Random Thoughts

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)

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)

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 06, 2009

Disappointing Day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Texas

Races like yesterday at Texas for Michael Waltrip Racing are hard for me to blog about. I'd much rather only write positive entries about how wonderful everything is for MWR and how much progress the organization continues to make but other than David Reutimann's 11th place finish yesterday really wasn't such a great day for MWR. The weekend started with a lot of promise when David won the pole for Sunday's race and I think a lot of people thought that this might be the weekend when David ended up in Victory Lane for the first time in his career but it wasn't to be. In addition, it wasn't a very good day for any of the other MWR teams, primary or affiliated.

Let's start with what went right - David won the pole and raced up front for much of the race. But on lap 154 when he was coming in for a pit stop David overshot his pit stall and instead of backing him up, the team started working on the car while it was still out of the box. That resulted in David being penalized a lap. The team was probably operating on instinct - the car's in the stall so they did what they always do and serviced it but Rodney Childers, David's crew chief, should have had the team back the car up. It would have cost them time but David probably wouldn't have lost a lap. While David was able to eventually get his lap back and finish 11th, odds are without that penalty he would have been in the hunt for the win at the end of the race. The #00 is still a young team that doesn't have any experience as a Chase contending team but if they want to remain in a position to be in the Chase at the end of the season they need to minimize costly mistakes like that.

David wasn't the only MWR driver who overshot his pit - apparently the same thing happened to Michael on lap 96. While Michael put the car in reverse so that his team didn't service it while he was out of the box, it cost him a lot of time - and positions. At the time he had been one of the first cars one lap down, a position he had raced very hard to put himself in, and had a good chance of getting his lap back on a subsequent caution, but losing all those positions put him behind quite a few other lapped cars and once the handling of his car went away Michael was unable to get back to where he needed to be to get the Lucky Dog. The car really wasn't to Michael's liking and the handling was particularly poor towards the end of the race so I suppose a top 25 should be considered a decent finish considering what Michael had to race, but Michael really needs to finish better than 24th on a regular basis.

The other issue is that for the first time this season Michael gave Bootie Barker, his crew chief, who he usually works very well with a hard time. Michael was argumentative and difficult and the old communication problems which I think were an issue in the past re-surfaced. I guess it's to be expected because Michael was frustrated that no matter what was done to the car they were never able to get the handling back to what it had been to start the race, and he was probably upset with himself on top of that for overshooting his pit at a particularly bad time. Some fans are concerned that the way Michael acted yesterday is going to chase Bootie away, but Bootie seems to be able to handle Michael very well - he doesn't back down from him, he calms him down and nothing seems to bother him. It's also no secret that Michael can be difficult to deal with at times so Bootie had to know what he was getting himself into when he accepted the job as Michael's crew chief. So I doubt that one race with poor communication is going to ruin things between them. I just hope that Michael doesn't let himself fall into some of the old patterns where it seemed like to those of us listening in that he would let his emotions get the best of him, lash out and try to crew chief from the car instead of focusing on racing. Yesterday wasn't that bad and he did seem to remain focused on what he was doing behind the wheel so hopefully this was just a minor blip on the radar due to frustration.

As for the teams that MWR has technical alliances with none of them fared very well either. Initially it looked like Marcos Ambrose was going to finish extremely well but mechanical issues ruined his race. First his throttle got stuck, then his engine lost a valve and then finally his engine gave up the ghost completely. It's very unfortunate because Marcos's 41st place finish doesn't reflect how well he raced and how until the mechanical issues it appeared he might finish in the top ten. For a driver with so little experience in Cup he continues to impress. Although Max Papis was able to qualify the #13 for Germain Racing into the show, he wasn't able to finish any better than 35th and that he finished that well was probably due to some other cars dropping out. I would guess that maybe that result was due to his inexperience at Texas - Michael said over the radio prior to the race that he had a discussion with Max about how to race on that track and told Ty Norris, his spotter, that Max might need to be reminded via his own spotter if he fell into bad habits. Then there's the #66 - Dave Blaney was in the garage with after less than 50 laps due to "brake" issues - more like Prism put a "brake" on the race for Dave and called him into the garage.

As for the rest of the race, as a fan of Jeff Gordon, I was very happy to see him get his first win since 2007! Unlike some who have written off Jeff as having lost something behind the wheel, I've never stopped believing that he could not only win again but that he would likely contend for a Championship again. That may very well happen this season - he leads in the points and I doubt that this will be his last win in 2009. As happy as i was that Jeff won I thought the overall race was pretty boring. Seemed like there were long stretches in which there wasn't much passing and that doesn't lead to a very compelling race to watch. Unfortunately seems like there's a lot of that this season.

This weekend is an off-weekend for the Cup Series but the Nationwide Series is in action on Saturday at Nashville. Michael is slated to be in the #99 and I hope he's able to erase some of the disappointment from Texas with a great finish in Nashville - sure would love to see him in Victory Lane!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)

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)

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 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 27, 2009

Great Qualifying Results for Michael Waltrip Racing at Las Vegas But...

Michael Waltrip Racing continued to show that they are a much improved organization in 2009 by qualifying three cars in the top fifteen today for Sunday's Cup race at Las Vegas. David Reutimann, who was second fastest in the first practice, qualified fourth, Marcos Ambrose fifth and Michael Waltrip 15th. In addition, Max Papis, whose Germain Racing team gets cars and technical support from MWR, qualified 26th. That MWR had so much success in qualifying, just two years after they struggled to make races, is outstanding. I'm very happy for them!

However, the news from qualifying wasn't all good. Both MWR and Red Bull Racing get their engines from Toyota Racing Development since they don't build their engines themselves and for the second week in a row the teams got a bad batch of engines. David and Marcos, as well as Brian Vickers, Scott Speed and possibly Michael will have to start from the back on Sunday because their teams all have to change engines. Apparently the exact same part that was a problem last weekend at California which caused Vickers to have to change engines and start from the back after winning the pole is the same problem this weekend. Talk about disappointing!

These teams aren't building their own engines, they're completely dependent on TRD to provide engines to them. There are always going to be some engine failures but there shouldn't be the same parts issue two weekends in a row that's going to result in so many engines having to be changed. While I have no idea what the details are about how this happened, I don't think it reflects very well on TRD that this issue wasn't addressed after last weekend. It puts the teams at a real disadvantage because it means that they have to race their way from the back to the front which isn't always easy even when they have good cars as these teams seem to have this weekend. As much as I want Michael to be able to start where he qualified it might be better for the #55 team to be safe than sorry and also change engines so that they don't have to worry about an issue during the race unless they know for sure that there isn't a problem with the part in the engine in their car.

In addition to the engine woes for the teams that get their engines from TRD, there was also an engine failure for another Toyota team - for the second week in a row a pole-sitter will start from the back after an engine change since Kyle Busch lost his engine during practice. The issue with his engine might be totally unrelated since Joe Gibbs Racing builds their own engines but one has to wonder if JGR possibly got some parts from the same source as TRD did.

Even with the engine problems I'm still very happy! Max didn't have any luck last season when it came to trying to qualify for races so I'm really glad that he was able to make the show today! I really like him a lot and I'd like to see him do well even though he's only racing part-time in Cup. But I'm especially excited that MWR qualified two cars in the top five and overall three cars in the top 15! That's awesome! Of course the results on Sunday are more important than how they qualify but assuming there are no other problems I'm optimistic that MWR is going to have a very successful race as well!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2009

Good Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing in California!

Although things started off rocky with engine problems with not only the Michael Waltrip Racing cars but their plane as well, the weekend finished very well with Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann finishing in the top 15 in Fontana and Marcos Ambrose finishing 21st. For some teams "only" finishing in the top 15 might be a disappointment but for the MWR teams it's another sign of how many strides they've made in the short time they've been in the Cup Series.

I'm particularly happy that Michael finished 15th! I wasn't sure how he was going to do, one, because the team had to change engines which meant that Michael was going to be starting from the back and two, because he wasn't all that fast in practice. However, much to my delight, Michael was able to race his way from the back into the top 15. Yes, it may come as a surprise to some of the doubters who are thinking that Michael finished in the top 15 because of pit strategy or for some other reason, he did in fact race his way up to the front. Michael's 15th place finish is his best finish at this track since 2005 and is ten spots better than his average finish at Fontana.

Even when Michael went a lap down at one point where in the past that might signal the start of a bad race, there was no panic. Michael simply keep racing as he had been, kept himself in position for the lucky dog and got it on the next caution which put him back on the lead lap where he stayed for the rest of the race. Later in the race there was some concern that his engine was overheating but removing some trash from the grill on a subsequent pit stop eliminated that issue. The communication between Michael and Bootie Barker continues to be excellent. Thus far even when Michael isn't happy he's remained calm and Bootie does a terrific job of handling him even when he's complaining. But the best thing is that Michael was actually able to race. So many times last season the handling on his cars was so bad that he couldn't actually race for position, but rather to just hang on and not wreck. But so far this season it's a much different story - even when the car isn't perfect Michael is able to pass for position. Of course it's only two races into the season but I love looking at the points standings and seeing Michael in 7th!

David finished one spot ahead of Michael in 14th and he also had to come from the back due to an engine change. David had been fast all weekend both in practice and in qualifying so he and his team probably weren't too happy that they had to change engines and start from the back. However, David quickly made his way forward and still ended up being able to race competitively. It's particularly impressive that David was able to finish in the top 15 considering he lost his brakes mid-way through the race which must have made pitting particularly challenging. David is currently 12th in points, and while just like with Michael's it's only two races and things can change a lot over the next few races, it sure is great to see him in the top 15 in points.

Even Marcos had a good day, spending most of the race in the top 20, though he lost a couple of positions at the end of the race and finished 21st. That's still pretty good considering he only has 13 races worth of Cup experience and he finished 32nd in his only other Cup start at California last season. I think a lot of people were expecting Marcos to struggle considering how little Cup experience he has but so far it's looking like he's making the adjustment to Cup pretty well. The season is still young so there may be some tracks he's going to struggle on, particularly if there are any that he's never raced on before, but I have a feeling he's going to have a decent season.

On the Nationwide side Michael also finished 15th and that may have been a little disappointing considering how fast of a car he had. Michael qualified 10th and I really thought he might be able to contend for the win - though no one really had anything for Kyle Busch as it turned out. However, Michael got hit on pit road by Brandon Whitt just as he was entering his pit, which resulted in Michael ending up backwards in his pit. He had the team pit him backwards and then spun around but that put him in 23rd, and if I understand the discussion over his radio during yesterday's race, there might have been a penalty. So he had some ground to make up which might have prevented him from finishing as well as he might have been able to without that incident. Michael had harsh words for Whitt yesterday, saying that he must be "retarded." As much as I hate it when drivers (or anyone) says things like that, I can't say I blame Michael for being upset - that was a pretty big mistake by Brandon.

All last week there were a lot of fans and the media dismissing Daytona, saying that the results there don't matter and how the "real" season starts at California because more tracks are like California than they are Daytona. So I don't think a lot of people thought much of MWR doing well at Daytona. But if California is a better measure of how teams are going to do this season, then MWR might end up having a very solid season. It's still only two races into the season but I think it's an extremely good sign that the finishes have been very good and the cars have been fairly fast and competitive at two different kinds of tracks. It was especially good to see MWR race well yesterday since they've struggled at tracks like that in the past and I'm hoping that it's an indication that they've made progress on getting a handle on those kinds of tracks. I know that there are still going to be bad races and tracks that the MWR teams struggle on but after the past two weekends I feel very optimistic about how MWR is going to do this season!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2009

Michael Waltrip Finishes 7th in Rain-Shortened Daytona 500

What a great way for Michael Waltrip and the #55 team to start off the season with a 7th place finish in the Daytona 500!! Had the race gotten re-started Michael would likely have been contending for the win at the end as he was just positioning himself for a run up front when the last caution flag flew but I'm not in any way disappointed with 7th! Due to bad luck and non-competitive cars this is Michael's best finish at Daytona since his last Daytona 500 win in 2003! I'm so happy for him! It was a terrific day overall for Michael Waltrip Racing - David Reutimann finished 12th and Marcos Ambrose finished 17th so all three cars finished in the top 20! Awesome!

I'm also very happy with what I heard over the radio today - Michael and Bootie Barker are working extremely well together and the communication is the best I've heard between Michael and one of his crew chiefs since Tony Eury, Jr. in 2005. Of course it's only one race but if they can continue to work so well together and the cars continue to be competitive, then Michael is going to have one of his best seasons in quite some time. What I loved hearing was that other than some complaints about his car not having as much power as he would like, Michael was very happy with the car. He complimented Bootie and the team for giving him a good car and for the changes they made to the chassis. That's a big difference from the past few years when Michael would complain about everything and instead of racing for position would often be racing to not wreck. I feel so optimistic about this season after today!

I love the fact that right from the start all the MWR teams have put themselves in a very good position in terms of the top 35! Again, it's just the first race and anything can happen over the next few but all three teams finishing in the top 20 gives them a good cushion in case they run into trouble over the next few races. The progress that MWR has made since the start of last season - and especially since 2007 - is something for them to be very proud of!!

Posted by silverdsl at 06:54 PM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2009

Top Fifteens for the Michael Waltrip Racing Drivers in the Gatorade Duels

There were some feel-good stories from today's Gatorade Duels but I think the Michael Waltrip Racing drivers are probably a little disappointed even though all of them finished in the top 15 in their respective Duel. There were some nervous moments for Michael Waltrip and his team at the start of the first Duel when NASCAR told them that they had to put another transponder on the car so it could be scored. Although I suspect anything less than a trip to Victory Lane at Daytona is a disappointment for Michael since he's had so much success at this track, I think he had a decent race considering he was in a back-up that he hadn't turned any laps in due to the practice wreck the day before. Michael was able to spend some time in the top ten which was good to see but ultimately he didn't feel the car was the way it needed to be to really race up front like he wanted. He ended up finishing 15th and since there are two more practices between now and Sunday, hopefully Bootie Barker will be able to make some adjustments to give Michael a car that he can contend for another Daytona 500 win with! Marcos Ambrose, a MWR driver by way of their association with JTG-Daugherty Racing was also in this duel and quietly he finished 13th so it appears Marcos can hold his own racing a COT on a restrictor plate track, something he had previously expressed some uncertainty about.

David Reutimann is surely the most disappointed of the MWR drivers and he also had amends to make with one of his fellow competitors. At the start of the race David was racing in the top five and I was beginning to wonder if he had a chance to win. But during the first pit stop he lost quite a few positions and then disaster struck - http://www.scottriggs.com>Ryan Newman moved down while trying to avoid a much slower car and instead of just letting him in for some reason David though it would be a good idea to try to bump draft him. Instead of helping Ryan, it send him hard into the wall and the defending Daytona 500 champion was left with a wrecked race car. He was clearly livid with David and gestured at him when he drove by and later took a dig at David, saying that he was racing over his head. Based on his comments after the race David clearly felt horrible since he thought he was going to help Ryan and I'm sure he'll apologize profusely to him - if Ryan is willing to hear him out. I admit I was pretty surprised to see David give Ryan a shot like that as the timing didn't seem right but every driver makes mistakes from time to time.

The real story of the Duels was the drivers who raced their way in - Scott Riggs, Jeremy Mayfield and A.J. Allmendinger. I think a lot of people figured that A.J. would make it in but most weren't too sure how well Scott and Jeremy would do considering both were racing for brand-new teams that don't have a lot of funding, personnel or resources. Racing for Tommy Baldwin Motorsports, Scott did a terrific job of putting himself in position to make the race and staying there. Really outstanding work for a driver who was cast-off at the end of last season when Tony Stewart became an owner of Haas-CNC Racing. If Scott was outstanding, Jeremy was even more impressive. His team, which he not only races for but also is one of the owners of, was only assembled just a few weeks ago and is entirely made up of people who were laid off from other teams this off-season. If the odds seemed long for Jeremy to race his way in they looked even worse when his jackman was run over on pit road while helping another team in the first duel. But thanks to a great call by his crew chief, Tony Furr, to take only two tires on a late pit stop which helped give him track position, Jeremy did it - awesome job by Jeremy and his entire team! Regan Smith became a happy man before he even took to the track for the second duel - he found out he was locked in based on the way other go-or-go-homers had finished.

As for the winners of each duel, it was great to see Jeff Gordon win the first Duel and show some of the doubters that he's not done yet. I think Jeff is likely to have a pretty good season in 2009 and I'm looking forward to seeing him win some points races. Terrific way for the #24 team to start the season. Kyle Busch won the second duel much to the chagrin of the many fans who can't stand him. I'm not a fan of Kyle's but I admit I'm amused every time he wins because the reaction of many fans is so extreme. Kyle definitely showed today that he's picking up right where he left off last season.

Other than that the MWR teams didn't finish as well as I hoped they would, I enjoyed watching the Duels. I thought the racing was pretty good and it was exciting to see which drivers would be able to race their way in. Hopefully the races this weekend will be just as good!

Posted by silverdsl at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 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

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)

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)

December 08, 2008

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)

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)

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 09, 2008

Marcos Ambrose Races His Way Into the Top 35

The more I see of Marcos Ambrose the more impressed I am. Although he's had to battle the usual bad luck that always seems to spoil good runs for Michael Waltrip Racing teams, he's done a solid job the last few races in the used-to-be #00, now #47. The best part is that Marcos followed up a 21st place finish last weekend at Texas by finishing 18th today at Phoenix despite having been swept up in a wreck not of his own doing - he and his team did a great job of staying on the lead lap and hanging on for the last few laps of the race. That finish puts Marcos in the top 35 in owner's points! That means he's locked in to next weekend's race at Homestead and if he finishes well enough to stay in the top 35, he'll have ensured that he'll be locked in for the first five races next season! In addition, he will have helped MWR achieve one of their goals for this season - to have all three of their teams finish the season in the top 35 in owner's points. If that happens that will be huge for the organization - it might not be a big deal to some teams but considering where they were a year ago it would be pretty big!

It wasn't as good of a day for Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann. As per usual these days David was racing up front and it appeared that he might be in line for a strong finish. But then he had to pit because a cowl cover wasn't removed and things went downhill from there. At first I thought David was going to be able to recover from that incident and race his way back up front but it never happened and David ended up finishing 25th, two laps down. Michael Waltrip finished just ahead of David in 24th. The car was okay but not great in today's race and Michael never really seemed to be able to do much with it. But I can't say I'm too upset - both David and Michael finished in the top 25. While neither finish is stellar, that's still progress from where they were a year ago and even earlier this season when finishing in the top 35, particularly for the #55 team might have been considered a good result.

The other drivers in the top 35 battle besides Marcos didn't finish very well which is one reason Marcos was able to gain ground and get back into the top 35. Sam Hornish, Jr. who doesn't have much of a chance of racing his way back in was involved in two incidents, Scott Speed was involved in the big wreck of the day and finished 40th and Robby Gordon raced in the back all day long. It's puzzling to me that Red Bull Racing has Speed in the car. While I understand that they want to get him some experience for next season, they have to expect that he's going to struggle, thus jeopardizing their chances of finishing the season in the top 35.

Based on the way A.J. Allmendinger has been racing lately it's safe to say that the results would have been much better if they had just stuck with him and then odds are Speed would be starting the season in the top 35. But it's looking like he won't be locked in next season and he'll have to worry about making races - that's a horrible situation to put a rookie in and RBR should know that considering all that they've gone through with the top 35 for the past two seasons. Maybe RBR thought that the #00 (#47) team was so bad that they didn't have to worry about them racing their way back into the top 35. However, that was a miscalculation - MWR has been fielding much more competitive cars for a few months now.

All I know is that the decision that MWR made to take Michael McDowell out of the third car and put Marcos and a few other driver in was an excellent one. I'm not sure that the #47/00 would be back in the top 35 right now if McD was behind the wheel. Marcos has really done a great job for JTG/MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

November 02, 2008

Not Thinking Much of David Gilliland Right Now and Other Texas Thoughts

David Gilliland just put Juan Pablo Montoya into the wall and got parked by Nascar as he should have been. While JPM had stones enough to admit that he bumped Gilliland prior to that to send a message that he didn't like the way Gilliland was racing him, Gilliland claimed in his interview that he was trying to let JPM go and just "misjudged." Yeah, he misjudged all right - misjudged if it was a wise idea or not to allow himself to lose control of his emotions to the point where he put another driver into the wall. There is no excuse for punting a driver at this kind of track at these speeds. As much as I don't like it retaliation is a part of the sport but Nascar shouldn't have any tolerance for when it goes that far. No matter what the other driver might have done, drivers can't be wrecking each other like that. It probably won't happen since they parked him but I'd like to see Nascar hand out some additional penalties to Gilliland, even if it's something relatively meaningless like a fine or putting him on probation for the last two races.

What was interesting was that I was in a chat at the time this incident took place and someone was on Jeff Burton's directv Hotpass channel - apparently Burton was livid when he saw what Gilliland did and thought he should have been parked immediately. It would be interesting to find out what some other drivers thought - while there's no doubt that they all understand retaliation and how angry one can get behind the wheel, particularly when it comes to JPM who more than a few have been annoyed by on the track, there also seems to be some unwritten rules as to how and when you send a message to another driver.

As much as I don't like what Gilliland did I don't think he should be banned from Nascar as I've seen at least one person say they think should happen. The reality is that countless other drivers have acted out, lost control of their emotions or otherwise done stupid things. Some think Nascar should sit Gilliland for the rest of the season but if they didn't sit Michael Waltrip for blatantly retaliating against Casey Mears at Richmond earlier in the season, then I don't think they're going to sit Gilliland. They probably won't even penalize him further but I'm sure they'll make it clear to him that they don't want to see anything like that again no matter what another driver does to him.

Maybe though the worst penalty for Gilliland will be the one he receives in the court of public opinion. He's currently getting ripped on virtually every fan forum and I would guess the same will be true on XM and Sirius tomorrow, and possibly in the media. That's not good for a driver who is currently in need of sponsorship for his Cup car - although it's been reported that Gilliland has a contract with Yates Racing that goes through next season Yates only has one of their three cars fully sponsored and I wouldn't be surprised if they downsized by one car due to a lack of sponsorship. So it's probably a good idea for Gilliland to not be getting himself into any trouble on the track and attracting negative attention to himself and his team.

Otherwise, Michael and his team struggled to get the handling on the #55 right and he ended up finishing 27th, three laps down. That had to be a disappointment to him since he had qualified so well and the car had been so good last week, so I think the expectations were that he would be able to race up front again. Still, I can't be too upset since it appeared the car had decent speed - after he had been lapped and they had worked on the car they were among the fastest on the track and there have been times when the car has started out slow and stayed slow. In addition, as Michael said over the radio at the end of the race his team did a good job in the pits. I continue to be happy about all the progress Michael and his team have made - as Dale Jarrett pointed out during the broadcast, MWR is still a new organization and they are still growing. There is still work to be done but the pieces are starting to fall into place for them.

The result was much better for the other MWR teams. David Reutimann was among the fastest cars on the track as he had been all weekend and spent most of the race in the top ten, including quite a few laps in 2nd. Although he lost some spots at the end of the race he still finished 10th and it was awesome to see David race so well! If David and his team carry the momentum they've got now into next season he's going to be racing up front and contending for wins on a regular basis! Marcos Ambrose finished 21st, one of the better finishes for that team this season, and that was in spite of receiving some damage in an incident in which he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. If the points I saw is correct the #47/#00 team is just 44 points out of 35th on owner's points which means that strong finishes in the last two races could put that team back in the top 35 which would be good for Marcos for next season.

Overall, I didn't think this race was very exciting. Maybe the TV broadcast just didn't do a very good job of showing all the action on the track but it didn't seem like a very interesting race. I was happy that MWR continues to get some positive attention - they talked about how well David was racing and showed Michael a few times including a pit stop even though he wasn't racing up from. Usually drivers who aren't Chase drivers or are racing up front are mostly ignored unless they're involved in an incident so I was actually a little surprised by the coverage he got today. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to see it but I found myself wondering if ESPN was trying to make good with NAPA and Michael for playing Clint Bowyer's negative comment about Michael earlier in the season.

Carl Edwards won the race with a gamble on fuel mileage and closed the gap on Jimmie Johnson for the Championship. I still think that Jimmie and the #48 team are going to pull it out but I guess it creates some drama for the last two races.

