want to race my car. I'm going to put everything I can in from my end. When the owner was talking to the driver, the owner said, 'We need to go faster,' and the driver said, 'Well, you all need to give me better cars.' Luckily, I agreed with my driver and we have improved our team. Having those conversations with myself is something that is not unusual, by the way, and generally there's more than just two people having them with me."

Michael jokes a lot about his multiple personalities, the many voices in his head or the conversations he has with himself and many take it as a sign of how eccentric he is. I always find it interesting when he makes comments like that because I would guess that he might seriously talk to himself. Michael has always struck me as someone who is a lot more intelligent and creative than he's ever given credit for and sometimes those types of people have conversations with themselves as a way to work out problems and come up with ideas. Michael's definitely full of a lot of great ideas!

Michael credited having the right people in place at MWR for the improvements they've made. He said,

"The hardest thing is having a plan and getting people to follow along with your plan and influence the direction of the team by getting folks that will sign up and follow your road map of success that you feel is necessary. We've got a group of people now that are talented and driven and focused who are coming together and allowing us to build better cars."

Another thing that I think some fans - and some in the media - didn't really understand is that it takes time for an organization to find the right people who share in Michael's vision and even more so considering the difficulties for MWR in 2007. In addition, Toyota wouldn't let their Cup teams hire people away from other organizations when they were first starting out so that dramatically limited the talent pool they could hire from. But as time has passed MWR has been able to hire a terrific team of people who are helping MWR made even more progress every day.

I hope that Michael, David, Marcos and the MWR organization as a whole continues to give the media reasons to give them positive attention!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:23 PM | 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 28, 2009

Scott Speed on the Pole for the Nationwide Race in a Michael Waltrip Racing car!

The good news for Michael Waltrip Racing continues - after an excellent Cup qualifying effort yesterday, Scott Speed put the #99 car on the pole for the Nationwide race today! What's impressive is that not only is Speed making his first start for MWR in the #99, it's his first-ever start in the Nationwide Series! Pretty good way to start out! In his first start I think it's a little too much to expect that he's going to win from the pole but given that he clearly has a fast car, if he stays out of trouble he should be able to race competitively and finish well.

The results for Speed in Cup haven't been good so far - although he finished 16th in the season-ending race at Homestead last year, in six other races his best finish is 30th, including finishes of 35th and 41st in the first two races this season. So being able to race up front and finish well in the Nationwide Series should give him confidence that he can do well in Cup even if the early results are poor. I'm glad that Red Bull Racing seems to have learned something from where they went wrong with A.J. Allmendinger and entered into the deal with MWR to put Speed in the #99 to get him some much needed experience that will surely benefit him in Cup.

Hope Speed and the #99 team have a great race today!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:04 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 20, 2009

Michael Waltrip Racing Plane Experiences Engine Problems, Lands Safely in Las Vegas

Probably some very nervous moments those aboard Michael Waltrip Racing's plane that was headed out to California for the races this weekend when the pilot had to shut an engine down and the flight was diverted to Las Vegas. Michael wasn't on the plane since he was already in California but 48 other people were. Thankfully the plane landed safely without incident and there were no injuries but it's still kind of upsetting to hear about an incident like this.

I wonder how they got everyone from Las Vegas to California and whether the plane will be repaired in time for them to use it to get everyone back from California to North Carolina at the end of the weekend?

Update: Michael commented on this incident today at the track and gave some additional details. Apparently the engine lost oil pressure which is why the pilot shut it down. Everyone got to California from Las Vegas via a bus and they believe that the plane will be fixed in time to go to California on Saturday and fly them back home to North Carolina.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2009

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (2/16)

*I'm still thrilled today about Michael Waltrip finishing in the top ten yesterday! I had realized that all three of Michael Waltrip Racing's cars finished in the top 20 but I also didn't realize that they were also the top finishing Toyotas .In addition, as someone on Michael's fan forum on his site pointed out, when you add Terry Labonte into the mix since he was racing one of David Reutimann's old cars from last season via Prism Motorsports's technical alliance with MWR, the organization actually had four cars they built in the top 25. That's really outstanding in comparison to where they were last year at this time and especially in comparison to where they were two years ago!

*A significant amount of fans are upset today about a lot of things in relation to the Daytona 500 but one of the biggest complaints is that NASCAR decided to call the rain so quickly. I'm in the minority because I don't have a problem with their decision at all. Reportedly it was still raining at Daytona at 10 p.m. and since the track needs three hours to dry, if it stopped raining then the race still wouldn't have gotten re-started until 1 a.m. Seems to me making people stay at the track in on-and-off rain with no guarantee that the race would get re-started and finish wasn't a very good scenario either. It's unfortunate when one of NASCAR's biggest races doesn't go the full distance but the weather is completely out of NASCAR's control.

*Another thing that a lot of fans are harping on is that Matt Kenseth didn't really deserve his Daytona 500 win because it came via a rainout. It's become popular to tear apart just about every win and show why it's not a "real" win, but it always happens with rainout wins that some believe the driver who wins those races doesn't really deserve that win. Well, Kenseth raced his way up front and put himself in position to be in the lead when the race was called. If he raced his way to first, just exactly what was undeserved about his win? Had the race gone the full distance the outcome might still have been the same. Kenseth was up-front when it counted and he and his team deserve to be congratulated.

*It was nice to see Kenseth get emotional when he was interviewed about winning. Sometimes it seems like some drivers have become so accustomed to winning that it's old hat to them and they don't get too emotional - or in some case excited - about it. So it was nice to see how much winning the Daytona 500 meant to him.

*I hope that Richard Petty Motorsports is able to find a sponsor for A.J. Allmendinger so he can race the entire season. Allmendinger finished 3rd and continued to look like a driver who could have major success in Cup if he gets the opportunity to show what he can do in a competitive car on a full-time basis. RPM had three cars in the top ten and for a while it even looked like Elliott Sadler was going to win. Pretty good for an organization that went through so much turmoil in the off-season.

*It should be noted that there were six single car teams that finished in the top 25, with Marcos Ambrose finishing the best in 17th, though in all fairness the #47 is pretty much the third MWR team. Of course a couple of those teams like the #47 get technical help from larger organizations but for the most part these are small teams with much less resources, financially and otherwise, in comparison to the multi-car teams. They may have benefited from other cars getting wrecked but it's good to see these teams be able to avoid trouble of their own and finish well. It's particularly good to see Terry Labonte finish in the top 25 considering there was so much doubt as to whether this team was going to race the entire race. I have no doubt that Prism will start and park some races this season if they don't have sponsorship for those races but it appears they could end up with some decent finishes if they actually race full races.

*Speaking of single car teams, one that didn't do well yesterday was Robby Gordon. Hopes were high among Robby's fans about the Daytona 500 since Robby has done well recently in restrictor plate races. But that wasn't the case yesterday due to mechanical issues. It's just one race so Robby might go on to finish up front in California but yesterday seemed to be a continuation of the way last season went for Robby where there was always some issue to ruin races for him. At some point Robby is going to have to start racing up front more otherwise he may eventually find himself in the situation that Michael Waltrip is where his sponsors say they want to see better results. Being affiliated with Toyota will probably help Robby this season but I think his refusal to align himself with a larger team is a mistake as the technical support would probably benefit his team.

*I'm about the only fan who doesn't have a problem with Junior not being penalized for the incident with Brian Vickers. To me it was just a racing deal caused by Junior making a (very big) mistake, rather than him intentionally trying to wreck Vickers. I also don't see much comparison between what happened yesterday and what happened with Jason Leffler in the Nationwide race on Saturday. For one thing it's two different series with two different set of officials, but the circumstances in which things played out seemed to be a lot different to me.

*Kyle Busch got ripped by fans for many reasons last season including that they felt he often came off as obnoxious, rude and self-centered but I thought he's carried himself with maturity during Speedweeks. He hasn't mouthed off including when he was surrounded by the media after he got wrecked in yesterday's race and he had to be furious after that considering he had led 88 laps to that point and had a good chance of winning the race. In addition, he tried to help his young teammate Joey Logano, who had a tough Speedweeks, even getting in Joey's car during one practice to shake it down for him. I hope this Kyle Busch is present all season because it may win over some fans.

*Todd Bodine won Friday night's truck race even after starting "The Big One" earlier in the race. Bodine still doesn't have a primary sponsor which is amazing to me since any sponsor associated with him is going to get exposure since he races up front and wins. I hope Germain Racing is able to field this truck for the entire season so Bodine can make another run at the Championship.

*I can't help but notice that in spite of all the talk about how Nationwide regulars were going to have a greater chance at finishing up front this season because there are so few Cup drivers racing the full Nationwide Series that only one Nationwide regular finished in the top ten in Saturday's race. In fact in the top 15 while there are three Nationwide only drivers, the only one that has limited Cup experience is Jason Keller since even Brendan Gaughan and Michael McDowell spend some time in the Cup Series in the past.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:48 PM | 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 09, 2009

All Smiles for Michael Waltrip at the Start of the Season

Photo by Eric Gilbert, motorsports.com

I don't normally like to use someone else's photo in this space without permission but this photo of Michael Waltrip is so terrific that I had to post it. The photographer, Eric Gilbert, did an outstanding job of capturing that great smile of Michael's! I love seeing him look so happy and look like he's having so much fun considering how stressed out and upset Michael's looked so many times over the past few years. Michael was hysterical during Thursday night's draw for the Bud Shootout - if he did "whip it out" on national TV, everyone would still be talking about it now! One of the reasons that I like Michael so much is because of how much personality he has and that was in full evidence on Thursday - he's definitely not afraid to be himself and it's great!

As for the Shootout, unfortunately there weren't many smiles for Michael or his team as he ended up getting into the wall which ended his night early. What was troubling to me is that Michael said that his car was down on power in comparison to the other cars and it appears based on qualifying yesterday that his 500 car may have the same issue. I hope they can find something between now and Sunday to help fix that problem otherwise the result for Michael might not be as good as he's capable of on a restrictor plate track.

However, there were still two big positives for the #55 in Saturday night's race. I thought the communication between Michael and his new crew chief, Bootie Barker, was great. Michael seemed to have a better rapport with Bootie than he has with any other crew chief for years and that includes Bobby Kennedy. That may change but during the Shootout they seemed to be working together well, and Michael seemed willing to listen to Bootie as opposed to trying to take control of things. I was also happy to hear Michael say that the handling of the car was good. So many times last season Michael would have a decent car but wouldn't be able to race with it because the handling was so bad. Hopefully this is a sign that he'll have better handling cars this season because I think that would make a big difference in Michael's ability to get better results.

David Reutimann had a tough night on Saturday as well - he got caught up in a wreck like so many other drivers. From what others have said David seemed to also work well with his new crew chief, Rodney Childers, so hopefully he'll be able to pick up where he left off last season.

Although I was happy that Kevin Harvick ended up winning the Shootout and I thought the quality of the racing was pretty good, I didn't like seeing all the wrecking. Of course it's to be expected that there's going to be big wrecks during restrictor plate races, but I don't really enjoy races where the majority of the field is wadded up and in the garage by the end of the race. That makes the race more about who can survive as opposed who can race their way into Victory Lane. I hope we'll see something different during the duels and the 500 but I suspect both are going to be very messy as well. I just hope the MWR cars are around at the end of both and up front contending for the win!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)

February 05, 2009

Michael Waltrip Says (Again) that he May Retire if he's Not Competitive in 2009

Please, oh please let Michael Waltrip race competitively up front in 2009! Even better would be if he was able to end up in Victory Lane for a race or two! Michael said today at Media Day, as he did at fan fest a few weeks ago that if he didn't race competitively in 2009 he might have to retire. Michael was clear about saying that wasn't what he wanted to do, that he wanted to continue racing in 2010 and for years to come but that if he didn't race as well as David he might have to step out of the car and put someone else in. Michael said,

“I think that’s interesting because ’09 could indeed be my last year because I can finally call it retirement if I choose to. There’s been years in my career where it could have been the last one and I just would not have had a ride. … I want to race the NAPA car in ’10 and beyond because I’m the best guy for it, but if I notice [teammate] David Reutimann out in front of me and me not being able to catch him and if I don’t see the results that I think the 55 car and 55 team deserve, then as an owner, I want to get somebody in it that can post those results. So it’ll be fun to see how it plays out. I believe in what we’re doing at MWR from a team standpoint, and I really, really want to be a part of it as a driver, but if not, I’ll just have to enjoy it as an owner.”

"Fun" isn't exactly what I'd call it! More like nerve-wracking for all of Michael's many fans because we want him to continue racing that #55 for a long time to come! Contrary to what some believe, Michael is a talented driver - his two Daytona 500 wins and two additional Cup wins speak to that. However, he can only make the best of the cars he's given to race and the cars he's had to race haven't been very good the past three years at times. If Michael has competitive cars to race like he did at the end of last season then I have no doubt that we'll be seeing a lot of him up front and not just at restrictor plate races.

What's going unsaid is that I think a lot of the pressure on Michael comes from NAPA Auto Parts and the possibility that they might not continue to sponsor Michael past this season. They want to see better results this season and if that happens the hope is that they'll remain at MWR, hopefully as Michael's sponsor. I suspect that when NAPA says they want to see better results it may not just be in terms of the finishes on the track but as far as the amount of exposure that Michael gets them. There is no doubt that there is any driver in the garage area who is as good as Michael is when it comes to finding ways to maximize the amount of exposure that his sponsors get but the reality is that poor results don't lead to much exposure during race broadcasts nor does it lead to very much coverage in the media or attention from fans. In this economy NAPA may be having second thoughts about spending millions of dollars if the results aren't there like they once were, though in my opinion they will never have another spokesperson as good as Michael is nor will they ever be as closely associated with any other driver as they are Michael. Even now when the results aren't there on the track, Michael still has a very large and loyal fanbase, much larger than many people realize, highlighted by the Wal-Nutz, and he still generates a tremendous amount of exposure for them - unfortunately given how much money they're investing in him they likely want more.

Michael said that he hasn't lost any of his ability behind the wheel,

“The last three years probably have been the most difficult years ever for me. They definitely have. It’s been challenging to be a guy that has won the Daytona 500 and competed at the level I have as recently as a couple year ago to think that my skills have gone away. They haven’t. We were building a new team, and I don’t think no one else has really done all that we’re doing right now, lately.”

I'm not surprised that he would say that he lost confidence in himself - anyone would if they had as much negativity directed towards them as Michael has the past few years. As much as one can try to shrug it all off and say that the criticism doesn't matter, when it's so relentless it's going to get to anyone. I think it's really unfortunate that so many people have written Michael off as a driver and haven't recognize that as he points out, MWR was building a new team and that came with a lot of struggles and challenges that showed up in the results not only for the #55 team but for all the MWR teams.

Apparently what really got to Michael last year - as I suspected contrary to what he said at the time - was Clint Bowyer's comment over his radio during the Bristol race in August that was broadcast on ESPN in which he called Michael "the worst driver in NASCAR, period." Michael said,

"The last three years, '06, '07, '08, probably have been the most difficult years ever for me. And maybe that came to where I wanted to beat somebody up when Clint Bowyer said what he said at Bristol because I didn't deserve that. It just made me mad. The fact that the whole world heard it was probably the hard part."

Michael definitely didn't deserve that! No driver deserves having everyone hear a fellow competitor insult him like that. What was truly awful in my mind is that ESPN and other media outlets continued to play the clip repeatedly afterwards even when it became clear that Clint's comment was because of his mistaken belief that Michael had caused an accident in which he was actually just as much of an innocent victim as Clint was. It set Michael up to be mocked by fans - and I suspect perhaps by some in the garage area. He must have felt terribly hurt by that incident and it must have been difficult to put it behind him - and maybe he hasn't completely since he discussed it today at Media Day.

I'm all for fans and the media calling things as they see them. I don't think that anything should be swept under the rug and ignored. Some drivers are more successful than others, and Michael's four Cup wins in the 25 years he's been in Cup aren't as much as some drivers who have that many wins in one season - that's fact. No one has to like Michael and cheer for him like his fans do. But I think he and every other driver in that garage area deserve some respect. No one sticks around in the Cup Series for 25-years - or wins two Daytona 500s - if they're lacking in talent. Michael is not only a talented race car driver, but also an intelligent person, who dared try something that may others would be afraid to do - start their own three-car Cup operation, something which I think a lot of people don't realize just exactly how hard it is to do. When times got tough for himself and for his organization he didn't call it quits, he kept going - luckily for us fans!

I'm very happy that Michael said today that he's regained his confidence and that he feels mentally and physically better than he has in a long time - hopefully that will help him have an outstanding season which will lead to NAPA re-signing and Michael continuing to race beyond this season!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)

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)

Aaron's Agrees to Sponsor David Reutimann for the Full Cup Season

Great news for David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip Racing! Originally Aaron's had agreed to sponsor only a partial season on the #00 Cup car but Michael Waltrip spilled the beans at media day today that Aaron's had agreed to step up to sponsor the car for the full season! That means that all of MWR's Cup cars are fully sponsored! Michael said,

“It’s going to be the Aaron’s Dream Machine from Daytona to Homestead, and I’m really, really happy about that and proud that Aaron’s has made that commitment."

I'm really happy too! I'm sure that Michael gave Aaron's a good deal to convince them to sign on for the full season but odds are MWR would have had to give any other company a deep discount this late in the going anyway. To me some outside money coming in is better than no money at all. Aaron's is certainly very committed to MWR given that they're now sponsoring David for the entire season in Cup and Michael for a partial Nationwide schedule.

I like that David is going to have one sponsor for every Cup race. As much as I think it's a good idea for teams to break up full season sponsorships and have a variety of companies sponsor a few races as a draw because it's more affordable for them than being a full-time primary sponsor I think the downside of that is that it's hard for fans when the sponsor is changing every race because it becomes confusing. So fans have trouble associating one sponsor with a particular driver and I suspect they may not be as likely to support those sponsors since they don't feel the same kind of connection the way they might if a sponsor is on the car for every race.

Something tells me that Aaron's is going to be very happy they decided to sponsor the #00 full-time - David is going to win his first Cup race sooner rather than later and hopefully it'll be this season!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:49 PM | Comments (0)

February 04, 2009

Four New Aaron's Commericials for 2009 Featuring Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann

Four new commercials that Aaron's did with Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann are going to make their debut during the Daytona 500 weekend but fans can get a sneak peek of all four on the Aaron's Youtube page. As always the Aaron's commercials are creative and humorous - Michael has a real gift for acting and has perfect comedic timing. It doesn't appear that acting comes as naturally to David since he doesn't have much of a speaking role in any of the commercials but he still does a good job.

Continuing a theme from commercials of the past where DW used to plead to be allowed to race the Dream Machine, Macy Waltrip begs her father to let her have a turn behind the wheel in the #99. No doubt this commercial is going to be a big hit! Fans love seeing Michael with Macy to begin with, but it's also funny and Macy does a terrific job of delivering her lines - it appears Michael isn't the only talented actor in the family!

In "After a Long Day at the Track," Michael and David show how they like to relax after a hard day's work at the track using the furniture and electronics featured at Aaron's. In another commercial Michael the spokesperson is hard at work at Aaron's, along with David who is busy checking out the Aaron's website. Michael instructs David and the Aaron's Lucky Dog in how to sign an autograph - Lucky Dog passes but David appears in need of some extra help! "Who's the Real Driver?" features all three drivers that Aaron's will be sponsoring in 2009 - Michael and David at MWR and Ken Butler, III, who will race 18 races for R3 Motorsports with sponsorship from Aaron's. I think the commercial is funny but I suspect there are going to be some jokes made at the expense of Michael and Ken when it comes to the "real driver" question. Unfortunate for sure, but as much as I dislike drivers being mocked it may draw some additional attention to that particular commercial which I'm sure Aaron's will have no complaints about.

One thing that strikes me about these commercials is how prominent Michael is in them. That's to be expected since Aaron's has a long relationship with him and he's very much associated with Aaron's in fan's mind. I would have thought that even though acting isn't his thing, David might have had more of a starring role in at least one of the commercials considering Aaron's will be sponsoring David in the Cup Series for part of this season. In the past I've thought that David might not be as marketable as some other drivers and perhaps this speaks to that. David is a nice guy and a very talented driver who will no doubt get Aaron's a lot of exposure by racing their car up front in Cup this season, but I think Michael will probably get Aaron's even more exposure - not only will he likely contend for wins in the Dream Machine but as reflected in one of the commercials his talents as a spokesperson are far superior to David's. But as long as Aaron's is happy with their association with MWR and continues to sponsor David that's what's important.

It's always great to see new commercials with Michael in them! As much as I enjoyed these commercials I'm really looking forward to the new NAPA Auto Parts commercials with Michael and Ron Capps - those should be really awesome!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:58 PM | Comments (4)

Michael Waltrip Designs His Own Paint Scheme for the #55

Michael Waltrip's #55 is going to feature a new paint scheme this year, one that's very cool looking which I think will make it stand out more on the track. Much as I suspected Michael actually designed the paint scheme himself and I think he did a great job! I especially love the way the flames look! Michael said of his design work,

“I’m an amateur artist. My brother [Darrell] was the same way: He always wanted to have the coolest looking race car when I was a kid. He’d be real proud of his cars and the way they looked, and to me they were awesome. I’ve always had that eye. I want things to look uniform. I like them to make a statement: Our chrome wheels, our double numbers. All those things were important to me. I like doing that a lot.”

Not only did Michael design this year's paint scheme on the #55, he also designed MWR's logo. The first time I met him I had him sign a design I drew that incorporated his car number at the time and he told me then that he likes art, I found out later on that he's always liked to draw. So when I heard that he designed the MWR logo, the next time I saw him I asked him if it was true and he said that it was. He told me about how he drew a lot in high school but gave it up because there was someone who was better than he was and he wanted to be the best! But he sure didn't give it up all together thankfully!

Michael makes note of his "eye" and how he likes things to be uniform. As someone else who is into art and photography that was something that I picked up on - I've noticed that a lot of times when he signs things, without having to be told, it's he instinctively knows where the "right" spot where it's going to look good. I actually asked him whether he had ever done any photography in the same conversation when I asked him about the MWR logo because with his "eye" I think it would be something that he would likely be very good at. His answer was no, that he didn't do much photography because he got frustrated when his photos didn't come out exactly the way he wanted them to. Maybe someday he'll get over that because I think with his eye for design he would really do well with a camera.

On The After Show on Tony Rizzuti's site one time, Tony talked about how when Michael was designing the MWR logo he got really into it, drawing variations over and over which he taped up inside his motorcoach. I can only imagine how many versions of his paint scheme he went through! I think it really speaks to how unique Michael is that not only is he a driver, an owner, and business man but he's also creative and an artist! Just one more reason why I like him so much! Maybe someday when he retires from racing and has some more time he'll do more art and design work - sure would love to see more of what he does!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Says Alliance With Prism Motorsports is a "Win-Win"

Yesterday there was a press conference at Michael Waltrip Racing about the technical alliance they have formed with Prism Motorsports. Phil Parsons was also on Sirius just after the press conference talking in glowing terms about the alliance and Window World, the company that will be the primary sponsor of Prism's #66 as well as an associate sponsor (according to Phil, I can't find a press release about it) on the MWR cars. In a video clip from the press conference that was posted on MWR's Facebook page Michael talked about Window World, and in a separate interview he spoke about how the alliance was a "win-win" for all involved - I definitely agree on that!