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

October 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

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 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)

October 08, 2008

Michael Waltrip Racing Day on "Tradin' Paint" (10/7): Frank Kerr, Crew Chief for the #47

If I'm going chronologically Cal Wells and then Michael Waltrip himself would be next in the order of how they were interviewed on Sirius yesterday, but I'm going to jump ahead to Frank Kerr, who is the crew chief for Marcos Ambrose because I thought he said a lot of interesting things regarding the alliance between Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG-Daugherty Racing, as well as about Ambrose.

As most MWR fans remember Kerr was the crew chief for David Reutimann last season and did an excellent job of working with Reutimann, but Kerr was replaced with Ryan Pemberton during the off-season. Kerr went back to work for Robby Gordon and eventually ended up at JTG, which reunited him with an organization he worked for from 2001-2003 in the Busch Series when Stacy Compton raced for them. One of the first things that Kerr said during the interview in relation to the JTG-MWR alliance was that it was "good to be back home." That probably applies in more ways than one for Kerr, since it sounds like he's working with a lot of old friends both at JTG and MWR.

Kerr spoke glowingly about the cars at MWR, saying that MWR builds "beautiful" race cars and that you can't find nicer cars anywhere in the garage area. He said that Michael should be very proud of what he has at MWR. Of course one of the first questions that Chocolate Myers and Steve Post asked was how the alliance between MWR and JTG was going to work and Kerr said that they will be all combined at MWR and all the teams will work together as one. The #47 will get the same cars that the other MWR teams will get - the cars that are built can be a #55, a #00, etc... All are the same and the playing field is the same for all the teams. Kerr said that's important because you can't go to the race track and learn from a teammate if things are different from team to team. I really like hearing that everything is going to be the same for all three teams and that they will be working so closely together. I know this bothers some fans for reasons that relates to the limit on the amount of cars a team can own but I think this is an arrangement that will help the MWR teams and the #47 be more competitive.

From here on out, the #47 team will be housed at MWR and they will get brand new cars for Marcos to race at the end of the year. That's a piece of news that I don't think has been reported elsewhere that apparently Marcos will be racing Toyotas in Cup for the last five races of the season. Of course Kerr spoke highly of his driver, saying that Ambrose never gives up that he keeps digging. Apparently at Kansas the window net came loose so Ambrose spent 45 laps holding up the window net with one hand so he actually raced one handed for those 45 laps until he had to pit because his hand fell asleep. I think that speaks to his determination, not to mention his ability as a driver, that he drove with one hand and held the window net in place with the other for so many laps and would probably have kept racing that way if not for his hand falling asleep!

Kerr also had high praise for David who he is clearly extremely fond of. He said that David is an unbelievable talent and that it's a shame that it took this long for someone to find him. I agree. It boggles my mind that no one put David in a Cup car years ago! If he's able to do as well as he's doing for MWR in spite of not always having the most competitive cars on the track, imagine what the results are going to be for him as the cars get more and more competitive! Unfortunately for David he probably never had sponsorship to bring with him to a team, and he's not traditionally "cute" and while he's very funny and personable he can come off at times like he's nervous and shy which may not appeal to some sponsors, so that may be why teams passed him by until DW decided to put him in a truck I'm so glad that David ended up in that truck because it paved the way for him to race for MWR! He's such a huge asset to the organization!

Kerr sounded really happy to be back at MWR even if he's not working for them directly, and he sounded really excited about working with Ambrose - sure hope they have lots of success together!

Posted by silverdsl at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2008

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)

September 29, 2008

UPS Ended Up Sponsoring David Ragan Because They Didn't Have the Budget for an Elite Driver

One thing that struck me as strange in relation to UPS's search for a new driver to sponsor was that they were rumored to be going with just about every available driver in the garage area (other than the one they were with) and that it was taking so long for them to finalize their plans. Since UPS is a major sponsor who has been in the sport for a long time and has shown a willingness to spend money not only on sponsoring a car but also on advertising, marketing and promotions, I would have thought a lot of teams would be interested in trying to bring them on-board. I also found it curious that after saying that they wanted to sponsor a "rock star" type driver they ended up with David Ragan, who is a talented driver, but a rock star? I don't think so. Turns out the reason UPS didn't end up with a higher profile driver is that they didn't enough money in their budget to get an elite driver like they wanted.

Apparently one of their top choices as rumored was Carl Edwards but with only about $17-19 million to spend on sponsorship, that wasn't enough to get Carl who will be sponsored next season by AFLAC for $26 million. Apparently it wasn't enough for Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer or Jeff Burton either, and UPS even apparently considered leaving the sport. Ultimately they ended up with David Ragan, because of his "potential." One thing UPS didn't consider was staying at Michael Waltrip Racing to sponsor David Reutimann, but maybe they should have. For less money UPS would have gotten a driver who is showing that he may be just as capable of contending for the Chase as the other David is.

It's not been said publically why UPS didn't want to stay at MWR but speculation has been that they are unhappy with the poor results at MWR the past two years. Now that I know that they're "only" paying $15 million to sponsor the #44, I can't help but wonder if part of the reason for the poor performance is how comparatively small the amount of money UPS is paying MWR as compared to the amount other sponsors are paying to sponsor more competitive cars. Being competitive and racing up front takes money - lots of it - and the costs are continuing to rise. At one time $15 million might have been a top dollar amount to sponsor an elite car and driver but I would guess these days it takes at least $17-19 million to field a competitive Cup car and $20 -25 million for a car that races up front on a consistent basis. Then you add in that MWR is a new organization, that they're fielding three Cup cars without sponsorship for one of them and the other issues that MWR has had to deal with the past two years and it seems to me that it's going to be really hard for them to get the results that UPS was looking for, though things have definitely started to turn around at MWR.

Something tells me that UPS is going to have a hard time getting the same amount of exposure and brand awareness with Ragan that they did with Dale Jarrett. Maybe one day they'll even regret not having stuck with David Reutimann at MWR.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2008

Tough Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing

Things didn't go quite as well for Michael Waltrip and his drivers at Kansas as they did at Dover but there were still signs that Michael Waltrip Racing has come a long way since the start of the season. For one thing, even though Michael struggled in practice and didn't qualify up front, on race day he had a competitive car and was able to race his way into the top twenty. For a while it was looking like he might be able to contend for a top fifteen, or even better, another top ten, until he got spun by David Ragan and then a number of laps later, had a blown tire which caused extensive damage to the right front. It's unfortunate because Michael's 35th place finish doesn't reflect how well he raced for quite a bit of the race. So while I'm disappointed that Michael wasn't able to finish well, I'm still happy that he had a competitive car again.

I was also happy to see David Reutimann and the #44 team rally to finish in the top twenty. David and his team also struggled all weekend and spent the first part of the race mired in the back. But even after losing a lap they kept digging and on a re-start David was able to race his way in front of the leader which allowed him to get back on the lead lap when the caution came out. David ended up finishing 19th and while I'm sure he would have liked to have finished a lot better, that's still pretty good considering he started the race in 40th. I continue to be impressed with David and his team and I think next season there's a good chance that he'll be a Chase contender.

Although MWR is probably pretty unhappy that the #00 team missed the race (particularly since this was the race when some winners of a Champion Mortgage contest were slated to be guests of the #00 team), things could have played out a lot worse than they did. Thanks to Robby Gordon and Sam Hornish, Jr. having poor finishes today, the #00 is still in 36th in the owner's points, just 30 points behind Robby in 35th. So it's definitely still possible for the #00 to get back into the top 35, though I don't think it's going to be easy. Robby is pretty good at restrictor plate races so it could be tough to finish ahead of him. Of course Michael McDowell will still have to qualify for the race but MWR has shown that they can field very good cars at restrictor plate tracks so hopefully he won't have any problems making the race.

Of course any fan of Michael's gets excited for Talladega since it's one of Michael's best tracks. In fact with some help from Jimmie Johnson with the laps winding down at the Spring race at Talladega it looked like Michael might visit Victory Lane there again. So with MWR racing so much more competitively right now I think there's a very real chance that an MWR car could contend for the win next weekend! I would love to see Michael win but I would be almost as happy if he ended up in Victory Lane as an owner. Anything can happen at Talladega but I sure do hope to see the MWR cars in the mix at the end of the race!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2008

Michael Waltrip Finishes 10th at Dover!

Outstanding race for Micheal Waltrip - he finished 10th today at Dover! Although the results haven't always shown it due to issues in the pits and other bad luck, just as the #44 team has improved as the season has gone along, so has the #55 team. Michael has been able to race competitively almost every week and I knew it was just a matter of time before he was racing up front like David Reutimann. I'm so happy that happened today! Michael's previous best finish this season was 2nd at Loudon which came because of pit strategy but today's awesome finish came because Michael had a great car and was able to race up front all day. Michael was one of only two non-Chase drivers to finish in the top ten and I think it really says something about how far Michael Waltrip Racing has come that Michael and David were able to race alongside some of the most elite teams in Cup up front all day today! I think there's going to be many more races like this for MWR in the future - and even better!

For a while it looked like David was going to finish in the top ten himself but during the last pit stop the right front was outside the box and he was penalized by being held a lap in the pits. David was the first car a lap down in 17th and because there were no more cautions he wasn't able to get back on the lead lap so that's where he finished. Had to be really disappointing for him and his team given how strong of a car David had to race. However, it's another sign of how far MWR has come that there's disappointment about a 17th place finish - last season, and maybe even earlier this season, a top twenty finish would be something to be happy about.

Michael McDowell ended up finishing 29th and I'm not sure exactly why but there were apparently issues that prevented him from racing as well as Michael and David. I'm not sure how finishing 29th will effect the top 35 points situation but it's likely going to be close between he and Robby Gordon who finished 22nd - I would guess that Robby is up on McD. Sure would be great if somehow McD could put together a few strong races to end the season and make sure the #00 is in the top 35!

Otherwise Greg Biffle won for the second week in a row and I'm happy about that too - Greg doesn't always get that much attention but he's a great driver and I would be thrilled if he surprised everyone and won the Championship! For all the complaints about how bad the racing is with the COT, there sure was some awesome racing for the lead between Greg and his teammates, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards at the end of the race!

Anyway, a terrific race for Michael and his team - I'm really thrilled for Michael!

Posted by silverdsl at 05:49 PM | Comments (2)

September 18, 2008

In the News: Michael Waltrip (9/18)

Too often this season there's been articles writing that predict failure or are otherwise negative when it comes to Michael Waltrip and Michael Waltrip Racing. So it was great to read an article from USA Today that recognizes the progress MWR is making and acknowledges how hard Michael works at trying to make his teams successful. Of course a lot of the work that Michael puts in relates to sponsors - there really isn't anyone else in the garage area that's better than Michael when it comes to getting his sponsors exposure. Ty Norris said,

"We would not have a fraction of what we have if this were ABC Racing. Michael has made a career of over-performing away from the racetrack. He is a Chase guy when it comes to marketability."

The organization wouldn't exist without Michael. I've seen some fans say that Michael should not only stop racing but stop being involved at MWR completely and that the organization would be better off. But it's because of Michael (and David Reutimann) that NAPA Auto Parts, Aaron's and other sponsors have stuck around. In the current economic climate where it's difficult to find and keep sponsors, the importance of Michael's ability to keep his sponsors happy can't be overstated.

Michael said,

"If you say, 'You get sponsors because you're good to people, you care, you sign autographs,' I'm like, 'What's your point?' If you have a problem with that, you're an idiot. I'm working my (butt) off for this race team that I have invested everything I have. I have nothing left."

There are many who are quick to be critical of Michael for seeming to put more emphasis on getting his sponsors exposure than on getting results on the track. Of course the reality is that Michael has just as much competitive fire and desire as any other driver, but the way he takes care of his sponsors and the fans is as important as anything he does in the car. Fans are essential for a team to have success because they're the ones who buy tickets to races, buy merchandise, spend money with sponsors and cheer on the drivers. Sponsors are even more important because without the millions they spend organizations like MWR can't field cars or be competitive. Do people think it's easy to figure out ways to get exposure for his sponsors? To do everything for his sponsors, all the signings and appearances he does, the media obligations including a weekly TV show, a show for XM and the Truck races, while at the same time co-owning a multi-car organization, driving a Cup car full-time and somehow having a life away from racing?

It bothers me how often Michael doesn't get much respect from some fans, some in the media and even sometimes from his fellow competitors (Clint Bowyer). Yet he works just as hard as any other owner to do what is necessary to try to make his organization successful. And the signs are definitely there that they're making progress - all three cars are in the top 35 in owner's points, David has finished in the top 15 in three straight races including at Richmond where he led the most laps, and all three teams have been a lot more competitive.

In other sponsor related news, there's going to be a Michael Waltrip Racing line of rims sold at Rimco, a company associated with Aaron's. According to someone whose husband works for Aaron's (I think) they will be unveiled at Raceworld during the weekend of the Charlotte race in October. I can't say I'm into rims at all but it should be interesting to see what they look like.

David will have an XM paint scheme on his #99 Nationwide car at Dover this weekend. Someone who went to Raceworld this week posted photos of it on the forum on Michael's site and it looks really awesome! Being bright yellow and black it definitely will be easy to spot - hopefully up front!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2008

In the News: Michael Waltrip Racing (9/15)

Michael Waltrip Racing fans were thrilled recently when it was announced that not only would NAPA Auto Parts be returning in 2009 to sponsor Michael Waltrip and the #55 car again, but also that Aaron's Rent and Lease would be sponsoring David Reutimann in the #00 for half a season in 2009! However, as happy as they are about the positive sponsorship news, fans remain nervous about the remaining sponsorship that MWR needs to find for the other half of a season for David and for the full season for the third car. But according to Ty Norris there's reason to be optimistic. MWR is talking with three sponsors about next season, one that is already in the sport and two others that would be new to Nascar. He said,

"Two things are happening at the same time. Some of the people that we've been talking to are starting to get into some serious conversations with us, saying we're starting to run better. Interest always seems to be heightened when you're performing better on the racetrack, because we always have been able to perform for sponsors off the track. Now that we're getting some on-track performance -- David Reutimann and that team has been terrific lately, and Michael McDowell, for the second straight weekend, has come here loaded for bear -- we feel like we're getting very competitive. So actually there is a tremendous amount of momentum going forward, especially with groups we've been talking to. There is optimism."

I'm very happy to hear that there are sponsors that have noticed how well David has been racing and the overall progress that MWR has been making lately!

However, that doesn't mean that things are easy when it comes to finding sponsorship, particularly given the difficult economy. Which is why Ty would like to see new categories of sponsors come into the sport. He said,

"The sport needs new blood; it needs new money, no question. What I would love to see is new categories, because if a new category comes into the sport, it seems to open it up for all the other companies in that same category. So it will be interesting to see if there are any new categories coming in that can penetrate the sport. For instance, when Pennzoil does something on the primary level, then it almost in a defensive mechanism makes Valvoline and Mobil and some of these other companies look at it -- because if they're going to be here, then they figure they need to be here. Red Bull came in as an energy drink. So Pepsi countered it with Amp. And that's new money."

Ty is absolutely correct. I think some have their heads in the sand a little in terms of the sponsorship situation in the sport. They say contrary to what some believe the sponsorship situation isn't that bad because a lot of sponsors are choosing to stay in the sport. Sure, there are sponsors who are staying but many of the large sponsors that have the most money to spend are consolidating themselves with a small group of elite teams. Without new sponsors, what are the rest of the teams supposed to do for sponsorship? New categories opening up would definitely help some of the teams in need of sponsorship since competing companies would sponsor a variety of different teams.

In possibly related news, Bob Margolis from Yahoo! Sports wrote in his Observations from Loudon:

The hottest rumor floating around the Cup garage this weekend is that Chip Ganassi still is trying to make a deal with another team to keep himself in NASCAR. This week it was supposedly an arrangement with Michael Waltrip Racing, which would expand to four cars and put Montoya in a Toyota.

I take everything that Margolis writes with a grain of salt since he was the one who reported that it was an absolute certainty and a done deal that Bobby Labonte was going to race for Richard Childress Racing in 2009 and that was completely false. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have accurate information so maybe there is some truth to the persistent rumors that have been circulating for a few months that MWR and Ganassi are going to merge. At first I thought some were reading into the breakfast meeting between Rob Kauffman, Cal Wells, Felix Sabates and Chip Ganassi a little too much - and that still might be the case - but it seems like there's been so much talk about something going on between the two organizations that maybe there is. And the more I've thought about it, the more I like the idea.

Both MWR and Ganassi have issues on the competition side that likely have a lot to do with the financial and sponsorship side. They might be stronger together as a four-car organization than if they were separate, each as a two-car organization. NAPA, Aaron's, and Target are all long-time Nascar sponsors, and Wrigley's has been involved in the sport for a few years as well, so they're all committed to the sport. Some of my fellow MWR fans are horrified by the thought of Juan Pablo Montoya racing for Ganassi but I would love to see him race for MWR - he's got a huge amount of talent and I don't think we've seen anywhere near the best of him in Cup so far. I don't always like the way he races but I do like that he seems to be fan-friendly and he's certainly not afraid to speak his mind. As for the 4th car, if not Michael McDowell I would love to see A.J. Allmendinger in that car if Red Bull Racing decided not to keep him.

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

September 14, 2008

Another Solid Race Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing

Yes, there were some issues but overall it was a solid weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing at Loudon, particularly since all three teams leave New Hampshire in the top 35 in owner's points. I really love what I'm seeing from the MWR teams right now and it makes me really optimistic for the future! David Reutimann and the #44 team continue to lead the way with a 15th place finish today. David has now finished in the top 15 or better in four of his last five races and hasn't finished outside the top 25 in that stretch I'm sure he'd love to be racing even better but I think it's really outstanding the way that team has come along, particularly considering they were outside the top 35 to start the season and had their share of struggles to contend with just like the other MWR teams. There's been a lot of talk about how drivers like David Ragan or Brian Vickers who just missed the Chase could be in it next season and if David continues racing as well as he had and carries that momentum over into next season, I think he'll be right there in the mix for Chase contention.

Michael Waltrip had a trying day but it ended on a positive note with a top 25 finish. He and the #55 team struggled to get the car right all weekend and were extremely slow in practice which really worried me for this race. However, it soon became clear that Michael actually had a pretty good car. That really made me happy because at times this season when the car has been bad in practice they've struggled to make the right changes to make it right for the race, but they've seemed to make some improvements lately in relation to that. Michael even seemed poised to race his way into the top 20 with David but a slow pit stop cost Michael a significant amount of track position on a track where it can be hard to pass. Michael eventually went a lap down but that actually happened on pit road due a second slow pit stop. Prior to that he did an outstanding job of outracing the leader at the time, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., to stay on the lead lap. Michael actually was as fast as Junior at that point which is why he was able to hold him off for so long - it really was great to see Michael be able to race Junior so hard so successfully for so long! Michael wasn't happy about the slow pit stops and I can't blame him - he really did an excellent job of racing his way through the field and I'm sure he had high hopes of coming close to repeating his second place finish at this track earlier in the season. It wasn't to be but I think Michael and his team did a good job of overcoming the pit road issues to get the top 25 finish. Not what they wanted but it keeps them in the top 35 in owner's points. Michael should feel good - although there are still issues to work out such as with the pit crew and in terms of getting the handling on his cars right, there is a big improvement between now and the start of the season in terms of the competitiveness of the cars he's racing.

Although Michael McDowell was able to race well enough to keep the #00 in the top 35 in owner's points and that's a good thing I really didn't like what I saw from him today. I try to give McD the benefit of the doubt since by all accounts he's an extremely nice person, a talent race car driver and he's in a very difficult situation in that he has very little experience in Cup and he's racing for a team that likely has less resources due to financial reasons in comparison to the other two MWR teams. However, McD isn't new to racing and I didn't think he raced very smart at times today, particularly since at one point it appeared he was also going to finish in the top 25. McD's first mistake was wrecking A.J. Allmendinger - maybe McD didn't realize that he was there but it seemed like he didn't let off and A.J. ended up wrecked, which looked bad since A.J. is also fighting for a spot in the top 35. In fact, thanks to McD wrecking him A.J. is back out of the top 35 so McD is taking some heat from some fans who think maybe he deliberately wrecked A.J. to ensure that he (McD) stayed in the top 35. I don't think that's the case - McD said recently he planned on racing extra aggressively and that's likely what he was doing, which isn't always the best course of action.

McD's other issue came on restarts. During a late restart McD was just behind Michael. Ty Norris, Michael's spotter said to him something along the lines of "just so you know McDiddle has been going down on the apron on restarts" to which Michael responded something along the lines of "just so he knows what will happen to him if he hits me" in a rather threatening tone of voice. Just like at Sonoma, McD shouldn't need to be reminded not to get into his owner! But McD saved his best for last - on a late restart when he seemed poised to finish in the top 25, he passed on the left on a restart which isn't allowed, got black-flagged, and had to serve a pass through penalty. Luckily he only lost a handful of positions, but every position and point count when fighting for a spot in the top 35. McD is racing for a sponsor, a spot in the top top 35, and his career since he doesn't have a guaranteed ride for next season - as a rookie he's going to make mistakes but it seemed like he made a lot of them in this race and he can't really afford that given the position he's in.

But aside from some of the issues with McD it really was a positive weekend for MWR! The next race is next weekend at Dover and I'm optimistic that it's going to be another very good weekend for all three teams! David is racing so well right now, Michael has always liked racing at Dover and hopefully McD will learn a few things from this race that will keep him out of trouble next weekend. Maybe next weekend we'll see all three teams finish in the top 20 - I know most organizations are aiming to have all their teams finish in the top 15 or better, but for such a young organization that has had to deal with so many struggles they need to keep their expectations a little lower - but I sure would love to see all three of those MWR cars racing up front!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2008

UPS Will Sponsor David Ragan in 2009

No surprise here - it was made official today that UPS will move from Michael Waltrip Racing to Roush-Fenway Racing to become David Ragan's sponsor. I'd be disappointed that MWR was losing a major sponsor but the writing has been on the wall for quite some time that they had no intention of sticking around regardless of how well David Reutimann raced for them since they didn't feature him or any of the MWR drivers in the last series of ads they did in tribute to Dale Jarrett. Ragan is a young driver who has shown that he can be a Chase contender but I think they're going to have a hard time duplicating the amount of success and exposure that they got with DJ. Reutimann has also raced extremely well of late so if his results are like this next season he could very well be a Chase contender himself.

Ron Rogowski, UPS's Director of sponsorship said,

"When Dale announced his retirement, it gave us an opportunity as an organization to really sit down and take a look at our whole program. This gives us an opportunity with Roush Fenway Racing, with (crew chief) Jimmy Fennig, not only to be back in victory lane but to be able to develop the rock star driver we're looking to develop."

Ragan a rock star? They may very well have an image and personality makeover in mind for him during the off-season but at the moment it's hard to see Ragan, who is kind of on the quiet side, as a "rock star." Usually he just fades into the background, particularly in comparison to his other teammates at Roush. I'd think that UPS would have wanted to go with a driver who shows a lot more personality but maybe they think that's something they can bring out in him.

What's troubling to me is "partgate" back in March when Jack Roush made a big issue of the swaybar off of one of his cars that ended up at MWR for a time. Some thought he was making a big deal out of nothing back then and wondered why he was even making it a public issue. I have to wonder with how early the teams and sponsors start trying to get their plans together for the following season, particularly when it comes to sponsorship, whether they were already making overtures to UPS at that point and "partgate" was an attempt to make MWR look bad and lessen the chances that they'd remain. Odds are that's likely just a crazy conspiracy theory that has no merit but you never know what some might do when it comes to multi-million dollar sponsorships with major companies like UPS. Just doesn't sit quite right with me.

I also wonder what DJ thinks of all of this. He's a long-time good friend of Michael Waltrip, he thinks highly of David and he raced for MWR himself. So while I'm sure he understands that UPS needs to do what they feel will offer them the most exposure for their money, maybe there's a part of him that isn't so happy with the direction that UPS went in. After all, he hand selected David to replace him in the #44.

It will certainly be interesting to see what UPS has planned for Ragan.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 09, 2008

David Reutimann to do Double Duty at Loudon...

...but he won't be in a Nationwide car. In addition to racing the #44 Cup car as he usually does, David Reutuimann will also be racing in another race this weekend but not the Nationwide race - instead he'll be in the #9 truck for Germain Racing in the Truck race! How awesome is that? Apparently the usual driver of the truck, Justin Marks, is going to be busy working with the team on putting together a schedule of races for him for the Nationwide and ARCA series for the remainder of the season. I can't exactly understand how putting a schedule together means that Justin can't race at Loudon but I'm not complaining since it's going to put David in a truck!I love the Truck Series to begin with because the racing in that series is outstanding, and it's even better when Michael Waltrip is in the booth for Speed, but now it's really going to be a terrific race to watch with David in it too!

When he races the #9 truck David will be reuniting with his former crew chief Jason Overstreet who was his crew chief at Darrell Waltrip Motorsports. Together they got a Truck Series win at Nashville in 2005 and they had a lot of success together otherwise. It should be fun for them to work together and since Germain Racing fields competitive trucks hopefully it will result into a great finish for David at Loudon!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:38 PM | Comments (2)

Not a Pumpkin!

Seems like there's a few media members and fans who are rushing to try to make it seem like David Reutimann leading the most laps at Richmond really isn't that impressive and isn't a sign that Michael Waltrip Racing is on the right track. Bob Margolis from Yahoo Sports! wrote in his observations from Richmond:

• Note to David Reutimann: Your 15 minutes of fame along with your 104 laps led are over. I'm sure it was great fun for you. It was fun to watch, too. Your Toyota turns back into a pumpkin at midnight.

• Reutimann's 100-plus laps at the front of the field only reinforces the theory that once you get to the front of the field in this new car you can easily pull away from everyone and stay there. For someone like Reutimann, it was entertaining to watch as the field – and more specifically Tony Stewart – worked to reel the leader in. When it's someone like Kyle Busch, Edwards or Johnson out front, it spells lights out for the rest of the field.

Huh? Does Margolis realize that David started 27th and then raced his way into the top ten before taking the lead via coming out of the pits first? He didn't drop back all that far in the field when he lost the lead either - he finished 9th, his second 9th place finish in a row, and at Bristol he qualified 2nd. If it was just smoke and mirrors and his car wasn't really that good just exactly how did he finish in the top ten? In addition, there have been other times when drivers other than an elite driver have taken the lead after a pit stop and haven't been able to drive away and keep the lead for over a hundred laps like David was. The fact of the matter is that the #44 team has been racing competitively the past few weeks and if they continue in this direction it probably won't be the last time David leads some laps.

There's also been some fans who say that leading all those laps somehow don't count because David didn't race his way up front to take the lead, he got the lead after a round of pit stops. Again, I say, huh? Does Jimmie Johnson's win not count because he came out of the pits with the lead after the last round of pit stops? Ridiculous. The success a driver has, whether it's leading laps, a win or a good finish otherwise, matters no matter how they got that success. It seems that's the way it goes these days - anything positive for a team or driver there are always some who have to find ways to rip it apart and say why it's not really as good as it seems.

I certainly hope this kind of attitude isn't shared by those with the teams. The #44 team and all at MWR should be very happy about Richmond and it should give them confidence for the future. If everyone looked at things from the perspective of why accomplishments weren't as good as they seemed all the time I'd think it would be very hard to stay motivated and optimistic about the future.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:31 AM | Comments (2)

September 08, 2008

Outstanding Race for David Reutiamnn at Richmond!

For the second week in a row David Reutimann finished 9th in Cup! Two top tens would be reason enough to celebrate but it gets better - David not only finished 9th at Richmond but for a while it looked like he might even win the race! David led 104 laps, the most of any driver, and at one point was ahead by four second! The results for David and his team have continued to get better and better every week - maybe it's the generation three COT that the Michael Waltrip Racing teams are using, maybe it's that it took until now for David and his crew chief, Ryan Pemberton, to fully gel, or maybe it's just the comfort for David and his team that comes from knowing that they'll racing together for the next three years. Whatever the reason it's awesome to see David not only race competitively up front but contend for the win! I wouldn't be surprised if David won a race before the season's over!

Richmond was pretty good to the other MWR teams as well. I admit I had my doubts about what was going to happen at Richmond after Michael McDowell said that he was going to take a page from Juan Pablo Montoya and race extra-aggressively, but McD raced a clean race and finished 20th, which put him back in the top 35 in owner's points! That has to be a big relief since having to qualify into races adds an extra level of stress and McD is already under a lot of pressure since he's racing to attract sponsorship for the third MWR car for next season and also for his career. McD actually raced even better for a good portion of the day and looked like he was going to finish in the top 15 before losing some ground over the last few laps of the race.

McD may have felt victim to the same issue that caused Michael Waltrip to lose positions over the last 30 laps of the race - based on what was said over the radio, the set of tires they put on the car during the last pit stop didn't work out very well. Michael's 28th place finish in no way reflects how well he raced for quite a bit of the race. It looked like Michael was on his way to a top 15 or top 20 until he lost a lot of ground. Michael had really done an excellent job of battling a loose handling car - often when the car is loose Michael is racing not to wreck instead of racing for position - but at Richmond Michael was able to hold his own and actually race. That had to be a lot of fun for him to be racing up front among the Chase contenders! At the end of the race Michael was extremely frustrated with his finish and I don't blame him - he and his team worked really hard all day and for much of the race everything went their way. It's unfortunate that the finish isn't as good as it looked like it was going to be. However, Michael's finish was not only good enough to keep him in the top 35 in owner's points, but he also moved up a few spots. That's definitely a good thing!

Overall, MWR has to be very happy with the way all three teams raced at Richmond and particularly with David and his team! Seeing the #44 be so competitive is a sign that MWR is making progress and moving in the right direction! Everyone at MWR has to feel encouraged and optimistic about the future - I know I do! I can't wait for the day when Michael or one of his drivers wins a Cup race - what David did at Richmond shows that it's possible! It will be awesome to see Michael celebrating in Victory Lane!

ETA - Just saw Michael's post-race notes. Apparently why he lost so many positions at the end of the race wasn't a bad set of tires, but because a right rear tire was going down and that effected the handling of his car. Michael's probably very lucky that tire didn't blow completely!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2008

David Reutimann Finishes 9th in Fontana!

Although Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana was pretty forgettable for the most part, there was one major highlight - David Reutimann finished a career best 9th! The past few weeks David and the #44 team have really started to come on strong - at Michigan David qualified 7th and finished 14th, at Bristol he qualified 2nd but only was able to finish 25th and this past weekend he qualified 12th and finished 9th. Maybe it's because they've started to use the new generation three COTs that Michael Waltrip Racing has been working with, maybe it's because David and his team have really come together as a solid team or maybe it's because any uncertainties about David and the future of the team have been resolved now that David and Aaron's have been signed for the next three years. Whatever the reason may be David is showing that he is an outstanding driver who can race up front when he has a competitive car. If things continue in this direction I think we'll be seeing him contend for wins before too long!

Unfortunately the result wasn't as good for Michael Waltrip - he had to race hard just to finish 33rd due to how loose the car was. Based on the radio communication during the the race, the team made some adjustments after practice on Saturday that didn't really work out for the race on Sunday. Seems like that's not the first time that's happened - they gamble with changes that don't end up turning out the way they'd like and then they have to spend the race trying to make more changes to get the car right. To the team's credit they often make changes that make the car better but by the time the car is faster and more competitive Michael is often stuck a lap down or otherwise has poor track position. It may be difficult for Bobby Kennedy and the rest of the team because I think Michael likes his cars to feel a very specific way so it might be hard to get the cars perfectly the way they want them but I think they need to work on showing up to the track with the car being closer to right because it seems like they're almost always playing catch up right from the start. Obviously MWR is moving in the right direction with the cars they're building since David's results have been good recently, but there's still a ways to go - Michael complains almost every week about his cars being so loose that he's racing just to not spin out as opposed to racing for position. He also often complains about the right front not feeling right. They need to work on resolving those issues for him so that he can race up front like he's capable of like David has been.

Mike Skinner raced his last race for MWR at Fontana. Hopefully MWR learned something from the three races that Mike was in the #00 for that will help them for next season and beyond, but I have to admit that I'm scratching my head a little over just how much value the feedback he's providing to the team is going to be considering he apparently was racing an older version of the COT, as opposed to the gen three version that the #44 and #55 teams are going to be using moving forward. At the very least hopefully he helped with team communication and provided some valuable advice to Michael McDowell which will not only help him when he gets back in the #00 this weekend at Richmond but in the future. I like McD a lot but part of me wonders why they're putting him back in the car. There's still a chance that the #00 could get back into the top 35 which would make it more likely that MWR field three Cup cars next season and I think another veteran driver with more experience would have a better chance of achieving that. I suppose they want to try to showcase him for potential sponsors if he's the driver they intend on using in a third car next season but I'm not that optimistic that he's going to pull an A.J. Allmendinger and suddenly start racing up front once he gets back into the car.

Like I said above, the race overall was pretty boring. This time I don't think it was just the TV coverage that made it that way either since some who were at the race in person also talked about how unexciting it was. Last night on This Week in Nascar Michael brought up his idea to turn the track into a restrictor plate track, and while I'm not sure that's feasible, I think he's correct when he says that the track needs to be sure that they're giving fans the best possible show, something they aren't now. Michael said that the track does a great job with everything that surrounds the race in terms of making it very fan friendly and it gets everyone all hyped up but once the race actually starts there's a let-down. That's something that needs to be addressed particularly now that fans are being more picky about what races they buy tickets for. In light of the uninteresting racing at this track it's hard to believe that this track got a Chase race for next season.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2008

Aaron's Sales and Lease Extends Their Partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing Through 2009

On the heels of the announcement that NAPA Auto Parts had extended their partnership with Michael Waltrip for next season comes today's news that Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership has also extended their partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing!! Not only that but they've stepped up their sponsorship from the Nationwide level to the Cup level! Aaron's will be the primary sponsor for David Reutimann in the #00 Cup car in 2009 for 18 races. But that's not all! Aaron's will also return as the sponsor of the #99 Nationwide car for ten races and it won't just be David behind the wheel of the car - Michael is also going to race the #99 for some of those races! I'm thrilled that MWR has sponsorship for David for next season in Cup but I'm also extremely happy that Michael's going to race a few Nationwide races next season! As much as I love David race the #99 I miss Michael in the Nationwide races so it's not even 2009 yet and I'm looking forward to seeing Michael race those Nationwide races!

It's interesting that this announcement specifically says that David will race the #00 Cup car next season which is a number that his family has long been associated with in racing and the number he started out racing in Cup until he moved to the #44 when he took that car over from Dale Jarrett. I have a feeling that's a sign that number may go back to Petty Enterprises for them to use for their possible third team. That would be fine with me as long as David got to keep the owner's points from the #44 from this season. I've always liked the #00 as a number better and I know that David would prefer to race that number as well because of his family history.

Of course MWR still needs to find sponsorship for the rest of the Cup schedule for the #00 and presumably they intend on fielding the #99 for the full season in the Nationwide series so they'll need some more sponsorship on that level as well. I wonder if Champion Mortgage might take some races on either level? From what I understand they're associated with Fortress Investments, the company Rob Kauffman is involved with so I don't know how much they're actually spending to be on the car, but they took the time to do a website and they have a contest going so they are investing some time and effort into this sponsorship so maybe that's something that will continue next season. There was also the rumor that State Water Heaters was going to be involved with MWR next season - I can't track down exactly where that came from or how reliable that information is so we'll see if that actually ends up happening.

Really even though there are still some races they need to find sponsorship for this is such great news for MWR! Just a couple of months ago there were rumors circulating that they were in dire financial straits and speculation that none of their current sponsors were going to come back next season. Obviously that's not the case - MWR will have at least two Cup cars that are mostly sponsored for next season and according to Cal Wells recently they're working on finding sponsorship for a third. When even high-profile, larger and more established teams are experiencing problems finding and keeping sponsors it's pretty impressive that MWR that is still new to Cup and hasn't had as much success as they would like is able to not only keep sponsors but get one of them to increase the level of their involvement!

Hopefully the coming months will bring additional positive news regarding sponsorship for MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2008

In the News: Michael Waltrip Racing (8/19)

According to Jayski, Michael Waltrip Racing has an announcement scheduled for Friday at Bristol that relates to the plan for David Reutimann in 2009, including sponsorship. It's been rumored that Aaron's is going to step up and sponsor David in Cup for a partial season which is great news - they obviously like him a lot so it doesn't surprise me that they want to be associated with him - and MWR - in an even higher-profile way. But that would leave some races unsponsored... unless MWR is also going to be making an announcement about another sponsor for David's car. I admit that someone passed along a piece of information they had come across somewhere that indicates that might be the case - since I can't verify whether this information is correct or not I'm not going to mention specifics but that they're making the announcement at Bristol indicates there may be some truth there. Whatever the case may be I'm just happy that David will be racing for MWR again next season and that they apparently have at least some sponsorship from Aaron's!

The other bit of MWR related news is kind of confusing to me. MWR development driver Josh Wise had been racing the #22 Nationwide car for Fitz Motorsports with support from MWR, who had hired a crew chief to work with Josh, and built some Toyotas for Josh to race. They were also providing a pit crew for the #22 and I had thought that Josh was going to be in the car for the rest of the season. Apparently I thought wrong because it was announced yesterday that Andrew Ranger, who had raced the #22 for Fitz at Montreal and Watkins Glen will race the #22 for seven of the last ten Nationwide races. What's up with that?

Maybe Josh will race the remaining three races that Andrew won't be in the car for and that was the plan all along but if MWR went as far as hiring personnel and spending money on building cars it seems to me that's a big investment for just a few races. There's been a lot of rumors circulating that Fitz is on very shaky ground financially and give that Mike Bliss just sued them for non-payment there could be some truth there. That makes me wonder if money somehow played a role in this in that Andrew brought more money to Fitz than MWR did. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed that Josh won't be racing the #22 much if at all (though I suppose it's possible he could end up in Fitz's second car). I was thrilled when MWR found a ride for Josh since I hated that he spend the first part of the season on the sideline, and I was very happy when he started to have some success in the #22, including the first top five of his career at ORP. So I really wish he was going to be in the #22 for the rest of the races this season.

Sure hope to see Josh in a Nationwide car next season - I'd love for it to be the #99 for MWR but it's possible David will race it again next season. Maybe that'll be something that we'll find out on Friday.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:13 PM | Comments (2)

August 17, 2008

Good Day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Michigan

Two out of the three Michael Waltrip Racing cars finished in the top 20 today at Michigan which made for a very good day for MWR! In fact, for the #55 team I'd say their 19th place finish made for a great day considering how much bad luck that led to poor finishes they've had to contend with lately! Michael's finish might have been even better considering he was among the fastest cars on the track in the latter half of the race but some ill-timed cautions kept him pinned a lap down. I think if he had gotten his lap back he would have ended up with a top 15 finish, if not better - the car really was that good by the end of the race. I was really happy with what Michael and his team did today - the car was bad on Friday, so bad that he qualified at the back of the field and they weren't all that great in practice yesterday. Even when the race started the car wasn't all that great due to how loose it was but a couple of changes later and Michael was making his way through the field! It sure was awesome to see... okay follow on Trackpass since ESPN didn't think he was worthy of being shown. Even when Dale Jarrett brought up how well Michael was racing they didn't show him! But it really was a good day for the #55 team especially in relation to the owner's points. Sure hope they can build on this and get a solid finish next weekend at Bristol too!

If Michael had a good weekend, David Reutimann had a terrific weekend! He qualified 7th on Friday and was able to race in the top fifteen for the entire race today. I think he also had a loose condition to contend with otherwise he likely would have been racing in the top ten or better. Sure was nice to see David race up front! If he gets a competitive car on a regular basis we could definitely see a lot more top 15 and better finishes!

The only MWR car that didn't fare very well was the #00 that was raced this week by Mike Skinner. He qualified the car in the top 25 and was able to stay up there for a while but dropped like a rock after the first pit stop. He ended up finishing 35th, two laps down. Of course nothing was mentioned during the race on TV about Skinner and the #00 so it's a mystery as to what happened, whether there was a mechanical issue or the car was just bad. Unfortunately that means that not only is the #00 still outside the top 35 in owner's points, they lost ground on the 35th spot. They aren't out by much so one finish up front combined with some poor finishes by those in front of them could get them back in but there haven't been any finishes up front for the #00 since David got out of the car to race the #44 so I'm thinking the odds of them finishing really well at Bristol probably aren't too great, though if there's one driver who I think could get them a good finish at Bristol it's Skinner.

In terms of the top 35, A.J. Allmendinger didn't spend long in the top 35 - one race in and he's already out again. Scott Riggs did a good job of racing his way back in, but ultimately I think Allmendinger may be the one in the top 35 at the end of the season not Riggs since overall it's seemed like his results have often been better than Riggs. Dave Blaney and Robby Gordon continue to sink like stones in the owner's points standings. Blaney got wrecked this weekend but the results haven't been too good for the last month or so. All the uncertainty surrounding Bill Davis Racing for next season may be taking it's toll on Blaney and his team. It was the same old story for Robby - good in practice but bad on race day. There was some sort of mechanical or electrical issue this time - this team is very much in trouble if they can't finish off the season on a strong note.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:53 PM | Comments (2)

August 16, 2008

UPS to Roush? The Truck Series? RCR? Stewart-Haas Racing?

One thing that irks me about Silly Season in Nascar is that there are so many rumors that circulate about the same drivers, teams and sponsors that all say different things that it's impossible to know what's true and what's not. So far this season it's been reported that UPS is going to sponsor a car at Roush-Fenway Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, and might have also spoken with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, Yates Racing and also Nascar in relation to becoming title sponsor of the Truck Series. UPS may very well have spoken with all of those entities but they are only going to end up as the sponsor of one of them. The question is which one? There's really no way of knowing right now. Every rumor is written as if it's close to a done deal that UPS is going to end up signing with this team or that but thus far UPS hasn't signed with any of them. The only thing that seems to be known for sure is that they won't be returning to Michael Waltrip Racing where they're currently sponsoring David Reutimann.

It's getting kind of tiresome to me to read a different rumor every week about where UPS is going to end up. I don't fault reporters for writing stories about what they hear, particularly when they have a good source that's giving them information, and particularly when it's something like the most recently story that says that UPS is going to sponsor David Ragan next season since Geoff Smith went on record to confirm that Roush is in talks with UPS. It's just that I would rather hear what's actually going to happen as opposed to what might happen. I have a feeling it's not just fans like me that would like some of this settled - there are teams and drivers who are probably in a holding pattern in relation to their plans while they're waiting for UPS and other sponsors, as well as teams and drivers, to make their plans for next season definite. It was thought that when Tony Stewart announced that he was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing for Stewart-Haas that it would set a lot of other things in motion and some things have been announced but it seems like everything is happening a lot slower than many people anticipated.

I can't say I really understand what UPS's thinking is. They were associated with Dale Jarrett for so long and had one of those increasingly rare sponsor-driver relationships where fans don't think of one without thinking of the other. DJ did a terrific job representing UPS and they made some really outstanding commercials together. So UPS has quite a challenge when it comes to finding a replacement driver. Given the economy I can also understand why they are going to be extra-careful about what they do with their money. But a while back UPS said that they were looking for a "rock star" type driver to sponsor and I can't say that any of the drivers who have been rumored to be candidates to represent UPS fit the bill as a "rock star." Talented? For sure. But a dynamic personality who will be a presence in their commercials and create brand awareness? I'm not so sure about that. David Ragan who is the most recent to be connected to the UPS sponsorship seems like a nice young driver whose performance on the track has gotten better over time. But how much attention does he really get even when he races well? Seems to me it's not that much. Clint Bowyer is another nice guy who will likely always contend for the Chase but as I saw someone else say about him he comes across in interviews as if he has all the personality of an empty box.

To me the Truck Series sponsorship makes a lot of sense and would create the most opportunity for consistent exposure that isn't reliant on what kind of results a driver gets on the track or how many times they mention UPS during interviews. It seems to me that there would also be a huge amount of marketing and promotional opportunities for UPS as the Truck Series sponsor. Only thing is that the audience is smaller for Truck races than for Nationwide or Cup races so maybe UPS isn't sure if it's a good investment of their money particularly since Nascar wants a five-year commitment.

What I find unfortunate is that UPS apparently immediately ruled out re-signing with MWR to continue to sponsor David. Many are assuming that's because the MWR cars haven't been very competitive but David has raced pretty well this season. I have a feeling that regardless of what the performance was like UPS was probably going to leave as soon as DJ did. That's too bad because not only is David an extremely talented driver who is capable of winning races for UPS, but he's also got a huge amount of personality (and he once worked for UPS in his younger years). UPS has seemed to do virtually nothing with David this season and I think they've missed out on some opportunities. David may not be as "cute" or as young as some other drivers but I don't think that would conflict with the UPS brand, especially considering that DJ was just their driver. David is very fan-friendly but he is full of personality. He does come across as nervous or a little goofy sometimes but those are qualities that can be managed, particularly if a sponsor is creative. But UPS is clearly determined to sever ties with MWR who apparently already have a replacement sponsor lined up for David.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2008

David Reutimann Will Be Back at Michael Waltrip Racing in 2009!

Great news today! Michael Waltrip Racing picked up David Reutimann's option so he'll be back for sure in 2009!! I'm so happy about this, almost as happy as when it was announced that NAPA was going to sponsor Michael again next season. I don't often discuss David in this space but he's among my favorite drivers so I'm thrilled that he'll be back at MWR next season. He's got so much talent behind the wheel, he's really been solid for MWR (especially in the Nationwide Series where he's been in the hunt for the Championship the past two years) and he's also extremely fan-friendly! David is so nice to everyone, he's funny and full of personality - I've not heard of anyone who's encountered him who has had anything bad to say about him.

Some other good news is that sponsorship for his car will be announced next week at Bristol. It's been rumored that Aaron's is going to sponsor half a season and I'm hoping that an additional sponsor will be announced to pick up the remaining races, unless MWR convinced Aaron's to sponsor the full season. That it appears that MWR is going to have two sponsored teams next season really makes me happy - earlier this season there was speculation that they would have no sponsors for next season but that's clearly not the case.

I have to mention that David was awesome in qualifying today - he laid down a really fast lap so fast that even though he was among the first to qualify he still ended up qualifying in the top ten - outstanding! Mike Skinner got the #00 into the show with no problem, qualifying 22nd. Unfortunately Michael was the only MWR driver who didn't do so good - in fact he did pretty bad, qualifying 42nd. I don't know what happened there - he seemed to be okay in practice but when it came time to qualify he actually lost speed whereas most teams gained speed. Not sure if there was some sort of issue or what but hopefully during the two practices tomorrow he and his team make some changes to find speed. Michigan is one of Michael's better tracks so it's an opportunity to finish well and move up in the points.

Hope to see some great things for the MWR teams on Sunday at Michigan - sure seems like David might have a car that he can race up front with all day and I hope that ends up being the case for Michael and Mike as well!

Posted by silverdsl at 05:39 PM | Comments (2)

July 13, 2008

Disappointing Night for Michael Waltrip at Chicagoland

David Reutimann finished 14th in yesterday's Cup race at Chicagoland but it was a dismal night for the other two Michael Waltrip Racing teams. Michael McDowell had a brush with the wall within the first few laps of the race that resulted in damage that led to a 43rd place finish, nine laps down, and Michael Waltrip had an ill-handling car and a loose splitter so he was only able to finish 36th, three laps down. However, all three cars remain in the top 35 in owner's points heading to the race at Indy, which is one of the biggest races of the season.

It had to have been difficult for not just the MWR teams, but all the teams to figure out a set-up for Saturday night's race. For one thing they had never raced at Chicago at night and never raced there in the COT. But what complicated things even more was that the conditions under which they practiced on Thursday and Friday weren't anything like the conditions under which they raced. So it was a complete guessing game - unfortunately the #55 team guessed wrong. From the sounds of it they made the changes that Michael thought they should in the last practice since that made the car feel the best to him but they hadn't even turned one lap - literally they were still on the parade laps - when Michael said that the car didn't feel right. I have to wonder whether there was an issue with the splitter from the start, but regardless the spin he took through the infield grass really ruined his night. It wasn't his fault either - Patrick Carpentier got loose in front of him and although Michael slowed up Jeff Burton who was right behind him couldn't get stopped in time and the contact sent Michael for a spin. The team had to spent every pit stop for the rest of the race making repairs to the splitter braces and trying to make sure it was on tight enough - at one point it even started dragging and throwing off sparks. Michael is probably lucky that his team was able to keep him in the race thanks to all the hard work they put into working on that splitter. Unfortunately all the time they had to take with the splitter probably took away from time they might have spent on making the car more competitive which is a shame because at one point he was turning some fast laps that were comparative with those of drivers in the top ten. But by that point Michael was already trapped several laps down.