Michael said,

"This association with Prism Motorsports and Phil and Randy, with Terry Labonte driving their car, is an avenue for us to put some money on the bottom line, sell some cars, furnish these guys with support so they can have a chance to go out and make races and accomplish their goals."

One reason I've been so excited about the technical alliance that MWR formed with JTG-Daugherty Racing, and the other alliances that have followed is that I suspected that it was going to bring in some revenue. That revenue will not only help MWR continue to operate as they have previously even though the economy has gone downhill, but hopefully it will help them be able to field the #00 as competitively as they would if it had full sponsorship, even though they only have sponsorship from Aaron's for a partial season for that car. In addition the alliance will also benefit Prism since they'll receive technical support from a large Cup organization. I also think it will help Phil Parsons, one of the co-owners of Prism, to be affiliated with MWR because it will legitimatize Prism and his efforts to go Cup racing in the eyes of fans who are skeptical and suspicious after seeing what Phil did with MSRP Motorsports last season in the Nationwide Series.

According to what Phil said on Sirius the affiliation with MWR came about because Phil and Michael got to talking and Phil was saying how he was going to go Cup racing. So Michael said that MWR was building all these new cars all the time and that he would check their inventory and see what cars they had to sell off. Michael definitely knows how to seize an opportunity!

They had to ask him three times before he would answer but Phil finally said that yes, Prism will be racing the full races not just start and parking. I hope that truly is what happens particularly now that they're affiliated with MWR. However, Phil said that they don't have sponsorship beyond the Daytona 500 right now so I think that might make it difficult for them to race the full season let alone full races. Only time will tell how things are going to work out for Prism but now that they're working with MWR, I'm cheering for them to do well!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)

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)

January 26, 2009

Dave Blaney Gets an (Almost) Full-Time Ride with Prism Motorsports

I scarcely know where to begin with this one. At one time Phil Parsons wouldn't even confirm that he was a car owner in the Nationwide Series now he's jumped full-throttle into publically acknowledging his ownership role not only in MSRP Motorsports in the Nationwide Series, but also in Prism Motorsports, a newly formed Cup team from the same ownership group as MSRP. Today it was confirmed that Terry Labonte would race the #66 in the Daytona 500 with sponsorship from Window World. Dave Blaney will then get behind the wheel of the #66 for the rest of the season. In addition, Prism has formed a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing and will get engines from Joey Joey Arrington.

Co-owner Randy Humphrey said of Blaney,

"Like Terry, Dave is not only a talented, competitive race driver, he is also a first-class guy off the track. He's someone that we believe we can build a great team around."

I hope that means that Prism intends on fielding cars that they will actually attempt to race with as opposed to starting and parking like MSRP has done in the Nationwide Series. I can't see them spending money on a technical alliance with MWR and what should be decent engines from Arrington if they're not going to make some sort of effort. I can't help but wonder if all the starting and parking last season - which I would guess will continue in the Nationwide Series - was intended to fund this season's Cup effort?

Parsons said,

"Randy and I are committed to building an organization founded on integrity and driven to succeed; one that every team member and every sponsor can be proud of."

Statements like that mean they almost have to race instead of just starting and parking so as to not make themselves look silly. There's already a significant amount of negative feelings on the part of fans in relation to what they did in the Nationwide Series last season, if they were to do the same in Cup this season it would make things even worse. I can't see Blaney taking a start and park ride so I hope that's a sign that they actually race but with so few rides available Blaney might have felt taking an iffy ride was better than having no ride at all. I guess I hope they make a go of racing in these races - if they blatantly start and park every race like they did in Nationwide and there's a huge backlash it could force NASCAR to address the issue which would probably lead to rules changes that will make it harder for small, poorly funded and newly established teams.

To me the best part of this announcement was the technical alliance with MWR. I believe Parsons is still on the board at MWR so that likely has something to do with how that alliance came about but I'm happy that MWR is in a position to be providing technical support to other teams. That's an indication that they're confident in their own cars and their competitiveness if they think they can help other teams as well. It's also likely a good source of revenue for MWR, something that they need since they still need sponsorship for half the races for the #00.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2009

Will 2009 be Michael Waltrip's Last Season in Cup?

Michael Waltrip made some comments today at Daytona Fan Fest that weren't music to this fan's ears. He said that his goal in 2009 was to race up front so that he doesn't have to say that it's his last year. Michael said,

“...if I don't do those things, if I can't compete at the level that Reutimann does or NAPA expects, then I probably won't get to do this again in 2010.”

The title of this article asks whether Michael is contemplating retirement after this season, and if that happens I think it would be because he has to, not necessarily because he wants to. The reality is that NAPA Auto Parts is only signed through the end of 2009 and that's likely because they want to see if the results will improve this season before they opt to invest $20 or $25 million in Michael and Michael Waltrip Racing for more years. Though it has to be expected that NAPA wants to see more of Michael racing up front, I hope the expectations are being kept reasonable. The fact of the matter is that MWR is only in it's third season in existence and although they've had some good races, and both Michael and David have raced well at times, they are very much still a work in progress. I'd love for it to happen but I don't think Michael, David or their teammate via the alliance with JTG-Daugherty Racing, Marcus Ambrose, is likely to race in the top ten every week or be in the Chase. I definitely think that Michael can contend for wins - after all, he's won two Daytona 500s and two other Cup races besides, but he's never been a driver to contend for wins every single week - which has been perfectly fine with NAPA up to this point.

NAPA wants to see more of Michael racing up front sure, but I also think it comes down to exposure. They get a lot of exposure when their car is racing in the top ten, but Michael has always been able to get them a lot of exposure outside the car. Unfortunately some of those opportunities may not be there as they once were. As far as I know Michael will still be doing This Week in NASCAR and will be in the booth for Truck races on SPEED, but he's not on Trackside or Tradin' Paint anymore. In addition, Michael Waltrip Out Loud is unlikely to return and fan interest in the sport in general is decreasing. MWR has created a new Facebook page to promote their interests - including their sponsors interests - but what they put on that page only reaches a limited audience - those who are on Facebook who visit their page regularly. So perhaps the question this season in addition to whether Michael races up front this season enough to satisfy NAPA is also whether he gets them the amount of exposure they want. Michael is one of the most gifted and savvy when it comes to finding opportunities to generate exposure for his sponsors but even he may be limited by the current state of the economy and other issues that all the teams and the sport are facing.

Michael also said,

“This is a real important year for me because I still love it. I'm still emotional about it. That's a great feeling. I'm glad I have that. I'm glad I feel the way I do, and I'm also glad that I own my car, because if this is my last year then I'm fine, because that means I got somebody faster or better than me to drive my car in 2010, and that's how it was supposed to be.

I'm glad to hear that Michael still loves to race - he probably always will and even if he isn't able to continue racing on the Cup level hopefully he can race in the Nationwide Series. I'm also very happy that he is a car owner because as long as there's sponsorship for his cars being an owner will keep him involved in the sport for many years to come. Problem is with the way the economy is and the increasing difficulty for even the good teams to find and keep sponsorship, there are no guarantees that the sponsorship and other funding will be there forever for Michael to continue as an owner, not because he or his organization will have done anything wrong but just because all the teams are struggling with these issues. If NAPA walks or reduces the level of their sponsorship there may not be a replacement sponsor since there doesn't seem to be that many companies willing to make a $25 million investment in sponsoring a car any more. Without NAPA I'm not sure MWR will be able to continue, at least in Cup, with just Aaron's, some associate sponsors and the affiliation with JTG.

The other issue is that since it appears there may not be the sponsorship to put Josh Wise in a Nationwide car this season they may not have a younger or faster driver to put in the car when Michael steps out. Josh could be a star for MWR but financial issues may prevent them from developing him so that he's ready to race Cup. It sure didn't work out throwing Michael McDowell in a Cup car without getting him some experience on a lower level. I suppose MWR could sign a free agent to take Michael's place but that costs more money and unless MWR is fielding cars that race up front and have solid sponsorship they may not attract the top level "name" free agents.

I always used to be the kind of fan that would watch races regardless of whether my favorite driver was racing or not. But I'm increasingly getting the feeling that once Michael isn't racing anymore my interest in the sport may decline significantly. That doesn't mean that I'll stop watching all together but I don't think I'll be as ardent or as passionate of a fan as I am now. I've always been able to shrug off a lot of the things that a lot of fans make a big deal about, I have don't have that many major issues with the way the powers that be run the sport, and in general I would prefer to focus on the positives and the things that are going right, than on the negative and complain all the time. But even I'm getting disheartened and discouraged by the direction the sport is going in.

So hopefully Michael will race up front on a regular basis and even win a couple of races - he certainly has the talent behind the wheel to do it! I would love to see Michael racing the #55 NAPA Toyota for many years to come!

Posted by silverdsl at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2009

David Reutimann to Race Four Nationwide Races for Braun Racing

Earlier this week some David Reutimann fans were disappointed when it appeared that David wouldn't be racing the #99 for Michael Waltrip Racing at all this season. However, as it turns out David will still be racing in the Nationwide Series in 2009. Braun Racing announced today that David will race the #10 with sponsorship from Beringer Vineyards, in four races. I can't say I'm overwhelmed by the tracks he'll be racing at - California Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway - but I am happy that David will be racing in Nationwide this season.

David said,

"Braun Racing is a top-notch organization in the Nationwide Series, something I know very well having competed against them over the last couple of years. I look forward to working with them next season and competing to give Beringer their first win as a primary sponsor in the Nationwide Series.”

Braun does field very competitive cars that race up front - and have ended up in Victory Lane. I'd much rather David win a race for Michael Waltrip Racing, but it would still be awesome to see him win for Braun! Maybe one of those weekends everything will fall into place in such a magical way that David can win a Nationwide race for Braun and then a Cup race for MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2009

Michael Waltrip, Scott Speed to Split Time in Michael Waltrip Racing's #99 Car

Today Michael Waltrip Racing announced that they would field four full-time teams in 2009, three Cup cars and one Nationwide car. As has been previously announced the Cup lineup will be Michael Waltrip in the #55 with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts, David Reutimann in the #00 and Marcos Ambrose in the #47 with a variety of sponsors via the alliance with JTG-Daugherty Racing. Although there had been an announcement a number of months ago that David would return to the #99 Nationwide car for a handful of races it appears that won't be happening. Instead, Michael and Red Bull Racing's Scott Speed will split the schedule. There's been some video and photos posted on the MWR Facebook page that relates to the Aaron's sponsorship for the #99, but apparently Best Western will also be sponsoring Michael for some races as well. Of course Red Bull will be on the car when Scott is behind the wheel.

I have to admit that I have mixed emotions after reading today's announcement. While I'm thrilled that Michael will apparently be racing more Nationwide races than previously thought, I'm not so happy that it appears that Josh Wise not only won't be in the #99 for any races as originally planned but since he's not mentioned, may not race for MWR at all in 2009. I understand completely why that might be since there probably isn't any sponsorship to put him in the #99 or another car. However, as a fan of Josh's who had high hopes that he would not only develop into a very successful and winning driver, but do that at MWR, it's disappointing that he doesn't appear to be part of their plans right now. It also concerns me because it's important for MWR to develop young talent for the future and at least for the moment it seems like a lack of sponsorship dollars is going to prevent that from happening. Of course MWR isn't the only team who will be scaling back on driver development this season and I don't think that's a good trend.

The other thing that's a concern is that MWR still hasn't found sponsorship for the remaining half season for David and the #00 car. While Michael said today that MWR will still field the car on a full-time basis in spite of there not being a sponsor for every race, that could present a problem since MWR will have to pay to field the car out of their own pocket. I suppose that they're still better off than some since there are teams that don't have any sponsors let alone a sponsor willing to cover half a season. Apparently the remaining races will be offered to potential sponsors at a discounted rate so hopefully that will appeal to some companies even if they only sign on for a few races. David is a very talented driver who showed last season that he can race up front and contend for wins. He's an overall great person and very fan-friendly. So David can get sponsors the exposure they're looking for. Problem is that it seems like sponsorship dollars are so scarce that even if a company might be interested they might not have the money for it even at a reduced rate.

Putting my concerns aside, I am definitely thrilled that Michael will be racing a lot of Nationwide races this season! He's won in the #99 before and I would love to see him take it to Victory Lane again! Although the #55 team has made a lot of progress since 2007, they still have a ways to go before they're racing up front on a regular basis, but in the past Michael has usually raced competitively when he's been in the #99. So it'll be good for him to race that car and race competitively as the #55 team continues to develop. I'm really excited for Daytona - a great truck race on Friday that Michael will hopefully be in the booth for, and then Michael racing in both the Nationwide and Cup race! Maybe somehow, someway, Michael will end up in Victory Lane that weekend - he certainly knows how to win at Daytona! How awesome would that be?!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2009

Michael Waltrip Goes Boar Hunting with Aarons Outdoors

Back in October Michael Waltrip and some others from Michael Waltrip Racing went wild boar hunting at the Briar Patch Plantation in Georgia, as part of the taping of a TV show for Aaron's Outdoors. Not too long afterwards photos from this outing surfaced and I didn't do an entry about it because if I'm being honest I found it a little disturbing to see photos of Michael holding and shooting a gun. I'm not sure exactly why it bothered me since I don't have a problem with hunting if that's what someone wants to do or with gun ownership, though neither or those things are for me. Perhaps it was because in the past Michael has made a comment or two that indicated that he might not be that comfortable with guns and when he talked about going wild boar hunting on his XM show he sounded a little leery about shooting the pigs. But the show that was filmed for Aaron's outdoors has been airing and has a few more air dates so for the sake of those who visit this blog who might be interested in watching the show I decided to do an entry now to pass on the air dates which are from a press release on Michael's site:

Saturday, Jan. 31 at 9:30 AM on CSS
Monday, Feb. 2 at 8:30 PM on Pursuit (Direct TV channel 608)
Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 10:00 AM on Pursuit

I don't have either of those channels so I won't be able to watch but I'm sure some others will be interesting in checking it out. Apparently it aired a couple of times already and based on what was said by a fan who watched neither Michael, nor Ty Norris, who also took part, had ever fired a gun before. I admit I'm a little surprised by that because even if Michael isn't a big gun person with how popular hunting and presumably guns are in the garage area are I would have thought that he would have gone hunting or at least target shooting at some point prior to now.

Apparently Michael did very well for someone who has never shot a gun before and was able to shoot two pigs with one bullet the first time he tried after taking some target practice. Just goes to show that drivers have good eyesight and excellent reflexes! However, one of the two pigs was only injured from the shot, and Michael didn't want to finish the pig off - I can understand that as I would think if one isn't used to hunting and isn't fully comfortable with it, finishing off a kill up close and personal might be kind of difficult. A tradition with a first kill on a hunt is that the person smears blood from that kill on their face, something Michael declined to do, and again, I can understand why he wasn't too keen on that. After the hunt was over there was a pig roast and a good time was had by all.

Something tells me that unless Aaron's Outdoors wants Michael to do something else for him we probably won't see Michael going hunting on a regular basis.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2008

Michael Waltrip Thinks His Team is Getting Stronger

Nothing earth-shattering here in terms of it's newsworthiness but it made me smile this morning to come across a positive article about Michael Waltrip and his organization. I love the fact that Michael is still talked about as a contender for winning another Daytona 500 - and for good reason! Aside from being a master at plate racing, Michael Waltrip Racing as the article points out has made a lot of progress. Michael said,

"I think our past history may be an advantage, what with teams not allowed to test anymore. I don't think there's a whole lot I can learn about Daytona, and that carries over to the whole team, I think."

With two Daytona 500 wins and an additional Cup win at the track, I'd say Michael is right!

Michael also said that he feels that Joe Gibbs Racing becoming a Toyota team in 2008 will continue to help the other Toyota teams in the future and that the effects will be seen more next season. He said,

"Their goal is to get their entire program in position to win races. The cooperation between all the Toyota teams has already paid dividends, but it's not going to be as hard to see next year."

I'm glad to hear that there's continuing cooperation between the Toyota teams. There's now a new Toyota organization to add into the mix as well - Robby Gordon Motorsports - and I'm interested in seeing how much Robby and his organization works with MWR. Robby has been close with Call Wells, MWR's Executive Vice President for Operations, for years and Frank Kerr, the crew chief of the #47 that will be housed in the MWR shop has worked for RGM more than once, including a stint as Robby's crew chief. Despite Robby's past conflicts with Michael (and the hatred that Robby's fans have for Michael as a result) if the other Toyota teams are working together there won't be much choice but for Robby to do the same. Not to mention the MWR teams were a lot more competitive at the end of this season - often more competitive than Robby was - so I'd guess he's going to do whatever he feels is going to improve the performance of his team even it means sharing information or otherwise working with someone he and/or his fans don't like that much.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2008

Michael Waltrip In the News (12/11)

This morning Michael Waltrip made an appearance on a Charlotte radio station 96.9 to take the gallon of milk challenge. His task was to down a gallon of milk and some cookies in an hour without puking and if he did it money would be donated to Toys for Tots and Motor Racing Outreach. And he did it! He didn't feel too good by the end but he came though for two very deserving causes! Video can be seen on the radio station's website and I'm very glad that it doesn't feature Michael puking though I suspect the station was hoping that would happen for the entertainment value! Michael is known for doing anything for his sponsors but he'll do anything for a good cause too!

Michael made another appearance today, this time online in a video on the official Michael Waltrip Racing Facebook page where he was shown with the #99 Aaron's Dream Machine Nationwide car that he'll be racing a few times next season. Michael talked about how they're hoping to get 500 fans to join the Facebook page by the end of the year and a thousand by Daytona so everyone who is a fan of Michael's or MWR, join up and spread the word!

During the video Michael also mentions the Wal-Nutz and how many of them have joined the facebook page. That was pretty exciting to hear! Although Michael once talked about the Wal-Nutz in an interview he did for the Most Popular Driver newsletter, to my knowledge it's the first time he's made reference to the Wal-Nutz in any kind of video. Michael has always been very appreciative of the support he's received from the Wal-Nutz and has said so when he's seen Nutz in person but it really makes people feel good to hear him talk about them without being prompted on the MWR Facebook page. (For those that don't know the Wal-Nutz are what the fans on Michael's official forum on michaelwaltrip.com call themselves though it really applies to any of Michael's fans since every fan of Michael is nuts about him!)

In other news that may not end up having much to do with Michael or MWR, Jayski is reporting that he's "heard" that Robby Gordon may switch manufacturer to Toyota. Gee, a manufacturer change for Robby, there's a surprise! Robby's been with every other manufacturer but Toyota so why not give them a try too! Just about every season there's a Robby Gordon Motorsports to Toyota rumor so we'll see if anything comes of it this time but it would certainly make things very interesting if RGM would enter into an alliance with MWR. There's no question that given how deeply some of Robby's fans hate Michael it would be very difficult for them to take a partnership between Robby and Michael so naturally I'm really hoping that's exactly what happens! The venom that's been directed towards Michael and often his fans as well by many of Robby's fans is really hard to take at times so it would be pretty amusing to see their reactions.

As much as I'd like for Robby and Michael to work together - and not just because of how it would drive some fans crazy - MWR may have all they can handle with the technical alliances with JTG-Daugherty Racing and Germain Racing. So I think Robby is more likely to end up working with one of the other Toyota organizations if he does end up changing manufacturers. It won't be Red Bull Racing since Monster Energy Drinks who sometimes sponsor Robby in both Cup and off-road are a direct competitor. It could end up being Joe Gibbs Racing, particularly since it appears they'll no longer be providing support to Hall of Fame Racing. But what about Bill Davis Racing? They've been pretty much written off on the Cup side but I have to wonder if they're contractually obligated to Toyota to field or support at least one Cup car next season? A partnership with RGM could fulfill that obligation if one exists. In addition, although BDR has had a lot of woes on the Cup side they still have more resources and are a bigger operation than RGM so there are ways in which Robby would benefit as well. But I'd still like to see Robby and Michael working together - I think they may be a lot more similar in certain ways than either of their fanbases would care to admit.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)

December 09, 2008

Michael Waltrip Racing on Facebook

I'm pretty new to the whole Facebook thing but I discovered today that Michael Waltrip Racing just created an official Facebook page which looks like it's going to be really good. So far there's some videos of Michael, some photos including photos of the 2009 paint scheme for the #55, which is different than this year's, and a holiday photo of Michael which is pretty funny. I know some are leery of social networking sites but it's easy to join Facebook and joining the MWR Facebook site is a quick and easy way for fans to show their support for Michael and MWR!

I'm not sure why they aren't doing some of the things they're going to do on Facebook on the MWR site as most teams try to drive as much traffic as possible to their own site via this kind of content but if they really do have video updates from races and other unique content that can't be found anywhere else it seems like it's going to be great!

The new paint scheme for the #55 is probably going to take a little getting used to because I'm used to the way it's been but I'm liking the addition of a lot more color. I think the new design is going to make the car stand out a lot more than it has. I haven't compared it to the paint scheme on Ron Capps NHRA car (he's also sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts) but I'm thinking that maybe his car influenced the design of the #55.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2008

Michael Waltrip is One of the Most Improved Drivers of 2008

Lately it seems like there isn't much positive to talk about when it comes to Nascar which is one reason that I haven't always rushed to discuss some of the news of the sport lately like I have in the past - I have plenty of concerns about how things are going to play out in Nascar as it is so it's not really that much fun to read article upon article about the woes of the sport due to the economy, particularly when most of them are the same. So I was happy to see two positive stories recently that made note of the fact that Michael Waltrip had a decent season in 2008 and that he was one of the most improved drivers from last season. Not that fans or the media should have their heads in the sand about the problems facing the sport - far from it - but I think it's just as important to discuss the things that are going right as it is to talk about the things that are going wrong.

Michael's 2008 was definitely something that went right even if it didn't always seem that way on the surface. His team made a huge amount of progress from 2007 going from DNQ'ing in 19 attempts that season to not only making every race in 2008 but only being outside the top 35 in owner's points once. I was pleased to see Tim Tuttle of SI.com say that Michael could be considered for Comeback Driver of the Year if Nascar gave out such an award for going from 44th to 29th in the points, and Lee Mongomery from scenedaily.com look inside the stats to see that even though Michael only finished 29th in points there a lot that went right for him this season.