Michael was extremely unhappy during the race. He took full blame for having the team set the car up in the wrong way so that probably kept him from getting quite as angry as he has in the past when he's had a bad car. However, he was no less frustrated. One thing that was bothering him was that he felt that Bobby Kennedy wasn't listening to him or wasn't acknowledging the things that Michael was saying over the radio about his car. This is the second race in a row in which there's been some communication problems between Michael and Bobby in which each doesn't seem to be hearing what the other is saying. Bobby often does acknowledge Michael with a "10-4, we'll get the car fixed up for you on the next stop" but I guess Michael wanted to hear more than that. Bobby said that one reason why he wasn't saying much was because they were figuring out their plan of action in relation to the splitter but even after Michael said that he wanted to hear more, there wasn't much more communication from Bobby. Michael can be very difficult and I think he has his issues when it comes to communication - even Ty Norris sounded annoyed with him on Saturday which is rare - but it's a two-way street. As crew chief, Bobby also has to be responsive to Michael and especially when there's issues like there was on Saturday.

There are fans wondering why David was able to finish in the top 15 but not Michael or McD and as per usual there are questions about why MWR can't make all three cars as competitive. But if you look at other organizations during any given race usually they don't have all their teams racing up front even though that's certainly the goal. Even though each team may come to the track with a similar set-up they will make adjustments to suit each individual driver and what works for one driver might not work for another. You look at Hendrick Motorsports where Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is up front in every race but the other three teams haven't performed as well as expected, or how Kyle Busch is winning race after race for Joe Gibbs Racing but his teammates haven't enjoyed the same kind of success. So it's not just MWR that has trouble getting all of their teams right, it's just magnified for them since their overall struggles are greater.

I'm starting to be a little concerned about Michael McDowell. There have been rumors recently that he's fallen out of favor at MWR and he apparently acknowledged on Sirius that although he's signed with MWR for the next three years there is some sort of performance clause. What's becoming increasingly clear to me is that as much talent as McD might have and as much potential as he might have, they probably put him in a Cup car too soon. Any number of people raved about how much talent he has and how he was going to surprise people and maybe even make a run at Rookie of the Year. Maybe the expectations should have been keep a wee bit more reasonable given the level of competition in Cup and McD's lack of experience not just in Cup but in Nascar overall. That McD didn't even do much at Sonoma, a track where Ty, Michael and McD himself predicted he would contend for the win reflects just how much out of his element he is right now. I really wish that it had been possible for MWR to either have him race the Nationwide Series for a full year before they promoted him to Cup or at least have him race most if not all of the Nationwide races at the same time he was racing Cup - the extra seat time would likely have helped him a lot. I just hope they have patience with him and don't give up on him without giving him time to gain experience and develop.

Over the past few weeks it seemed like the #55 team and MWR had been making some progress - I hope the struggles in yesterday's race doesn't derail that progress.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:05 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2008

Denials Abound

Yesterday Yahoo! Sports reported that David Reutimann was expected to be named as the driver of the #45 at Petty Enterprises to replace Kyle Petty. Today David and PE both denied that rumor with David saying that Michael Waltrip Racing has an option on him for next season and that he expected to be back with them next season, and PE denying that they've talked to David. I don't consider Yahoo! Sports a particularly good source of information so they might be totally off-base with this rumor but on the other hand drivers and teams deny things all the time that eventually end up coming to pass. Usually drivers are contractually prohibited from talking to other teams while they're still under contract with their current teams. So to get around that problem they have a representative talk to teams on their behalf. Then, a driver can say they haven't talked to other teams and still be telling the truth - they haven't directly spoken with another team but indirectly, that's a different story. Usually teams are also careful about giving too much away about exactly who they might or might not be speaking with as well. So maybe David hasn't been speaking with other teams but with things seemingly still up in the air regarding whether he's going to have a sponsor for his car at MWR next season I wouldn't be surprised if he was exploring his options just in case things didn't work out for him at MWR.

In addition, as I mentioned in my entry yesterday there's also the possibility that MWR will decide to go in a different direction next season. I doubt that would be because they weren't happy with David's performance since I think he's done very well for them but a different driver might attract more interest from sponsors and MWR needs to do whatever they must to sign sponsors for next season. I just hope David's status for next season doesn't get dragged out until seemingly the last minute like last season. It took so long for the deal to be finalized that if things had fallen through David might have had a hard time finding another ride, particularly one that was in any way competitive.

The other thing that's been denied is the rumor that DEI is for sale. I never really thought there was anything to the rumor that Teresa Earnhardt wanted to sell DEI - why would she suddenly want to give up something that is a piece of and ties her to her late husband? What I do believe is that DEI might be exploring the idea of selling an ownership stake in the company to an outside investor like so many other organizations have done. It seems to me that would bring DEI a much needed influx of money that could help them become more competitive. It might also help them re-sign Martin Truex, Jr. who is said to want some assurances about the financial stability of DEI before he re-signs (if he re-signs). So I have to wonder whether someone affiliated with DEI is spreading the rumor that Teresa is selling of they're looking for outside investors as a way to make Truex think that they're giving serious consideration to improving the financial situation that the company's in.

Then there's Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who denied that he would have any interest in buying DEI if it were for sale. He said,

"I don't mean this in a bad way, but I would not have any interest in purchasing. I would not have any interest in purchasing any race team, just to have the ownership."

Well, that's curious because just last year Junior asked for a 51% ownership stake in DEI as one of the conditions for re-signing. So he would have wanted to buy it last year but not now? Let's just say that the company was actually for sale - although he and Teresa don't exactly see eye-to-eye at least now the company is still in the Earnhardt family. How would he feel about an owner who wasn't a member of the family? Or maybe Junior wasn't all that serious last year when he asked for 51% of DEI. Maybe he knew that his request would be denied and that would help give him a way to say that he was leaving DEI because he couldn't come to terms with Teresa for staying at DEI.

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

July 09, 2008

David Reutimann to Petty Enterprises?

I've not been paying more than casual attention to a lot of the silly season rumors that are making the rounds because a lot of them are likely not going to happen - Casey Mears for example can't possibly race the #12, #33 and an IRL car all at once, and some are just flatout ridiculous. However, I do pay slightly closer attention to some of the rumors that involve Michael Waltrip Racing. Like the one Yahoo! Sports is reporting, that David Reutimann may be announced soon as Kyle Petty's replacement in the #45 at Petty Enterprises. Although I take this rumor with a major grain of salt because this is the same writer that claimed that Bobby LaBonte racing for Richard Childress Racing in 2009 was a done deal and Bobby ended up re-signing with PE, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some truth to this rumor.

For one thing David's contract apparently runs out at the end of this season as does the contract that UPS has with MWR, and it's likely that UPS will opt to sign with another team for next season. Drivers who find themselves in that situation with no contract and with questions about sponsorship for their current car are going to look around at what other opportunities might be available to them. I can see David being very attractive to PE. He has a lot of talent behind the wheel, the #45 is going to be outside the top 35 in owner's points and he knows how to qualify for races and finish well enough to get the car into the top 35, plus he's fan-friendly and personable. David is an asset to MWR and he would be an asset to any other organization as well. PE may look attractive to David because Boston Ventures came on-board and they may have sponsorship lined up for the #45 but it's also possible that given his age he might not have many options other than PE or MWR in Cup since most teams are looking for drivers younger than him.

As much as I'd like David to stay at MWR if he left for PE it might solve some problems for MWR. The reality is that they don't have much, if any, sponsorship locked up for any of their three cars next season. If they don't have a driver or a sponsor for the #44 they could opt to go to just two cars in 2009. Although I think teams need to grown, not shrink if they're going to be successful, given the difficulties for all teams to find sponsors these days and the poor economy overall, combined with rising costs for things like fuel, MWR might be better off financially and otherwise with just two teams. It seems more realistic to think that they could re-sign NAPA and find a sponsor for the #00 than to have to nail down sponsorship for three teams.

The other thing to consider is that it's unknown what MWR's plan is regarding their driver line-up for next season. They may have told David that they'd like to go in a different direction with the #44. It's clear that Michael thinks highly of David and I think they will always be personal friends, but MWR is a business and they may need to make some difficult decisions to attract sponsors. The reality is that as terrific as David is he may not be as marketable as other drivers, he's viewed as somewhat "goofy" and his age may also be a factor for some sponsors. MWR may feel they might have better luck attracting sponsorship for that car with a younger driver or one who might have more appeal to a wider range of sponsors.

I would really like David to continue to race for MWR. I'm a big fan of his and I think he's been great for MWR. However, I also understand that David and MWR both have to make the decisions that they feel are in their best interest for the future. If David ends up at PE or another organization I'll still support him and cheer for him as much as ever.

The person I feel sorry for is Kyle if this rumor is true. He's hinted at times this season that he's being pushed out at his own family's organization and that he's not happy about it. While many think he should just retire because the results haven't been very good in recent years, Kyle has expressed that he still has the desire to race and would like to do so in the future even if it's not at PE. However, it might be hard for him to find another ride given the poor results but that might have as much to do with the #45 being non-competitive as anything else. It just seems to me that it must be difficult for a driver to not race to begin with and even harder if they aren't in control of the decision.

Another MWR related item mentioned in the Yahoo! column is that Michael McDowell is a candidate for the #12 at Penske Racing because he's fallen out of favor at MWR. I'm a little skeptical about that. For one thing Michael has always spoken very highly of McD, including recently but beyond that it seems to me that MWR is investing a lot of their own money in McD since they don't have full sponsorship for the #00 and it doesn't make sense to me that they would waste millions out of their (Rob Kauffman's) own pockets on a driver who had no future at the organization. It's certainly possible that something major happened behind the scenes that no one knows about but after less than a year it seems way too early to give up on a promising young driver. In addition, why would Penske go with McD over other available drivers like Casey Mears or David Stremme? Just doesn't make sense to me.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2008

Michael Waltrip Finishes Second at Loudon!!!

I am so excited and happy right now! Michael Waltrip raced his way from a 42nd place starting position to finish 2nd today in New Hampshire! Make no mistake - although strategy played a role in why Michael finished 2nd, it was also because he raced hard all day to be in a position where a call to stay out put him in 2nd when the race ended due to rain! Words can't even begin to describe how thrilled I am for Michael and his team. This is the third or fourth week in a row that they've had a good car but prior to this week the other pieces they need for success haven't been there. But this weekend everything fell into place in exactly the right way! Michael really did have a great car today and had the race gone back to green I have no doubt we would have seen a great battle between Michael and Kurt Busch for the win! Interestingly enough the last time Michael finished 2nd was in 2005 at Phoenix and the winner of that race was also Kurt. Had they finished racing this race maybe the outcome would have been different and it would have been Michael in Victory Lane!

There's no doubt that the team made a great call to stay out when other teams pitted during the caution for the Jamie McMurray/Dale Earnhardt, Jr. incident. However, to me a key moment that made everything that followed for the #55 team possible happened much earlier in the race. Around lap 80 or so Kevin Harvick was leading the race and as happens so often at this track he was catching the tail end of the field and lapping cars. Although Michael was racing fairly well in the top 25-30, he was still in danger of going a lap down. But he wasn't going to give up without a fight. Michael raced Kevin hard - and held him off for quite some time. I suspect Kevin, and probably more than a few fans, got pretty frustrated with Michael that he wouldn't pull over and let Kevin go by. But the reality is that Michael had as good of a car as Kevin did and at times he was even faster which is why Kevin had so much trouble passing him. In fact, what ended up happening is that the caution came out due to Dario Franchitti spinning on lap 86 and because Michael raced Kevin so hard he was able to stay on the lead lap. That was huge! Michael was never in danger of going a lap down for the rest of the race and that enabled him and his team to be in a position to make the call to stay out which paid off big time!!

Today's finish shows that anything is possible. Just because a team struggles one week doesn't mean that something magical can't happen the next week - it sure did for the #55 team this week! It also shows that Michael Waltrip Racing is very much capable of fielding competitive cars that can finish up front! Some are saying that this will be Michael's only good finish of the season but I wouldn't be so sure of that. I don't expect that they're suddenly going to be racing up front every week just because Michael got a top five this week but they have definitely made progress over the past three weeks or so which means that they can make even more progress as the season goes along. Contrary to what some believe Michael is a terrific driver who can race up front when he has a competitive car so if he has a car in other races as good as his car was today, I have no doubt we'll be seeing more of him racing up front! This is so good for MWR - it should show NAPA and other sponsors what Michael and his drivers can do!

Of course there are more than a few fans - and some in the media - who are downing Kurt's win and the fine finishes for Michael, J.J. Yeley and some others who finished up front because they used good pit strategy by staying out when others didn't to gain track position. However, that those teams used good strategy to finish as well as they did shouldn't make their accomplishment any less of something to celebrate. Like it or not, strategy is a part of the sport. Always has been and always will be. It's why racing isn't just an individual sport where the decisions that the driver makes on the track and the way they race are the only things that matter. That the crew chief makes good decisions on the pit box - like the call to stay out - and that the team does their job well on pit road is necessarily for success as well. These teams also had to have good cars to be able to have raced as well as they did on the lead lap to be in a position to stay out and finish up front. Kurt, Michael, J.J. and the others should be very happy with the way they and their teams performed today!

It wasn't quite as good of a day for Michael's teammates. David Reutimann raced well for most of the day - in fact he was ahead of Michael for much of the race including being in the top ten at one point. However, the pit strategy didn't work out quite as well for the #44 team as it did for the #55 team. In addition, David was the one who spun Dario to bring out the caution on lap 86. As it turned out that caution was very beneficial to Michael and luckily David escaped without any damage. Unfortunately it was a very bad day for Michael McDowell - he went a lap down early and then lost an engine. That really hurt him in the points but he's still hanging on in the top 35 in owner's points. Thankfully Sam Hornish, Jr. and Scott Riggs both had bad days as well. Scott wasn't able to race his way back into the top 35 and Sam wasn't able to gain any ground either. But it's absolutely essential that McD races well next weekend at Daytona.

Speaking of owner's points what's great about today's finish for Michael is that he moved up to 28th in owner's points. Things are still tight down to 36th or 37th but Michael put some room between himself and some of the other drivers since some of the others who he was racing against to stay in the top 35 had bad days. The best part is that next weekend is Daytona - that's a track where Michael is always a threat to win at and I think we'll definitely be seeing him race up front! A 2nd place finish this week, maybe a win next week? Call me a dreamer, say I have my rose-colored glasses on, but I definitely think it's possible!

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

June 23, 2008

Michael Waltrip and Michael McDowell Do Well at Sonoma... David Reutimann, Not So Much

Going into this weekend at Sonoma Michael Waltrip Racing had two cars in danger of slipping out of the top 35 in owner's points. But while many fans were predicting that doom and gloom for both Michael Waltrip and Michael McDowell, I had confidence that both would be able to race well enough to not only stay in the top 35 but make gains. I'm happy that's exactly what both did! The news wasn't as good for David Reutimann who struggled all weekend on the Cup side, though he finished 4th in the Nationwide race at Milwaukee. Overall, I'd have to say that this past weekend was a positive one for MWR since two out of their three cars raced well at Sonoma, all three cars are still in the top 35 in owner's points and David did so well in Milwaukee.

Michael has always been a good road course racer and he was able to hold his own this past weekend. I'd like to say he was able to race competitively but there wasn't all that much actual passing for anyone - it seemed like being able to make a pass and advance positions was a matter of luck. And Michael did have some luck in passing and ultimately ended up finishing 25th which is more or less around where he raced for a good portion of the race. He did lose some spots at the end of the race, but I think he was better off racing conservatively and letting a few cars get by rather than trying to fight hard to hold on to his position - that could have resulted in getting bumped out of the way which would not have been a good thing considering where he is in the owner's points. Finishing 25th allowed the #55 to move into 32nd in owner's points and a few more solid finishes will move the team up even higher. I was happy that Michael seemed calm on the radio and satisfied with his car - so many times this season he's been frustrated and miserable at having to race a poor car. Although it's sometimes more interesting when he has a lot to say over the radio, I'll definitely take the silence if it means that he has a decent car that he can race with! Even a pit road speeding penalty didn't doom him to a poor finish as might have happened in the past when his car wasn't very good - Michael simply re-grouped and eventually got the spots back he had lost due to the penalty.

The one area in which the #55 team (and maybe MWR as a whole) continues to need to work on is with fuel mileage. Seems like fuel mileage strategy has crossed them up a few times this season and it almost happened in this race as well. The caution flew on the lap that Michael was about to come in for a pit stop and there was concern that Michael was going to run out of fuel before the pits were opened and Michael could make it around the track to stop. What bothered me is that as he's done a time or two before in the recent past Bobby Kennedy totally lost his cool and started cursing about how they were "f**ked!" Much panic ensued as they thought that Michael had run out of gas and that they had to get the #44 or the #45 who was just behind Michael to push him to pit road until Michael told them that he wasn't actually out of gas he was deliberately coasting in an effort to save fuel. I understand that everyone is on edge given the top 35 situation and that there's a lot of pressure for the results to improve to increase the chances of the sponsors re-signing but the crew chief needs to stay calm and in control of the situation. He needs to know for sure if Michael's out of fuel before he starts freaking out and regardless of whether they have fuel or not he needs to be prepared. That the crew chief is so quick to wig out when there's a problem can't be a morale booster for the team, but at least it's better than Michael screaming and cursing all the time as was happening earlier in the season.

As for McD, his 21st place finish is a career best in Cup and I think it's something that he and his team should be very happy about considering how poor his finishes have been previously this season. But a 21st place finish is well short of the top five or win that McD, Ty Norris and Michael had been predicting for him. I was actually surprised that McD wasn't able to race more competitively considering how much experience he has at Infineon. I had thought he would qualify better but just like the rest of the MWR cars he started from the back and never really seemed to make much forward progress. In fact, for much of the race Michael, not McD as predicted, was the top MWR driver - it was only on the last lap that McD was able to get around Michael. What was interested was that Michael actually told Ty to warn McD about not running him over on the last re-start, and Ty said that he had already spoken with McD's spotter about it. I had heard that McD has a reputation for racing very aggressively and running people over so I guess there must be some truth to it. One would think that a driver wouldn't have to be reminded that punting his owner isn't a wise idea but better to remind him then have things turn into a mess because McD makes a mistake.

As well as the weekend went for Michael and McD at Infineon it was a complete disaster for David, who had never raced at the track before since he was taken out of his car last season for both road course races. I kind of suspected it might be a tough weekend for David given that he didn't race there last year but since he seems to adjust well to any kind of circumstances and he's finished fairly well on road courses in Nationwide, I was hoping that he might be okay. But things started out bad when he crashed his primary car in practice and had to go to a back-up and didn't improve any during the race. David started at the back and that's pretty much were he was all race long until he cut a tire and wrecked towards the end of the race. No driver wants to wreck but David was probably glad to be out of the car. His struggles this weekend may not bode well for how he's going to do at Watkins Glen. This weekend he was coached by road course expert Chris Cook, who I'd think will help him at Watkins Glen as well, but based on what was said during the broadcast about David lacking confidence he needs a change in mindset as well because going into it thinking he's not going to do well isn't going to be conducive to good results.

Next weekend the Cup Series heads to Loudon which is another track Michael seems to like going to so I think we should see a decent result for him, as well as David. Unfortunately I have a feeling McD won't be able to carry his momentum from this past weekend to New Hampshire and he could fall out of the top 35, but hopefully I'll be wrong.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (6/17)

*As per usual a number of road course specialists that aren't normally part of the Cup Series will be racing or attempting to race this weekend, either with their own teams or as substitute drivers for teams attempting to improve their standings in the owner's points. I have to wonder whether those teams are going to get the results they're looking for. We've seen some road course ringers finish well at times but often the results aren't all that impressive. A lot of times the ringers are replacement drivers for teams that are either outside or near the bottom of the top 35 in owner's points. Well, there's a reason those teams are struggling and as much as some blame the driver of those cars entirely, there's usually more to the story such as that the cars that they get to race aren't all that competitive. We'll likely see a few of those ringers up front but odds are the top finishers will be the usual Cup Series regulars who are strong on road courses.

*Haas-CNC Racing is going to put Max Papis in the #66 and move Scott Riggs, the usual driver of that car over to the #70. The hope is that Papis will get the #66 back into the top 35. I wonder about this move. While Papis has a lot of road course experience I can't help but notice he has no Cup experience. So not only has he never raced Cup he's never raced the COT either. Maybe that's not going to be a big deal for a driver who is as experienced on road courses as Papis is but it would certainly be ironic if Riggs got the #70 into the race and Papis wasn't able to get the #66 in.

*Other teams making changes include Ron Fellows in the #01 in place of Regan Smith, and Scott Pruett (likely) in the #41 in place of Reed Sorenson. Marcos Ambrose will race the #21, Brian Simo the #34, Terry Labonte the #45 and Boris Said will attempt to qualify his own #60. I would guess that Fellows, Said and Labonte have the best chance of finishing up front out of the ringers, though Labonte is also racing additional races for Petty Enterprises so he's not really a ringer.

*Usually Infineon is a track that Robby Gordon is considered a threat to win on but I have to wonder what we'll see from him this year. For one thing the recent results for Robby and his team have been extremely unimpressive and they're really struggling to field competitive cars. One would think that would change on a road course track where Robby is so good but I'm not so sure given that his team seems to not have the COT figured out. Another concern has to be that Robby doesn't have a primary sponsor for this race. In his pre-race notes he indicates that in the past sponsors on his car have gotten $3 million worth of exposure out of sponsoring him - in light of that I wonder how much Robby is looking to get from a sponsor for this race and whether that plays any role in why the car is going to be sponsorless this weekend? Robby has acknowledged having financial issues at Robby Gordon Motorsports so they likely need the money but it might be in his best interest to lower his asking price to make sponsoring him as attractive as possible. Racing without a sponsor doesn't look good and it especially won't look good at Infineon because potential sponsors may wonder why they should sponsor him at other tracks if no one wants to sponsor him at a track he can win on. The other thing is that since he won at this track in 2003, the results haven't been too great since. He's finished 16th twice which is okay, but he's also finished 34th and 40th so that doesn't look good to sponsors either. A win this weekend could very well save RGM, which I think is in some trouble, but I suspect it's not going to happen.

*Interesting item from Dave Moody's blog that sources are telling him that the U.S. Army might be thinking of leaving DEI for another team. Apparently one of the teams that they're talking to is a Toyota team. I have to wonder if that team is Michael Waltrip Racing, which might be in need of sponsors for the #44 and #00 next season. The #44 seems like it might be a good fit for the Army. For one thing David Reutimann is a veteran driver which seems to be what the Army wants in their driver. It would probably cost them less to sponsor the #44 than it would cost them to sponsor a car at a top-tier organization. And they're also familiar with Ryan Pemberton who was the crew chief for their team at DEI and Ginn Racing. Some people seem to be certain that MWR will fold next season due to a lack of sponsorship but despite what some people think there are things that make MWR attractive to sponsors. One thing about the Army is that they use their sponsorship as a recruitment tool and I suspect MWR could come up with some creative ways to help them with that on race day and otherwise. David would represent any sponsor well whether it's UPS, the U.S. Army or another sponsor.

*Apparently Joe Gibbs Racing wants to put Joey Logano in a Cup car for some races this season. One has to wonder if that's because they're thinking about him as a back-up plan in case Tony Stewart leaves for another organization. JGR insists that they'd like to put Logano in a 4th car but I can see why it might be tempting for them to put Logano in the #20 if it becomes open after this season. However, no matter his talent level I think they might be better off resisting the temptation and letting him race at least another full year in the Nationwide Series. He's very young and there's plenty of time for him to make an impact and win races so it might be a good thing for his development as a driver, even if it seems like he could handle himself in Cup right now, to let him get more experience before putting him in a Cup ride full-time.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

Good Race for Michael Waltrip at Michigan!

I'm sure Michael Waltrip is somewhat disappointed in his finish at Michigan considering it seemed as if he was on his way to a top twenty or even a top fifteen. In addition, Michael has said in the past that being in the top 35 in owner's points isn't something that he thinks he should be congratulated on since the expectation should be that's where he and his teams should be. However, this fan can't help but be thrilled about most of what happened for Michael during yesterday's race!! Best of all, and perhaps most important is that Michael's back in the top 35. It might not be much but he's still in and that means he won't have to worry about qualifying next weekend at Sonoma. Michael is a very good road course racer but anything can happen during qualifying and especially on a road course so it's good that he won't have to worry about potentially missing the race if something goes wrong.