It's very true that a lot did go right for MWR this season which had to be a relief after so much went disastrously wrong for them last year. Although David Reutimann got most of the attention for how well he was racing at the end of the season, the #55 team also made significant gains from where they were at the beginning of the season. When the season started the cars that Michael was given to race were horrible, so bad that he was often "racing" just to keep from wrecking as opposed to racing for position. By the end of the season he had fast cars and he was racing competitively and often as fast as the leaders more often than not. Throughout his career Michael has always had to deal with a lot of bad luck so the results don't always reflect how well he frequently was racing before bad luck in the form of blown tires, mechanical issues or getting caught in a wreck ruined potentially fine finishes. But Michael really did race extremely well this season, probably the best he's raced since he left DEI at the end of the 2005 season. I never doubted that if given a competitive car Michael could race up front and contend for wins, but it sometimes gets discouraging for even the most devoted of fans to see poor finish after poor finish so it was really exciting for Michael's fans that he was finally able to start being able to race like we know he's capable of again!

Michael said of his 2008 season and the outlook for 2009,

"We entered the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season with optimism, but knowing 2007 was a failure. So that optimism was cautious at best. We established ourselves as contenders this year. We went from missing races, having no cars in the top 35, to having two cars in the top 30 and one right on the bubble. As we enter 2009, we know we must continue to improve. But we also know we have our foundation built that will make us better than we were in 2008. Our team will head into a new season at the same strength as we ended this year, which means engineering support of our three cars, fabrication support, wind tunnel testing and seven-post testing. Evaluation will continue at the same level. We look forward to the 2009 season.”

They did indeed built a good foundation for next season, not only the #55 team but also the #44 (which will be the #00) team. Michael and those at MWR aren't the only ones looking forward to 2009, all of his fans very much are as well because we're expecting to see a lot more of him racing up front! Sometimes it seems that in light of the issues facing the sport that some aren't too excited about next season but I'm already looking forward to the 2009 Daytona 500 - I can't wait to see Michael and MWR make more progress next season!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:14 PM | Comments (0)

David Reutimann on Sirius (12/8)

Good way to start off a new week - David Reutimann was a guest on The Morning Drive on Sirius this morning! He didn't have anything earth-shattering to say but there were a few interesting points like how Michael Waltrip Racing is apparently building another generation of the COT which is exciting news since the results really improved for MWR after the debut of their third generation COT. Also, just like many other teams MWR is trying to get in a few last tests before Nascar's ban on testing takes effect January 1.

David liked the way he was introduced – as Rooty-Tooty-Fresh & Fruity! He said he probably couldn’t get an introduction like that anywhere else and he’s probably right! Seems like everyone in Nascar has a nickname and David has a few including Root, Rooty and my personal favorite - Beak. So far this off-season David's just killing time. He said he has a hard time convincing himself that doesn't have to get on a plane every Thursday to get to a race and just when he gets used to that, then he has to start getting on planes again.

MWR has a test scheduled for Nashville before the end of the year. I'm glad that they're going to be doing some testing prior to when the ban kicks in. From the way Michael was talking about how all the teams should agree not to do any testing what-so-ever I was worried that he might have MWR refrain from going anywhere even in December when it was still allowed. The risk with that is that MWR falls behind other teams that are testing as much as they can this month. Hearing that MWR is developing an new COT chassis it seems to me it's particularly important for them to test with it on a sanctioned track while they still can.

David has raced against his new crew chief Rodney Childers in the past but he doesn’t know him well. However, David thinks he’s a great guy, intelligent and it’s great to have him on-board. David noted that it's not the first time that he worked with a former racer as his crew chief since Frankie Kerr was also a racer, though he raced in open wheel not stock cars. He would like to get a test or two in with Childers to get used to working with him. They don’t have the Daytona test to do that at anymore. That's one of the side effects of the test ban - it may cut the costs for the teams but it also means that it's harder for new driver-crew chief pairings to get used to working with each other (and rookie drivers aren't able to get any experience on tracks they might be unfamiliar with). Childers has an engineering background and he knows how to communicate with the engineers - given how important engineering and engineers are these days that's a good thing!

David Poole brought up the progress that MWR had made on the competition side but also noted that MWR was going from three cars to two - not exactly, as David reminded him since Marcos Ambrose is going to be under the MWR umbrella thanks to the alliance between MWR and JTG-Daugherty Racing. David feels that Marcos will be a big asset to MWR and noted that he would be a good sounding board for things related to road courses (which are tracks that David could still use some improvement on). In terms of making more gains from this season to next like they did from last season to this one, David said sometimes after you've made a big jump, the next jumps that follow it are smaller and it's harder to gain as much ground. I would think that's particularly true in the Cup Series were the level of competition is so great but hopefully MWR will continue to make progress next season.

Everyone at MWR is very excited about next season and up-beat - I don't know if David was just saying that or what but it was nice to hear that at one organization everything isn't doom and gloom. I'm sure MWR is just as concerned as any other organization about finances, sponsorship issues and the future but it's good to hear they're also feeling good about where they are and where they're going. As noted above, David said MWR is building another new generation chassis - after they built the last one that’s when the results started to show. They’re continuing to make the chassis lighter and faster. Childers has ideas to go in a different way with some stuff and if it works it will be good for the rest of the organization.

Other than his crew chief, everyone with his team will mostly be the same next season. He would like to see them work on being close to where they need to be as soon as they unload next season. At a time when crew members are losing their jobs and there's turnover in general it's definitely good that David's team is going to be intact other than Childers coming on board.

When asked about his goals for next season David said that everyone starts out the season with the goal of trying to make the Chase but his goal is just to be more consistent next season. If they can consistently race top 12-15, then consistently top ten, then they can consistently race top five and win races. He just wants to consistently race up front more. I think David's goal for next season is very realistic. Of course he wants to be in the Chase and have as much success as possible but as much as I'd like to see David (or Michael) in the Chase next season I'm not sure how realistic that really is considering MWR is a still-growing organization that isn't on the level of a Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing yet. If David's goals were met not only for his team but for Michael's as well that they race more consistently and race up front more often I'd be very happy!

However David noted, it’s tough to run up front and win races – if you’re off by a little it can seem like a lot. This is something that a lot of fans don't seem to realize. Some drivers and teams make it look easy so fans wonder why other teams aren't doing the same thing and figure it must be due to a lack of talent or because the organization stinks. In reality it might be that they're just off by the slightest fraction of an inch somewhere and that teeny-tiny fraction can make all the difference.

David tries to never get complacent and assume that his deal is secure. Even if you win races and championships you’re sometimes not secure. Seems like week it’s like a tryout, you’re always trying to show you deserve your ride and prove yourself to someone. At least that’s the attitude he tries to have – he never wants to feel like he’s made it. There’s always someone looking to knock him off. I think David meant that there's always someone waiting in the wings to take his ride if he falters. That's something that a lot of drivers don't seem to realize they are all replaceable. Even the best of drivers might not be the best one day. A driver constantly has to work hard and prove their worth - some young drivers seem to think that once they've gotten to Cup and have a little success they're set for the rest of their careers. Even some veterans I think fall into a trap where they think that because they've had some success in the past they should just be handed top rides without having to do anything to earn it. As they say - easy come, easy go.

David has nothing planned for the holidays. Maybe he’ll do some shopping. He just plans on hanging out, spending time with his guys and getting to know his new crew chief.

Good to hear from David and hopefully more people from MWR - especially Michael - will be on Sirius this off-season!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 03, 2008

Rodney Childers Will be David Reutimann's Crew Chief in 2009

Michael Waltrip Racing confirmed today that Rodney Childers has been hired to take Ryan Pemberton's place as crew chief for David Reutimann next season. Most recently at Gillett-Evernham Motorsports where he was Elliott Sadler's crew chief, Childers also worked with Scott Riggs for three seasons as his crew chief both at GEM and at MB2 Motorsports. A racer himself, Childers has been involved with motorsports since he was 12 and made his only start in one of Nascar's three highest series in 2000 in the Nationwide Series.

What I like is that MWR didn't have to try to convince Childers to join the organization, he wanted the job and approached them. He said,

" When I heard the position was available, I looked into it because I really liked the idea of working with David. We have the same type of personality and as I see the progress MWR has made, I see it as a place where I could have a long future. Their relationship with Toyota also attracted me because it is easy to see their commitment to NASCAR. David really burst onto the scene this past year and has proven that he can do this. He is comfortable and feels like he's as good as anyone on the track and that's really important."

I'm glad to hear that Childers thinks that MWR is somewhere he could be long-term because since MWR's inception there's been a high turnover of crew chiefs. That's to be expected to some degree since crew chiefs often move from organization to organization rather rapidly. But some of the most successful teams are those that have some stability in the crew chief position, where the driver and his crew chief have formed a solid bond, communicate well and really work well together. Reutimann has made so much progress and I would love to see him be able to continue that next season so I'm hopeful that he and Childers will form just as good of a pairing as he and Ryan Pemberton were.

That said, I have to admit that when I heard that Childers was under consideration to be Reutimann's crew chief I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. I suppose I'm still getting over my disappointment that Pemberton left for Red Bull Racing and it's likely that unless it was one of the best crew chiefs in the garage area just about anyone might seem a little disappointing. With Childers the Sadler fans often complained that they didn't communicate well and that Childers seemed to struggle to get a handle on the COT and how to set it up the way Sadler needed it to be. It's possible that those fans were blaming Childers for a lack of performance that wasn't his fault in that the cars that GEM is building might not be that good or there might be issues with Sadler himself. So it makes me a little leery of how he's going to do at MWR. But hopefully he'll step up and be just as outstanding not only with David but for MWR as Pemberton was. David has so much talent behind the wheel and if everything works out for him and Childers I really think he could win his first Cup race next season.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2008

Red Bull Racing Announces 2009 Lineup; Scott Speed to Race Part-Time in Nationwide for Michael Waltrip Racing

Red Bull Racing announced their lineup for 2009 this morning, and there wasn't many surprises other than what Scott Speed's Nationwide plans are since it involves Michael Waltrip Racing. On the Cup level, Brian Vickers will race the #84 with Ryan Pemberton as his crew chief and Speed will race the #82 with Jimmy Elledge as his crew chief. Jay Frye, RBR's general manager and vice president said,

"Brian and Ryan are each at a point in their respective careers where they can bring home wins and make a run for the championship. Scott earned his Sprint Cup ride by exceeding our expectations in ARCA and trucks. He has a great asset in Jimmy, who has experience working with both rookies and open-wheel drivers."

Pemberton's addition to RBR will make them a stronger organization, no question, so I would expect Vickers to be even better in 2009 than he was next season. I don't expect much from Speed next season as he adjusts to Cup - no matter how well a driver does in Nationwide or Trucks the level of competition in Cup is so great that even the most talented of drivers may struggle some - but he should benefit from continuing to work with Elledge.

There was a bit of a surprise in the announcement that involved MWR - Speed will race part-time for MWR in the #99 car. According to what Slugger Labbe said this morning on Sirius, Speed will be in the car for twelve races. I would assume that RBR will be handing over some money to MWR to make that happen since MWR didn't have sponsorship for the #99 beyond the ten races that Aaron's was going to sponsor Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann for.

In some ways I'm not all that surprised that Scott is going to end up in an MWR car since Michael has spoken highly of him in the past. I like Scott since he's a unique personality just like Michael - maybe even more so since Scott seems to do things his way even if that's not the Nascar-way even more than Michael. However as much as I like Scott I'm not jumping up and down about the news that he's going to race the #99 because I have to wonder what this means for Josh Wise since the plan had originally been for him to race the #99 in the races that David and Michael weren't behind the wheel for. There will still be some races left in the #99 for Josh or another driver but it seems to me if Josh is going to continue to develop he needs to race full-time in the Nationwide Series next season. Unfortunately, a lack of sponsorship may prevent that from happening. If MWR doesn't have a sponsor for him for the #99 or for a second car, I have to think that he might be with another organization next season since MWR wouldn't even be able to use him as their test driver as they did last season.

It would be a pretty big loss for MWR if Josh were to leave. I think he's an extremely talented driver who has shown he's capable of good results even though he's only raced a limited amount of Nationwide races. He could end up being a future star in Nascar and I was hoping that was going to happen at MWR and that he might take over the NAPA sponsorship from Michael in a few years when he was ready to retire from racing Cup full-time. However, if there's no sponsorship for Josh, MWR has no choice but to let him go since the poor economy means that there's almost no way that MWR or any other team is going to be able to field a car or truck out without sponsorship. I was so impressed with Josh when I met him a couple of years ago and I was so happy that he was with MWR, but I'll continue to be a fan of his no matter what team he races for.

Really difficult times for all the teams and all who are involved in the sport right now. RBR and all those who are employed there are very lucky that the owner is also the sponsor and that there still seems to be a pretty steady flow of money from Red Bull for their Nascar operation.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:04 AM | Comments (2)

November 30, 2008

Help Save Michael Waltrip Outloud!

For the last few weeks it was sounding like the chances of Michael Waltrip Outloud returning to Sirius/XM in 2009 were pretty good but apparently things have changed. Much to my dismay last night on both Out Loud and "The After Show" the discussion made it sound like Sirius isn't too sure about making Outloud part of the lineup on the Nascar channel 128 next season which would mean that it would be canceled. What's astonishing is that apparently they may cancel Dale Jr Unrestricted as well. Just exactly what are they thinking over at Sirius if they may not bring back shows by two of the three most popular drivers in the sport as per the results in last season's Most Popular Driver voting? At a time when it's hard to keep fans interested it seems to me that Sirius would want more unique shows like this featuring some of the most loved drivers in the sport rather than less.

On the show last night they asked fans to call and email Sirius to try to help convince the powers that be that the show should return in 2009. If you are a fan of Michael's and you want to help save this show, whether you have Sirius/XM or not, please email and call Sirius and let them know you want Michael Waltrip Outloud to come back next year!

You can call Sirius at 1-888-539-SIRIUS (7474).

You can email Sirius via this link: http://www.sirius.com/customercare.

If you are a current subscriber make sure to mention Michael's show as one reason you are keeping your subscription and if you aren't a subscriber please tell them you would consider subscribing if Michael's show comes back in 2009. Money talks and especially in this economy!

Some of you might be thinking that since you don't have Sirius/XM and therefore can't listen it's not a big deal, but I would guess that it's a big deal for Michael because it helps him and MWR to not only get their message out but it's something I think is likely a big selling point to potential and current sponsors. Doing this show, as well as TWiN and his other media appearances, are extra exposure for Michael and therefore extra exposure for all his sponsors. I would think this is part of the way they try to do more for their sponsors than other teams do.

Listening to this show is a highlight of my week when it comes to Nascar programming because Michael and Tony do an outstanding job of informing the fans, not just about Michael and his teams, but also about everything that's going on in the sport. I've learned so much from the show! Also, they've had some great guests on and of course they're very funny as well! It's so much fun to listen to this show and I really hope it's back in 2009!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2008

Michael Waltrip and Others on the Economic Welfare of the Sport

A couple of months ago Michael Waltrip and a number of others in the garage area took part in a roundtable discussion in Charlotte about the economic welfare of Nascar and a number of related issues. The transcript is well worth reading in it's entity because it was a very interesting discussion that involved a lot of people on the business side of the sport.

One of Michael's first comments is very reflective of his entire attitude towards his sponsors. He said,

"That's partially why I wanted to be a car owner, because I thought I could do more for my sponsors than what I saw other owners doing, to try and deliver value on the marketing side or, more importantly, marry all these sponsors together so they can grow their businesses away from the track. I'm as much into that as I am anything in the car. I'm all-in on all aspects of this owner deal, but the thing I'm most interested in is how to deliver that value. It's there if we're smart enough to get it. There are opportunities everywhere."

I've always thought that one of Michael's greatest assets besides his ability behind the wheel is his approach towards his sponsors. He's creative, full of ideas and he has a tremendous understanding of how to deliver for his sponsors. I definitely think he recognizes opportunities that others in the garage area either don't or are afraid of pursuing because they're non-traditional. Raceworld is one of the biggest examples in my opinion of Michael looking at a way that he could offer something to his sponsors above and beyond what other teams could offer. If not for how hard Michael works for his sponsors Michael Waltrip Racing probably wouldn't be fielding cars on the Cup level right now.

I find it frustrating that fans will mock Michael for how often he mentions his sponsors or for some of the other things he does to help get them exposure because it seems that a lot of people fail to understand that all those things that he does is how his organization is able to not only strive but hopefully one day thrive. Michael does deliver value for his sponsors and they recognize that which is why sponsors like NAPA Auto Parts and Aaron's have been with him for so long. These are the things the other drivers and teams need to be doing and even more so given the challenges of the economy right now as evidenced by the issues brought up in this discussion.

What I thought was one of the most interesting topics that was discussed was the idea of various entities working together to help each other though these difficult economic times. At times it seems like there's some resistance about working together particularly from those on the Cup level when the level of competition is so great but more and more I think that's going to be necessary. Hunter Nickell from SPEED said,

"We've spent a lot more time talking to the tracks, but more now than ever we talk to people like Michael [Waltrip] about ways we can work together. While we're grateful TV ratings have been solid this year, we're totally connected with the tracks because we've got to find creative ways with these guys to keep the live attendance value going."

Of all the TV partners I think SPEED does the best job of working with the teams and giving exposure to a variety of different teams as opposed to just those that race up front. SPEED's coverage of the Truck Series is outstanding and I wish that ESPN and FOX would follow their model. A big problem to me is that these sponsors are paying $20 or $25 million a year to sponsor a Cup car but they might not ever get any exposure even when their car is racing competitively. Some drivers and teams are never mentioned unless they're involved in an incident. That leads to fans getting frustrated because they have no idea what's going on with some of their favorite drivers. I think all the media partners need to work better with the drivers and teams. Sometimes it's seems like there's a very adversarial relationship there, and I suppose that has to be expected since the media is sometimes going to report things that teams and drivers don't want them to. But there are also times when there are positive things to report or simply ways that race and team coverage can be improved in a way that will make fans happy. That benefits everyone because if the fans hear or see what they want they're more likely to pay attention and tune in.

A very intriguing idea to me is the idea that teams might work together to find ways to get their sponsors added exposure. Steve Lauletta, president of Chip Ganassi Racing said,

"I think collaboration is getting better, but it's so minimal compared to what could happen. We all go racing every week and we're not talking to Michael Waltrip Racing that much from a team perspective. And there probably are things we could do together. Not us taking NAPA or them taking Target, that's where we are right now, we're all feeding off the same mound. But there are things we could do better team-to-team or team-to-track. You get that in other sports. The White Sox and Yankees can feed off each other with ideas because they're in different markets and have different approaches. It'd be really interesting to see if NASCAR could formalize that and get people to think beyond their own team boundaries."

I think that's an area that needs to be explored and developed further. In response to Lauletta's comment Michael brought up the Gillette Young Guns promotion and it seems to me that more promotions like that which utilize a variety of drivers from different teams is a good direction to go in. The Coke Family of Drivers or the Toyota commericals that feature a variety of drivers from their teams are good too. In those promotions, not only is a sponsor like Gillette or Coke getting exposure, but so are the individual driver's sponsors. I think there's other opportunities too where promotions could be done to encourage fans to support a variety of sponsors. So Ganassi and MWR could work together on a promotion to get fans to visit NAPA for their auto parts and then stop by their local Target for the other things they need. Problem is that it's likely not only teams that need to be convinced of the wisdom of working together on things like this but also the sponsors who might be leery of working with sponsors they may view as competitors even if they aren't selling the same products or services.

One of the questions that came up was how Nascar was "returning to their roots" and how successful that's been While those on the panel spoke in glowing terms about how successful returning the focus to the traditional fans is, I think that particular effort has been a miserable failure. They seem to think that the core fans, the most passionate fans are more involved in the sport now but from this fan's point of view many of those fans seem even more unhappy than ever. The CEO of Motorsports Authentics, Mark Dyer said,

" I think the ultimate conclusion was that we're pretty good where we are with mainstream America and let's not run away from that image. You know what, there's a lot more folks from Main Street than any other street. Those are the people who go to the races and consume eight to 10 hours of media."

With ticket sales taking a major nosedive it seems to me that those from mainstreet America aren't going to races either. I don't know of any fan hardcore or otherwise who listens to 8-10 hours of Nascar related media and there seems to be far fewer people than ever who make Nascar a major part of their lives. it's troubling to me that doesn't seem to be recognized by those in the garage area. In addition, today's casual fan is tomorrow's hardcore fan since everyone has to start somewhere. Who is going to replace the traditional fans when they aren't around anymore? I also have to ask as I did in a recent entry, just exactly how is this sport supposed to continue to appeal to major sponsors if there's no growth, particularly among the demographics of who the sport appeals to? Later in the discussion one of the participants mentioned the need to understand and engage the hardcore fans. I'm not sure that those in the garage area understand those fans as well as they think they do.

Another interesting point came up in the discussion of the possibility of smaller fields next year and that's the idea that it's not as bad as some seem to think it is. Those who are involved from an ownership standpoint such as Michael or Steve Lauletta don't think it's a bad thing, partially because it prevents the value of sponsoring a car from being watered down. In thinking about it from the point of view of an owner I can understand why they feel that way. For one thing there's that many fewer teams that they're competing with whether it's for wins or for sponsors. But less cars also means greater opportunities for the cars that are there to get exposure and attention. The other point is that with less cars there's less chance that a sponsor can get a better deal in terms of paying less to sponsor a car elsewhere.

Michael said,

"It happened in '02 or '03, we were down to 39 cars, other guys were starting and parking and, really, we don't even remember it now. Just think of the 100,000 people at Talladega. Most of them want to know how Dale Jr.'s going to do, they want to know how Tony Stewart is going to work out and what's going to happen with Jeff Gordon. The rest of it is just white noise; every now and then a guy like me runs up there and takes the lead and everybody's like, "Yeah, that's Dale Jr.'s buddy there. He can still draft." To me, you can read more into the number of cars than is significant. ... Last year, I picked the worst time in the history of NASCAR to start a team. Fifty-one cars, at least 47, showed up and it almost took a wonderful sponsor in NAPA and made them say, 'We don't want to do this anymore, this isn't fun.' A better problem to have would be less cars than too many."

It's 100% correct that it's not the end of the world if there are some short fields. Thing is fans definitely do remember the days of starting and parking on the Cup level and they don't want to see it again. Fans are very much against start-n-park teams even if what those teams do is completely within Nascar's rules.

In addition, while it's true that many fans are only interested in Junior, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon because those are some of the most popular drivers in the sport, there's a significant amount of fans who are interested in other drivers. It's a complete fallacy that fans aren't interested in drivers other than a select few and it's kind of disappointing to me that even Michael is under the impression that fans are only interested in a handful of drivers. Michael has a huge fanbase - he was third in Most Popular Driver voting last season - and his fans care about what's going on with him and his team more than just when he's up front. The same goes for all the other drivers - every single driver in the field has fans. Anyone who thinks that fans are only interested in four or five drivers needs to go take a look at the many fan forums that exist - there's one for just about every driver and all those drivers have very passionate fans. All of that said, Michael is very much correct that a smaller field is going to make a lot of sponsors, and therefore teams, happy because there are going to be less issues with the top 35 and the potential for missing races.

One thing that I've thought for a while now is having a big effect on the way the fans view the sport is that gone are the days when most drivers stayed with one team or sponsor for most of their career. Instead, drivers change teams and sponsors all the time. That creates issues for fans because sometimes drivers end up with teams that their fans don't like and it also creates an unwillingness for fans to invest a lot of money in memorabilia and merchandise because they're afraid the sponsor and car number is going to keep changing. In response to a question on the topic of drivers changing teams, Michael brought up the difficulties in marketing Junior when he goes from the red 8 he's always been associate with to a new sponsor. In Junior's case he doesn't just have one new primary sponsor, he has two, and that makes things a lot more complicated. I know for me so far I don't associate Junior with Amp Energy Drinks or the National Guard like I did with him and Budweiser. I also think things may get even more complicated since the National Guard is reportedly also going to be sponsoring Jeff Gordon next season. How are fans supposed to connect a specific sponsor with a specific driver when that sponsor may bounce from driver to driver, sometimes within the same season? Or when a driver has a bunch of different sponsors?

Something that I never gave any thought to until Michael brought it up later in the discussion is that the costs for a sponsor aren't just limited to what they spend to get on the hood of the car. Michael notes that it's not just the $26 million that a sponsor might have to spend to be the primary sponsor of a car but the cost that they have to spend in activation of the sponsorship which could be double or triple to the point where a company may need to spend $80 or a $90 million. $80 or $90 million?!?!? In this economy?! There simply aren't going to be many companies that are going to be able to do that no matter how much they want to get involved in the sport. So moving forward it's going to be just as important to find ways to keep costs down for the sponsors as it is on the competition side.

Lauletta also brings up the competition they face from other sports and specifically cites the New York Yankees and the new stadium they're building. I have to say I can't blame sponsors for looking at opportunities like that over sponsoring a race car. Yankees stadium is probably going to be sold out for every game next season and the TV ratings for the Yankees on a national level are always high. It's definitely not going to be cheap to buy advertising or sponsorship at Yankee Stadium for next season but it may offer a greater value than being on a race car right now.

Perhaps the single most important point was made by Michael Burch from Speedway Motorsports who emphasized the importance of keeping the fans engaged. He said,

"I want you [Waltrip] to have more racing fans because the more fans you have, the more likely they're going to come to one of our facilities to see you. You have fans, we have facilities, we know where they live, we send them information. How can we help tell people that Juan Pablo is going to be out in the campground on Saturday? Or NAPA will have this display, stop by? How do we get more fan-driver interaction? How do we keep that fan engaged? If that fan isn't engaged, we don't have a reason to go into the boardroom and ask for that $28 million."

He's right. It's essential for this sport to keep the fans interested and engaged, even if that becomes harder because there's less money available to make that happen. Everyone is going to have to be creative and also work together to figure out ways to get the fans to go to the track, go to appearances, watch on TV and stay enthusiastic. Recently I've gotten the sense that some teams and drivers believe that Nascar fans are so loyal that they don't have to put in much effort and those fans will always be around. False! These days a driver needs to do more than smile and say the "right" things in an interview or sign a couple of autographs on the way out to a practice. Doing appearances and autograph signings are great, but there are a lot of fans who can't go to those things so it's essential that drivers make themselves available to the media whether it's a print journalist or a satellite radio reporter and that they also find ways to engage their fans online as well. Fans need to feel respected and appreciated as well. It's impossible to make every fan happy or always give them what they want, but teams and drivers shouldn't take fans for granted and assume they'll always be around because they might find out that their fans have moved on when they need them the most.

I like that this panel was brought together to frankly and seriously look at some important issues facing the sport. Sometimes I feel like some in the garage area are afraid of addressing these topics openly or are ignoring these things all together. But it's important that these discussions take place and particularly that they happen openly so that fans and the media have some understanding of the perspective of the teams and the challenges they're facing. Maybe they'll also lead to some brain-storming and problem solving that might help those in the garage area address the problems facing the sport in relation to the poor economy.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:40 AM | 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)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud and The After Show (11/20)

Michael Waltrip Outloud

Normally I'm in a good mood when I'm listening to Michael Waltrip Out Loud but I felt sad while I was listening to last night's show. I wasn't enjoying it any less than usual, it's just that it was the last show of the year and on top of that they said that the show might not be back on Sirius or XM next season because Sirius is still deciding whether it fits in for them. Make it fit Sirius! This show is so awesome and it would be not only a loss to those of us who are fans of Michael's but all fans if this show wasn't renewed.

Anyway, the show kicked off with a song by Ne-Yo and Michael said he hadn't heard of him until he sang the National Anthem on Sunday at the Cup race. Well, I can do Michael one better - I didn't know who he was until they talked about him on last night's show! I guess I didn't pay any attention to who was singing the anthem on Sunday. In fact, when they first started talking about the song I thought Michael said that it was Dio!

Michael told a story about a phone call he got from someone named Muscles - not sure who that is but I've heard Michael refer to someone as Muscles before. Everyone in the garage area it seems has a nickname, and it turns out Muscles has one for Michael too only it's not EmDub as some others call him. It's a nickname Michael said that rhymes with "truck race" and he's really disappointed that Muscles hung that one on him because it's not too nice. Yeah, not exactly a term of endearment! By this point in the story Tony was completely cracking up and once I did some rhyming and figured it out, I was laughing too. Turns out Phil Parsons and his son were there while he was talking on the phone with Muscles so that's why Michael had to resort to explaining what Muscles called him by saying it rhymed with "truck race." I know that some of Michael's more conservative fans might take issue with Michael even thinking the word that rhymes with "truck" let alone telling a story about someone calling him that but it really was pretty funny the way Michael told it! I guess you could be offended by it and wonder why someone was calling Michael that or take it in the spirit in which it was intended - as something to amuse listeners.

There was quite a bit of discussion about Friday night's truck race and no surprise since not only was Michael in the booth for that race but it was the race with the best racing all weekend. Michael said he thought of eleven things that had to go right for Johnny to win the Championship, but he only named six before forgetting the rest of the things he thought of. Besides those eleven things that Michael said had to fall into place for Johnny, he also said that Johnny's passion and heart was on display the whole race. He was racing for his life.

So many things had to go perfectly for Johnny Benson to win the Championship since he had a slower truck than Ron Hornaday at Homestead. It was hard to say that Rick Ren made a bad call when he had Ron come in for four tires. The big thing is not taking yourself out of the lead for the Championship. Ron put himself in a position to be vulnerable. The call by Rick would have been fine without all the other things that happened. Tony made note of the big smile on Bill and Gail Davis's face after Johnny won the Championship, but as we know based on some of their comments since they weren't quite smiling on the inside. Michael said that it was an inspired Championship and repeated that Johnny raced with passion. Michael seemed really impressed with the way Johnny raced and I think that's pretty neat that the way he raced this season made such an impression on Michael.

Tony and Michael continued their joke from last week about how careful Hendrick Motorsports should have been with Jimmie Johnson in getting him to Homestead, that he was "bubble boy." Michael said that there could have been a Tonya Harding-type situation - I laughed to myself when they brought up Tonya Harding because Nascar only wishes something like that would happen to generate a little controversy and therefore extra media and fan attention. When Jimmie was in the back he was freaking out on the radio about the idiots racing three-wide but Michael said that later on he saw a bunch of guys going three-wide and one of them was Jimmie. He said that if you see someone else doing something it's dumb but if you did it, it's okay and that they (the drivers) have a bit of a double-standard. I'll say! How easily some of them forget when they rip one of their fellow drivers that they've all likely done the same thing at one time or another.

Tony interviewed Carl Edwards in Victory Lane and called him "Mr. Fuel Mileage." Tony and Michael (and presumably a lot of others) are very impressed with the way that team has horsepower yet they can save gas like no one else. Usually you can't save gas when you're out front. I would guess a lot of teams are going to try to figure out what the #99 figured out that they haven't yet because that definitely seems to have gotten a lot of people's attention. Even Carl's own teammates have been wondering why he's been getting so much better fuel mileage than they have. Michael said it's fun to see what it takes to win - I'm thinking he's paying close attention in the hopes that he'll pick up something that will help him get to Victory Lane - sure hope that happens!. Tony said that usually when you talk to the person who comes in second for the championship they aren't too happy but Carl and his teams were all smiles. They dominated the end of the Chase. The big mistake that Carl made was at Talladega. Michael said that sometimes there are circumstances out of your control but Carl can zero in on what went wrong at Talladega because he made the mistake and caused the wreck.

Both Michael and David Reutimann were very loose during the race. Michael said that Michael Waltrip Racing had high hopes for the race since David was on the pole and all but it ended up being disappointing. David was able to race in the top five for most of the night even though he was so loose but he couldn't get the fuel mileage that others could. Michael was so loose he couldn't drive it. It made the most sense to just make sure he didn't get into the wall since he was racing the #22 and others in the points. So he couldn't afford to make a mistake. What popped into my mind when Michael said that was that he was driving like a granny! The finish was terrible but he just needed to survive. He also talked about Marcos Ambrose and how things didn't work out for him to finish the season in the top 35 but he may still end up in the top 35 when they go to Daytona due to the mergers and all.

Michael has fun doing the show. His Dad was famous for being a BS'er and sitting there doing the show reminds him of that. It makes him feel like his Dad. Michael's been mentioning his Dad a lot recently and it seems like his Dad is on his mind a lot. I always feel bad for Michael in relation to his Dad - it's always sad whenever anyone loses a parent but I believe Michael's father passed away before he won the Daytona 500 and had success at DEI. Not only would he have wanted his father to be around for those things, but I'm sure he wished he had his Dad for support and advice during the past couple of years when things have been difficult. Tony thanked Michael for asking him to do the show and helping him out with his career. They also thanked the fans for sticking with XM just for the show when they could have switched to Sirius - there are indeed many who kept XM just for Outloud.

Tony asked Michael about the new testing policy. Michael loves it. He talked with Jack Roush about being willing to sign off on a affidavit that they won't test anywhere. Sure Jack is willing to sign an affidavit like that because he has the money and resources to do all sorts of other testing instead! Michael was thinking something similar as he said there's no end to what people will do to circumvent the rule. If you rent Rockingham for the year you're not playing by the rules. Apparently there's going to be a lot of people not playing by the rules next year but I've heard that Rockingham as well as a number of other unsanctioned tracks are already completely booked - I hope MWR is one of the organizations who have booked time at one of those tracks. Michael said that the rule will help weaker teams gain traction against the stronger teams hopefully. I can't help but notice that Michael added in that "hopefully." Personally, I don't think it's too likely that the test ban will help the weaker teams other than that they won't be spending $1 million on testing. In fact, I think the test ban may actually hurt the weaker teams because they won't have the money or resources to do a lot of the things that the big teams can do. Tony wondered whether testing grounds and airports like some teams go to are covered by the test ban. Michael doesn't know. He said they should just tell them they can't go anywhere where they can crank an engine. They'll still have wind tunnel tests, seven-post shaker rigs and simulations.

The merger between DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing looks like a case of survival. Between them there's six cars that don't have three sponsors between them. Hopefully if they pull together it'll make one strong team. Michael loves that they came to an agreement, it took a lot of work for them to get on the same page. Tony said that he noticed that they didn't mentioned that the #15 was going to be used next season but Michael said that he's going to use the #55 next season because he wants to make it something special. I'm glad he's sticking with the #55 since I have so much #55 stuff! I don't know why Michael decided to stick with the #55 but I think it's a good decision because in this economy a lot of fans don't have the money to go out and buy a whole new #15 wardrobe.

Michael thanked all the fans and the show ended with them asking the fans to let Sirius know if they like the show. Sure hope Sirius will hear from lots of fans of Outloud and they'll put the show on channel 128 next season!!

The After Show on Tonyrizzuti.com

No Traci this week as she was still down in Florida so it was Tony, Rich and Geri (Jeri) - don't really know who Geri is but she works or worked for the same PR company that Traci is working for until she officially starts working for MWR, which is the same company Tony used to work for before he moved to MWR. So maybe Geri was filling in for Traci. At any rate, Tony figured that Rich was going to edit out Michael's "truck race" story but he said he's definitely leaving it in, and I for one am glad that he did!

That led into a discussion of how Tony was watching Joe Scarborough's Morning Joe show on MSNBC and how Scarborough dropped the f-bomb which caused quite a reaction from the guests on his show. When I googled to see what was being said about this I discovered that the irony of all ironies is that apparently Scarborough is one of the most vocal about "filth" on TV and how the FCC should go after the networks when they make a misstep like the infamous Janet Jackson halftime show a few years ago. So Scarborough freaks out about others being "filthy" and in the meantime he slips up with one of the biggest no-no words he possibly can on live TV! As a result MSNBC is going to use a seven-second delay on his show.

Tony and Rich were making the chances of Outloud coming back next season really bleak and that was pretty depressing to hear. Tony did say though that no one should underestimate Michael or the fans. If the fans say they want Michael Sirius may have to listen. Afterall, people make a conscious effort to listen since they have to pay for it. In general Tony seemed a little freaked out by the current state of things - I don't know whether it's because the future of Outloud is unknown or because of what's going on in the sport but a big portion of this two-part show was spent discussing the woes in the garage area right now.

In relation to the layoffs Tony and Geri agreed that every year at this time there are layoffs but because of the economy things that they're used to seem worse now. There were a lot of people in the garage area on Sunday that didn't want to go into work on Monday. Well, better to learn the news on Monday at the shop then in the back of the hauler like Jeff Hammond says one team did to some of their employees before the race! Tony thinks that maybe in January a bunch of teams are going to start wondering who is going to do this or that and a quarter or even a half of those laid off will be rehired by February. I'm not so sure about that - maybe a well-funded team can afford to hire back some people but the teams that have financial issues probably won't see things improve much by the start of next season.

As for Michael's idea that no one's going to test Tony said that's not going to happen and I agree. I would guess that maybe Michael is hoping that no one goes to test at non-sanctioned tracks so MWR won't have to either but they'll likely be forced to spend money on all sorts of alternative testing that all the other teams do. Rich wondered how Goodyear is going to handle their tire tests and I think that's an excellent question that hasn't really been addressed by anyone. As they said, the teams that take part in tire testing could end up with a big advantage over other teams who don't participate. Apparently some in the garage area think that Goodyear should have their own test team. Maybe Brett Bodine, some retired drivers or young drivers like Brad Coleman who don't have rides can test for them. It's actually puzzling to me why Goodyear already doesn't have their own test team regardless of what the testing policy is. Maybe if they did Goodyear might not have had some of the problems they did at Indy this season.

Tony Eury, Jr. was a guest on the pre-race show that Tony did with Pat Patterson on Sirius and he's okay with the testing policy. The only value in testing is the computer data for the engineers. Tony Jr. would like to see Nascar do the same thing that Michael suggested on TWiN a while back - give the teams systems on Friday during practice and qualifying that will allow them to collect data, then once those sessions are over Nascar takes the systems back. Then the teams have the data they need for that track. I thought it was a great idea when Michael brought it up and I still think it's an outstanding idea. That way there could still be limits on testing but there's a way for the teams to gather the same kind of useful information like they would at testing.

Rich had a few other interesting questions in relation to the test ban including something I heard a fan ask on Dave Moody's show the other day, about whether someone not associated with a team can take a car, test it and then take the information to a team, whether that would be possible or acceptable under the rules. Dave Moody thought that idea was ridiculous but Tony seemed to think it could happen and I agree. As he said if someone wants to they can find a way to cheat the system. The reality is that there are teams with a lot of money who even in this economy are going to be willing to spend whatever it takes to get around the rules.

Perhaps the most interesting thing that was discussed was about how people can't figure out why Steve Hallam is coming to Nascar or how MWR got him, but maybe it has something to do with Toyota and MWR anticipating the test ban. Hallam brings with him the simulations that F1 uses that can simulate things like seven-post shakers. So now that test money goes to IT (yay for computer geeks!). Tony wondered what's to stop Toyota from going to Europe and doing testing with a COT or Goodyear tire over there. Maybe someone will even have a whole European test team.

There was some discussion about the DEI-Ganassi merger. Both Geri and Tony knew Dale, and Geri said she had mixed emotions about it. What astonished me is that Tony said Martin Truex, Jr. was telling people over the weekend that no one was telling him anything about what was going on. Maybe part of that is that they don't have all the answers yet, but it's ridiculous to keep him in the dark. He's supposed to be DEI's top driver now and he's only signed to a one-year deal so if he's not happy he could walk at the end of 2009 which would put Earnhardt-Ganassi in even worse shape than they're in now.

During a discussion about how even Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is even having trouble getting sponsorship for his Nationwide cars Rich brought up something I've discussed a few times in this space, whether the issue is the economy or that people just don't want to sponsor Brad. Tony and Geri seemed to think the issue was the economy and with the background that they both have they would know better than I, but as I've said in the past with factors like marketability, appearance, media savvy, personality and other intangibles being as important to sponsors as talent behind the wheel I think that part of the issue is Brad himself. He's got a huge amount of talent and he might be a good guy, but there's no getting around the fact that he's not "cute" - it's hard to overlook the mouthful of braces he has. I'm just not sure he's what a lot of companies are looking for.

Tony painted a rather bleak picture of what ad sales are like for the motorsports media including PRN/MRN/Satellite radio and Speed - horrible. Maybe off by as much as half. In addition, a friend of his does the in-car camera sales and he has no idea what's going to happen with those either. When the friend contacts companies that have sponsored in-car cameras in the past they tell him they have no idea if they're still going to be in the sport next season let alone sponsoring a camera. It may have to be regional deals, where a local company picks up a one-race sponsorship of a camera at a particularly track. Geri said that they're seeing a lot more of that with the hospitality where the local people are coming in to support the tracks. The problem for Tony's friend is that he can't just cut it to four in-car cameras when the fans expect to see eight. I hate to be Debbie-downer (ha!) but I have a feeling things are going to get worse before they get better in terms of sponsorship and ad sales, but I'll save my thoughts on that for a separate entry.

Switching gears, they decided to talk about something happier - Jimmie's Championship win. As Tony detailed in his blog Jimmie is a friend of his and apparently they go out to eat with their wives at an Italian restaurant near where they live. I'd just like to point out that unlike Marty Smith from espn.com who seemingly mentions his friendship with Jimmie every two seconds, until I read Tony's blog I would never have guessed that he had a personal friendship with Jimmie. Rich and Tony said that Jimmie's Championship win isn't seeming to get as much attention or have that much excitement around it. They feel it's because Jimmie is too nice, normal and has a non-celeb persona. I think they have that perspective because they're around Jimmie in the garage area all the time and they know who he is as a person. Many fans think the exact opposite - that Jimmie is stuck up, craves celebrity, is too PC and is a fake. Tony said that unlike Junior, Jimmie can go anywhere in Charlotte and no one notices. Tony said if he were a driver he would like to have been like Scott Wimmer who could walk through the Cup garage and no one knew who he was but he still got Cup money. Well, that may be one reason why Wimmer is no longer in Cup (besides being arrested for DUI) - no one ever gave him and therefore his sponsors any attention ever.

That was pretty much it for the show, but that won't be the last we hear from Tony until February - he's going to do off-season radio on his website starting the Monday after Thanksgiving and the show will have a focus on motorsports which is something to look forward to. Rich may end up doing a show or two with him during the off-season as well.

Hopefully Outloud and The After Show will both be back next season!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2008

Looks Like Ryan Pemberton is Leaving Michael Waltrip Racing

There's been no official announcement yet but Lee Spencer from Foxsports.com is reporting the same thing that Tony Rizzuti from Directv Hotpass/XM-Sirius did last week on his website - Ryan Pemberton is leaving Michael Waltrip Racing for Red Bull Racing for a not yet known position. This makes me sad. Ryan and David Reutimann worked so well together and there's no doubt that Ryan is a big reason why David was able to race up front so much this season. In addition, I think Ryan likely was also one of the reasons that MWR as a whole made so much progress as the season went along. Michael said multiple times how intelligent Ryan is and it was clear that he viewed him as a big asset to the company. How well the #44 team raced caught the attention of a lot of people and likely some of those people were owners who were looking for Ryan to do the same things at their organizations that he did at MWR. At RBR Ryan will be reuniting with Jay Frye who he worked with at Ginn Racing and MB2 Motorsports. It's possible that Ryan will have a position other than crew chief at RBR which I imagine would have helped lure him over from RBR.

It's just very disappointing to me that as soon as MWR is making progress and heading in the right direction, the people who helped get them there leave. The question now becomes who will take Ryan's place as David's crew chief. MWR had been after Brian Pattie but he opted to remain at Chip Ganassi Racing so it won't be him. Todd Parrott left Yates Racing this week so he might be available and it's possible that the other Yates crew chief, Cully Barraclough, who has worked for MWR in the past on the #99 car, might also be out at Yates. There are likely other crew chiefs who are or might become available either through layoffs or because they or their teams are looking to make a change. It's just unfortunate for David that just when he started racing so well and had gotten some momentum to take into 2009 he's going to have to deal with another crew chief change. I suppose there's also a slim chance that MWR could work something out with JTG Racing so that David can reunite with Frank Kerr, but he seems to be working well with Marcos Ambrose.

In my wildest dreams Hendrick Motorsports will decide that it's in Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s best interest to have a new crew chief and Michael can hire Tony Eury, Jr., who I know he would love to have as his crew chief again. Then Bootie Barker can be David's crew chief. Of course all of that is highly unlikely to happen but I can dream, can't I?

Posted by silverdsl at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2008

Ryan Pemberton Leaving Michael Waltrip Racing for Red Bull Racing?

Because of how busy I was I only got around to listening to the most recent edition of "The After Show" on Tony Rizzuti's website and holy carp do I wish I listened to it sooner because Tony dropped a rumor that would potentially be big news if it were to happen! So this week "The After Show" gets it's own entry because that rumor is worthy of a stand-alone entry.

Once before Tony had mentioned that he hoped that Michael Waltrip Racing would be able to keep Ryan Pemberton because how much he's helped the #44 team improve has been noticed in the garage area so other teams might be interested in him. But I didn't realize that Tony was saying that based on having heard something of substance about Ryan actually leaving MWR. According to Tony on last week's "After Show" his sources have told him that MWR may lose Ryan to Red Bull Racing next season. Apparently the reason that Ryan might leave is because he's not convinced that the #44 will be fully funded next season so the "endless stack of cash" as Tony put it at RBR is attractive to him since presumably he would have no worries about finances effecting his ability to make his team competitive. However, Tony's sources are telling him that David would be happy with his replacement crew chief because it would be Brian Pattie, who is currently at Chip Ganassi Racing, who is a long-time friend of David's and has been his crew chief on lower levels.

As happy as David would be with Brian, Ryan leaving would be a major loss not only for the #44 team but also for MWR as a whole because he's been cited as a big reason why they've improved as much as they have. In fact, another thing that was said on "The After Show" is one reason Dr. Eric Warren left as MWR's technical director is because he had different ideas than Ryan and the improvements came when they started doing the things that Ryan wanted. I'm not sure exactly what that means but I have to wonder whether Dr. Warren was leading MWR in the wrong direction, much like some have said he led Gillett-Evernham Motorsports in the wrong direction in 2007. I also have to wonder whether he left by choice or whether MWR hastened his exit if they decided that they needed to using more of Ryan's ideas rather than Dr. Warren's. Regardless it sounds like there was some sort of conflict there and Ryan came out on top - which is probably a good thing for MWR if he was instrumental in helping them get more competitive.