Someone said recently on Steve Park Central that seeing Steve race as well as he has made racing exciting for them in a way that it hasn't been for a long time. Racing for me has been plenty exciting even though Steve hasn't done much of it until recently and one of those exciting moments was yesterday. I was so excited, thrilled and happy with how well Michael was racing. Hearing them say over his radio that he was the second fastest car a couple of times during the race made me smile so big! I loved watching Michael make his way through the field! Even though the results haven't been too good for Michael in recent times I've never lost faith in his ability behind the wheel. When he has a good car I know that Michael can race up front with the best - if anyone has any doubt while he was racing in the top 15 Michael was racing his way past drivers like Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and others yesterday! It was really great as a fan to feel that excitement about the way the race was playing out!

Heading into Michigan I was pretty worried. Not only was Michael outside the top 35 in points meaning that he was going to have to qualify for the race on speed/time, but he even said himself on his XM show that Michigan was the kind of track that has been a struggle for all three Michael Waltrip Racing teams this season. So I was pretty nervous as to how things were going to turn out. But on Friday qualifying got rained out which mean that Michael was guaranteed to start the race, and as it turned out Michael had an outstanding car, maybe the most competitive car he's had to race in a long time - or at least it seemed that way. At times Michael was among the top five fastest cars on the track, he was able to actually race for position as opposed to just hanging on as he's had to do a lot this season, and he spent a considerable amount of the race in the top fifteen. Definitely a big change from other races where due to a ill-handling, slow and non-competitive car he's ended up laps down and racing at the back. It must have felt really good to Michael to be racing towards the front and have such a strong car!

Michael's crew also seemed to have a good day in the pits. At times his crew has seemed to struggle but yesterday they were definitely on their game and pulled off some fast stops that enabled Michael to get out of the pits without losing any positions. I don't think there have been major changes to Michael's pit crew so my guess is that seeing how competitive the car was really motivated them to have a strong day in the pits. It's not that the team doesn't always work hard but when the car is obviously bad it's got to be discouraging to the crew because they know that no matter how good the pit stop is the finish probably isn't going to be too good. So I was really happy that the crew showed what they can do when things are going right for the team.

What wasn't so great and was confusing to a lot of people was what happened towards the end of the race. Like many teams the #55 had a strategy in terms of fuel mileage. Bobby Kennedy decided that he would take a gamble and keep Michael out when others pitted towards the end of the race, presumably in the hope that he would gain positions as people pitted or ran out of gas for those teams that were gambling like the #55 did. Well, Bobby also had Michael back off and slow down so much that he lost a considerable amount of positions. So when cars were pitting they were all coming back out onto the track ahead of him. In addition, so many cars pitted for gas ahead of him there wasn't going to be much to be gained by staying out in terms of cars potentially running out. Bobby's strategy just didn't seem to make sense and some wondered why he didn't have Michael come in for gas once he saw so many others pitting. However, a late caution for a spin by Sam Hornish, Jr. negated all of that since everyone was able to come in to pit if they wanted. Bobby had Michael come in and he made a good call to have Michael take just gas as opposed to tires as they had originally planned. That got Michael out in 16th and had he finished that well he would have gained even more spots in the top 35.

But as per usual Michael once again he got bit by bad luck. On the last lap Martin Truex, Jr. got loose and apparently got into Michael which caused him to get into Patrick Carpentier, sending them both for a spin which is what caused Nascar to throw the caution which enabled Junior to win without running out of gas. Michael still finished 24th in spite of the wreck at the end, but it was a little disappointing since it had seemed like a sure thing at one point that he was going to finish in the top 15 or top 20 at one point.

The other disappointment for Michael was probably that his other two cars didn't finish very well. David Reutimann battled a tight and then a loose condition during the race so he was only able to finish 35th. Michael McDowell was never competitive and he finished 37th which dropped him to 35th in the owner's points. So now Michael has to worry about the top 35 status of two of his three cars. McD has a lot of road course experience so he may very well get a solid finish at Sonoma which would keep him in the top 35, but after that the results may go back to being not very impressive so I suspect he may fall out of the top 35. That's not because McD is lacking in talent, just that he's got so little experience in Cup and at some of these tracks that he's still learning what he's doing.

Still, it was a good day for Michael. It's a really good sign that he had a competitive car at this track. That tells me that MWR can get things figured out with the COT and can race competitively. I'm definitely not expecting that Michael's going to be racing up front in every race from here on out but I'm hoping this is a sign that things are starting to come together for him and his team and that we'll start seeing a lot more positive results on race weekends than we've seen so far!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2008

Brad Keselowski Wins His First Nationwide Race

Last night at Nashville Brad Keselowski won the first Nationwide race of his career - it's always great to see a first-time winner in Victory Lane! I had had no doubt that Brad would eventually win a race and probably not before too long considering he's been racing very well this season. Part of that is because the cars that JR Motorsports are fielding appear to be more competitive than they were last season but there's no doubt that Brad has a tremendous amount of talent behind the wheel. It's very obvious why Junior wanted him in his car and why others took note of him even when he wasn't in cars that were very good. Fans are always complaining that the only drivers who get rides are those who "buy" their rides by bringing sponsorship or other money with them, or being young and "pretty" to please the sponsors as opposed to having talent. Well, to my knowledge Brad brought nothing but talent with him to the #88 and while he's young, he's not traditionally "cute." I'm very happy that Brad won last night and hopefully it will be the first of many wins for him!

Since I didn't put the race on until the last few laps because I was out I didn't see whatever happened with David Reutimann, Clint Bowyer and David Stremme that might have cost David a chance at the win. A third place finish is still very good, and particularly since it moved David up into second in the overall points standings! Clint, who is leading the points, has been very strong this season but I sure would love to see David - and Michael Waltrip Racing - win the Nationwide Championship!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)

UPS Takes a Gamble on Big Brown...

... and I wonder if they're satisfied with the outcome? UPS likely paid a huge amount of money to sponsor Big Brown this weekend at the Belmont in the hopes that Big Brown would win the Triple Crown and they'd get a lot of exposure as a result. UPS certainly did get plenty of exposure before the race started since their logo was splashed absolutely everywhere but since Big Brown ended up coming in last the amount of exposure they ended up with is probably a lot less overall than they were counting on.

Why am I talking about horse racing some might be wondering. Well, that's because I can't help but be reminded of the situation that UPS finds themselves in with Michael Waltrip Racing and David Reutimann, in relation to whether or not to renew their sponsorship of the #44 or go to another team. Rumors have circulated that UPS wants to align themselves with a "rock star" type driver and some of the names they've been connected to are drivers who have had more success so far than David in Cup. But what happened with Big Brown is a lesson that no outcome is guaranteed and even what seems like a sure-thing might not end up happening. So just because it seems like UPS might get more exposure with another driver and team other than David and Michael Waltrip Racing doesn't mean that's what's actually going to happen. If they stick with David and believe in him just like all those who put down money on Da’ Tara, the horse that won at the Belmont yesterday, believed in him, it could pay big dividends for them.

I wonder if Michael got to go to Belmont yesterday to watch Big Brown like he said last week he was hoping to do? Michael seems to love horses, and has some of his own, so he would probably be interested in the race regardless, but it was probably also a good opportunity to chat with the folks from UPS in an effort to try to get them to re-sign with UPS. I'm not sure they'd be in the mood to hear a pitch though after the race.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2008

In the News: Michael Waltrip Racing (5/21)

Michael McDowell won't have a blank car this weekend at the Coca-Cola 600 - Aaron's has signed on to be the primary sponsor of the #00 for another race. It makes sense that Aaron's would want to sponsor the car for this race too since this race is one of the ones that gets the most attention all season. I suspect if the #00 doesn't have a sponsor for Indy, they'll be on the car for that race too since that's another opportunity for a lot of exposure. Unfortunately Aaron's probably doesn't have the budget to sponsor the #00 full-time especially since they're sponsoring David Reutimann in the #99 in the Nationwide Series but it's good to see them continue to sponsor McD for some races. McD has a lot of testing that he'll be doing over the next few weeks and hopefully that will pay off in good results during the races. Since he has a lot of road course experience, though in other series, I suspect he may surprise a few people with how he does at those tracks later in the season.

Yesterday Michael Waltrip did a taping of Michael Waltrip Out Loud, his XM show, in front of an audience of about 125 people at Raceworld. I dearly wish I was there for that! I love the XM show to begin with but I also hear that everyone was given a very delicious lunch from a local BBQ, and that overall it was a very fun time ! I really wish I lived closer to North Carolina so I could be in attendance for events like that!

Michael had McD and Josh Wise on the show as guests and I was happy to learn that it was said during the taping that Josh will be racing this weekend in Fitz Motorsports's #22 Nationwide car. Since Mike Bliss left the team and they lost sponsorship, the #22 has seemed to fall off in terms of performance but given how long it's been since Josh has been behind the wheel of a car for anything other than testing I'm just happy that he'll be racing! Michael Waltrip Racing had hoped to field a second Nationwide car for him this season but there was no sponsorship to make it possible which left Josh on the sidelines. MWR has tried to use him for testing and keep him involved as much as possible since I think he still fits into their long-term plans, but if he's going to continue to develop as a driver they really need to have him be racing. So I'm glad he'll be racing the #22.

It won't be the last time we see Josh in the Nationwide Series this season either. There's three weekends coming up where the Nationwide Series and Cup Series will be at different tracks, which makes for a lot of traveling for those drivers who are racing Cup full-time while also racing for the Championship in the Nationwide Series. David is one of those drivers and he said,

"There are three weekends in a row where the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series are at different tracks. The first weekend in June, Nationwide is at Nashville while Cup is at Pocono. The next week Nationwide is at Kentucky and Cup is at Michigan. The tough one is the third weekend when Cup is at Infineon while Nationwide is at Milwaukee."

Josh will practice and qualify the #99 for David those three weekends and presumably also be on standby in case there's any weather or other issues that prevent him from getting from the Cup track to where the Nationwide race is. I have to admit that as much as I adore David and would like to see him win the Nationwide championship this season, I wouldn't be so upset if Josh had to race the #99 in his place. It would be great to see what Josh could do in a competitive car!

Although I'm not optimistic about the quality of the racing we'll see at Charlotte this weekend in the Coca-Cola 600 based on what we saw in the All-Star Race, Michael has had good results at Charlotte so if his car is right he's very capable of racing up front. In the spring race in 2004 he finished 2nd and just last year in the fall race he finished 10th. Michael said he loves racing at Charlotte,

“All the drivers, including myself, love to go to Lowe’s Motor Speedway to race. It’s not only in our backyard, but mainly because it is a great track. It’s a fun track to drive. You can race from the bottom to the top. I can’t wait to see how the 600 plays out. There are some definite and different grooves you will see working in throughout the race.”

So hopefully we'll see a good result for Michael! Apparently he had a competitive car for the Sprint Shootout but they made a lot of changes that turned out to be the wrong ones so Michael feels that he and his team learned a lot that will help them this weekend. In addition, the #44 team was able to race competitively during the Shootout, and ultimately David finished 6th so the plan is for all three MWR cars to start practice with the same set-up that David had during the Shootout and then go from there. Hopefully that plan will work out for Michael and his teams - they really need some strong results to stay in the top 35 in owner's points.

Michael will also be making some appearances on Friday during the Speed Street festival in downtown Charlotte. First he will be a guest on a live airing of Trackside on Speed and then he'll be taking part in a Q&A session with Dale Jarrett and Jeff Burton at the Coca-Cola stage. The Speed Street festival is enormously popular with fans so I expect both of these appearances as well as those of all the other drivers to be very heavily attended.

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

May 08, 2008

Office Depot to Michael Waltrip Racing?

Jayski has an "I heard" rumor today that says:

Office Depot to MWR? Hearing Office Depot, currently the sponsor for #99-Carl Edwards, is considering a move to Michael Waltrip Racing with driver #00-Michael McDowell. UPS has been rumored as a possible sponsor for Edwards and Roush Racing in 2009.(5-8-2008)

Of course given that there's no source that rumor could be completely false but frequently there's some grain of truth to the rumors that Jayski reports, so I would guess that at the very least Office Depot is looking around and one of the teams they're talking to is Michael Waltrip Racing. Getting a sponsor like Office Depot for the #00 would be wonderful news! Actually any news related to sponsorship for the #00, or the #44 for that matter, is great news! If Office Depot was interested in being the primary sponsor of the #00 for the full season that would be the best scenario but even a partial sponsorship or associate sponsorship would be good to because it would be more than what they have now.

Some fans seem shocked that Office Depot would consider leaving Carl Edwards and Roush-Fenway Racing for Michael McDowell and MWR but it's really not that outrageous. For one thing Roush is supposedly asking for $25 million or more from companies to sponsor the #99. That's a lot of money, particularly with the way the economy is right now, and I'd guess that it would cost a lot less to sponsor the #00. In addition, although Carl is a much more experienced driver who has won a lot, McD is a dynamic, media savvy, young driver with a great attitude just like Carl. Plus, McD has a lot of potential - he could very well develop into as good of a driver as Carl over time.

In addition, Office Depot would be able to associate themselves with Michael, who has a knack for getting his sponsors exposure. I'm quite sure that any sponsorship deal would involve incorporating Office Depot into Raceworld somehow and that's something that other teams can't offer. In addition, there may be other creative packages that MWR could put together for Office Depot. In fact, last week on "Michael Waltrip Out Loud" Michael talked about how MWR would work with sponsors to find a package that fit their budget in and met their marketing and sales goals. That kind of flexibility is essential these days with how hard it is to keep and find sponsors and especially for an organization like MWR where the on-track results haven't been that strong yet since they're still developing.

Some fans have expressed surprise that a major sponsor might be interested in McD over David Reutimann who is more experienced and thought to be a better driver than McD. Unfortunately for David in spite of his obvious talent behind the wheel there's some factors that work against him, his age for one. Sponsors often want to be associated with younger drivers and given that they're with Carl currently, that's likely true for Office Depot. In addition, as much as I can't stand bringing in the driver's appearance into anything because I think it should be irrelevant, a lot of people don't share my beliefs. The fact is that David's "beak" which is why he has the nickname "Beak" and his overall goofy look may not be as appealing to Office Depot as McD who is very attractive and polished looking. David really needs to be paired with a different kind of sponsor - like UPS who is sponsoring him currently - that is a better fit for a veteran driver.

Hope this happens for McD and MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2008

In the News: Michael Waltrip (5/1)

Yesterday was Michael Waltrip's birthday and while I'm sure he would have loved to have spent it on a beach somewhere he was at Churchill Downs for a UPS sponsored event in conjunction with the Kentucky Derby along with Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann. But as usual for Michael according to someone who was there he was in good spirits and had a smile on his face. Michael, David and DJ signed autographs for fans and they also got to see all the horses and make their picks for which one would win the Derby. It sounds like it was a fun event whether your choice in racing is horses or car!

All three drivers were asked by a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel about which they thought was harder racing a horse or racing a car, and all three seemed to think horse racing sounded pretty hard to them.

"I know our races are a lot longer," Reutimann said. "But there's something about riding something that has its own thoughts."

"For me, racing a horse because I'm too big," Waltrip said.

Waltrip suggested a training strategy that involved him on the horse for training and then putting a little jockey on it for races. By comparison it would feel like nothing was on the horse.

"As high-strung and tempermental as these horses have to be, [it must be difficult,]"Jarrett said. "We look at our racecars like they have personalities. It's a good question."

An interesting question for sure. Cars have so many parts and so much overall has to be right for a driver to have a successful day of racing. But a jockey has to control, as David said, a living creature with it's own thoughts. There's no amount of new tires or adjustments to the track bar that will make any difference when it comes to a horse!

Michael also said that he could never be involved with horse racing. He said,

“The emotional attachment to the animal would be confusing to me. I would want it to do well but I wouldn’t want it to get hurt. I’d be nervous all the time. I’m going to stick with cars. I don’t fall in love with them.”

I have to admit that my first reaction when I read that was "Awwww!" I think it's really awesome that Michael admitted to getting emotionally attached to animals. Of course there are other animal lovers in the garage area, many of them in fact, but I'm not sure how many of the men would be willing to show their sensitive side and admit to falling in love with animals! But in Michael's case he had or has had horses on his property in North Carolina and his daughter Macy barrel races so he's been around horses a lot and has probably come to feel a connection to the horses he's had. I can't picture Michael on a horse given his size but at one time or another he probably has ridden - I sure would love to see some photos of that!

What was weird to me was seeing photos of Michael wearing a UPS logo on the shirt he was wearing. I'm not sure I've ever seen him wear the UPS logo on anything he's wearing quite so prominently other than when it's been on his racesuit. I suppose Michael was trying to do everything he could to make UPS happy considering the speculation that they're leaving Michael Waltrip Racing.

In other news MWR has a new member of their executive team - Terry Bassett - who is the new Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. He will oversee sales, marketing, media relations, licensing and sponsor services. Although he most recently was with the Miami Dolphins football team, he has experience in motorsports having worked for International Speedway Corp and Penske Motorsports. This is a good move for MWR and one that I'm surprised that they haven't made sooner considering what an outstanding understanding Michael has for motorsports marketing, fan relations and all things related to the media and sponsors.

This weekend both the Cup and Nationwide Series is in Richmond. Michael has won a Nationwide race at this track and finished in the top ten in Cup there as recently as 2005 so he's definitely capable of good results if his car is good enough. Given the disappointment of last weekend at Talladega when he came so close to possibly winning the race, a strong finish this weekend would be great for him and his team!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

A Sad But Happy Day for Michael Waltrip at Talladega

It was the best of times and it was the worst of times for Michael Waltrip yesterday at Talladega. In spite of having a car that wasn't among the best he's ever raced at a restrictor plate track, at the end of the race yesterday Michael was contending for the win. In fact, on the last lap he and Jimmie Johnson were setting up another push to the front of the field which would have surely resulted in a top five for Michael if not the win. But then heartbreak - just as Jimmie was about to give Michael a push forward, the engine in the #55 blew, relegating Michael to what had to be a very disappointing - but given that they knew they had some mechanical issues - not quite unexpected result.

Although I was sad for Michael that he came so close to a win only to see it slip from his grasp, I'm still thrilled with yesterday! It was outstanding to see Michael racing up front, contending for a win! I was so nervous and excited that I could barely watch! What really impressed me is that Michael took a car that he said was slow, a car that had ignition box issues and other mechanical problems and he still raced his way up front with it. What a difference from last season when the Michael Waltrip Racing cars were so slow at times on these kinds of tracks that it seemed like they struggled to keep up with the pack and stay in the draft let alone contend for the win! I loved the fact that Jimmie had enough confidence in Michael, his car and his abilities to work with him as well as he did!

Of course this isn't the only time there's been heartbreak for a MWR driver at Talladega. Last season David Reutimann was also in a position to contend for the win at this track and he too experienced an engine failure during the last laps of the race. That's the one thing that bothers me about yesterday other than the fact that Michael didn't end up in Victory Lane - that it was due to losing an engine. MWR doesn't have an in-house engine department so all of their engines are provided to them by Toyota. Last season it seemed like there were quite a few engine failures and other engine related issues. Given that I had hoped that Toyota had put even more work into their engine program to make them as solid as possible. Of course there's always going to be engine failures from time-to-time no matter who builds the engines or how good they are, but it seems to me that it shouldn't be happening as often as it does to the engines that are provided to MWR. Toyota probably doesn't care all that much since another one of their drivers ended up with the win, but it makes me think that MWR needs to get an engine program of their own going at some point in the near future so that the success or failure of their engines is in their own hands.

It was a so-so day for Michael's drivers. David finished 20th and Michael McDowell finished 26th, but they tangled towards the end of the race. I'd like to know a little more of what happened there - mistakes are going to be made and sometimes it's unavoidable for drivers to get into each other but teammates should use care when racing each other. David also had to deal with a car that was tight for much of the race and like Michael complained about in relation to his car, seemed down on power. David is probably pretty lucky to have finished as well as 20th since not only was there the incident with McD but also was barely able to avoid being collected in the last lap wreck.

While I know that the perfect day for Michael would have been if he and his drivers finished 1-2-3, it was still a pretty good day big-picture. Michael was able to race competitively and contend for the win, and all three MWR cars left Talladega still in the top 35 in owner's points. The folks at NAPA Auto Parts also have to be happy - they got a lot of exposure from Michael leading laps and contending for the win. Of course I'm sure they would much rather they were celebrating a win today - that's what Michael and his fans were hoping for too - but it was still a good day for them in terms of their car getting some TV time.

While I'm sad for Michael that he didn't get the win he so dearly wants I'm also smiling because of how wonderful it was to see him racing competitively. There's still two more restrictor plate races to go this season and I have no doubt that Michael will be up front racing for the win at both of those races as well! And maybe we'll even see Michael contend for a win at another kind of track too. MWR has made so many advances since last season and they're only going to get better and better!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (4/22)

*I watched the Mexico City Nationwide race on Sunday. Although some fans have no use for road course races normally I love them. I had a hard time getting into this race though. I was very happy that David Reutimann finished 11th after having run into trouble on the track - he and his team did a great job of rebounding from that for sure! I also thought there were some times when there was good racing. But what I didn't enjoy was ESPN's coverage of the race. It's not entirely their fault since covering a race in a foreign country is challenging enough let alone at a road course where everything is so spread out. There was also a power outage and two red flags to contend with. But I felt like the flow of the broadcast wasn't all that great and I didn't enjoy the team that ESPN used in the booth. In addition, it seemed like there were quite a few commercial breaks. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood but I guess I was expecting to enjoy the race more.

*One thing that happened in the Nationwide race was that Steve Wallace got his first ever top ten. I was surprised that he hadn't yet gotten a top ten. Apparently his best previous finish was 11th place at Kentucky in 2006. Yes, Steven has struggled - and wrecked - a lot. But there have been times when it's seemed like he's raced well too yet none of it has apparently translated into a really solid finish until now. Maybe finally getting his first top ten will give him a boost of confidence and it will be the first of many finishes in the top ten this season. As I've noted in this space before I think Steven might have benefited from being started out a little slower, maybe in ARCA or the Trucks before being thrown into the Nationwide Series, but I've started to feel a little sorry for him. It seems like no one believes that he'll ever amount to anything and as much as he might try to shut all of that negativity out, it has to get to him sometimes. There's a lot of pressure in being Rusty's son.

*Rumors continue to circulate that UPS is going to leave Michael Waltrip Racing and that their first choice for their new driver to represent them is Carl Edwards. Since Carl has already won three races this season I can understand why UPS (and maybe other sponsors) are interested in him. But I think UPS already has a great driver - David Reutimann. David may not be young and sexy, but he's capable of winning races and he could represent any sponsor well. There's also a lot UPS could do with the fact that David used to work for them in his younger years. But most of all the sponsorship at MWR would probably come a lot cheaper than the $22-$24 million a year that Roush-Fenway Racing reportedly wants to get from whoever sponsors Carl next season and beyond. That's ridiculous money. I don't understand how UPS or other sponsors can justify spending that much in this economic climate (and for UPS specifically when the company probably spends so much on gas). $15 -$20 million, what is supposedly the average amount that it takes to sponsor a competitive Cup team is expensive enough, but even more than that seems over the top. Sure, costs of fielding cars is probably going up just like everything else, but where does it end? I don't see how teams are going to be able to find or keep sponsors if the cost is so great.

*After just four races Philip McGilton is out of the #22 at Bill Davis Racing with sponsorship woes cited as the reason. Scott Speed will be in the #22 starting this weekend and I'm sure he brings sponsorship from Red Bull Racing with him. While I understand that BDR needs to make the moves that will help them pay the bills it seems to me that it's a little quick to part ways with a young driver who might have some potential. The results weren't spectacular for Philip but finishes of 12th, 10th, and 16th twice and to be 12th in the points as a rookie isn't horrible either. It just seems to fit a familiar pattern with BDR where they talk with or sign a driver only to have things go bad suddenly because of sponsorship.

*Turns out it's not just me who doesn't understand Steve Park's thinking regarding turning down top ten and top fifteen rides. I was chatting with someone this morning who has been discussing the very same topic with another fan of Steve's. Of course money isn't everything and there's something to be said for racing just to race and have fun, but this person said that they were surprised to see that Steve got just $1,500 for finishing 9th this weekend. It's even less when you consider that his team probably gets a cut of his winnings. To this person it doesn't really seem to make sense that Steve would turn down the opportunity to earn more money in the Truck or Nationwide Series and race at least as well as he did this past weekend.

I think the other thing that makes this all make even less sense is that it turns out that one of the drivers for this team in this series last year, Eric Holmes actually cited bad results and poor equipment as the reason he left the team before the end of the season. I'm sure someone would say that Eric just must not be as good of a driver as Steve but Eric has won two of the first three West Series races so far this season, including one race where he actually led every lap. Maybe NDS Motorsports has made big advances from last season but if they haven't the results might not be those top fives that Steve says are the only thing that will satisfy him. I could say more but it will be perceived as bashing Steve when in reality I'm just trying to figure out what his thinking is in turning down the many offers he said he received to race in quality equipment to race in this series. Unless this team is very different than they were last year it just doesn't make sense based on what he said last week that he would end up racing for them.

*I admit that I doubted that Red Bull Racing would put A.J. Allemendinger back in the #84 but they are this weekend at Talladega. I have to wonder if the results will be any different considering instead of racing and gaining more experience A.J. was watching from the sidelines - it seems to me if RBR was really committed to developing A.J. they would have spent the money to sponsor him in a ride on some level like they're doing with Scott Speed. At any rate he'll be back at Talladega and in a car with an awesome paint scheme! As anyone who knows that my user name here and elsewhere online is silverdsl can probably guess, I love anything silver, so naturally I love the way that car looks! I'm not into buying diecasts that aren't Michael Waltrip's but I might consider getting one with that scheme because it looks so cool!

*Jon Wood is going to make his Cup debut for this season at Talladega. What the heck are the Wood Brothers thinking? Poor Jon. Previously Jon had expressed a lack of confidence in his ability to qualify for races, particularly given his lack of experience with the COT, but with just 46 cars attempting this race the chances are good he'll make the race. But is Talladega where a little mistake can turn into something huge really the best place to throw Jon in the car considering he's publically said that he's not sure of his own abilities behind the wheel? I hope this works out the way the Wood Brothers want it to.

*DEI's Vice President of Motorsports operations says that despite not having a full-time primary sponsor for the #01 car, they won't be coming to the track with the car blank. I think that's a wise idea. For one thing I think Story is right when he says that blank cars don't usually translate into calls from sponsors. I think it looks bad when a team has a blank car - it reminds fans, the media and potential sponsors that the car is unsponsored, which I suppose is the idea, but as Story mentioned it can also make potential sponsors wonder why they should sponsor the team if no one else will. Even the company logo or a charity on the car is better than having it show up to the track completely blank. DEI is going a step further and is "sweetening" their deal with Principal Financial Group, who is an associate sponsor for the full season and a primary sponsor for a few races. DEI is given them additional space on the car and Regan Smith is wearing their uniform even during races where they aren't the primary sponsor. It's not like DEI is giving away something for nothing since Principal is paying money for their sponsorship, instead I think they're creating good will with a sponsor which is important considering how hard it is to get sponsors to stick around these days. It must be very hard to sell sponsorship for Regan - the results haven't been very good but beyond that he almost never gets mentioned during race broadcasts which means that whatever sponsors are affiliated with him would get next to no exposure.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2008

Decent Night for Michael Waltrip Racing at Phoenix

Although the results weren't as good as they might have liked, it was still a pretty good night for Michael Waltrip Racing at Phoenix. The best news was that David Reutimann was able to race his way back into the top 35 in owner's points which means that he won't have to worry about qualifying on time at Talladega, but I was also pleased with how the race went for Michael Waltrip as well. Even Michael McDowell did okay, though he apparently stalled the car on pit road which caused him to finish five laps down.

Almost every race since Daytona has been a tremendous struggle for the #55 team either because Michael has been unhappy with his car and unable to race with it or because they've had some sort of problem. However, last night Michael might have had his best car of the year since Daytona. Sure, he complained that it was loose and that his team wasn't doing much to help him out, but Michael finally had a car that he was able to race with, and race he did. Michael was able to race his way up to 21st, and while that isn't spectacular, that's definitely a lot better than other races this season when he's struggled to pass to the point where he's had trouble finishing 35th let alone in the top 25. Ultimately Michael had to pit late like a lot of others for gas and finished 25th, but I was still pretty happy with that result. I know Michael really wanted to finish better but given how much they've struggled this season racing up front may not happen as quickly as he'd like it to at a lot of tracks where many teams including his own are still figuring things out with the COT. This week Michael finishes in the top 25, maybe next race he's able to finish in the top 15 (or better considering it's Talladega which is a very good track for him). All they need to do is not get discouraged and keep building on what they learn each week.

What I also really liked last night is the communication over the radio. I'm usually positive about just about everything about Michael but one area that I've discussed in this space before where I think he could use some improvement is his communication with his team during races. Things improved somewhat when Paul Andrews was replaced with Bobby Kennedy as his crew chief but I think where they've gotten even better is with Ty Norris spotting. Michael's spotter had been Mark Green who he had seemed to work with fairly well but the last race that Mark spotted for him Michael seemed very frustrated. So I wasn't entirely surprised when Ty took over. Ty had spotted for Michael in the past and until hearing him the other week I had forgotten how good he is. I'm sure Mark is a good spotter but from a fan's perspective I really like Ty's style better. Some of the differences are subtle like Ty's voice which seems louder and clear (to my ears) than Mark's. Some are more obvious like the kind of information he gives Michael and the way he encourages him.

Someone brought up to me that it's a concern that Ty is taking on one more role at MWR when he already has so much to do but I'm hoping that Ty continues spotting for Michael because I really think he can help not just Michael but the entire team. His way of communicating is very good, not just with Michael but with Bobby Kennedy as well. I also think that Michael benefits from working with two people - Ty and Bobby - who aren't afraid to stand up to him and won't be intimidated by his strong personality or his outbursts. I suspect Michael probably has an easier time viewing Bobby and Ty as his equals than he might with Paul or others who have been his crew chief. There's also more trust there since he's known and worked with them both for a long time. So it's been really good to hear Ty over the radio and I hope that continues.

David finished 17th (or 18th depending on how Nascar sorts out the finish), his best finish since Daytona. That was good enough to get him back in the top 35 in owner's points something that's very important given all the talk about UPS possibly looking to leave for another organization. David is a terrific driver and with better luck and more competitive cars he could definitely race up front against the best regularly. I feel confident that we're going to see some good things from David in the near future. I'm very happy for him that he won't have to worry about qualifying at Talladega. It's nerve-wracking for every driver to have to deal with trying to qualify for races but David actually gets sick to his stomach he gets so nervous. I feel really good about what Talladega might bring for him (and all of MWR) now that he can focus on the race and not worry as much about qualifying.

Michael McDowell's finish wasn't very good but he brought the car home in one piece and wasn't involved in any problems on the track. That might not seem like much but for a rookie driver with so little Cup - or overall Nascar experience, it's a good thing when he can successfully finish races and not find trouble on the track. He did stall the car on pit road when he pitted for gas at the end of the race but there were a number of veteran drivers who did the same.

I know a lot of my fellow fans are disappointed and frustrated with the way this season has gone for Michael and MWR and I can understand why they feel that way since all of Michael's fans are anxious for him and his teams to race competitively and contend for wins sooner rather than later. But MWR is an organization that is still growing and learning in a very competitive sport. Positive results may not happen right away but they will happen - I just hope that Michael's fans and the sponsors have the patience to stick around to see it happen.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2008

UPS Evaluating Their Options

Both UPS and NAPA Auto Parts have sponsor contracts with Michael Waltrip Racing that run through the end of this season. Rumors have circulated since early last year that both sponsors were looking to go elsewhere. The talk in relation to NAPA has mostly quieted down but UPS has acknowledged that they are indeed evaluating their options, whether they want to continue to sponsor the #44 beyond this season or move to another team. Apparently UPS wants to be on a car that will be in contention for a championship and they want to sponsor a driver who is a "rock star" like Dale Jarrett.

When I think of rock star I most certainly don't think of DJ. Perhaps UPS means that they want to align themselves with a high-profile driver who is popular and can get them a lot of exposure. Because DJ certainly doesn't have a flamboyant, in-your-face, look-at-me kind of personality. In fact, it's hard for me to see how that kind of a persona would fit the UPS brand. As for racing for a championship, well so does every sponsor but that's a lot harder to deliver these days than ever even for the better teams in the garage area. I can understand how UPS might be frustrated with missing races and the way MWR has struggled but they voluntarily followed DJ to MWR so they had to know there was a risk that the performance wouldn't be all that great. Actually even before that the performance hadn't been so spectacular. The last time DJ was anywhere near in contention for a Championship was 2002 when he finished 9th in the points. Maybe the problem is that UPS is seeing one of their competitors, FedEX in Victory Lane regularly and in Chase contention every year with Denny Hamlin and they want to be with a team that's equally as successful.

In the past it's been rumored that UPS might be interested in sponsoring Greg Biffle, and as much as I hope they stay at MWR, I do think Greg would be a good fit for their brand. In fact Roush-Fenway Racing may have a number of cars in need of sponsorship next season since AAA won't be back on the #6 and I think some of the sponsorship on the #99 is also up for renewal. I already question Jack Roush's motivation for speaking out about his missing swaybar since it seems like it only stems from a vendetta against Lee White from Toyota. I'd be even more suspicious if UPS ended up at Roush because I'd have to wonder if Jack was deliberately trying to make MWR look bad as a way to help convince UPS to leave. I'm sure Roush won't be the only suitor for UPS though - they've shown that they're willing to spend money and do a lot of marketing, advertising, commercials and promotions, so they're exactly the type of sponsor that a lot of teams would want.

Of course UPS could just end up staying at MWR. I think David Reutimann is an excellent fit for their brand too and he even worked for UPS years ago. He's also got a lot of talent behind the wheel and I have no doubt that if he had competitive cars to race he could contend for wins and maybe even the Chase as well. However, UPS may not be willing to have the patience to wait for MWR to start fielding cars that are not only competitive but that David can race up front with on a regular basis. Unfortunately it's also possible that they aren't happy with some of the continuing negative headlines since last season - the mess at Daytona, Michael's accident, now swaybar-gate. While none of those things effected them directly they may wonder what else might be on the horizon.

My fear is what happens if UPS leaves MWR. In the past I'd say that MWR would just find a replacement sponsor and move on. However, with the way the economy is these days convincing a company to spend $15-20 million, the average amount it takes to field a competitive Cup car, is a tough sell. Even getting a company to spend less is difficult. Rumor has it that Domino's, who sponsored the #00 for part of last season, wanted to return to MWR but couldn't afford to spend the money - I guess that's what happens when profit drops as dramatically for a company as it did for Domino's last season. Complicating matters is that NAPA's deal with MWR also runs out. It would be bad enough if UPS left but a complete disaster if NAPA left as well because then MWR wouldn't have sponsors for any of their cars. At least with NAPA they're so tied in with Michael. Even though the results on the track haven't been very good lately, they've still gotten a lot of exposure via their association with him. I don't think there's anyone else in the garage area who could do the commercials that NAPA does like Michael can. Still, it's a concern - what happens to MWR if they lose UPS and NAPA and don't have replacement sponsors lined up?

Posted by silverdsl at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2008

Denny Hamlin Wins in Martinsville, Bad Day for MWR

Denny Hamlin must be thrilled to have won today considering Martinsville is his home track! There's probably a lot of fan who are very happy that a non-Hendrick car ended up in Victory Lane too. Personally I like Jeff Gordon so I was hoping that he'd win but I'm okay with Denny winning too. What gets me is that there are some Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans who are up in arms because Junior "only" finished 6th when at one point he looked like the driver to beat. If I understand correctly the issue is that some disagree with Tony Eury, Jr.'s decision to pit toward the end of the race. Apparently a set of tires were put on the car that weren't very good. It's ridiculous to be calling for Tony, Jr.'s head when Junior finished in the top ten for the fifth time in six races. Junior fans have no idea how good they have it. Tony, Jr. may not be perfect but no one is, and he's one of the better crew chiefs in the garage. I'd love for someone to make a rash decision and decide that Tony, Jr. is the wrong crew chief for Junior because then maybe he'd be reunited with Michael Waltrip - Tony, Jr. helped Michael race the best he ever has.

Speaking of Michael he was on his way to a top twenty finish until he got into Aric Armirola on a restart which ended up resulting in a cut tire and a tangle with the wall. That sent Michael to pit road for repairs under green, and in spite of how bad it was I suppose it could have been worse because at least he was able to continue. Not DNF'ing meant that because of attrition he was able to finish 35th and stick in the top 35 in owner's points - but not by much. It's going to be essential that the #55 team is on their game and finishes well next week in Texas. Michael was clearly more comfortable with Bobby Kennedy as his crew chief but the communication was still rocky and Michael even said so at one point. Even with Bobby Michael didn't always give a lot of feedback about the car - at one point all he said was that the car had issues, but Bobby seemed to know what changes might make the car more to Michael's liking. Generally Michael gets along well with Mark Green, his spotter but today he seemed very frustrated with Mark and told him at one point that he needed to get his head in the game. What really bothered me is that early on no one seemed to know who was talking to who - they need to be on the same page and not be confused like that. I feel bad for Michael because he blamed himself for their bad day, but at least he left Martinsville still in the top 35. Also, the car was pretty good so hopefully that's a good sign about the competitiveness of the cars moving forward.

It was a bad day for David Reutimann as well. Nascar not allowing Michael Waltrip Racing to swap points between the #00 and #44 really bit David in the butt. For a while it seemed like he was on his way to a top 20-25 finish but mechanical problems sent him to the garage and eventually caused him to DNF. That was deadly because David had zero margin for error. So now the #44 is outside the top 35 in owner's points and David will have to go back to qualifying on time again next weekend. I have every confidence that David can qualify for next weekend's race and finish well enough to get back into the top 35 in owner's points but it's really not a very good position to be in. UPS can't be happy either - finally it seemed like they were guaranteed to race each week only to have that slip away thanks to mechanical issues.

What was really surprising was that Michael McDowell in his first Cup race ever ended up being the highest finishing MWR driver. I was extremely impressed with McD! I wasn't sure how he'd fare at such a tough track but he ended up racing in the top 20 for the majority of the race until he got a flat tire with just a few laps to go. He ended up finishing 26th which has to be a disappointment considering he was in the top 15 at one point, but again, for his first Cup race ever isn't too shabby. After the race Jeff Burton was displeased because McD didn't move over for the leaders like Jeff thought he should have but it should be expected that a rookie in his first Cup start ever might make a mistake. The other thing is that I believe at that point McD had just gone a lap down - generally the protocol is that that a driver who is many laps down should move over for the leaders but when a driver is just a lap or two down they can race the leaders a little since there's no telling what might happen that could results in them getting a lap back. I understand Jeff's frustration at being held up and it probably would have been better if McD had just let them go by, but on the other hand Jeff just needed to make his way around McD like the other leaders did. Overall, I really liked what I saw from McD and if he races like this at other tracks he is going to be very successful for MWR.

In terms of the top 35, I feel for Dave Blaney - it looked like he was on his way to a solid top 10 or top 15 finish that might have gotten him back into the top 35 but mechanical gremlins - yet again - sent him to the garage. The further behind Dave gets the harder it's going to be for him to get back into the top 35.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:07 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2008

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/28)

All the charges against Michael Waltrip stemming from his accident last April have been dropped "in the best interest of justice" after Michael spoke to several schools about driving safety. I'm not surprised that the charges were dropped. After the court date was delayed and delayed, I figured that they would work something out where he would just do community service, particularly since what he was actually charged with wasn't all that major in the grand scheme of things. Michael said,

"What I did was really beneficial for me... I look at it as just an opportunity to change one child’s life forever with their decision-making … is what makes me proud. I got a lot of positive feedback from it. I’m very thankful to turn something that was an unfortunate accident into something could be positive for many people for many years to come.”

I'm glad that he was able to take something positive from what was a very negative situation and that he got the opportunity to do something that could make a different in other people's lives. If just one young driver learns from the mistake that Michael made it would be a very good thing.

Michael Waltrip Racing's request to swap owner's points between the #00 and #44 in conjunction with David Reutimann switching from the #00 to the #44 has been denied. Nascar has decided that unless there's a merger they won't allow teams to swap owner's points during the season. That means that David and the #44 will have very little margin for error since they will be 34th in owner's points. Although I understood why MWR was looking to make the change, I wasn't crazy about the plan to swap points since both cars were in the top 35 in owner's points. That said, I agreed with Michael when he said that owners should be allowed to do what they want with their owner's points. After all, the owner puts together the team and hires the driver that earns the owner's points for each car. So why shouldn't they be able to switch them around between teams internally?

However, I can also understand why Nascar might have decided to not allow teams to move owner's points around since it could lead to some abuses of the system, particularly if teams swapped points between their teams multiple times. What this means is that Petty Enterprises won't be allowed to swap points between the #45 and #43 as they were considering to take advantage of Bobby LaBonte's champion's provisional, nor would Roush-Fenway Racing be allowed to do any points swapping if Jamie McMurray can't race his way back into the top 35. Nascar hasn't stopped the points swapping practice completely - as noted they'll allow it if it comes via a merger between two teams, and teams will also be allowed to swap owner's points between their teams during the off-season such as what Penske Racing did with the #2 and #77.

There was an excellent article on Michael McDowell in Nascar Scene last week. Michael (Waltrip) said of his driver,

“What we like about him is being humble and eager to learn, and wide-eyed and open and everything you hope a kid would be when he gets an opportunity like this. Out of all the thousands and thousands of kids who want this chance to be one of the 43 drivers, you should be very grateful. And he is, and that means a lot to me.”

One thing I keep hearing over and over about McD is what a great attitude he has. And I think having the right attitude is really important. Some teams may overlook attitude issues when a driver has an immense amount of talent, but I think for the majority of drivers all those things that Michael cited, being humble, willing to learn and being grateful, among other qualities are the things that make the difference when it comes to being successful and sticking around in this sport that chews up and spits out so many.

One thing in this article that I wasn't aware of is that McD's mother had passed away three years ago from cancer at age 45 - that's something that has a deep and lasting effect. As happy as he must be to be making his first Cup start, It must also be sad for him in some ways to be taking this step in his racing career and not have his mother there to see him do it.

So far with just the go-or-go-homers left to go Michael and David have qualified pretty well for Martinsville - 14th and 15th. Starting in the top 20 at this track would definitely be a good thing! Hopefully all three MWR cars will finish well on Sunday - it's a tricky track and it's easy to get swept up in someone else's mistake but hopefully things will go well for Michael and his teams!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2008

All Three MWR Teams in the Top 35!!!!

The results might not have been as good as they wanted, but today was an outstanding day for Michael Waltrip Racing! All three teams are in the top 35 in owner's points which means that they will all be locked in for the race at Martinsville and hopefully for the rest of the season! Whoo-hooo!!!! What an accomplishment for MWR, especially in comparison to last season when they didn't have any chance of being in the top 35 at this point in the season. I'm so happy for Michael and everyone at MWR!!! It's been a struggle this season but they're still so far ahead of where they were at this time last season!!!

This is so awesome for Michael! Finally he doesn't have to deal with the pressure and stress not only about worrying about qualifying for races himself, but he doesn't have to worry about it for his other two teams either! He should feel proud of what he and MWR accomplished today! After all that he's had to endure, Michael really deserved something going his way! So many fans were predicting that Michael would drop out of the top 35. Well, not only did he not drop out, he gained positions to give himself a little breathing room! Yay! Of course he's still not completely safe but I have a good feeling that Michael's going to be able to stick in the top 35 now that his team can concentrate more on the races than on qualifying.

When I think about it, the #55 team really did a terrific job of overcoming a lot of difficult challenges this weekend. For one thing Michael wrecked his primary car in practice on Friday. If not for qualifying being rained out it would have been a nail-biter as to whether he would have been able to make the race because he would have had to try to qualify with a back-up car that got no laps in practice. But things worked in the #55 team's favor and qualifying was rained out. I was pretty nervous because Michael was the slowest on the track during both practices yesterday and since he was starting at the rear of the field, I was afraid he would get trapped laps down early which would could prevent him from finishing well. But as it turned out the #55 was pretty good and thanks to staying out when no one else did they got a lot of track position which really helped them finish well even when a problem developed with the tires. It was hard to know exactly what the problem was but apparently an issue in the pits was causing a loose wheel(s) which made it very hard for Michael to race, let alone hold his position. But Michael and his team never gave up and they made some improvements to the car which enabled him to finish 23rd, his highest finish of the season. It's probably a little disappointing since he likely had a car better than that, but it was good enough to put him where he needs to be in owner's points!

David Reutimann and his team also did a good job of not giving up. The #00 was one of the fastest cars in practice but by race day it seemed like they had lost something. David was also hurt by a pit road penalty that caused him to lose an extra lap when he was already a lap down. However, David and his team kept at it and he ended up finishing 20th which puts the #00 23rd or 24th in owner's points. Of course at Martinsville David will be getting in the #44 which is lower in owner's points and there's some speculation that MWR might swap the points around so that David gets to keep what he earned. I think the only reason they were considering doing a points swap was if one of the fully sponsored cars dropped out of the top 35. David is a great driver and he should be able to get the #44 higher in owner's points.

It was Dale Jarrett's last race and I think everyone was hoping that he'd be able to finish up front but it was not to be. DJ struggled all day and ended up finishing 37th because a tire going down forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop. That dropped the #44 to 34th in owner's points but that team is still locked in for Martinsville so that's the most important thing right now.

I still can't stop smiling about all three teams being in the top 35!!! I was pretty nervous about this weekend but things turned out the way they needed to for MWR! I feel so good right now and I'm confident that MWR is going to keep heading in the right direction!

Posted by silverdsl at 05:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2008

All Three Michael Waltrip Racing Cars Make the Show!

Oh happy day! Yesterday all three Michael Waltrip Racing cars qualified for Sunday's race at Las Vegas. The best part was that all three qualified solidly on time and there was no need for provisionals! What a difference a year makes! Last season I would be anxious and upset about what was going to happen from practice where the MWR cars were usually among the slowest of the go-or-go-homers right through qualifying, where things often didn't work out so well for them. But from the start of practice yesterday it was clear that much has changed and I felt optimistic from the start that there was a pretty good chance that all three MWR would make the show! David Reutimann was not only the fastest of the go-or-go-homers in practice, he was one of the fastest overall cars in practice! Michael was also fast, finishing practice the fourth fastest of all those who needed to qualify on time. Dale Jarrett was the only one who didn't do so well, ending up at the bottom of the speed chart to the point where I was sure he would need to use a Champion's provisional to make the race, but I was wrong about that!

This was the first week that the new qualifying procedure for the go-or-go-home cars was used. I think it worked extremely well, though I didn't really like having to wait until the end to find out whether Michael and his teams were going to make the race. I was thrilled when David and Michael both locked themselves in, no waiting and hoping for other go-or-go-homers to do worse to enable them to make the show, this year they both made it right away. The only question was how DJ was going to do - very well as it turned out! DJ qualified 16th and there was no need to use a provisional! That his team was able to pick up so much speed between practice and qualifying really shows how far the entire MWR organization has come since last season. That simply wouldn't have happened last year. Make no mistake the teams worked just as hard last season as this season, but the resources, personnel and knowledge base wasn't there to enable them to get the cars right for qualifying when they were off in practice. But based on how they got DJ's car right for him, it seems like they've major advances in their ability to make changes to the cars at the track to improve their performance.

I'm so happy for Michael and all of MWR! I think they've still got a ways to go before they're going to be racing up front and contending for wins, but I think it's a huge first step that they're showing that they have the ability to qualify for these races on time and then finish the races in the top 35. Anything can happen in Sunday's race and during the next two race weekends so I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but if all three MWR cars can finish in the top 35 on Sunday, qualify for the next two races and finish those in the top 35 too, then they won't have to worry about having to qualify for races on time (as long as they stay in the top 35 in owner's points). That would be a major accomplishment for an organization that had such a terrible first season. After the cars are locked in, they'd be able to start working on improving the competitiveness of the cars during races and from there I think we'd start to see some really solid finishes, particularly from David and Michael.

So far this weekend lady luck has been on MWR's side - I hope it continues!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2008

Michael Waltrip Racing Struggles at California

A lot of Michael Waltrip Racing fans had high hopes headed into California but things didn't go as well as most would have liked. Luck was on their side on Friday as Cup qualifying being rained out put all three cars into the race, but it wasn't a stellar weekend on the Cup side after that. David Reutimann finished the best of all three cars in 23rd, Michael Waltrip was 28th and Dale Jarrett was 33rd. On the positive side all three cars finished in the top 35 which is important since the biggest goal over the first five races is locking themselves into the top 35 in owner's points, but I'm sure they would have liked to have finished a lot better to make some upwards movement in the 2008 owner's points standings. I can't say I'm entirely surprised by the results this weekend. Michael had said on his XM show last week that their qualifying runs during testing at California were extremely good but they weren't as confident about their race set-ups so they changed a bunch of things. Seems like they're going to have to change a bunch more things for the next time they come to this track.