Unfortunately Tony didn't give any specifics as to who his sources are for this information other than it that it doesn't come from Michael or anyone at MWR because no one from MWR will talk to him about anything that's going on, I guess because he's a member of the media. So it's hard to know how much truth there is to this rumor. If Ryan has been talking to RBR it seems like the kind of thing that would be hard to keep quiet so if it's true it would be surprising that nothing has ended up on Jayski this far. Tony gave so many details regarding why Ryan would be leaving and who his replacement would be that unfortunately I have to think that there's at least some grain of truth there. But maybe Ryan will change his mind about leaving. Supposedly David said in an interview I didn't get to hear on Sirius that MWR is close to finalizing sponsorship for the remaining Cup races that Aaron's won't be sponsoring next season. If that happens it would mean that the #00 would have full sponsorship next season and Ryan wouldn't have to worry about how much funding his team might or might not have. Problem is, will this sponsor get signed before Ryan accepts an offer with RBR or another team? Sure hope MWR can get him to stay!

Tony sounded like he was somewhat hesitant to talk about what his sources had told him, maybe because he's afraid of getting into trouble with Michael. Aside from the fact that he and Michael seem to be pretty good friends, I've heard - and I don't know how true it is - that Michael doesn't like it when those around him spread rumors or say things that he doesn't want them to so I can understand why he might want to be cautious. It's always seemed like MWR has tried to keep the lid on a lot of things, though they haven't always been successful. Thing is, Tony's not doing PR anymore where he has to be worried about saying the exact right thing and getting a particular message across. He's a media member now and part of what goes along with that is reporting or giving commentary on things that are newsworthy, even if it's about Michael or MWR and isn't good news. It's a delicate balance with rumors in that it's not good to report rumors that are potentially damaging that might be false but on the other hand if Tony has sources he trusts who he thinks are giving him good information, I don't think he's doing anything wrong by talking about it, especially since it would be a fairly big news story if Ryan left MWR after he helped David race so well this season.

There was plenty of other topics covered on "The After Show." Apparently Traci had to fix a wireless issue that Michael was having that was a matter of clicking one button. They joked that when it comes to electronic devices Michael doesn't know what he's doing so when he's trying to figure something out he'll hit a bunch of buttons and screw things up worse. Some are under the impression that Michael is on the computer all the time, and while there's no doubt that he goes online, based on everything I've heard, he needs help so I'm not sure he's the presence online that some believe, nor is it as easy for him as some think. Last year when I saw Michael at Pocono I was curious so I asked him if he did any photography and in talking about why he doesn't he looked at my digital camera and indicated that cameras these days were too complicated for him. Which is amazing to me. One, because Michael is extremely intelligent so it's a little surprising that he gets so confused by electronic devices so easily. But also, the man can not only drive a race car but talk about the technical details of what goes into making one competitive, but too many buttons on an electronic device and he gets confused!

Traci brought up how she feels sorry for her friend Melanie who does PR for Sam Hornish, Jr. because it seems like every post-race there's an incident that he's involved with. Sad to say but that's no exaggeration and things didn't get any better for her this weekend considering Sam failed to qualify for the race. Traci noted that no one cares about the Rookie of the Year battle and that's very true considering how poorly all the rookies raced this season for the most part. Tony wondered why Sam is coming back to Nascar next season when he can race competitively in the IRL. He thinks it's more a case of pride than money, but I would guess that money plays a role since even the worst finishing driver stands a chance of making a decent amount of money if they're with a well-funded organization which Penske Racing is. There's also a lot more exposure that a driver can get in Nascar, even a driver who isn't racing all that well as compared to the IRL. I also think one season is too soon to give up on a driver being successful, though as Traci said a lot of teams often aren't able to have the patience with a driver who is struggling. For Sam's sake I hope he's a lot better next season but it seems to me he has a long way to go.

Tony mentioned that he wanted to see a decent race at Homestead and that he hoped that someone that you'd never think in a million years would win a race would win. Well, I'm writing this entry a day after the Cup race at Homestead and neither of those things happened. In my opinion, the Homestead race stunk and not just because Michael had such a lousy day, but because the quality of the racing wasn't very good, at least what they showed us on TV. In addition, one of the usual suspects won - Carl Edwards, who picked up his ninth win of the season. I don't think anyone unexpected even sniffed at the lead. Sure would have liked yesterday's race a lot better if things had gone the way Tony was hoping they would!

There was also some discussion about how the Homestead race was going to be Bobby Kennedy's last as Michael's crew chief and how as good as it is that Bootie Barker will be coming on-board there's some concern that the momentum that the #55 has build up at the end of the season will be effected. Traci said that's because there's something that just "clicks" between Michael and Bobby. Yeah, and not always in a good way. As much as Michael and Bobby might be friends and as much as Bobby might understand Michael, from the perspective of an outsider looking in, aka a no-nothing fan, at times it's seemed like Bobby has struggled to make the changes to the car to get the handling right for Michael. There are also times when it almost seems like Bobby's not completely listening to Michael, though to be fair Michael sometimes struggles to communicate well and give good feedback. I just haven't got the feel-good, trust-him-no-matter-what vibe this season that Michael says he has with Bobby.

What was good about Bobby is that he didn't hesitate to put Michael in his place such as yesterday when Michael got to whining about something and Bobby told him to "give it a rest!" Michael has such a strong personality, and is not only the driver but the owner, so I suspect it might make it hard for some to stand up to him. But hopefully that won't be a problem with Bootie. I really hope that he and Michael are able to work well together because I really think Michael needs to be able to work with someone other than Bobby. Okay, he and Tony Eury, Jr. also work great together but the odds that Eury, Jr. will be available anytime soon probably aren't all that good. Traci said that from a PR standpoint Bootie is great because it's easy to sell him and he also likes to do media. He's also got a lot to say and he's attractive too! So I'm thinking NAPA is going to get some extra exposure with Bootie on-board!

One more Michael Waltrip Out Loud and one more After Show!

Update: Apparently there is some truth to what Tony reported regarding Brian Pattie at least - Lee Spencer reported in an article this weekend regarding the DEI-Ganassi merger that MWR had "courted" Pattie but he turned their offer down last week because of the way the #42 team has improved and because of the opportunity to with with Kevin "Bono" Manion, the crew chief of DEI's #1 car, who is one of his best friends. That really doesn't bode well because MWR probably wouldn't be offering Pattie a job unless they were going to have a crew chief opening. Jerry Baxter isn't likely to leave the Nationwide team with how long he's been at MWR, Bootie was just hired, Frankie Kerr is technically a JTG employee, so that leaves Ryan unless MWR is going to be fielding an additional Nationwide or Cup car in 2009 that we don't know about yet which seems kind of unlikely given that they don't have sponsorship completely lined up for their existing cars. So if MWR can't convince Ryan to stay and they couldn't get Brian, who is going to be David's crew chief next season? And how much will Ryan's departure from MWR - if it happens - effect both David's team and MWR as a whole?

Posted by silverdsl at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud on XM (11/13)

I wish I had the time to get to this sooner but I've been super-busy since last week, so busy in fact that I almost wasn't able to even listen to this past week's Outloud! As it turns out I did get to listen but I was in the car and I was exhausted from a very long day at work so I might have missed a few things. Anyway...

Just prior to doing the show apparently Tony had a big thing of sweet tea so that led them into a discussion of the best places in the area to get sweet tea. Which led into Michael talking about a place near Raceworld that he loves to go to lunch at which is a Greek place in a shopping center nearby. He mispronounced all the Greek names of the food you can get there and said you can get fallopian there. Har, har, har. More seriously he said that he likes to get a plate of food and if I understood correctly sit outside and eat it there. I love Greek food so I might have missed a little of what they said next because I was dreaming of yummy Greek food and places to get good Greek food near me. Even days after listening to this show I'm craving a gyro, some spinach pie and a big greek salad!

Michael was talking to Bill Davis at some point last weekend after the truck race and Bill was incredulous that both Ron Honaday and Johnny Benson made boo-boos on Friday night in the truck race. Tony said that you have to expect that kind of thing with Ron because that's the kind of driver he is - he races the first lap just like it's a green-white-checker. Aside from saying that he wanted Johnny to win the Championship because he's a Toyota guy, Michael said that he's been racing with Johnny forever and that he likes him so it's not just because of Toyota why he's pulling for him. Michael thinks that Ron has the advantage at Homestead and that Johnny needed to go there with that points lead if he was going to have any hope of beating him. As it turned out as we saw on Friday even though Ron had a strong truck, Johnny was still able to beat him based on taking a gamble on staying out when Ron pitted. I think what Tony pointed out with Ron, how he races hard on every lap of every race, is something that has helped him be as successful as he's been but it can also be his downfall - had he not wrecked at Phoenix he might be celebrating a Championship right now.

Tony pointed out that there are quite a few Hendrick or Hendrick affiliated teams - the Hendrick primary teams, the Haas teams, James Finch's team, etc... so if Jimmie Johnson ran into any problems where it looked like he wasn't going to finish well enough to win the Championship all those cars could pull over so Jimmie could finish ahead of them. However, Michael pointed out that wouldn't work if there was a massive mechanical failure like a blown engine because those cars wouldn't be able to pull over fast enough so that Jimmie would be ahead of them. Besides Junior isn't about to pull over and stop racing. I think Tony does have a good point though that Jimmie has a lot of friends out there and it might be something to watch as to how those teams might help him if needed. Michael joked that what they really need to do is to protect Jimmie on his way down to Homestead to make sure nothing happens to him while he's traveling so they should walk him down to Florida or put him in a cocoon. Turns out Jimmie made it to Homestead without incident and he didn't need any help from either his teammates or affiliated HMS cars to win his third Championship in a row.

Lee White from Toyota Racing Development was the guest in the second segment and he came prepared with a bunch of stats about how much the Toyota teams have improved over last season. When Lee said that he was going to give them some numbers I forget which one, Tony or Michael, joked that the last time numbers came up Nascar took horsepower away from their Nationwide teams. One stat that Lee mentioned is that Joe Gibbs Racing has something like 28 wins in the Nationwide Series over the 13 years they've been in the series... and 19 of them came this season. If I'm being honest I didn't think Lee had anything too exciting to say and certainly nothing that we haven't heard before, though some of the stats were mildly interesting. On The After Show Tony said he had wanted to ask Lee about the economy but he thought it might not be a good idea and didn't. Sure wish he had because it might have made for a more interesting interview!

At some point it came up that Michael wants to do the show live next year on Monday nights. He thinks they should get some candles, turn the lights down and serve some wine to their guests. More like Michael probably just wants an excuse to have some wine while he's doing the show! I have my fingers crossed that not only will the show be back next season, but that it'll be an hour! It would be great it if were on Monday nights too since we rarely have events at work on Monday nights so I'm almost always home.

In relation to his car at Phoenix Michael said they were like 12th fastest on average on Saturday but by Sunday the car was junk. He said that's something they need to work on making sure the changes and adjustments they make from Saturday to Sunday are the right ones I agree! Seems like Michael often complains on race day that the car doesn't feel the way it did during practice and that the changes aren't for the better. So it seems like the #55 team often gets behind even when they have a fast car because they have to spend so much time adjusting on the car to get the handling right. However, Michael also said he's really proud of Bobby Kennedy and his team because they took a car that was junk and made it into one of the fastest on the track by the end of the race. That is a good thing - I just wish they were able to do it before the end of the race!

There was some discussion about Marcos Ambrose and how well he's been racing. Michael said that Marcos and Frankie are good together. The cars that Marcos are racing are the same ones that Michael McDowell and other drivers were racing and Marcos is able to get more out of those cars than those other drivers. That really says something about McD imo, because while Marcos has more Nascar experience overall than McD, he has just as little Cup experience as McD, yet he was able to take the same cars McD was racing and get top 20s with them. In retrospect I wish they had taken McD out of the car a couple of races earlier because a different driver behind the wheel for just a few more races might have made the difference in terms of the top 35. Traci mentioned on The After Show that she wasn't sure that McD had enough of a chance in Cup to show he belonged (along with a few others who have come and gone) and there's probably some truth to that. However, one thing that's always bothered me about McD is that some of his comments seem to indicate that he thinks he has nothing to learn. I'm not sure how much a young driver is going to grow and develop from where they are if they aren't open to advise or learning from others.

There must have been some discussion about Homestead but I really can't remember anything they said, and not that it really matters anyway since they raced at Homestead yesterday. The show closed with "Smuggler's Blue's" by Glen Fry.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

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 14, 2008

David Reutimann on the Pole at Homestead!!!

Too busy right now to say more than whoo-hooooooooo! David Reutimann's on the pole for the Cup race at Homestead! Way to go David!!!

Posted by silverdsl at 05:44 PM | Comments (1)

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 04, 2008

Car and Driver Magazine Test Drives a Michael Waltrip Racing #55 NAPA Auto Parts COT

It's been great how much positive media attention Michael Waltrip and Michael Waltrip Racing have been getting lately, and it's continuing with a interesting article in Car and Driver magazine in which a reporter takes a ride around the road course track at VIR in a MWR car - a #55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota to be precise. That resulted in an in-depth review for Car and Driver about what it's like to drive a COT, and includes some interesting comments from some at MWR.

I know that a lot of people stop by here looking for news and information about Michael and MWR so I want to give those folks a head's up so they can check the article out online or even better go pick up a copy of the magazine at the store. It's well worth a read especially for anyone who is interested in the technical aspect of the sport and the cars but the article is written in a way that anyone can understand.

I'm not sure how this article came to be but it's really outstanding that of all the teams in the garage area that Car and Driver could have done this article with they did it with Michael,the #55 team and MWR! Since I don't believe Car and Driver

I originally posted this entry when the article came out last week but I want to update it now that I have some time. I have to admit I'm surprised by how little attention this article has gotten. I would think that a MWR car - or any Cup car and team for that matter - being featured in Car and Driver is a big deal and something that doesn't happen every day. Yet I've seen nothing about this article anywhere, including on Michael's site and the NAPA sponsorship site. If not for having stumbled upon the one fan forum where it was posted I probably wouldn't have any idea the article came out.

Maybe part of the reason it hasn't gotten a lot of attention is because it's a pretty technical article and a lot of fans don't understand or enjoy the technical side of the sport. I find it pretty interesting to read about the technical side even though some of it definitely goes over my head. One interesting thing in this article is that apparently the MWR engineers at the test openly admitted that they don't like the COT, I guess because how hard it is to get it set-up right. At the time the reporter tested the #55, Dr. Eric Warren was still with the team and he emphasized the importance of the tires and getting the tire pressures right. This quote should seem familiar to Michael's fans - “What we are seeing this year is that people will make the car better during the race, then lose a handle on it out of nowhere.” Seems like that's a regular thing for Michael - he has a great car and then suddenly out of no where the handling goes away and it ruins his entire day. This is extremely frustrating to fans who are listening on the radio during races because they don't understand why the team can't just put back the car back to the way it was but from the sounds of it, that's not always so easy.

What I was really astonished by was that even though the COT is supposed to save the team money, apparently it's actually costing the teams even more money due to the testing and R&D costs. From the article:

The CoT was supposed to save money, but the talk is that costs have gone up because teams are spending huge amounts of time in the wind tunnel chasing small gains. The amount of computer modeling has increased because, as Waltrip Racing’s senior analysis engineer Mark Catania says, “We basically threw all our notebooks away when we went to these cars.”

Despite NASCAR’s ban on data acquisition during race weekends, teams are loading up their CoTs ($100,000, less engine) with $1 million worth of instrumentation at test sessions to try to discover what is happening at the tire contact patch. In theory, teams need far fewer cars than they ran in the past because the Car of Tomorrow was designed as a one-size-fits-all machine, whereas the old cars were tailored for the event: road courses, short and intermediate ovals, and superspeedways. However, Waltrip Racing has an inventory of about 55 cars, according to Warren, with eight in build at any one time, which is not much different than what teams were running in the recent past. Warren explains: “Even though you can take the same car to a short track and an intermediate one, they get trashed more often because the slightest of damage in a race means the car may not be able to pass the NASCAR inspection process because of the tight tolerances demanded. So you save in the number of car configurations but lose more in the course of normal racing.”

So just exactly how are the smaller and underfunded teams supposed to be able to afford $1million worth of test gadgets for testing? Or fancy computer modeling? Or a bunch of cars? Or the personnel to oversee all of this? It seems to me that the COT came to the sport at the worst possible time because the poor economy and resulting sponsor woes for many of the teams makes it hard for them to be able to do the necessary tests to try to find those small gains or build as many cars as they need. Do all the fans that complain about why their favorite team is doing so poorly or laugh at drivers who are struggling each week realize what a difficult challenge many of these teams have when it comes to the COT?

Reading about the reporter's test of the car is also interesting because he calls being in the car a hostile environment. For one thing there's the heat which McD told the reporter causes him to lose ten pounds each week. But there's also the way the car drives which the reporter says seems harder to driver than the older style car he once tested. He described the way to get the most out of the COT on a road course as needing "finesse and violence in equal measure." Michael said,

“It’s a lot like wrestling in that you have to hop the curbs to get the car to turn. Yet stamping on the gas is not an option. You can’t mat it at Charlotte at 180 mph, so you can’t mat it here. You need a lot more finesse than you might think.”

Again, I ask - do fans realize how hard it is? That these drivers aren't just cruising around the track on road courses or anywhere else. It may look easy but it's not. The writer sums up by saying,

Then you think about driving a CoT at Charlotte, where the top drivers are dirt-tracking them into corners at 170 mph and more. It must be plenty challenging in a car that drives predictably. In something as compromised as the CoT, these drivers sure earn their money.

Yeah, they really do earn their money! Especially when you consider that they aren't just out on a test course like this reporter was, they're racing against 42 other competitors who are some of the most elite race car drivers in the world, often at close quarters. It's really incredible - and fascinating - what these drivers and teams are doing in an effort to try to tame the COT beast and get to Victory Lane.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:11 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 29, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (10/29)

*Jayski has an "I heard" item that JR Motorsports laid off 15-18 people and may reduce the number of cars they field next season. If this is true I would assume that's because they haven't been able to find a replacement primary sponsor for the Navy who are sponsoring the #88 through the end of the season. Some fans seem incredulous about this item but they must not have been paying very close attention to the owner of JR Motorsports - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - who was pretty clear that he was concerned about finances for his team(s) and that it was essential that they find a sponsor to replace the Navy. Although Junior surely has the money to field at least one car out of his pocket, it doesn't make good business sense to do that long-term, and particularly in the Nationwide Series where the revenue that the team brings in is surely significantly less than if it were a Cup team. As I've said before in this space it really doesn't bode well for the Nationwide Series that a team owned by the sport's most popular driver is having problems finding sponsors. One problem is that as talented as Brad Keselowski is, sponsors are looking for drivers who they believe are marketable, and since Keselowski isn't traditionally "cute" and doesn't seem to get a huge amount of media attention, that may deter some sponsors.

*Larry McClure, one of the founders and general manager of Morgan-McClure Motorsports has been indicted on charges related to wire fraud, mail fraud and violations of federal tax law - somehow I'm thinking that the odds of the #4 returning to the track are even slimmer than ever.

*Although there's been no official announcement as of yet, it appears that Kyle Petty's last race for Petty Enterprises will be at Phoenix. But that doesn't mean that Kyle's going to stop racing. He's exploring the possibility of racing the entire Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series schedule next season. The results for Kyle haven't been very good for Kyle for quite some time and more than a few have speculated that not only has Kyle lost his ability behind the wheel but also his desire to race. However, Kyle has said that he still wants to race and still feels the passion for racing just as much as ever. So it's good that he may get to race the Grand-Am Series next season. It might not be as high-profile as the Cup Series but it might be fun for him and it would still allow him to remain visible and get the word out about the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

*A driver who has mostly been forgotten about when it comes to discussions about open rides is Scott Wimmer, who has done a very good job in a part-time role for Richard Childress Racing the past two years, even winning a race in the #29 at Nashville earlier this season. Wimmer said this weekend that he's talking to owners and would like to find a Cup ride but I have a feeling that's not going to happen. He indicated that there may be some Nationwide teams with openings at the end of the season and I hope that there's a competitive team that will put him behind the wheel since he's shown that he can race well - and win - when he's give a competitive car.

*Another driver looking for a ride is Jeremy Mayfield and while he would also like to race Cup next season, he's exploring an opportunity in the Truck Series, but it wouldn't be just as a driver. Mayfield is apparently talking with Billy Ballew about the possibility of buying one of his two trucks. Mayfield might race the #15 himself or if he were to get a Cup ride he could put another driver behind the wheel. I think this would be great for Mayfield - not only is the racing outstanding in the Truck Series so he could have some fun racing a truck, but it would also provide a way for him to remain involved in the sport for years to come even after he stops racing.

*Paul Wolfe, who is currently the crew chief for Josh Wise at Michael Waltrip Racing, will join CJM Racing at the end of the season to be the crew chief for Scott Lagasse Jr. I was wondering where Wolfe was going to end up since MWR is only going to field one Nationwide car next season and I didn't see Jerry Baxter leaving considering that he's been with the organization since the beginning when it was housed in a shop in the back of Michael's house. Apparently CJM has formed a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing and will be switching to Toyotas next season so the hiring of Wolfe makes sense since he is familiar with Toyotas via his work at MWR.

*Jack Roush would like to see Nascar give Chase teams a mulligan which mean that only nine of the ten Chase races would count. Completely and utterly ridiculous. In other sports do they allow teams to throw out losses and in the playoffs no less? And why should it only be Chase drivers who get to throw out poor results? Problems and poor results are a part of the sport and if Roush wants to be sure that one of this teams win the Championship then the way to do it is build a team as strong as the #48 team who have a knack for overcoming any setbacks or problems during races.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:18 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)

Nick Hughes Named Technical Director at Michael Waltrip Racing Replacing Dr. Eric Warren

A little over a year ago Dr. Eric Warren joined Michael Waltrip Racing as technical director and he was instrumental in helping the organization make a significant amount of progress on the competition side. But one thing that's constant in Nascar is chance and particularly when it comes to personnel. Dr. Warren will be leaving MWR to "pursue other Sprint Cup opportunities" which likely means that another organization took note of what he did at MWR and lured him away. But MWR won't be left high and dry without Dr. Warren - today it was announced that Nick Hughes, who Dr. Warren hired as Engineering Director, has been named Technical Director.

Hughes said of his new role at MWR,

"I am looking forward to the challenge of combining the skills of our engineering group with the experience and knowledge of our teams and other departments in order to continue increasing the performance and competitiveness of our cars.”

It's a good sign that MWR has grown enough that when someone leaves they can promote from within, and while Dr. Warren will surely be missed, the organization will be able to continue to move forward with someone in his place who worked closely with him.

In some regards I'm disappointed that Dr. Warren is leaving because I think he did good things while at MWR, and I also enjoyed hearing what he had to say in interviews. But in the back of my mind I was always a little wary of him because there was some talk that the reason he left Gillett-Evernham Motorsports last year was due to making a rather large mistake with some engineering data that those at GEM said caused some significant set-backs in terms of their ability to be competitive because they were working off the wrong data. I have no idea how much truth there is to any of that but if it happened that there was some truth there, I was concerned that the same kind of situation could happen at MWR. Of course everyone makes mistakes, sometimes even big ones, but there isn't much room for error these days when it comes to engineering and data since being off by the tiniest of fractions could change things dramatically.

The question becomes where Dr. Warren is going to end up. I can't help but wonder if he's going to go to Stewart-Haas Racing as their technical director. I have no doubt that SHR is going to spend a lot of money to try to get top personnel from other teams in an effort to be as competitive as possible right off the bat. It seems to me that Dr. Warren would be a good fit since he has experience working at a new organization that is still trying to build a solid foundation.

Of course Hughes isn't the only person with a new position at MWR - Steve Hallam will also be joining the organization as director of race engineering. Between the two of them and the rest of the talented people on the competition side, hopefully MWR will make even more gains on the competition side in 2009 than they did in 2008!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2008

Germain Racing Forms Alliance With Michael Waltrip Racing

Turns out JTG-Daugherty Racing isn't the only organization that Michael Waltrip Racing is going to have an alliance with next season. During the announcement today that Max Papis would be racing 18 Cup races for Germain Racing with sponsorship from Geico next season, it was also revealed that Germain had entered into a technical alliance with MWR. No details about the alliance were given but I would assume at the very least MWR will be providing cars to Germain. Apparently the alliance came about for two reasons - one, because the organization was already aligned with Toyota via their Truck and Nationwide programs and two, because Papis raced for Cal Wells, MWR's executive vice president, in open wheel.

I'm happy that MWR is entering into another technical alliance. Multi-car teams have the most success and if MWR can't field those cars directly, being able to field them indirectly will also help them when it comes to gathering information. But more than that MWR is going to have money coming in via both deals from organizations with solid sponsorship and that's a good thing as well.

Ted Ward, Geico's vice president of marketing said of Papis,

“Max is an intense guy who lines up with our corporate values of character and integrity, while also possessing an unparalleled amount of passion and enthusiasm.”

So it certainly sounds like they think highly of Papis as a person and they must believe in his ability to get results for them despite only having a minimal amount of experience not only in Cup but overall in Nascar. In fact, it's that lack of experience that is causing fans to be upset that Papis got the nod for the Cup deal over Mike Wallace, who Geico is sponsoring in the Nationwide Series through the end of the season. Wallace is currently 8th in owner's points so some feel that he's proven to Geico that he can get the job done behind the wheel. But what really makes the decision to go with Papis curious is that Geico has invested a lot of money into the popular "Loren Wallace" commercials featuring Wallace. Seems odds to build that whole campaign and develop brand awareness around it only to drop it and Wallace for another driver.

Papis will be attempting to qualify for the Cup race this weekend at Texas and also the season ending race in Homestead in preparation for next season with Randy Goss as his crew chief. It'll be interesting to see how he does, not only in those two races, but next season, and how the technical alliance with MWR evolves.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2008

Dashed Hopes for Michael Waltrip at Atlanta

Although the race started out extremely promising for Michael Waltrip and the #55 team it turned into a disaster of a race. Ultimately all three Michael Waltrip Racing cars finished poorly with the best finish being from David Reutimann in 28th. I think I'm more upset about this race for Michael than about any this season because for the first part of the race it appeared Michael had the best and most competitive car he's had to race in years, and I felt certain that he was going to finish up front. Michael was not only able to race his way into the top ten from where he started in 29th, but he had a car that was the fastest on the track multiple times during the first 100 laps of the race. He had a top five car if not one he could have contended for the win with and it was heartbreaking to see everything go to pieces. I expect that there might be problems - there are always issues, even for the best of teams, but it's harder to take when the car is so competitive then when the car is junk from the start of the race. This car was most certainly not junk when the race started and I feel terrible for Michael that on the occasion of his 1,000th start in Nascar's National Touring Series (Cup, Nationwide, Trucks) he wasn't able to finish as well as it looked like he was going to at one point.

The problems started around lap 130 with radio issues that forced Michael to have to come to give up track position when he was racing in the top ten to swap helmets on pit road in an effort to fix the problem. But it didn't work and the majority of the rest of the race was spent with Michael able to hear his team but with them unable to hear him. I suspect that may have helped contribute to some of the later problems because I would think it became a bit of a guessing game as to what changes to make to the car since they were unable to get any feedback from Michael as to what the car was doing. Once they did get the radio issues fixed towards the end of the race Michael mentioned how one set of changes made him loose and I would guess that's how he ended up brushing the wall which led to a blown tire, which led to spins and parts flying off the car for the remainder of the race leading to the #55 being the cause of several cautions - not pretty to say the least. That car was completely torn up by the end of the race, but at least Michael was able to finish - his team worked hard each time there was an issue to make whatever repairs were necessary.

What really made me feel horrible for Michael was when he was finally able to be heard over the radio by his team he said "This race is like my career. So much promise, so much hope, shitty results." My heart really ached for him. There is always so much negativity and criticism directed towards Michael and as much he outwardly says that it doesn't matter what anyone thinks or says about him, I'm sure he would have liked nothing more than to make a statement to some of the naysayers in his 1,000th start. As I say all the time, Michael has just as much competitive fire and desire to win as any other driver and as his comment reflects he is as well aware as anyone of his career stats. As much as he says he'll take those two Daytona 500 wins over a bunch more wins at other tracks, I think there likely is a part of him that longs for more trips to Victory Lane and more respect. It's just so unfortunate because there have been so many races like this for Michael over the course of his career where bad luck and things out of his control - blown tires, mechanical issues, getting swept up in a wreck or poor pit stops have ruined what could have been good finishes for him. Many people only see the numbers, not only for Michael but for a lot of drivers, and see only that Michael hasn't won more races, hasn't finished up front more often, when there is so much more to the story and so many times when Michael has raced competitively and well.

But as frustrated and down as Michael must have been about what happened in this race, unlike Kurt Busch last week who wanted to park his car when he too found himself causing repeated cautions due to blown tires and spins, Michael never once said he wanted to give up or go to the garage when he was able to communicate to his team again. And I doubt we'll ever hear that from him. Earlier this season I didn't understand why he always wanted to have his team try to fix the car when they were involved in a wreck even if there weren't many laps left and there was nothing to gain but Michael explained that because he has NAPA Auto Parts as his sponsor he feels he needs to try to avoid DNFs if it's at all possible so the NAPA car is on the track at the end of the race to send a message that NAPA parts are reliable. so Michael feels he owes it to his sponsor but beyond that it's just not Michael to give up no matter how bad things are.

Some fans questioned why Nascar didn't black-flag Michael and force him to the garage area for causing as many cautions as he did but they didn't park Kurt last week for being the cause of a bunch of cautions and they haven't parked other drivers in a similar situation so why would they do it to Michael? As long as a car is making the minimum speed and isn't leaking fluid or in violation of the rules somehow Nascar is going to let them continue, and as long as Nascar is going to let teams make repairs to wrecked race cars and allow them back on the track there will be a risk that some parts may fly off.

Neither David nor Marcos Ambrose seemed to have a competitive car in this race at any point, though Marcos 's 29th place finish is better than both of the last two drivers to race the third car for MWR. I'll be interested to see a post-race report for David because he's been racing so well for a while now so I'm curious as to whether there was a mechanical issue or poor pit stop that caused him to get behind.

But as disappointing as this race was, as bad as I feel for Michael, there is still a couple of positives to be taken way from this race. For one thing, I liked how much TV time Michael got in the first part of the race and that there was recognition for how well he was racing. Sometimes even when a driver races up front if they aren't among the top drivers in the sport they don't get mentioned. So it was good to hear them talk about Michael and how well he was racing several times today. But more importantly, that car that Michael had to race today was extremely competitive and I think it's a sign of MWR's continuing progress that they were able to build a car that good. If the cars are that competitive on a regular basis next season MWR is going to be contending for some wins.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:37 PM | Comments (2)

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)

Michael Waltrip on Sirius's The Morning Drive

Fridays are always a good day for me with this blog at least during the season because I always have a recap of Michael's XM show from the night before to do and it gives me a lot of material to think and write about. This Friday became even better when I found out that Michael would be interviewed this morning on "The Morning Drive" on Sirius! The interview was because he's making his 1,000th start this weekend at Atlanta - Mike Bagley referred to it as his 1,000th Cup start as he has a few other times but it's actually his 1,000th combined Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series start. It's really an outstanding accomplishment and I'm really happy for Michael that he's getting so much positive attention for it!

Michael's looking forward to racing at Atlanta. A week ago he didn't even know he'd be making his 1,000 start and he doesn't really know if this is a big deal, but David Poole said that yes, it was because he's only the second guy to get a comma. Yeah, I'd say it's a pretty big deal! Some don't seem to understand that it's not just about the finishes that Michael has gotten in those races but that it's also about how long Michael has been a part of the sport. Michael said racing is what he's done his whole life and this is a chance for him to say "see I told you this is what I do" and that he does it as hard and consistently as he can.

The next chapter for Michael in making things work is as a team owner. He's enjoying seeing the progress and he's looking forward to being involved with that for a long time to come. Poole asked about the challenge as a team owner in regards to sponsorship these days and Michael said that he can only remember a couple of years in the last twenty-five when he knew what he was going to be doing the following year. So many years it's been about whether there's a sponsor and if they're coming back. It's just the way the sport works, that everything hinges on corporate America wanting to be on the car. Which I think is a very good point. Although things are certainly a lot harder now given how poor the economy is, there has always been a degree of uncertainty when it comes to sponsors for many teams and drivers since they don't always know if their sponsors is going to return for the following season.

Michael said you learn to appreciate the opportunities that you get and that you have to work hard. Nothing's a given. He tries to instill in his folks that you have to be fast on the track but you also have to think about what else the sponsor is looking for. You need to give them more than what they would get elsewhere. That's certainly what Michael has always been about and something that he is extraordinarily talented at - being the best in the garage area when it comes to getting exposure for his sponsors and creating opportunities for them to reach fans. NAPA and Aaron's, their attitude matches his - they want to be "all in" doing TV, XM, Sirius and everything else. It's an honor to participate in the race and then get to sit around and talk about it the next day which he loves. He thanks the fans for letting him race for this long and his sponsors for believing in him.

Michael said he doesn't care what anyone says, "I'm a pretty good driver!" I agree! In the recent past he admitted that some of the negativity directed towards him has been hurtful so I'm glad to hear that he still believes in himself as a driver! Michael has a lot of ability behind the wheel and he hasn't always been able to show what he's truly capable of because he's often raced cars that were less than competitive. But his two Daytona 500 wins, two other Cup wins, All-Star win and other highlights of his career speak to his talent. I'm happy that the cars that Michael Waltrip Racing are fielding are getting more competitive because it's going to allow Michael to race up front more often and hopefully contend for some wins!

Bagley asked about David Reutimann and how they first started working with David. I was pretty surprised by what Michael said because he let the cat out of the bag about something that has previously been kept under wraps which is that Michael was actively involved with DW's truck team. That isn't such big news now but at one time it would have been. They first started working with David in the Fall of 2003 when they were looking for someone for DW's truck team. He and Bobby Kennedy had a plan to help DW build his truck team and they had agreed to have some of the MWR personnel help. There has long been speculation that DW's Truck team was really Michael's truck team and that DW didn't actually run it, Michael did and from the sounds of it that's pretty much what Michael admitted to. Maybe DW was involved as well, but it sure did sound like Michael was involved in the decision to hire David back then as well as other things along the way. The reason this would have been a big deal if this was known in the past is because it means that Michael was working with Toyota while he was still a Chevy driver and that kind of thing is usually highly frowned upon particularly when it comes to team ownership. The interesting thing about this is that even if he didn't know back then that he'd one day be fielding Cup cars for Toyota he was developing the driver who would one day be his Cup driver.

I missed a little of what Michael said next about David but when I was able to listen again he was praising David's attitude and demeanor. David has a respect for the sport because he grew up in a hauler at dirt tracks. He's very appreciative as a result. Michael said he talked to Richard Petty last night and they were talking about how it's easier now than it was in the past (I think he means easier to get in a good ride right away for some as opposed to having to work one's way up having to prove one's self in junk cars first) and that maybe because it's easier some don't appreciate it as much. But then they said that it's still a great group of people in the garage area.

Michael said he must be getting old because he's getting philosophical but he thinks it's important to look around and appreciate everything. Poole brought up how some callers will call in to make note of how there were 5,000 empty seats at a particular race and he will bring up how even though there were those 5,000 empty seats there were still 95,000 that were filled (which is a great point - even with the decline in ticket sales the attendance at races is probably still a lot more than at many other sporting events). Michael said with the weather some talk about how there's a 70% chance of rain but he sees it as a 30% chance it won't rain. Wed. afternoon he went wild boar hunting on a farm in South Georgia with the folks from Aarons (he didn't mention if he shot any) and the farmer has 77,000 acres. It's been really dry down there. So even though race fans aren't too happy about the rain falling at the track, somewhere someone like that farmer is smiling about the rain falling.

This interview really summed up Michael - always able to find the positives and appreciate what he has!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2008

Random Thoughts on Martinsville

*Sure looks like Jimmie Johnson is going to win the Championship - again. With a dominant win yesterday at Martinsville Jimmie has all but assured himself of the Championship which is a pretty big turn around for the #48 team considering they looked completely lost at times on the track early in the season. Since Fontana at the end of August Jimmie has only finished out of the top five once and has won four times. A lot of fans are complaining about how boring it is that Jimmie's running away with the Championship and how it's proof that Nascar should go back to the old points system but there's no guarantee that under the old points system there would be a battle for the Championship since a driver could still open up a huge points lead.

*It was a mixed day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Martinsville. Both Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann had competitive cars but both struggled with issues that prevented them from finishing as well as they might have. David looked to be on his way to another top ten until a blown tire sent him to pit road. He was still able to finish 24th but that had to be disappointing, particularly since he also had another potential top ten ruined the week before in Charlotte by mechanical issues. Although Michael was able to race in the top twenty for most of the day, there were some handling issues to contend with, plus concern over a potentially failing rear end gear (I'm sure they got even more concerned when the #00 dropped out of the race for that exact reason). The #55 team did a good job of staying out during some early cautions to get track position and Michael did a good job of hanging on and keeping it even though the #55 wasn't handling as well as some of those he was racing. As for Mike Bliss and the #00, once again that team is lucky that Robby Gordon has just as much bad luck as they do - if Robby had finished well in this race he might have locked himself into the top 35 but since he had issues too the #00 (soon to be the #47) still has a chance to make it back into the top 35 in owner's points. Basically not the race that MWR might have wanted but not a disaster of a day either.

*Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished second at Martinsville, a career best finish at the track and his best finish in the Chase but that didn't stop him from taking a shot at Nascar. He said,

"There was no way NASCAR was gonna let this thing go green to the end. They always throw a caution at the end of the race to bunch up the field and get the fans back in it."

Junior needs to stick a sock in it. For one thing all the cautions yesterday seemed perfectly legitimate including the last caution which was for David Ragan spinning. What's so ridiculous about Junior's comment is that Nascar was actually conservative about throwing the caution yesterday and didn't do so a number of times when drivers got into the wall or spun when they were able to immediately get going again without being in the way. All Junior and other drivers do when they make comments like this is give ammunition to the conspiracy theorists and tin-foil brigade who believe that Nascar manipulates races to get the outcome they want. Unless Junior has some sort of proof that Nascar is calling fake cautions then I think he's better off keeping those kinds of opinions to himself.

*Some fans complained after the race that Jimmie Johnson and others from Hendrick Motorsports brought up the 2004 crash of a HMS plane because they're tired of hearing about it. I'm tired of fans complaining about this. Ten people died in that crash including four members of the Hendrick family and several key employees. I think it's completely appropriate to bring up and pay tribute to those who were lost in that plane crash since I'm sure not only everyone at HMS thinks of them whenever they go to Martinsville but many others in the garage area do as well. To me it would be completely appropriate for those at HMS to still be bringing up that plane crash ten years from now when they're at Martinsville. Do fans expect that those at HMS should just forget about the loss of their colleagues, friends and family members?

*A.J. Allmendinger finished 15th in his first start in the #10 for Gillett Evernham Motorsports. That's only the second time the #10 has finished in the top fifteen this season. Although A.J. made a mistake last week that resulted in a wrecked race car (and Michael Waltrip commented this weekend over his radio while watching A.J. race in front of him "no wonder he wrecked our car"), he did a very good job of racing the #10 to a good finish. A.J. still has things to learn about racing Cup but if some team takes a chance on him and helps him continue his development as a Cup driver they won't be sorry. If he can race a car that isn't among the most competitive on the track to a top fifteen, imagine what he might be able to do with a competitive car?

Posted by silverdsl at 09:45 AM | 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 12, 2008

Charlotte Night Racing - Good Racing, Not-so-Good Night for Michael Waltrip Racing

Jeff Burton got a needed win last night and Carl Edwards's championship hopes took a big hit (bad karma?) but as always most of my attention was on the Michael Waltrip Racing teams. Unfortunately it was another tough weekend for Michael and his drivers but at least the cars continued to be competitive.

At the start of the race Michael had a competitive car and was able to race his way into the top twenty. But as the race went on the handling went away and the team struggled to find the right changes to improve things for Michael. Being involved in two incidents didn't help either. In the first Michael was on the bottom of some three wide racing and got down into the grass. Unfortunately he didn't realize Mike Skinner was next to him when he came up - he said afterwards he couldn't see Skinner there which is likely true considering how limited the driver's visibility to the side is because of how tightly they're strapped into their cars. But that's why they have spotters. At any rate, the result was that Skinner and Ken Schrader ended up with wrecked race cars. Later on a re-start there was oil or some other substance on the track which caused Michael and several others to go for a spin. The damage in that incident was worse but the #55 team did a great job of taking care of everything without Michael losing any more than the one lap he was already down. After that the car actually got somewhat better and Michael was able to finish 24th which isn't great but could have been worse. It's nice that these days a 24th place finish is disappointing because of hoe competitive the car seemed to be at times - earlier this season finishing 35th seemed like an accomplishment in some races. Which is why I don't get too upset about finishes like this since there's been so much progress from where they were to start the season.

As always it's interesting listening in to Michael's radio communication. Every driver gets frustrated, whines and complains during races when their car isn't right and Michael certainly let it known that he wasn't too happy with his car for a lot of this race. Prior to one pit stop under caution Michael said that he didn't know what to tell them to do and I sensed he was on the verge of letting loose with a bunch more complaints. I guess Bobby Kennedy thought the same because he told Michael that he needed to "chill the f*ck out." To his credit that's exactly what Michael did - he calmed down and apologized like crazy multiple times for losing his cool. Michael said that he wants to be the leader of the organization but a leader can't act the way he did - he's right and I'm glad he realizes that. Something else he said is that he'll never give up which is just one of the many reasons myself and the rest of Michael's fans love him so much. His determination is what kept him in this sport in spite of so many years without winning and through a variety of disappointments including all the struggles last season.

For a while it looked like David Reutimann was going to race his way to another top ten but disaster struck on a green flag pit stop when he lost his brakes coming on to pit road. David had to spend time on pit road while his team made repairs and he lost quite a few laps which doomed him to a 32nd place finish. What a disappointment for David and his team after they had been racing so well! Even when they don't practice or qualify well it seems like it's a given these days that David will still be able to race competitively and eventually make his way into the top ten - I have no doubt we'll see more of the same at Martinsville and every other race for the rest of the season!

Sad to say but it was a disaster of a night for the #00 team. A.J. Allmendinger got a little too impatient a little too early in the race and tried to fit himself into a space where he couldn't go and the end result was a wrecked race car - his. Exactly what MWR didn't want him to do. At one point Michael asked over his radio whether they were trying to fix the #00 to get it back on the track and Ty Norris responded that no, they weren't because the car looked like it had been dropped from a plane. I'm sure Michael was less than thrilled to hear that. A.J. took full responsibility for wrecking the car and apologized to the other involved drivers and MWR but that was probably of little solace to those at MWR, particularly since the bad races for the #7 and #84 could have allowed the #00 to potentially move into the top 35 in owner's points if A.J. had been able to race it to a strong finish. I felt bad for A.J. because he's still looking for a ride for next season and a wreck like that, particularly when he's racing a car that he needed to be very careful racing, doesn't look good to teams who could potentially give him a ride. Hopefully he'll do better when he starts racing the #10 next weekend.

Luckily, in spite of a 43rd place finish the #00 still has a chance to move into the top 35 since it's only 63 points out of 36th. It's unknown who will race the #00 for the remaining races this season - the rumor that J.J. Yeley would race it next weekend was denied - but given what seems like weekly problems for Robby Gordon to spoil potentially good finishes and that a rookie, Scott Speed, may be racing the #84, it's definitely still do-able for that car to finish the season in the top 35 in owner's points. It'll be interesting to see who MWR selects to race the #00 next weekend - apparently there's still a chance Michael McDowell could race it, but I wouldn't mind them giving Jeremy Mayfield a shot.

Although Carl had a strong car early on but the night quickly turned into a disaster with vibrations due to loose lugnuts and then an ignition problem which caused him to lose laps while his team diagnosed the problem. Carl finished 39th, 16 laps down and all the Kevin Harvick fans cheered as Carl's championship hopes took a big hit. For a while it appeared that it was going to be yet another win for Jimmie at Lowe's but he faded towards the end of the race and Jeff Burton capitalized to win his first race of the season. Jeff is now second in Chase points behind Jimmie and it sure would be great to see him win the Championship and show the doubters that drivers over 40 can get the job done just as well as a young kid on the track!

Posted by silverdsl at 06:02 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2008

Michael Waltrip Racing Day on "Tradin' Paint" on Sirius (10/7): Josh Wise, Paul Wolfe and Jerry Baxter

Last in my installment of entries about "Tradin' Paint" on Sirius's live broadcast from Michael Waltrip Racing on Tuesday is about MWR's Nationwide program. Chocolate Myers and Steve Post spoke to development driver Josh Wise who races for MWR in the Nationwide Series; Paul Wolfe, Josh's crew chief; and Jerry Baxter, a long-time MWR employee who is David Reutimann's crew chief on the #99.

Josh was up first. He started the year testing for MWR (since there was no sponsorship for a second Nationwide car for him), then got the call from Armando Fitz and he's raced for Fitz Motorsports until now, and most recently he's been in a second MWR Nationwide car. He'll race that car this weekend at Lowe's and then in three more Nationwide races to finish out the season. Growing up he worked on his own cars so he's very impressed with the way things are at MWR where there's an assembly line of people who were on the cars as opposed to just one person doing everything. Because he worked on his own cars he has respect and understanding of how much hard work and money it takes so he tries hard not to tear stuff up. I've always liked Josh's attitude and that's one example of why. Not that other young drivers or those who haven't worked on their own cars also don't try to tear things up but I like that Josh is aware and respectful of the hard work that those in the shop put in on the cars.