The weekend had to be very stressful for Michael, and not just because his car wasn't very good. On Friday his sister Connie's son Jason passed away at the age of 28. The loss of anyone is always difficult but it's even harder when it's someone who is so young. I'm sure both Michael and DW both very much wished that the weekend would end as soon as possible so they could fly back to be with their sister. So Sunday's rainout had to be even harder for them to bear than for others in the garage area. Michael had a tribute in his car to his nephew and the thoughts and prayers of all his fans are with him and his family.

Unfortunately right from the start the race was a trying one for Michael and his team, in fact before the green flag even flew they had problems. As Michael was going around the track for the parade laps, a clamp fell off the oil line and every drop of oil in the car poured onto the track, creating quite a mess. That mess turned out to be a blessing for Michael because the delay in the start of the race due to the cleanup allowed his team to fix the problem, get oil back in the car and get him back on the track before the race started. Michael had to be completely freaking out inside when that happened, particularly since at first it wasn't known whether it might be a terminal problem or not - had he not been able to race he would have taken a big hit in the owner's points. But luckily his team did a good job of calmly taking care of everything and Michael was able to start the race without losing any laps.

However, it quickly became clear that the car wasn't very good, and if it was bad on Sunday it was even worse yesterday. No matter what Paul Andrews did for the majority of the race, much to Michael's frustration, it didn't seem to make things any better. When his cars aren't good Michael has always been known to get extremely agitated and yell, however, I've never heard him yell, scream and curse quite as much as he did yesterday, something that was probably partially a result of hat he was dealing with in relation to his nephew. At one point he screamed "motherfucker!" out of the blue at the top of his lungs and since I was at work I thought I was going to have to turn off Trackpass if he didn't settle down since I was at work even though I had it on low. Michael complained throughout the race that the car was one of the worst that he'd ever driven and so loose that he was going to wreck... and that's kind of what happened.

On lap 150 Michael spun out but luckily he only brushed the wall and the damage was minimal so his team was able to get him fresh tires and get him back out without losing any laps, though I think he was already a lap down at the time. Curiously Michael said after the race,

“I don’t know what happened when the NAPA Camry spun out. It was a crazy deal. It wasn’t handling well, but I didn’t expect that to happen. It was pretty unpredictable out there.”

So if he didn't expect it to spin out, why did he say at least once that the car was so loose that he was going to wreck?

In any event, after that Paul Andrews, Michael's crew chief, continued to make changes and finally those changes worked and the car got better. At one point Michael said that the car was the best it had been but that it was still terrible - but even with that terrible car towards the end of the race he was able to pass some others to finish 28th. Not a good result but considering how many problems there were it's better than it could have been. I was impressed with Paul - no matter how much Michael yelled, Paul simply said 10-4, tried to be encouraging and went to work on making changes. I liked how calm he was even though Michael was clearly very upset, and I think that will be an asset going forward. Some think that Paul won't last the season, but I think if he's able to brush off Michael when he's frustrated and yelling without taking it personally or letting it get to him, I think they'll eventually make a pretty good pairing.

For a while it seemed like David was going to have an excellent finish - he was racing in the top ten and seemed like his car was better than Michael or DJ's but by mid-race on Monday David had dropped back. That had to be disappointing but if David continues to finish in the top 20 and top 25 at least for the next few races he'll be in the top 35 for sure - or at least the #00 will be since David is switching to the #44. I suspect if the #00 is in the top 35 in owner's points and the #44 isn't they'll swap the points when David takes over the #44 so UPS is locked in each week. As for DJ, he never seemed to be able to make much forward progress like Michael and I imagine he was also battling handling issues. Spinning on the last lap was unfortunate because it cost him a number of spots but he was still able to finish in the top 35.

I don't know what to expect next weekend at Las Vegas. I know what I want to see, which is all three cars qualifying for the race and then all three finishing in the top 20 at least if not better. However, next weekend may be a struggle as well. I suspect that MWR is concentrating all their efforts on qualifying right now so I'm not as worried about whether they're going to make the race, particularly since there are "only" 48 cars entered, though of course anything can happen so until qualifying is over and they're in for sure I'll still be nervous. What I'm a little more concerned about how is competitive the cars are going to be under race conditions. They really have to have some solid finishes to lock themselves into the top 35 and stay there. But hopefully we'll see some good things from MWR next weekend.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2008

Penalties Announced For Robby Gordon, Dale, Jr. and Others

Kind of interesting the way things worked out - the infraction that was downplayed in the media as being accidental resulted in the biggest penalty and one of the infractions that was made out to be a big deal resulted in a minor penalty. The biggest first - for being found to have the wrong nose on the car Robby Gordon was penalized 100 driver and owner points and his crew chief, Frank Kerr, was fined $100,000 and suspended for the next six races. For the infractions found after inspection on the #5 Nationwide car, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was penalized 50 driver points, Rick Hendrick 50 owner points and the crew chief, Chad Walters was fined $25,000 and suspended for the next six Nationwide races. Five other Nationwide teams lost 25 driver and owner points and their crew chiefs for six races for having an oil reservoir tank cover that wasn't securely fastened. Lastly, Jerry Baxter, the crew chief of the #99 was fined $5,000 and placed on probation until July for an infraction with the carburetor, something many thought would result in a major penalty but didn't.

More than a few people thought that Robby would get off lightly because the team said that in changing the cars over from Fords to Dodges they simply put on the noses they were given from Gillett-Evernham Motorsports/Dodge and had no idea that they were the wrong ones. However, I suspected that Nascar wouldn't feel that was an acceptable excuse. For one thing the team and especially the crew chief is responsible to make sure that the car they show up with to the track meets the parameters set forth in Nascar's rule book even if they are changing manufacturers. If Nascar allowed Robby Gordon Motorsports to get off for accidentally and unknowingly putting the wrong parts on then any team could claim the same thing even if they were deliberately trying to get away with something. In addition, it was a COT violation and Nascar's made it clear that the penalties are going to be very harsh when it comes to COT violations.

Since Robby is locked into the field for the next four races because of the 2007 owner's points, there's no worries about him possibly missing races due to the loss of owner's points... right now. Odds are Robby will finish well enough over the next four races to be high enough in the 2008 owner's points to where he'll still be locked in when the 2008 points come into effect, but the team can't afford any mistakes. If they finish poorly in several races they could find themselves in trouble. Losing Frank Kerr for six races is probably what will hurt the team the most. Of course he can still work on the cars in the shop, but he won't be able to work with the team at the track, and Robby will have yet another crew chief just when he was starting to get used to working with Frank (again). Any failures to communicate as has sometimes been a problem for Robby with his crew chiefs could be costly if it effects performance.

As for the penalties for the #5 Nationwide team, the driver points are meaningless to Junior since he's racing only a few races. The owner's points are more costly but a few good finishes will take care of that. Losing the crew chief for that team for six races will hurt more but since Nascar talked about how blatant the violation was, they're probably lucky they didn't lose him for longer. Hendrick Motorsports has never penalized Chad Knaus (that we know of) for getting caught cheating numerous times on the Cup side but both Junior and Rick Hendrick had expressed their displeasure about Walters messing around with the spoiler so it will be interesting to see if they take any additional action against him.

Michael Waltrip Racing - and David Reutimann - must be breathing a major sigh of relief. After last year's mess at Daytona the last thing they needed was to be tagged again for a major rules violation even if it was on the Nationwide side. In addition, since David is racing for the Championship every point is important so a loss of points wouldn't be a good thing. Nor would losing Jerry Baxter be good either since he and David seem to work very well together. I'm not sure why the #99 team got off so lightly as it had been said that the infraction to the carburetor was considered a major violation that could give them an areodynamic advantage. But maybe it was determined that there wasn't actually as much of a rules violation as originally though. I'm just glad that the penalties were so little.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2008

Mixed Day for Michael Waltrip Racing

The highlight of the Daytona 500 came early for Michael Waltrip when he started on the front row and led a couple of laps. However, due a loose handling car he had to drop back in the field until the first round of pit stops when his crew made some changes for him in an effort to get it right. Unfortunately just when the car started getting right for Michael and he had raced his way into the top 20, and was likely posed to make his way back up front, things went bad as Michael got into the back of Denny Hamlin presumably as he checked up to avoid the Jimmie Johnson-Martin Truex, Jr. wreck. Although the damage wasn't bad enough to send Michael to the garage, the front end got bent and it was impossible for him to make any headway after that. The disappointment was evident in Michael's voice at the end of the race as he was only able to finish 29th.

After proclaiming that he had a car good enough to win the race with earlier in the week, I felt really bad for Michael that he wasn't up there contending for the win at the end of the race. However, there was still a lot of positives for Michael and Michael Waltrip Racing in this race. I really liked what I heard in terms of the communication between Michael and his crew chief Paul Andrews. Although Michael seemed irritated at the start of the race Paul was able to take command and stayed in control through the race, whereas in the past Michael has dominated his crew chiefs. But today while Michael gave feedback and made suggestions, he let Paul call the shots from the pit box. Also, when Michael got damage in the wreck, Paul did an outstanding job of keeping Michael and the team calm. They simply went about the business of fixing the car and getting Michael back on the track without losing a lap or freaking out - very well done. In addition, even when the car wasn't to Michael's liking while he complained, he didn't curse or yell as he's done in the past when things haven't been right. Instead he was mostly quiet, an indication to me that while the car wasn't handling well, it wasn't all that bad either - a far cry from last season when he would complain constantly all race long about how terrible the car was.

While Michael didn't finish well, Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann both had solid finishes, especially in comparison to last season. DJ finished 16th, the highest finishing MWR car like last season, and David finished 18th. Looking at the big picture, that two of the three MWR cars finished in the top 20 is terrific, and I think even that all three cars finished in the top 30 and on the lead lap is pretty good, even if it's not entirely satisfying. What that means is that all three teams have taken the first step towards being in the top 35 in owner's points after the first five races, something that's even more important than contending for the win in one race. Of course I would have loved to have seen Michael or another MWR car in Victory Lane or otherwise finish extremely well but that all three cars finished the race on the lead lap keeps me from being too disappointed about the race for MWR.

MWR did a few other cool things in this race that don't relate to the actual finish. First, since it was DJ's last Daytona 500 before he retires all the other drivers in the field signed his car. I assume that DJ will get that car at some point which will make a really cool memento. In addition, all three MWR cars raced with gold wheels until the first pit stop when they reverted back to their usual awesome looking chrome wheels. The gold was in honor of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 and they'll be autographed and auctioned off to raise money for charity. I love the way Michael is always thinking of creative ways to help good causes and in this case he paid tribute to a race that's always been important to him. Also, as a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 Michael took part in a special pre-race show with all the other former living Daytona 500 champions including his brother. It was really sweet to see Michael with his arm around DW when all the former champions went out on stage. I also liked seeing Michael with Macy - she might be getting older but it's clear she still enjoys being with her Daddy!

Overall I think MWR had a very good Speedweeks with only a few bumps in the road. Michael qualifying on the front row and all three MWR cars making the Daytona 500 is a definite highlight, as is all the very positive media coverage they got this week. Although the #99 Nationwide team will be penalized for the carburetor issue, on the Cup side Speedweeks was significantly better for MWR than it was last year and that's something to be happy about. If nothing else MWR showed this week that they're heading in the right direction. Hopefully next weekend at California all three teams will qualify for the race and continue to build on their finishes at Daytona!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2008

Disappointed

Lately the news has all been very positive for Michael Waltrip Racing but yesterday MWR's fine Speedweeks was tarnished by the news that Nascar had confiscated the carburetor from David Reutimann's #99 Aaron's Dream Machine car prior to Nationwide qualifying. MWR referred all questions to Toyota who builds and provides their engines, which presumably also includes the carburetors, so at the moment it doesn't appear to be an issue that originated in their shop. It's also not as serious as an infraction as what Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s #5 team was busted for. But it's still a rules violation all the same.

I'm extremely disappointed. With all that happened last season for MWR during Speedweeks with the illegal fuel additive, there shouldn't have been any rules violations with any of the MWR teams on any level this week. Of course mistakes are going to happen and I didn't expect that MWR would never fail an inspection or ever have any issues in the future. But I did think that this week after what happened a year ago, both MWR and Toyota would make sure that everything that went into the cars was perfect. Of course it might not have been something that was obvious and like what happened with Robby Gordon Motorsports and how they got the wrong nose pieces from Gillett-Evernham/Dodge, MWR is going to assume that everything is correct with what they get from Toyota. And Toyota might not have noticed that there was an issue either. But I think for this week at least the quality control should have been such at Toyota that they were making sure there were no issues not just for what they sent the MWR teams, but all of their teams in light of last year.

It concerns me that there were engine issues this week with a number of Toyota teams that required them to change engines before the Duels, and now there's another issue that might have originated at TRD. Last season the engines appeared to be a real weakness for Toyota. If they're to have success this season that can't this season as well.

It wasn't just the #99 or the #5 that was found to be in violation of the Nascar rulebook. There were five other teams that had their qualifying times disallowed because they were found to have illegal aerodynamic modifications. Ramsey Poston, Nascar's spokesperson, said that they all had the same violation. He said,

“Essentially what that is is the lid on the oil tank behind the drivers seat was loose. With that, you have both a safety consideration and a possible aero enhancing advantage.”

I wonder which crew chief was the first to think of that modification? And how they all ended up trying it? Unfortunately for Johnny Davis Motorsports the modification had big consequences - since Kertus Davis wasn't in the top 30 in owner's points having his 15th place qualifying time thrown out meant that he won't race today. Why take that risk? That team has a hard enough time as it is keeping up with team with more resources, but maybe that's why they felt they needed to try to do something that would give them an advantage over other teams.

The penalties won't be announced until next week and hopefully those that are given to the #99 team won't result in too much of a loss of points.

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

February 14, 2008

Michael Waltrip Racing Will Have Three Cars in the Daytona 500 and other Duels Thoughts

Terrific day for Michael Waltrip Racing! It was outstanding enough when Michael Waltrip qualified on the front row for the Daytona 500 and David Reutimann also locked himself in, but today Dale Jarrett raced his way into Sunday's race despite starting from the back during the second Duel. That's right, DJ didn't have to use a past Champion's provisional like last year, in fact it wasn't available to him because Kurt Busch had to use it due to having mechanical problems in the first Duel that prevented him from trying to race his way in. So DJ's car, his ability behind the wheel, and a big dose of teamwork got him into Sunday's race!

To me what I saw today from the MWR teams is as impressive as anything this Speedweeks. For one thing Michael was able to lead laps today and contend against some of the strongest cars in the garage area. He even said at one point over his radio that his team had built him a car that he thought he could win the Daytona 500 with! What a thrill it was to hear that! But what really impressed me was the way all three MWR drivers worked together to get DJ into the race. They had a mutual goal and they achieved it. Michael, David and DJ discussed their plans over their radios and were determined to get DJ in the race - so they did it. That kind of teamwork showed me just as much as the cars having more speed how far MWR has come. Last season it seemed like the three teams were somewhat separate. Of course they all shared information and all, but it seemed like they were each so wrapped up in trying to make races and their own strategy for doing so that there wasn't necessarily a cohesiveness there. I really felt that was there today and I think that's just one more sign of how much stronger MWR is now that they were a year ago. A lot of that is because of Michael's leadership - he knew that there were issues that needed to be addressed and he did what he felt he needed to to fix them.

In the past Michael has been criticized for taking on too much by trying to drive and be an owner at the same time but I think he did an excellent job of balancing both today. He took care of himself and his team by leading laps and trying to see what his car was capable of in race conditions, but then he dropped back to make sure that DJ made the race, something that was essential for MWR. It can't be overstated how important it is for all three MWR cars to be in the Daytona 500 - it makes their sponsors happy and it also makes a statement that they're a very different organization than they were at this time last season. Not to mention the Daytona 500 is the most prestigious race of the season and it's going to be the last time DJ takes part in it. Of course this is just one race and MWR still has to get their cars into all the other races this season but I think getting this season off to such a positive start is huge for them. As Michael said on his XM show tonight, he just wants all three teams to get solid finishes - that's what I want to see too, but I'd be beside myself with happiness if Michael's solid finish was his third Daytona 500 win. I guess some think it's ridiculous to even dream about that, but I think it's very possible if all the pieces fall into place for Michael in the right way on Sunday.

Overall, the Duels were pretty exciting as they always are. There's always lots of hard racing since there are so many go-or-go-home teams trying to race their way in with very few spots being available. I think it's probably pretty shocking to many that Kenny Wallace got one of the transfer spots in the first race and John AndrettI in the second race. I certainly never expected either of those two to be able to do it, but maybe I should have at least in the case of Kenny. In 2005 Kenny raced his way into the 500 in a MWR car so he has experience in this exact situation. In addition, Furniture Row Racing is using engines from Hendrick Motorsports this season, something that already helped Kenny's teammate Joe Nemechek lock himself into Sunday's race on time. Kenny also had help from his brother Mike, who also has experience racing his way into the Daytona 500, who acted as Kenny's spotter today. Naturally, both Kenny and John were thrilled with what they achieved today. It definitely was great to see a couple of underdogs have their moment in the sun!

Toyota has to be very pleased with what they've seen in Speedweeks so far. Michael on the front row for the Daytona 500 was a great start but Denny Hamlin becoming the first Toyota driver to win a Cup event when he won the second Duel had to make them extremely happy. It appears that Joe Gibbs Racing is going to pick up right where they left off even in spite of the manufacturer change - I doubt this will be the last time one of their cars is in Victory Lane this season. In addition, they'll have nine teams racing in the Daytona 500, four of them because they raced their way in.

However, Toyota's excitement is probably tempered just a little by the engine problems that many of their teams experienced that led to some of them having to make engine changes before the Duels. Engine issues were a weakness for Toyota in Cup last season and I'm hoping it won't be again this season. I sure didn't like seeing Dave Blaney's engine blow, but hopefully that was the last of the engine gremlins for the Toyota teams this week.

The other thing that Toyota probably isn't entirely happy with is that while the majority of their teams will be racing on Sunday, they still didn't get all their teams into the show. Brian Vickers did an incredible job of coming back from an early spin and a tire issue to race his way in - I don't think I've ever seen him smile as big as he did after his duel - but his teammate, A.J. Allmendinger failed to make the Daytona 500. I can't say I'm surprised that Jacques Villeneuve both failed to race his way in and also started a big wreck. Though some have sung his praises I've not liked what I've seen of him in Nascar thus fan including today and apparently more than a few of his fellow competitors were figuring he was a wreck waiting to happen today. I don't think it bodes well for Red Bull Racing or Bill Davis Racing that they're starting 2008 essentially where they did last season. Sure, all of their teams could end up making the next four races and lock themselves into the top 35, but missing the first race of the season puts them at an immediate disadvantage that might be hard to come back from. It's particularly bad for Jacques and BDR since they were depending on a strong Speedweeks to try to attract a sponsor - without sponsorship the #27 team might fold.

Unfortunately ten drivers and teams failed to make the Daytona 500. It has to be particularly heart-breaking for Boris Said since he had the 9th fastest speed in qualifying. But he failed to race his way in via the first Duel and in spite of David Reutimann trying hard to help Boris by taking one of the transfer spots because Boris had helped him last year, Boris wasn't able to fall back on time either when John Andretti passed David on the last lap. I was really hoping Boris would make the race since I like him a lot and I think he's shown that he can race a Cup car well on a variety of tracks so I wish he would get more of an opportunity to race. Patrick Carpentier looked good for a while but towards the end of the race he brushed the wall several times and eventually blew a tire. I really thought he was going to be able to race his way in since his car was so good but his inexperience behind the wheel probably helped lead to his undoing - I'm thinking that 2008 may be the third year in a row that the #10 spends time outside the top 35 in owner's points.

Incredibly for a while it seemed like he would race his way in but he got caught up in the wreck that JV started, thus ending his chance - I have no idea how Stanton and his team were able to build a car that good when they had never really been competitive in Cup in the past but I'm thinking they may want to give trying to qualify for a restrictor plate race another go later in the season. Ken Schrader gave it his all but a lack of speed and tire issues did him in - as much as I like Ken I really didn't expect him to be able to make it in. Perhaps saddest of all though is that for the first time in 46 years - yes, 46 years, the Wood Brothers won't have a car in the Daytona 500. I can't say I'm surprised by that either considering that the #21 struggled all Speedweeks. Although they've been around for a very long time I have to wonder how much longer the #21 will be able to survive, particularly if they aren't able to get back into the top 35.

Oh yeah, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the first Duel but I'm not sure anyone noticed outside his many fans given all the other drama that was going on with the go-or-go-homers.

Hopefully the Daytona 500 will be as exciting as the Duels were today!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (2/13)

*Good to see the Michael Waltrip Racing teams continue to be fast during practice today. In the second practice Michael was 2nd fastest, David Reutimann 6th fastest and Dale Jarrett 9th fastest. I hope that's a sign of good things to come in tomorrow's Duels as well as in the Daytona 500. DJ will definitely need as competitive of a car as possible to race his way in via the Duels tomorrow but unfortunately a number of other go-or-go-homers including Patrick Carpentier and Stanton Barrett who are both in his Duel appear to also have very good cars. It's pretty surprising to see Stanton that high on the speed chart as that team has been slow all Speedweeks so far. If they were to somehow make it into the 500 over more established teams it would be a huge upset. Some go-or-go-home teams continue to struggle to find speed including those of Ken Schrader, A.J. Allmendinger and Sterling Marlin. Anything can happen in the Duels but those teams can't be feeling too good right about now.

*There's been some interesting discussion about what Michael Waltrip will do and have David Reutimann do during their Duel, the reason being that Dale Jarrett is also in that race. The question on many people's minds is whether Michael will go for the win and tell David to go for the win if he can or whether he and David will lay back on his instruction to help DJ race his way in. That pits Michael the owner who knows that it's essential that DJ gets into the 500 versus Michael the driver who would want to do what ever he can to win if he thinks that's possible. My guess is that it will be a combination of both based on how the race plays out. Michael will likely do all he can to help DJ race his way in but if he has a chance to win I don't think he'd pass it up. A MWR ending up in Victory Lane would be pretty important for the organization too for a variety of reasons including because of how happy it would make the sponsors. How about if DJ wins the Duel? That would certainly make everyone happy!

*One of the biggest problems for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. last season was how many times he lost engines during races. Ironically, today the #88 teams was one of the many with engine issues that were so bad that the involved teams had to make engine changes. In fact all of the Hendrick Motorsports teams made engine changes due to a lifter problem. The HMS engines are some of the most dependable in the garage area - it's pretty unusual for them to have engine problems let alone ones that require them to change engines on all of their cars. The problem may also extend to some of the other teams that use HMS engines and at least one of the Hass-CNC Racing teams will be making an engine change as well. Any of the teams that change engines will have to start from the back during the Duels but it won't effect where they start during the 500.

*Turner Sports who produces Nascar.com has entered into an agreement with Roush-Fenway Racing to do their website as well. While I've never liked the Roush website too much, the Nascar.com website is even worse. It's hard to navigate and extremely difficult to find even the simplest of information. In addition, even on a high-speed connection the site is often very slow to load probably because of how graphics heavy it is. Other than when I'm using Trackpass I avoid spending much time on the site. It'll be interesting to see what they do for an individual team's site.

*Ray Evernham continues to redefine what he'll be doing now that he's taken a step back from the organization that bears his name. Today it was announced that he would be joining ESPN as an analyst which will include appearances on Nascar Now and in the booth for selected Nationwide races. I think he'll be a pretty good addition to ESPN's Nascar coverage. He's a weekly guest on Dave Moody's show on Sirius and I enjoy listening to him on that show. A lot of fans lost respect for Ray due to the whole Erin Crocker mess, but he has a lot to offer in terms of knowledge about the cars and the sport overall, both as a former crew chief and current team owner.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2008

Michael Waltrip Qualifies on the Front Row for the Daytona 500!!!

Oh happy day!!!! I knew Michael Waltrip had a good chance at locking himself into the Daytona 500 today after he practiced so well yesterday, but in qualifying anything can happen so I was still a bundle of nerves watching qualifying. Michael went out last of all the go-or-go-homers and not only did he lock himself into the race, but he flirted with the pole and ultimately qualified second! On top of that David Reutimann also locked himself into the 500 with a terrific qualifying lap! What an outstanding day for Michael Waltrip Racing, that two of their three cars are locked into the 500 and Michael will start on the front row! I'm so happy for Michael - this has to feel so good . He's talking right now on Nascar Live on Speed and he sounds so proud! Kenny Wallace asked him if the trophy he got for qualifying on the front row is the most important trophy MWR has ever gotten and Michael said that yes, it is and that he wants to put it on a chain and wear it around his neck all week! Michael was all smiles in that interview and sounded happier than he has for a really long time!