Someone at MWR came up to Josh recently and said that it was his worst year of racing he's ever had because Josh is used to winning 8-10 races a season. One year he even won 18 races! But this year he's only raced 13 times. Josh said it's such a team sport and so competitive. The greatest driver could come and go and you might never know if they aren't with the right team. So true - driver talent most definitely plays a role but the competitiveness of the cars that a driver is given to race matters too, particularly in Nascar's three highest levels where the talent level of all the drivers is so high. For Josh he never had a lot of money so it was all about how much he wanted it and how many hours he wanted to spend in the garage. He said that they're making a lot of the right steps at MWR and it's exciting to be a part of it.

As far as next season goes, they have to find a sponsor for him so he can race in the Nationwide Series. Jerry Baxter said in his interview that they planned on racing the #99 for the manufacturer's and owner's championship next season and since Michael and David are only slated to race it for ten races I have to think that Josh will be racing it for the remaining races whether there's sponsorship or not unless they decide not to field a Nationwide car full-time. At least I hope that's what the plan is. Josh said that it puts a big smile on his face to see his car and be a part of it all. He hopes to be a part of everything at MWR as long as they'll have him. Josh is a definite favorite of mine and I want to see him race a lot more next season! I think he has a bright future and I really hope he races for MWR for a long time!

Josh ended the interview by saying that he has a new website which can be found at www.joshwiseracing.com.

Paul Wolfe was interviewed next and he said he's having a lot of fun working with Josh. Even though Josh doesn't have a lot of experience he's really into what he's doing and gives a lot of good feedback - I would have to think that's pretty important that a young driver learns how to give good feedback and communicate well with their crew chief right from the start. Right now they're going to places that Josh has never raced before and it's challenging but he works hard. It's hard to work with a rookie but it makes him feel good when he's able to get Josh racing up front.

He's only been working with Josh for five races. They're able to lean on the #99 and the other Toyota teams st see where they're at. Josh looks to David a lot and David's helped them out a lot. It helps to have a teammate when they get down on themselves. I would think that Josh and David probably work together well because even though Josh hasn't raced all that much this season he's been around the MWR shop and done a lot of testing so he and David have probably spent time together and gotten to know each other.

In 1996 Paul moved down to North Carolina from New York to be a driver and he thinks he didn't really get a fair shake to prove what he could do. But his experience as a driver is something he thinks helps him understand what Josh is going through and also helps him speed up what makes the cars go fast because he's sat in them. There wasn't a whole lot of engineering at the teams he started with but now he uses a whole lot of it. There's so much at MWR and a lot to be gained by it but there's also a need to use old school racing common sense too.

Jerry Baxter said that at first the #99 team were right in the thick of things but the last few months took them out of the Championship hunt. However, they're not laying down. Hopefully David and his team will be able to win one of the last Nationwide races this season! They came close a few times but poor David had so much bad luck to ruin so many races for him! It used to be that things were such a struggle on the Cup side that it was a relief for David to come over to the Nationwide side but now David's always in a good mood when he comes over to the Nationwide side (because things have improved so much on the Cup side).

The Toyota Nationwide COT is a joint effort between MWR and Toyota Racing Development. I thought it was pretty interesting that of all their organizations, TRD is working with MWR to develop Toyota's Nationwide COT. After the first test the car came back to MWR where they've been working on it. There's another test scheduled for this Monday and Tuesday at Lowe's.

Jerry started working for Michael eight years ago at the farm (the shop behind Michael's house). He feels privileged to work there with what it's become. Five or six guys are still at MWR from the farm. MWR is a really great place to work. They went through some tough times but it will be worth it. For a while it was the Nationwide side that kept the shop going - that's very true considering all the struggles last season. David winning the race at Memphis last year was huge not only for David and the #99 team but all of MWR!

There were two others interviewed as part of the broadcast, Peter Sospenzo, the crew chief for the #00, whose interview I missed completely and Dr. Eric Warren, MWR's Director of Engineering whose interview I missed most of. I was really disappointed about not being able to listen to Dr. Warren since I though he had some really interesting things to say the time he was a guest on Michael Waltrip Out Loud. But in the tail end of Dr. Warren's interview that I was able to catch he said that he meets regularly with the technical directors from the other Toyota teams like Tommy Baldwin from Bill Davis Racing. That was interesting because I think most believe that even though the Toyota teams work together and share information to some degree on the Nationwide side, they don't do that on the Cup side but apparently they do get together to discuss things. I doubt there's as much information being shared as in the Nationwide or Truck Series but apparently they do work together at least a little. Dr. Warren said that they're chasing small gains all the time, maybe a 100th of a second. They may spend lots of money on testing and come back with nothing. I think that highlights just how difficult it is for smaller and underfunded teams because they wouldn't have the money to spend on tests where they don't get much out of it. All the teams are using bump stops with the COT and there are many different combinations of bump stops to get to where they're at and it's all different for every team.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:06 PM | Comments (2)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud on XM (10/9)

Michael Waltrip Outloud

(Wish I knew whether the Out Loud in this show was "Out Loud" or "Outloud" as I've seen it both ways.)

Opening the show was a song by George Strait but I didn't catch what song it was. Apparently this show was taped the day that "Tradin' Paint" on Sirius broadcast live from Michael Waltrip Racing, so one of that show's hosts, Chocolate Myers sat in. I have to say while I've not always been a fan of Chocolate on "Tradin' Paint" in the past he was good on Out Loud with Michael and Tony Rizzuti.

Michael was eating lunch earlier that day at the place down the road from the shop and a guy walked up to him and said that Nascar should have keep their nose out of the finish of the race at Talladega. Michael asked him how many sports are there that don't have officiating? There has to be officiating. Before I go any further I just have to say I have no idea how Michael stopped himself from telling that guy that what he said was absolutely ridiculous. Michael is absolutely correct that there needs to be officiating. Do umpires stop calling balls and strikes in the 9th inning of a baseball game? Do they stop calling penalties in other sports as the clock winds down? Of course not! So why would Nascar officials stop applying their rules because it's the last lap of the race? I think the issue with all of the controversy over the finish of the race at Talladega isn't that Nascar has a yellow line rule, but that even within their own organization it wasn't clear how it was to be applied and some of the competitors had the impression that they could go below the yellow line if they could see the flagstand on the last lap, which as per Nascar's clarification earlier this week is apparently not the case.

Michael said that Nascar was faced with a tough decision. I would say so since no matter what Nascar did there were going to be fans who were upset. We saw the resulting controversy when they awarded Tony Stewart the win but had they given the win to Regan Smith we would have seen a lot of fans complaining about him violating the yellow line rule and it would also have set a precedence for that being acceptable at future races at Daytona and Talladega.

Tony was working Directv Hotpass and ended up on Jimmie Johnson's channel. He said he heard Jimmie over his radio talk about how he thought if the flagstand is in view you can go below the yellow and maybe that came from Ramsey Poston (A Nascar spokesperson). Michael thought if you had the checkered flag in view you could make your move. If that's the rule - and it's not - apparently no one on this show had read Nascar's clarification of the rule that states that there is no going below the yellow at Talladega or Daytona ever, not even on the last lap - then Nascar thought in their opinion that it wasn't the time for Regan to make the move (in actuality in Nascar's eyes there was never a right time to make that move). Maybe what happened at Talladega will result in things becoming more black and white - that's true since Nascar clarified the rule late Monday. None of the drivers asked questions at the driver's meeting at Talladega but Michael thinks there will be lots of questions next season at Daytona and Talladega. One thing that I heard brought up on one show or another was how the veteran drivers thought they knew what was allowed and didn't want to give away a potential strategy by asking any questions, and the young drivers are too intimidated to ask questions so that resulted in no one asking for a clarification. You have to wonder how often that happens a the driver's meetings.

Chocolate said he was watching at home, screaming and hollering that Regan just won. He too thought that on the last lap a driver could make that move based on what Phil Parsons had said the day before during the Truck broadcast. But then he thought about it and realized that Phil isn't a Nascar spokesperson (though Nascar's own spokespeople were saying "anything goes" and citing a "flagstand" interpretation at various times too). So Chocolate realized that Regan didn't win.Tony said what Regan did was a smart move. Regan could have wrecked Tony S. and it's good that he didn't since Brian Vickers still hasn't gotten over wrecking Jimmie. Regan went for it, he had nothing to lose. I agree with Tony that it was a good move on Regan's part to try what he did even though it didn't work out for him. He didn't win the race but he could have. In addition, he got a huge amount of attention this week for himself and his team and considering he's racing for a ride and the team for a sponsor for next season all that attention can only help. Michael said he never was told "anything goes" on the last lap but had heard the "flagstand" bit. You have to protect the integrity of the sport and have to have officiating.

Once again, Michael's idea for California Speedway came up, about turning it into a restrictor plate track. Most everyone has dismissed that idea as being ridiculous and impossible but they brought up how when changes were announced to Richmond everyone was very skeptical about that too. But they did do the things they said they were going to do and it's a great track now. With California it would make for a cool show but you have to make sure you do it right. Michael wants to go west for the "Piston Cup" one day. Fans love Daytona and Talladega and the drivers put up with it. California is an important market for Nascar but no one can get their arms around it, I guess meaning that it's not a sellout and a lot of fans (not to mention those in the media) don't think much of the racing there. I think that's something that a lot of people who think Nascar should stop going to California Speedway don't understand - it is an important market for Nascar in terms of the media, business, as well as potential revenue and the audience they could reach.

Chocolate enjoys doing Tradin' Paint (unfortunately for Chocolate quite a few fans don't enjoy him on the show) and he was really enlightened by hearing all about MWR and seeing what an outstanding place Raceworld is. He will be able to take all he learned about MWR and the things they do and use it in the future on Tradin' Paint. which really speaks to the value of that show that they did the other day - not only did all of us fans listening get to hear interviews from a lot of people at MWR in which they talked about everything going on at the organization, but being at MWR made a positive impression on Chocolate - it's always good to have people in the media be impressed with what you're doing.

Something that gets on Michael's nerves is when someone talks about how a driver is a "real racer." No one ever says he's a real racer but racing is all he's ever done and all he's ever known. He's only had two other jobs, both when he was young - he worked for Pepsi loading trucks for six months and he worked at Wendy's for two weeks until he cut his finger on a tomato slicer. There are many different ways that people end up in racing and it's not just by being under the car. People make the sport their lives. I have to say the concept of a "real" racer is just as ridiculous as that of there being "real" or "true" fans. Either you're a racer or you aren't. It boggles my mind that someone would think that Michael isn't a "real" racer, whatever that actually means, when he's raced for virtually his entirely life and spend the last 25 years racing Cup. I also think his point about there being many paths that people take to get to where they are in racing and it's not just about how much time they spend working on the cars is a very valid one. These days it seems like some fans look down on the drivers who didn't spend hours working on their own cars for their own team before they came to one of Nascar's highest levels. I think having worked hands on with the cars is an asset to a driver but if they didn't do that and only raced for someone else in a situation where they didn't work on the car that doesn't mean that they're any less of a racer.

Bootie Barker told Chocolate and Steve on their show how he looked around MWR and saw a bunch of racers. They're all guys who want to stick around and do what it takes to succeed. Michael said there are three or four dozen people at MWR who were there when they started who signed up to make it work and that's what they're going to do.

There was some discussion about the upcoming race at Lowe's. Michael mentioned briefly A.J. Allmendinger in the #00 and how Kenny Wallace was outstanding at Talladega. Twelfth is the best finish for the #00 team all season. The Roush cars were fast at the Lowe's test but Lowe's is Jimmie Johnson country. Tony Stewart should have won Lowe's in the Spring. Kevin Harvick looked like he could have won at Talladega. Jeff Burton has been good all Chase but he really needs a win. Personally, I'd like to see a non-Chase driver win on Saturday night but I suspect it likely will be a Chaser.

The alliance between JTG-Daugherty Racing and MWR keeps MWR at three teams, and keeps them healthy and going forward. They're maintaining in tough times. On one of the forums I visit there was some discussion about how there should be changes to make it easier for new teams to establish themselves and survive. I agree very strongly with the need for changes to help not only new teams, but small and independent teams as well. It's not a good thing for the sport to have all the resources, money, sponsors and success be consolidated among a few mega-teams. However, there are also some fans who are complaining about the alliance between JTG and MWR. Well, what other choice does JTG have then to enter into an alliance like this? There's virtually no way they can compete against the mega-teams on their own but an alliance with a larger organization, particularly a close one like this where they'll essentially be the third team for MWR will likely led to better results than they could have gotten on their own. But it seems like some fans would rather JTG fail then to be aligned with MWR like this.

Michael said the tire incident at Talladega was just two seconds but felt like a half hour. He said it scared him - I might have missed it on this show but he's said elsewhere he thought it might come into the car and at him. He was very complimentary about his team and the way they fixed the car - I think Michael also did a very good job of working with his team over the radio and in the car to help make repairs. I doubt any team has a game plan in advance to address a tire causing damage to the roof and windshield but the #55 acted like they did. Even after that incident Michael put himself in a position to win but got caught up in that wreck. He likes being part of the story - it seems to me that Michael and his drivers have been a part of the story more and more this season and that will likely continue in the future!

Michael like to do a one hour live "Outloud" show next year - sure hope that happens! A live show, particularly one where they took calls from fans, would be really awesome - and crazy too! They closed the show with a song by Good Charlotte but neither they nor I knew what song it was.

The After Show

It was a short After Show this week since everyone was short on time and rushed due to how much else was going on. Apparently Michael lost his license, credit card and maybe his whole wallet at Pocono and Traci also lost her credit card then as well. If I understood correctly Michael found his stuff in the chair in the studio as they were taping the show. Wha? Not even going to try to figure out how he lost his wallet in a chair and only just found it now. Is there a black hole in that chair?!

Once more the yellow line rule was a topic of discussion and Tony brought upt how there's rules that everyone seems to know but no one knows where they came from like the "flagstand" interpretation of the yellow line rule. He pointed out that it only seems to happen in Nascar and wondered why that was. That might because from what I understand Nascar doesn't make their rulebook available to one and all as compared to other sports where the rules are published and anyone can see exactly what each rule says. That creates confusion when there's only a limited amount of people who can go look to see what the rule specifically says. However, in most sports there are certain unwritten rules, grey areas and understandings that aren't specifically i the rulebook. For example there's the neighborhood play in baseball in which the umpire calls an out on a force play with the runner at second even though the fielder often doesn't actually touch second base.

Another issue Tony brought up was the tire issue at Talladega, how there were a lot of blown tires. He said that maybe it was good that it didn't come up on "Out Loud" because Michael always takes a Goodyear stand in that he always defends them. In this case I think Michael would be right to defend Goodyear as he did on This Week in Nascar. As Rich pointed out there were a lot of blown tires in the ARCA race and they use Hoosiers so I think you can't really point the finger at Goodyear when another tire manufacturer also had problems with their tires. But I also think it has to be expected that everyone is gong to blame Goodyear anytime there's a lot of tire issues after what happened at Indy and also because of the harsh comments that Tony Stewart made about them.

Tony, Traci and Rich thanked all the fans - the Wal-Nutz from the forum on Michael/MWR's website - who wrote messages to them this week. I ran out of time and only got to do messages for Tony and Traci so I hope they don't all compare and see how many messages each one of them got!

Each week Traci usually tells a story about something that happened to them at the track the week before so this week's story involved a no golf cart zone at Talladega. If I understood correctly, there's a no golf cart zone near the stands an hour before and an hour after each race for insurance reasons though they'll let other vehicles in. So Benito and Traci tried to pick Michael up after he was done with the truck broadcast and a security guard wouldn't let them go to him which forced Michael to start walking, thus creating a security issue, presumably because he could get swarmed by fans. Luckily, another security guard saw Michael and picked him up in his SUV and drove him to where Benito and Traci were. Which highlights a problem about strict, no-exception enforcement of rule - there also need to be some common sense involved. In addition, if the guard wasn't going to let Benito and Traci go get Michael on the golf cart then he should have come up with a solution so that they could get Michael without him having to walk though a mass of people.

From the sounds of it there may have been some discussion between Michael and Daniel Norwood, who is in charge of the Nascar programming for Sirius (and presumably XM now as well) regarding "Outloud" for next year. It sounded almost like there was talk about the show being an hour next year and I really hope I understood that right! Outloud is really outstanding and I would love for it to be longer!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)

October 09, 2008

Michael Waltrip Racing Day on "Tradin' Paint" on Sirius (10/7): Terry Bassett, Chief Marketing Officer

As a former PR person who is currently an event planner, I'm always interested in hearing from those in the sport who are involved with PR, marketing, sponsor services, events planning or other related areas. So I was happy that as part of "Tradin' Paint" on Sirius's visit to Michael Waltrip Racing the other day, they had Terry Bassett, MWR's chief marketing officer on. Chocolate Myers and Steve Post asked Terry what his role at MWR is and he said that he's part of the team that chases the money. He handles everything on the business side including marketing, PR, client services and licensing.

Next they asked specifically about licensing. Terry said that Michael is an icon from a marketing perspective and is third Most Popular in a number of polls - which is a good reminder for fans to keep voting for Michael in the Most Popular Driver poll! Michael drives their marketing. The products they license help support the sponsors brand message and the drivers themselves. Of course it also generates revenue opportunities for them at the track, online and in stores. Licensing is a key component of their revenue according to Terry and I would think that would be the case for all teams. I don't think some fans realize that it's not just because of their ability behind the wheel or how they attract sponsorship which is why some teams sign some drivers, but also because of the amount of revenue they might generate in merchandise sales.

Chocolate and Steve brought up how these days sponsors are referred to more and more as "partners." Terry said that it's getting harder to attract new partners and to get current ones to renew. They have to be very creative - something Michael most definitely is! The car driving around the track and creating TV impressions isn't enough anymore, they need to create other opportunities. They lead with Michael because he's a unique personality from a media, driver and owner perspective. He's MWR's biggest asset in that regard. Which is why Michael works so hard for his partners to generate exposure for them. There's been some articles recently about all that Michael does in that regard and it's great to see him get recognition for what he does because it's clearly very important not only to his own career but to MWR as a whole. I don't think it can be emphasized enough how important Michael is, not just as a driver and owner, but also as a personality because it's helped MWR attract and keep sponsors.

Terry said that Raceworld is a branding opportunity that allows their partners access to the fans every day and creates ways for them to activate. In addition, it's a unique banquet facility - they had a wedding there recently. Michael wants to have a space that appeals to a wide variety of people looking to entertain. As soon as I heard about what Raceworld was going to be I got excited because I knew it would allow them to offer opportunities to sponsors that other teams couldn't. I really feel Raceworld is a huge asset to MWR in this regard and will only be more of one as time goes on and the team has more success because more fans will visit. In addition, as an event planner I can think of a huge amount of possible uses for the space, particularly since there's a theater. There's almost a limitless amount of events that could be held at Raceworld, both racing related and not. Oh, what I could do with that space!!

Posted by silverdsl at 05:32 PM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2008

Michael Waltrip Racing Day on "Tradin' Paint" on Sirius (10/7): Michael Waltrip

Next in the series of entires about the interviews from "Tradin Paint" on Sirius's broadcast from Michael Waltrip Racing yesterday is the man himself - owner, driver, media personality and two-time Daytona 500 champion, Michael Waltrip!

Just like with Cal Wells and Ty Norris, Chocolate Myers and Steve Post asked Michael about Raceworld first. Michael said that originally having a Cup team(s) in the building wasn't part of the original dream, he just wanted to build a race shop for his Nationwide team where fans could come be a part of it. His dream took a left turn in 2005 when Toyota started talking about going Cup racing. As he says all the time, Michael loves racing and it's all he's ever known. He wanted to do things bigger (presumably than other people/teams in the garage area). Some people quested the decision making that went into going with three teams but it was there (the space and resources to field three teams) and he wanted to do it all. He's not going to change - I assume he means his approach which is a good thing. Michael can be very strong-willed and I think that's been a good thing for him throughout the course of his career because he does things his way when it comes to trying to achieve his goals and he's not about to let other people deter him.

By watching Nascar in general and based on what he said the way the sport has grown and evolved, Michael has learned to never put limitations or barriers on what he thinks. I just have to say that one thing about Michael that I absolutely love is that he he's always thinking - he's very creative and he's got a lot of ideas and opinions about everything. When he first started racing it was the same old tracks and the first new track was Watkins Glen in 1986. I couldn't completely follow his train of thought with what he said next but I think he said that if you can't imagine things or you aren't open to new ideas you can't have growth and new things such as Raceworld.

Their facility at Raceworld was built to house four Cup teams and a couple of Nationwide teams so they could be even bigger than they are now but Michael likes the idea of staying where they are now and making their three teams as strong as they can. I'm not sure if he was referring to the three teams they have themselves right now or the two MWR teams that are definite for next season and the #47 via the alliance with JTG. At any rate, Michael likes the approach that Richard Childress Racing and other teams have had where they only add a fourth team when the product is right and when it will make the cars faster. I think that is a sound approach and I'm glad that MWR isn't going to field teams just to have them. Of course I'm sure they would field additional teams if the sponsorship was there but if it isn't, trying to put those teams on the track might only take away from the other teams.

It's encouraging to Michael to see the cars be faster. He's been carrying around all the emotions of the struggles of 2007 and the slow start this season and he wants to untangle himself from all that emotion of the past. He wants out of it and wants to say that's what we're all about - almost winning Talladega with Jimmie Johnson's help, all the laps that David Reutimann led, how he might have won Loudon if not for the rain.That's another thing about Michael that I've always liked is that he's very forward thinking and he tries not to dwell on the past. Some of what's happened to him and MWR in the past two years is probably difficult to put aside easily but I think it's good to focus on all the positive things that have been happening and how it will hopefully lead to even better things and more progress in the future. Of course there are some fans and even a few members of the media who find it impossible to let go of the past - years from now no matter how much success Michael and MWR have some will still bring up how many races it was before Michael won the Daytona 500 or fuelgate from Daytona last year. However, Michael and all those at MWR just need to ignore all that and focus on continuing to move in the right direction.

Chocolate and Steve brought up how fans will call in and talk about how disappointed they are in their favorite drivers if they aren't having a good season so they remind them if fans feel disappointed then imagine how tough it must be to be the driver or a member of the team. Michael said that is has been tough on him but his career has been defined by struggles, which is probably another reason I like Michael because success didn't come easy to him and he persevered where others might have given up. Michael said that during his career he was told he wasn't any good and he didn't listen to those who said things like that. So when he started to do "this" meaning what he's got going on at MWR, some of the same people told him how smart he was but he still didn't listen to them. He wanted to do this because he thought he could deliver a cool team for fans and sponsors. I'm glad that Michael is doing all of this because he wants it and not because of what anyone else wants or thinks he should do.

However, Michael said that as much as he tries to pretend he's a tough guy what happened in 2007 (and I would guess a few things this season and at other times as well) hurt. Which was pretty obvious at times because no matter how much Michael said the right things in interviews or tried to dismiss his critics, there were times when he looked pretty unhappy and upset - my heart really hurt for him at those times. As things started to turn around this season with MWR in terms of performance and sponsors renewed he definitely started looking and sounding a lot happier which was great to see! Michael said he's very thankful for his sponsors and the support he got from Toyota with helped him get through the mess to start 207 which not only set them way back but resonated throughout the entire season.

One of the most challenging parts of being a car owner for Michael is getting people to grasp his vision and understand it. I would guess that might be particularly difficult for Michael because at times it seems like he thinks about and does things differently than others in the garage area might. I think that's a big asset for him but at the same time if people are used to doing things a particular way, they may struggle to embrace a different philosophy or approach. In addition, at an organization like RCR there's a system in place so that if a couple of people leave it's no big deal but at MWR they started with a small core group and if a couple of those people left it was a set back. It was very hard to build something new and build a foundation and have people understand, but based on what Michael was saying now people understand not only his vision more but also what their roles are. He said it's gratifying and rewarding to see it all come together.

Finally, they asked Michael how much longer he plans on racing. He said that yesterday at Talladega he was on it, he loved it and it makes him want to race forever. He wants to be an old man race car driver like Mark Martin. That's what I want too! I would love to see Michael race if not on a full-time basis then on a part-time basis for a very long time! However, he needs to be competitive. He feels a responsible to NAPA to put the best driver in the car and right now he knows it's him - love hearing Michael express that kind of confidence in himself! When he knows that a young kid or someone else can drive better than him then he will go to NAPA. As soon as he notices he's not as good as he needs to be he will get out and just be an owner. He knows that his numbers aren't Hall of Fame numbers as a driver but he nows he will be a really good owner that can be a Hall of Fame owner - for sure! Michael said that it won't be an emotional thing for him getting out of the car, that he'll be aware enough to know when he's not as good and need to just be an owner but I suspect that may be harder than he thinks considering racing and being in the car is all he's known for almost 25 years now. I would think it would be extremely difficult to walk away from that.

The interview closed with Michael saying how thankful he is for getting to experience the highest of highs like wining the Daytona 500 and even the lows too.

Sure was a great interview with Michael and as always I loved hearing him talk at length about all these things!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Racing Day on "Tradin' Paint": Cal Wells, Executive Vice President of Operations

Continuing the series of entires based on interviews from yesterday's "Tradin' Paint" on Sirius's broadcast from Michael Waltrip Racing with MWR's Executive Vice President of Operations, Cal Wells. Chocolate Myers and Steve Post started out by asking Cal about Raceworld and whether it was something that would be part of the future of racing (presumably for other teams with their facilities). Cal said that he doesn't know of another interactive facility like Raceworld and that it's all about the fans and a component that needs to be there for the fans and sponsors. I believe that down the road teams will have to make an investment in a more interactive facility that gives fans more access to getting closer to the cars, drivers and the team itself. Michael has elevated the expectations for the fans in terms of what they get to see when they go to visit a race shop.

Cal was asked about what he does at MWR and he joked that he "just keeps air in the tires." In reality he's got his hand in a lot of different things - he's involved in the competition side, though he said he leaves a lot of that to the crew chiefs and Dr. Eric Warren, and he's also involved with general operations, finance and sales. When he first talked about working for MWR with Michael and Rob Kauffman he told them that he knows where the potholes are and he could help them avoid the mistakes he made. These days there's a lot more business behind everything than there used to be, so much infrastructure that's necessary and a lot more to worry about from legal issues to the FAA and a whole lot more.

Cal cited employee morale as being extremely important and cited a number of people who have had a positive influence or have been central in MWR's progression. First were the crew chiefs and Ryan Pemberton in particularly who Cal said is the manager of the crew chiefs, and has also had a positive influence with the manufacturer (Toyota). The improved results on the track create positive feelings and put a bounce in everyone's step. Of course Michael and Ty Norris brought everything together to get them to the point where they are now. Bobby Kennedy was also important in the process. Cal also mentioned Dr. Eric Warren, and how he's gathered intellectual resources and created a solid platform from an engineering standpoint.

Something else that Cal mentioned in relation to people that Michael also touched upon in his interview that followed is how it's still an evolving process at MWR in terms of the people in the organization. This seems to be something that a lot of fans don't understand, not just at MWR but in relation to all teams. When someone leaves an organization it's not necessarily a sign that the organizations stinks as some have tried to say whenever there's personnel turnover at some organizations. It may be that there simply isn't a good fit for that person with that team or that they aren't on the same page in terms of philosophy and approach. Having the right mix of people who will work together well towards a common goal - winning races - is extremely important, not only for MWR but for all the race teams. Cal said that there are a lot of racers working at MWR (presumably meaning a lot of people who have raced at one time) and that they understand not only what it takes to be successful but to survive. That's pretty important since this is a tough sport to survive in and even tougher give the difficult economy.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

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 07, 2008

Tradin' Paint on Sirius Broadcasts From Michael Waltrip Racing - Part One: Ty Norris

Today was a great day to be a Michael Waltrip or Michael Waltrip Racing fan with Sirius (or Best of Sirius on XM)! Tradin' Paint with Chocolate Meyers and Steve Post (a show I usually avoid like the plague) broadcast live from the XM studio at MWR's Raceworld facility and interviewed a whole bunch of people from MWR! It was three hours of nothing but positive talk about Michael, his drivers and MWR as a whole not only from those at MWR but also from fans that called in and Chocolate and Steve who have been known to be critical of MWR in the past. Truly awesome to listen to! I'm still smiling! What was so great is that they had on different people from different areas at MWR from the business to the competition side - and Michael himself of course - to talk about what they do and about the organization so it provided a real overview and insight into the inner workings of MWR.

Even for me who certainly doesn't shy away from long entries there were way too many inteviews and interesting things that were said to cover it all in one entry so I think I'll spilt it up into a few over the next few days. Ty Norris was the first guest on the show - I always enjoy interviews with Ty because he usually has something of substance to talk about and today was no different.

After some discussion about how Michael had a grand vision for Raceworld right from the start and how much better Raceworld came out than anyone envisioned, Ty talked about some of their trials and tribulations of last season and how after what they went through and how hard it was - and still is - how much it upsets him when some win races and act like it's no big deal. Of course winning is a big deal and something that isn't easy to achieve in Cup in particular where the level of competition is so great. So it kind of surprises and disappoints me to find out that some in the garage area take winning for granted. Things can change very quickly in this sport so those who are with winning teams should treasure every moment because there's no telling how long success might last.

The deal with JTG-Daugherty Racing came about because of a conversation Ty had at Loudon in June with Tad Geschickter, a long-time friend of his. Ty told him that now that he was going Cup racing he had the tiger by the tail and told hom some of the things that had happened to them at MWR. That turned into an hour long discussion which led to another conversation down the road when MWR was trying to figure out how to find a sponsor for their third team, something Ty says they haven't given up on. MWR has all these resources and have gone through the build up so they were looking at how they can prevent JTG from having to spend money on all those things. According to Ty it's a "win-win-win" for MWR, their employees, Tad and Marcos Ambrose. I agree - I think it's a great arrangement for all involved!

Ty also talked about how important it's been for MWR to be better than anyone when it comes to what they do for their sponsors off-the-track since they couldn't always deliver on the track. Michael's been like that his whole career and he put that spirit in everyone at MWR according to Ty. What Michael does for his sponsors and fans is a key asset for MWR, but I'll get into more detail about all that in a later entry about what MWR's Marketing guru, Terry Bassett, had to say during today's show.

There was a bit of news in Ty's interview that I don't think has been discussed elsewhere though it's certainly been speculated about - what's going to happen with the owner's points for the #00. Ty said that MWR isn't going to make any decision on what happens with those points until the end of the season. I would guess there's a variety of scenarios they're considering based on whether the #00 is in or out of the top 35 at the end of the season and also whether they find a sponsor for the car. Ty said they've talked to Nascar about transferring the #00 points to the #47 and what they might be able to do so I would guess that even though they're trying to find a sponsor for that car, the most likely thing to happen is that the #47 ends up with those points which would be a very good thing for Ambrose - if there's enough points to be in the top 35 he won't have to worry about qualifying for the first five races and if the points are only enough to be in 36th in owner's points that would still offer Ambrose protection in case qualifying got rained out in one of those first five races.

Ty said they're not trying to do anything (with JTG) that would go against the four car count, that they're just trying to survive in a tough economy and trying to help JTG survive as well. I have to say that as much as Ty is saying that the #47 isn't going to be an actual MWR car that should count as one of their four cars, based on what Frank Kerr said later in the day which I'll get to in a later entry, this team will be operated like a third MWR team in just about every way on the competition side. It's just on the business and ownership side where things will remain separate which I suppose is all that Nascar is concerned with.

So that's the first of the interviews from today, more to follow over the next few days...

Posted by silverdsl at 08:57 PM

October 06, 2008

A.J. Allmendinger Will Race the #00 for Michael Waltrip Racing at Charlotte

Michael Waltrip Racing announced today that A.J. Allmendinger will take a turn behind the wheel of the #00 at Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend in Charlotte in a continuing effort to try to get that car back into the top 35 in owner's points. Michael Waltrip said,

"Our singular focus with the #00 team is to reposition the team in the top 35 in owner’s points and be there in end. The decision for us to continue to make changes is about our organization. Kenny Wallace did a tremendous job for us at Talladega and recorded the team’s best finish of the season. I know AJ will do a great job for us too in our Toyota Camrys."

I think A.J. is going to do a great job too! I'm so excited that he's going to race the #00! When it was said on Jayski that A.J. had said this weekend he might be back racing as soon as Charlotte I had a feeling he might end up in the #00 and I'm so glad that's exactly what happened! A.J. definitely understands not only what it means to have to qualify for races and race as a go-or-go-homer but also how to get a car back into the top 35 in owner's points. He did an outstanding job of racing the #84 back into the top 35 and it was out by a lot more than 39 points which is all that separates the #00 from the #7 in the owner's points.

A.J. said,

“I look forward to it and I think this is a great opportunity. Over the past couple of months the organization has really picked up with how everyone has been running. Hopefully, I can go out there and do a good job and get the No. 00 Champion Mortgage Toyota team back inside the top 35.”

It's definitely a great opportunity, if only to help out a team and keep himself visible in the garage area while he's still looking for a ride for next season. Odds are that A.J. is going to end up racing for Chip Ganassi Racing next season and that MWR is only going to use him for this race and maybe if he does well in this race for a few more this season but I would be thrilled if somehow it ended up that sponsorship was found for a fourth car and A.J. ended up in it!

Michael added that they're "...moving in the direction of having multiple drivers based on their experiences at particular tracks" which sounds a lot like there will be some other drivers who take a turn behind the wheel of the #00. Jeremy Mayfield is another driver who is available so I can see MWR possibly using him, particularly since he's talked with MWR in the past about a ride. If Johnny Benson wasn't in the thick of the championship hunt in the Truck Series I can see him racing the #00 as well. Maybe even Michael McDowell will get to race it again though I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't happen.

I've always enjoyed watching the races at Charlotte and I can't wait to cheer on Michael, David and A.J. this weekend - I just wish it was going to be in person!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)

Dashed Hopes for Michael Waltrip at Tallaedga

Anything less than a trip to Victory Lane is probably somewhat of a disappointment for Michael Waltrip at Talladega since he's such an exceptional restrictor plate racer and has had so much success at this track in the past. So he was probably thinking that in the last laps he would be in the mix for the win like he was at this race in the Spring with Jimmie Johnson's help before the engine in the #55 blew. But even though Michael was the innocent victim in two incidents and was able to finish no better than 19th, three laps down, I was still happy with what I saw from Michael and the #55 team yesterday.

For one thing the #55 team did an outstanding job of making repairs after both incidents so that Michael could get back on track and keep going. In fact, after the first incident, a freak accident in which a piece of tire hit the #55 and caved in the roof, windshield and hood, the team was so good at making repairs that not only did Michael not lose a lap but he was still able to race his way back through the field to the front and lead a few laps. It sure was awesome to see that #55 out in front of the field and if Michael hadn't gotten swept up in the second "Big One" I have no doubt that's exactly where Michael would have been at the end of the race as well! I never cease to be amazed at how good Michael is at these kinds of tracks - even when he doesn't have the best car he knows how to work the draft and make his way up front!

It was also a pretty good day for Kenny Wallace who was behind the wheel of the #00 in place of Michael McDowell in the hopes that Kenny would be able to help Michael Waltrip Racing get the #00 back into the top 35 in owner's points. Kenny wasn't able to get the #00 back into the top 35 because Robby Gordon in 35th finished 9th but Kenny was able to finish 12th in spite of maybe not having one of the better cars on the track. Although Robby gained nine points on the #00, Kenny did a good job of keeping the points battle between the #00 and the #7 for that 35th spot close. Odds are MWR will either put McD back behind the wheel or use drivers other than Kenny for the remaining races but it sure was great to have him race for MWR even if it was only for one race!

David Reutimann had to rebound from a blown tire but once he did he was racing in the top ten and looked to be on his way to another fine finish until his engine blew. I'm sure David and his team weren't too happy with that but like with Michael all their issues were completely out of their control. I expect David and the #44 to continue to race well for the remainder of the season - it's really terrific how well that team has come together!

As I said in my previous entry I was really bothered by Tony Stewart being awarded the win, but I also didn't like seeing two big wrecks that collected multiple cars capable of contending for the win. I wouldn't have liked seeing those wrecks even if Michael had made it through undamaged. It's kind of ridiculous to me that by the end of the race there were 23 cars that there either many laps down or out completely, the majority being due to wrecks. So what ends up happening at these kind of tracks is that it's more of a race of who can avoid getting swept up in a wreck as opposed to who has the best car. The #96 car is a good example of that - poor Ken Schrader could barely keep that car in the draft which is what enabled him to avoid all the wrecks because he was "racing" so far behind the rest of the field and ultimately he finished 16th. Don't get me wrong, I love that Michael has so much success at these kinds of tracks so for that reason alone I look forward to when they race at Daytona and Talladega but at the same time I dread it because I don't like being a nervous wreck lap after lap knowing that the Big One is coming and hoping that it doesn't involve Michael or his drivers. Unfortunately yesterday Michael along with many other drivers were the innocent victims of Carl Edward's mistake - I just hate seeing that much torn up sheet metal and good runs ruined for so many drivers!

On to Charlotte where hopefully the result will be better for Michael and his drivers!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2008

Michael Waltrip Out Loud on XM and The After Show (10/2)

I hate to start off with a complaint but I'm not too happy that XM opted to have "Mad Dog" Russo on for an additional hour and a half last night, pushing the airing of Michael Waltrip Out Loud (and Dale Junior Unrestricted) to a later time slot and didn't bother to let anyone know when or even if the show was going to air. I understand that Mad Dog coming on-board is going to cause changes, but please keep the audience updated on where and when they can find their favorite shows! Claire B. Lang got shifted to an entirely new channel and timeslot which a lot of people are having trouble finding and I have a feeling a lot of people probably missed Michael's show last night because they didn't know when it was going to air. Maybe the listeners for Claire or Michael or Junior's show aren't much in comparison to the audience for Mad Dog but I hope we still matter. I just hope this isn't a sign that XM/Sirius isn't committed to Michael's show past this season - this show is a highlight of my week when it comes to what I watch and listen to that's Nascar related besides the races and I would be upset, as would a lot o others, if it didn't continue.

Michael Waltrip Out Loud on XM

Anyway... Last night's show opened with "Carry on My Wayward Son" by Kansas. Tony joked that the wind must have blown away because he was on the phone instead of being in the studio. That's because Michael was playing in a two-day golf scramble at the Cliffs in Greenville, SC for Gary Player to raise money and awareness of Childhood Obesity. Michael sounded very out-of-breath for the entire show and that was because he was playing golf and walking from hole to hole as he was doing the show. Playing at this golf scramble must be why he missed TWiN on Monday as well, and it must have been pretty important to him to play in it since it's rare for Michael to miss a TWiN taping. It sounded like he was having a lot of fun so I don't blame him for opting to golf for two days, especially considering how much he loves golf in general.

Michael and Tony talked briefly about the losses of Paul Newman and Dick Bahre. Michael said that if there was one guy who was the most important in helping him get to the level of where he's at as a driver it was Dick Bahre. He's really saddened by his loss and it was a tough weekend losing both him and Paul Newman. Dick Bahre is at least the third owner that Michael's raced for who has passed away in the past few years and I feel bad for him when I hear about these losses since I know in addition to feeling grateful to them for helping him with his career, these are probably people who had a tremendous influence on him inside and outside the car.

At Kansas it was a tough weekend for the #00. He was out of the top 35 by just 8 points. They has some good runs at a few tracks but came up short at a few others. Eight points and 6/1000ths of a second separated the #00 from racing. It's fun to focus on the Chase but it's equally as important what goes on throughout the field (such as what's happening with the top 35). I wish that ESPN/ABC did a better job of recognizing the importance of what's going on throughout the field. As I've said before I know it's impossible for them to talk about every single thing that happens for every single team and driver but I wish they would update fans on a wide variety of drivers throughout the field. I would especially like it if they didn't just give a points rundown for the Chase, but also for the top 35 so that fans knew who was in and who was out at the conclusion of each race.

Tony asked about Joe Gibbs Racing and whether Michael was surprised by what's going on with them in terms of falling apart in the Chase. Michael said that it's strange and that he is surprised but he doesn't think it has anything to do with the Chase. It shows how easy it is to get off-base. JGR never saw it coming. You can lose contact with what it takes. I still find it a little puzzling, and as Michael said, strange that suddenly JGR is off-track with all three of their teams. Maybe there were some signs earlier in the season that Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin might not be forces to contend with in the Chase, but Kyle Busch and his team were on it all season long. There were very few mechanical failures, now suddenly it seems like every week the cars are falling apart. JGR needs to figure out why it's happening, not just to salvage the Chase for their drivers but also for the future.

The track lacked grip at Kansas and that made it fun, that was why drivers were all over the place. Carl Edwards decided he wanted to win so he went all out with that move at the end. But he failed to take into consideration that Jimmie Johnson was doing the same. You can't out will anyone at this level, everyone wants it. I think that's an important point that maybe some fans don't really realize - every driver out there wants to win. Sure, if you're racing for Front Row Motorsports, realistically you know that you aren't likely to end up in Victory Lane but you still want to win. In addition, all the drivers have a tremendous amount of competitive fire, desire to succeed and passion for the sport - they have to otherwise they would never make it to Cup and last among the sport's most elite drivers.

They took a break and when they came back Michael was singing a Brooks and Dunn song as he was walking around the track. When he's golfing at beautiful courses like the Cliffs he likes to "suck in nature." When they built that course they didn't disturb what God built, just enhanced it. He likes having the opportunity to wander around, appreciate nature and be thankful. I always like hearing about Michael enjoying nature while he's out on the golf course. I don't golf nor would I go to a golf course to enjoy nature, but I most certainly love nature myself and I often wish I could spend more time sucking it in myself, particularly with my camera in hand.

Back to Kansas, it was Clint Bowyer's home track and Tony thinks poor ol' Clint is kicking himself for what could have been. Michael said you can't keep continuing to kick yourself. Clint was able to rebound from the first mistake but not the second. Clint probably never dreamed he would be racing so quickly at this track in his home state. I have to say I'm getting sick of hearing about the wonders of Clint Bowyer - it seems like there's a push in general around the sport to promote Clint and even Michael has gotten into talking about how great Clint it. I think Michael's too nice in light of some of the comments that Clint has made about him - I really doubt we'll ever hear Clint talk openly about how wonderful Michael is.

There was more talk about the various Chase drivers. Tony Stewart's aggressiveness ruined his day. They didn't talk much about Tony and I've been kind of perplexed that there's not been much of any discussion in general anywhere about what went on with Tony. Lost in the great move that Carl made at the end of the race was a great move Greg Biffle made to take third away from Jeff. Those five points Greg got for that could end up being huge at Homestead. Michael said you don't know what might mean something so you never can quit. You have to race all the way to the checkers and you never know what might happen on the last lap to allow you to gain positions. Which is another great point In some regards it's a fine line. A driver can't be overly aggressive and race like a bat out of hell on every single lap from the start of the race but at the same time they need to race hard to gain positions and there's no telling when a gain of just a spot or two might end up making a difference in the long-run. A gain of five points might not be just important to a Chase driver but also for a driver trying to get into or stay in the top 35 in owner's points.

Tony brought up the financial markets and the economy and whether Michael is worried as an owner about everything that's happening in terms of the effects on his race team. Michael said he's concerned all around as an owner or Dad of a daughter in college and a daughter in grade school. Need to ensure that these things don't occur again, especially for the working Mom's and Dad's. There are mistakes that were made long ago that are just coming to the surface now.

Michael said it's more important than ever to work hard for his sponsors, to help NAPA sell auto parts. These businesses still have to advertise but now there's more scrutiny. He thinks of how much more he can do as a driver, and owner and a spokesperson so the sponsors will stay as part of the team. Which as I wrote about in this space not long ago, highlights the importance of Michael's hard work and skill with his sponsors - it's absolutely essential for teams and drivers to work hard for their sponsors so they stick around because the teams can't operate without sponsors.

While I think that owners like Michael have reason to be concerned and are surely feeling the effects of the economy as are many others in the garage area, I think there's some risk in terms of how it might go over with fans for drivers who earn more in one weekend than many fans earn in a year to complain too much about the economy and all, but Michael did a good with what he said. In the not too distant past Junior has complained about the rising cost of gas - everyone feels the effects of the economy and rising fuel costs but it's a little ridiculous for someone who earns a reported $30 million a year to complain about how much he pays for gas. In Michael's case he probably puts most of his money into Michael Waltrip Racing so he has a lot more to lose in a difficult economy. But recently Michael took a helicopter to South Carolina just to check out a pool that was built by a designer he's thinking about using to build a pool at his house so he has to be doing relatively okay financially. I'm just glad that he was careful about what he said.

There was some discussion about DEI losing Paul Menard. Everyone, including me, has made more of an issue of DEI losing the Menard's sponsorship than losing Paul but Michael said that Paul is a steady driver who is a consistent top 20-25 driver, as if it was a loss for DEI in that regard as well. I thought that was an interesting comment which maybe makes some sense. If an organization has four teams ideally you'd like all four teams to race up front and win races consistently but realistically that might not be possible so you would at least want your driver to consistently race at least well enough to be in the top 35 and even better be in the top 20-25 in points. The reality is that while every driver in the Cup Series is talented not every driver can be an elite driver on the level of a Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson so just being a good driver who races consistently might be good enough for some teams depending on what their goals are.

Here's what could potentially be some big news depending on how things work out - Tony asked about the #15 and Michael is most definitely interested in "looking at the options" when it comes to the #15, so much so that he's already been on the phone with Mr. Susor, the president of NAPA, and other higher-ups to see if they should look at trying to race that number. However, they tried to get it once before from DEI and that didn't work out so it might not work out again if they tried to get it again, b