MWR has really come such a long way since a year ago! Some said that MWR would fold before the year was out but the organization has survived and is far stronger than they were back then. Talk about showing something to all the naysayers! I'm sure there are some who are going to say that qualifying 2nd is no big deal, after all it's not a pole and there's still the race to be run. But it's a huge accomplishment for an organization - and a driver - that struggled so much last season. I never stopped believing in Michael or MWR - I knew that eventually all of Michael's hard work would pay off!

One thing that Michael's mentioned a few times in the interviews he's done today is that none of what he's been able to do would be possible without NAPA, that their belief in him and in MWR is what kept them going. I'm really glad that NAPA stuck by him - and they should have stuck by him. In spite of all the negative stuff last season Michael has gotten them a tremendous amount of exposure which has helped them sell a lot of auto parts in the time that he's been associated with them. I know that I, and lots of other fans, wouldn't be shopping at NAPA if not for their association with Michael. They too have to be extremely happy because Michael qualifying on the front row is going to get a huge amount of media attention!

The only negative from today for MWR is that Dale Jarrett still has to race his way into the 500. I can't say I'm surprised that DJ didn't qualify as well as Michael and David did since he often struggled last season in qualifying. While DJ is very capable of racing his way in in Thursday and he appears to have a decent car, it's not going to be easy because there are many others who will be fighting hard for a tiny amount of available spots. The Duels are going to be crazy! I wish DJ had locked himself in as well but I'm very relieved that I won't have to worry about Michael and David having to race their way in.

Overall it was a really wonderful day for MWR - MWR made a statement today that they're capable of coming to the track with fast cars. Hopefully next Sunday they'll make another statement and show that this season they're going to race competitively!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)

February 05, 2008

Thoughts and Predictions - Toyota

Seems like everyone is making their predictions about what the 2008 season has in store for the various teams and drivers, so I figure I might as well get into the act too. I'll take a look at each manufacturer's Cup teams in a separate entry, then maybe do an entry for the Nationwide and Truck Series as well.

Michael Waltrip Racing- I figure I'll start with my personal favorite organization. I feel very optimistic that Michael is going to surprise some who have written him off as being done as a driver - in the races that he was able to qualify for last season he showed that he can still race up front at restrictor plate tracks, and is capable of solid finishes at other tracks. I believe Michael will contend for wins at the four restrictor plate tracks and his results overall will improve but it all depends on how competitive the cars are that MWR are fielding this season. David Reutimann will continue to be consistently good for MWR. He's shown he can race up front in every series he's raced in when he has a good car - we may see a lot of that this season from David, again depending on how good his cars are. There's no question in my mind that in the Nationwide Series David will once again contend for the Championship and will hopefully win it! Dale Jarrett and his team will likely be highly motivated to improve on their results from last season so that DJ retires on a high note but I'm not expecting a trip to Victory Lane before he steps out of the car. While everyone seems to think very highly of Michael McDowell's ability behind the wheel and there's no question he has talent, I'm a bit concerned about how things are going to work out for him in the #00 - it's a big jump from ARCA to Cup. Sponsorship has to be a concern as well - if MWR can't find a sponsor for the #00 how might that effect their ability to give McD a competitive car?

Of course I'm biased because I'm such a big fan of Michael's but overall I believe MWR is going to show a significant amount of improvement between last season and this. MWR has added a lot of good personnel on the competitive and management sides including Cal Wells and Dr. Eric Warren. Ryan Pemberton and Paul Andrews as crew chiefs for David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip respectively should be assets as well. While test results aren't really all that meaningful, it's still a positive sign that the MWR teams had more speed in pre-season testing this year than at the same tests last season - that's an indication that they've made progress that will hopefully translate into improved competitiveness on the track. Michael is very determined to show that he can be successful as an owner and I think this season he and MWR both will not only start to achieve that success but show that they have a long-term future in this sport.

Joe Gibbs Racing - As much as I'd like to see a MWR driver get Toyota their first Cup win, I suspect it's likely to come from a JGR driver and it probably won't take long. JGR is likely to be just as successful affiliated with Toyota as they were with Chevy - this is an established organization that knows what it takes to field competitive cars and their drivers are extremely talented. JGR will help the other Toyota organizations not only via information sharing and with the shocks project they're all working together on, but also because all the expectations and attention will be focused on them which should take some of the pressure off of the other teams.

Any of the JGR Cup drivers are capable of contending for wins on a weekly basis and with luck on their side all three could make the Chase. That is, if none of them trip themselves up. All three are among the most talented drivers in the garage area but both Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch are also among the most volatile, and Denny Hamlin has let his emotions get the best of him in the past as well. Tony can't seem to go more than a couple of months before he's ripping a fellow competitor - sometimes even a teammate, tangling with the media or angering Nascar. Questions about whether Tony is going to sign an extension to his contract with JGR could end up being a distraction as well.

Hall of Fame Racing - An association with JGR should help, as will that they are starting the season in the top 35 in owner's points, but HoF is still a one-car team with a driver whose results have been unimpressive in Cup so far. J.J. Yeley will have to race well consistently throughout the season. J.J. hasn't been in Cup for long so he may be still developing as a Cup driver, but I don't anticipate we'll be seeing him contend for wins too often. HoF will be fielding a second Cup car at selected races for Brad Coleman, who I suspect could turn into a more successful Cup driver than J.J. one day.

Red Bull Racing - Another organization that I think will show a lot of improvement over last season. While RBR hasn't seemed to have made as many changes as MWR has, they have added some key personnel and like MWR they had very positive tests last month. I think Brian Vickers could be another driver like Michael who shows significant improvement over last season, particularly when once considers in the races that he was able to qualify for he often raced in the top 10 or top 15. I'm not sure we'll see quite as much improvement from A.J. Allmendinger since he doesn't have as much experience as Brian does - racing every weekend would help him a lot but it remains to be seen as to whether he'll be able to qualify for every race this season. If A.J. doesn't improve over last season there could be a driver change at some point - RBR is backing Scott Speed in an ARCA car this season so he could be waiting in the wings to take over for A.J.

Bill Davis Racing - I think BDR's problems are often overlooked by the fact that they have so much success in the Truck Series and because Dave Blaney was Toyota's most successful Cup driver last season. As an established organization that isn't new to fielding Cup teams BDR should have been better than they were last season, even though it was Toyota's first season in Cup and there were issues to deal with in relation to that. There are major questions as to whether BDR will be able to field two cars for the whole season to the point where Jacques Villeneuve may have to pay the costs of his car out of his own pocket. Many are expecting a breakout season for Dave in 2008 but given BDR's struggles for a few years now I don't expect to see him racing up front as much as his fans would like. Though test results don't provide a true picture of how a team's season is going to go, it's not a good sign that they struggled to find speed at times during testing last month. That could be an especially big problem for JV since he will have to qualify for races on time. Although some liked what they saw from JV in the truck and Cup races he was in, I was unimpressed and I'm particularly concerned that it seemed as if he caused a few incidents in a truck race or two, likely because of his inexperience. If BDR can't give him competitive cars and he struggles his time in Cup could be a short-lived disaster.

Overall, Toyota should have a lot more success in the Cup Series than they did last year. I'm not convinced that they'll dominate the series like Chevy did last season which is what some fans seem to think is going to happen but I do think that adding JGR will help get them to Victory Lane pretty quickly.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2007

Unanswered Questions Heading Into 2008

As 2007 comes to an end there's lots of unanswered questions heading into the new year for a lot of teams, drivers and Nascar itself...

*Will Brendan Gaughan find a ride? I think the last thing that anyone expected was that Brendan would still be looking for a ride this late but then again it was also pretty surprising when the merger between South Point Racing and Wyler Racing fell apart which led to South Point Racing closing their doors.

*How many other teams might have to fold due to financial or other issues?

*What team will Ted Musgrave race for in 2008? At the end of the season there was a lot of talk that he had a deal in place but nothing's been announced yet.

*Will Morgan-McClure Motorsports field a Cup car next season? That they're heading into 2008 with no driver, no crew chief and no sponsor doesn't seem to bode well for them.

*A lot of fans have dug in their heels and are insistent that everything about the "new" Nascar is horrible as compared to the way things used to be. Any change, no matter how small is met with negativity, and more and more fans seem to like complaining and being negative about everything they hate about Nascar from some drivers to the governing body more than they enjoy watching good racing (yes, there is some of that!) and cheering for their favorite drivers. How is Nascar going to respond to these increasingly vocal fans?

*How long will Steve Park keep looking for a ride before the desire to race is greater than his desire to find an elite ride? And if he doesn't race next year either, how long before Steve acknowledges that he might be done?

*How many other talented drivers will have to sit on the sidelines next season for all or part of the season due to a lack of quality rides, sponsorship or other factors?

*Rumors circulated at the end of the season that all or part of Bill Davis Racing might be sold. Will that sale actually happen? More and more teams are finding that they need to bring on additional financial partners due to the ever increasing costs of racing so it wouldn't be surprising to see this sale go through at some point.

*How will switching manufacturers from Chevy to Toyota effect Joe Gibbs Racing? Some are predicting that JGR won't skip a beat and will be just as competitive as ever, while others are predicting that 2008 will be a disaster for them. I think 2008 will more likely be somewhere in the middle - an organization like JGR doesn't suddenly become non-competitive that quickly, but with how many problems Toyota had in Cup in 2007 I don't think it will be smooth sailing either.

*How will Dale Earnhardt, Jr. adjust to racing for a different organization for the first time in his Cup career? Many are already penciling him in as the 2008 Cup Champion but I think things won't be as easy for Junior in 2008 as some think. Aside from making the transition from DEI to Hendrick Motorsports, Junior will also be dealing with new teammates who are just as high-profile as he is, new major sponsors and new obligations that could be a distraction from what he's trying to accomplish on the track.

*Will HMS continue their dominant ways in the Cup Series next year? Will Jimmie Johnson win his third Cup championship in a row? I believe HMS will continue to be one of the best organizations in the garage, but I suspect that some of the other elite teams will close the gap a little. I expect Jimmie to contend for his third championship in a row.

*Will BDR, Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing improve in performance in 2008? MWR has made the most changes, bringing in a new financial partner, new upper management, a Director of Engineering, three new crew chiefs, as well as additional personnel and resources. However, BDR and RBR must also be working hard to ensure that they are more successful next season. Some believe that Dave Blaney is poised to have a breakout season but BDR has struggled so much the past few seasons I'm not convinced of that. I think Brian Vickers will likely have a much stronger 2008, assuming that RBR can give him more competitive cars than they did this season.

*Who's going to end up in the #00 for MWR after the first five races? It's expected that one or both MWR development drivers, Josh Wise or Michael McDowell, will end up in the #00, but MWR has been known to surprise - will a veteran end up in the mix?

*How will all the open wheel drivers fare in Cup in 2008? With two of them needing to qualify for races on speed to start the season, and a limited amount of experience in Nascar for all of them, the results might not be pretty.

*Will drivers who struggled such as Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Michael Waltrip and Jeremy Mayfield rebound in 2008?

*What company will replace Craftsman as the sponsor of the Truck Series?

Posted by silverdsl at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2007

More on Frank Kerr

Frank Kerr was just on XM talking about going to Robby Gordon Motorsports to be Robby's crew chief. There's been a lot of speculation about why Frank left Michael Waltrip Racing, whether it was by choice and whether it was because he was replaced as David Reutimann's crew chief by Ryan Pemberton. Well, it turns out that Frank always remained in contact with Robby after he left RGM, and he's been talking to him since the Dover race in September about becoming his crew chief. I guess his contract at MWR must have put a little crimp in his plans - it must have been pretty disappointing to Robby and Frank when Gene Nead fled RGM that Frank couldn't step in right away as Robby's CC due to his obligations to MWR. Frank said that Robby's driving style is exactly like his was when he raced - intense. From the way he was singing Robby's praises I'm wondering if he really enjoyed working with David and had as good of a relationship with him as it had always seemed. None of this surprises me as I've just always had the sense that there was still a relationship of some sort between Robby and Frank and that Frank would be leaving MWR eventually to return to RGM.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2007

New Crew Chief Lineup for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2008

Yesterday Michael Waltrip Racing announced their crew chief lineup for 2008. In a previous entry I had said how great it would be if Ryan Pemberton ended up at MWR, but that I thought he would likely go to a more established team - I'm very happy that I was wrong about that! Pemberton will be David Reutimann's crew chief next season, first when he's in the #00 for the first five races of the season, and then when he moves to the #44 team. Pemberton was most recently the crew chief of the #01 at Ginn Racing and DEI, where he worked with Joe Nemechek and Mark Martin. Previously he worked with Ernie Ervan and Jerry Nadeau. Michael Waltrip will also have a new crew chief - Paul Andrews, who Michael knows from when they were both at DEI at the same time. Andrews was Steve Park's crew chief at DEI for one of his wins and also worked Jeremy Mayfield, Jeff Burton and most recently with Bobby Labonte and Kyle Petty at Petty Enterprises. The crew chief of the third Cup team will be Bill Pappas, who doesn't have any Nascar crew chiefing experience, but has had considerable success as a chief engineer for Chip Ganassi Racing and Panther Racing among others in IRL and CART. He was the chief engineer for Juan Pablo Montoya when he won the Indy 500 in 2000. In the Nationwide Series, Jerry Baxter will remain as crew chief of the #99 car for David.

I'm really glad that Michael is getting a crew chief who has a lot of experience with other veteran drivers and at a lot of different organizations. Buddy Cisco was officially the crew chief last season once they settled on someone, but Bobby Kennedy was clearly callling the shots on race day. I think Bobby and Michael worked together extremely well but Bobby is probably needed in other areas at MWR. Paul has worked with a variety of different drivers with different personalities so he likely has the patience and ability to handle Michael's strong personality, plus he will hopefully be able to give Michael competitive cars so that he will be able to make races and get good results. Having one crew chief from the start of the season to the end of the season will give the #55 team the stability that they didn't always have last season and that should help both the team and Michael. While the results can't be considered good for Michael last season since he DNQ'd for so many races, he did get two top tens which is two more than he got in 2006 in 35 races for Bill Davis Racing and a pole, so based on what they were able to do in a limited amount of races, I expect to see Michael and his team have a solid season next year, especially with the addition of Paul.

Although I suspect that David is likely disappointed about Frank Kerr not continuing as his crew chief since they worked so well together this season, I think that Ryan will really help David in his sophomore season. David is an extremely talented driver but he didn't often get the change to show that in Cup in 2007. With a crew chief who has guided other drivers into Victory Lane I think we'll see David develop even further as a Cup driver and race up front more often in 2008 than he did this year. I think some fans are upset about David getting a new crew chief but when an organization has an opportunity to get a crew chief like Ryan who can help them improve, they need to take advantage of it. In addition, at the moment it's unknown as to what Frank will end up doing next season - it's possible MWR has another role for him or maybe he was offered an opportunity with a different organization that he felt he couldn't pass up. He's worked for Robby Gordon previously, for some reason I get the feeling he could end up there again at some point.

As for Bill Pappas, while there is no question that he has impressive credentials in other racing series, I wonder about the wisdom of using a crew chief with zero experience in Nascar for a team that will likely have a rookie driver (and maybe two rookies drivers) with limited experience in Nascar themselves. That seems like a huge risk for an organization that doesn't have much room for error. Obviously MWR must be impressed with Pappas and believe in his ability to help them succeed otherwise they wouldn't have hired him, but things could be rocky for a while as Pappas adjusts to working in Nascar. One thing that occurred to me is that since the driver for the #00 after the first five races of 2008 hasn't been announced yet that MWR could have changed their minds about putting Michael McDowell and/or Josh Wise behind the wheel. While I think we'll likely see McDowell in that car for many, if not all, of the races, I wonder whether MWR is considering an open wheel driver like so many other teams have and that's why they brought someone in with experience in those series.

Overall while I'm a little unsure as to how Pappas is going to work out, I'm pretty excited about this lineup of crew chiefs for MWR for next season. I think it's really going to help them build on the progress they made at the end of last season! I can't wait for Speedweeks in February!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2007

New Role for David Reutimann - Team Owner

Starting next season David Reutimann is going to field a car for his cousin, Wayne Reutimann in the ARCA series for eight races. When efforts to get Wayne a ride with an established team in the series using his contacts failed because the teams wanted Wayne to bring $2 million in sponsorship and other assets with him, David took matters into his own hands and decided to start his own team for Wayne. David has purchased three Cup cars from Michael Waltrip Racing and has a $35,000 per race budget, $15,000 of which will go towards leasing engines from Toyota. He will also receive help from his Cup team.

I don't know much more about Wayne than that he's David's cousin. But I'm looking forward to seeing him race in ARCA. Ever since MWR started having their development drivers race ARCA I've paid more attention to that series and it'll be good to have another driver to cheer for. What I like about what David's doing is that not only is he helping a member of his family with their racing career, but that instead of saying, "Sorry, too bad" to Wayne when he couldn't find a team for him to race for, he came up with a well-thought out plan B, and he's following through on it. Good for David and I hope it's a successful venture! If things work out for them with the eight races next season maybe they can expand and race even more races in the future.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2007

Season in Review: Michael Waltrip Racing

To a lot of people 2007 was a complete failure and a disaster of a season for Michael Waltrip and Michael Waltrip Racing. In some ways it was with the Daytona mess, Michael's accident and the struggles to make races and be competitive. However, there were some accomplishments and high points to this season too which prevent this season from being a failure in my mind.

For one thing Michael took MWR from a Busch team in his backyard with a handful of employees, and turned it into a huge organization with hundreds of employees, multiple major sponsors, fielding three Cup teams, a Busch car (likely soon to be two), and until the truck was sold a truck team, all of which is housed in an incredible facility - Raceworld USA. I'm in awe of the way that Michael was able to grow MWR. Some are thinking but he didn't do it successfully, but he still did it, and this was only the first year of a journey as an owner that will probably continue for many years into the future. For all the problems on the track, there's one thing that did turn out the way Michael wanted it to - Raceworld. Not only is a destination for Michael's fans, but for all race fans, and attendance has been very good since it opened in May. Raceworld is something for Michael to be proud of. I think what he did with Raceworld is innovative and will revolutionize how race shops cater to fans who visit.

On the track there were a lot of disappointments, particularly on the Cup side, there's no denying that. Still, as the season went along there was definite progress, particularly with the #00 and #55 teams. David Reutimann works so incredibly well with the #00 team and the way they've gelled as a unit is definitely a success of the season. Michael was able to get MWR their first Cup pole at Talladega, which was also Toyota's first Cup pole with an engine they built - no small victory considering that the Toyota built engines seemed to often be lacking in power. Plus, although Michael only made 14 races this season, he got two top tens, two top 15's and a top 20. That's not too good for an established team, but to me that's not bad for a team in it's first year that's struggled so much. With the additions of engineering expertise from Dr. Eric Warren and additional financial resources from Rob Kauffman, plus everything else that MWR is doing to make themselves a stronger organization, I feel very confident that we'll be seeing much better results for MWR in Cup in 2008. That doesn't mean I think that they'll be winning races and racing up front all the time next season, but I do think that MWR showed signs that they're capable of fielding cars that can race competitively and I think we'll be seeing a lot more of that in the future. I don't think a win is out of question either - David is an extremely talented driver, and when he has a good car, which he had at Talladega, Michael is always a threat to win at restrictor plate tracks.

On the Busch side, David was awesome! Not only did he win his first Busch race, but also his first Busch pole. And he and the #99 team were in the hunt for the Championship. Finishing 2nd in points is probably a disappointment to the #99 team but I think it's outstanding considering it was David's first full-time Busch season and he was dealing with a lot of stress on the Cup side. I'm really looking forward to seeing David battle for the Busch championship next season as well. It's also great that MWR added some more young talent in 2007 - in addition to Josh Wise, who we'll hopefully see in a second Busch car next season, they signed Michael McDowell, who also appears to have a lot of talent. Both of them are the future of MWR and it's going to be exciting to watch them develop.

One area in which it's hard to find as many positives is with Dale Jarrett and the #44 team. I have no doubt that the team worked hard all season, but they didn't seem to make as much progress as the #00 and #55 teams did as the season went along. At times, particularly towards the end of the season they did have a lot more speed in qualifying than they did earlier in the season, but even when they made races they never seemed to be able to do much in the actual race, whereas at times David and Michael were able to race their way to decent finishes in a few of the races they made. Maybe it was just that the team dealt with a lot of bad luck in the form of getting swept up in wrecks or having mechanical failures but I didn't feel like this team showed as much as the other two did. One positive is that contrary to some of the rumors that were circulating UPS is staying at MWR, and they'll be gaining a fine driver to represent them instead of DJ in David. Perhaps another positive will end up being that DJ is retiring earlier than expected. DJ is a past Champion and an accomplished driver who has won 32 races over the course of his career but his heart doesn't seem to be in racing like it once was. So it might do this team some good to have another driver behind the wheel. The #44 team will turn into the #00 team, most likely with Michael McDowell at the wheel possibly sharing time with Josh, and/or a veteran. An infusion of youthful excitement might be exactly what this team needs.

What Michael had to deal with this year might have broken some others who aren't as strong as he is. Not only did he have to worry about qualifying in for races himself, but also whether David and DJ were going to make it in. But Michael kept showing up week after week, no matter what, even when he had replaced himself with Terry Labonte. Some others might have given up, taken themselves out of the car, and stopped coming to the track. That would have been the easy thing to do, just quit racing, quit trying and only be an owner. Everyone would have understood if he had taken that route. But he didn't. Even on weekends that he DNQ'd Michael was there for his teams, took care of his hospitality obligations, and almost always did some sort of appearance for the fans. When he was able to race Michael sometimes the finishes were poor, but when he had a decent car he made the most of it, which resulted in those two top tens. No matter how difficult things were, Michael continued to be outstanding as part of the team in the booth for the truck races - I love his enthusiasm for the series and those racing in it! Although his smile was strained some weeks, Michael also entertained fans on Inside Nextel Cup each week. But best of all as far as his media work goes is the XM show he started doing this season. I looked forward to listening to Michael Waltrip Out Loud each week. Whether that week's results were good or bad Michael never hesitated to be candid on his show about MWR and everything else that was going on in the sport.

I'm a long-time huge fan of Michael's because of his talent behind the wheel, because of how fascinating and intelligent he is, and because of what a great person he is, but I've come to be even more of a fan of his this season. I wish that I had even close to the amount of determination, perseverance and sheer force of will that he has. There were times when Michael got down this season - sometimes very down - but overall, he continued to be forward-thinking and optimistic about the future for himself and for MWR. He rarely complained or blamed others and instead tried to find ways to make the best of things. I've come to admire all the go-or-go-homers and their teams because of how hard they work to make the best of the situation that they're in, but I really admire Michael's "no quit" attitude (as Ty Norris once put it).

In August I got to spend a little time with Michael at Pocono and he was wonderful as always. I always treasure the times I see Michael because I don't know when - or if - I'll see Michael again. For me that was a definite highlight of the season - seeing Michael and getting to experience all the sights and sounds of the garage area. Maybe the most incredible race-related experience I ever had was watching Michael get strapped into his car on pit road prior to the race and then standing there as the command to "start your engines" rang out. Hearing all those engines start up from so close was so awesome and almost overwhelming I thought I was going to pass out! Even though I knew that Michael wasn't likely to finish up front, I was still unbelievably excited - Michael made the show and I was going to see him race! Due to a fuel pump issue he ended up finishing 38th but I didn't care - I just loved being there! All of Michael's fans appreciate how terrific he always is - he made the day, no year, of many fans this season by taking the time to interact with them. But a big highlight for the Walnutz was definitely when he talked about how much he appreciated our support in the Chex Most Popular Driver Newsletter.

All in all it was quite a season with a lot of ups and downs - okay, a lot of downs. But the slate is wiped clean now and it's on to 2008, a year that will hopefully be filled with a lot more happiness and positive things for Michael and his teams than this season!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2007

No Michael Waltrip Racing Teams will Race on Sunday

As much as Michael Waltrip Racing has struggled this season, they've still managed to get at least one car in every Cup race this season until this weekend. Qualifying for tomorrow's race at Phoenix was a disaster for MWR - Dale Jarrett was almost embarrassingly slow, David Reutimann lost an engine on the warm-up lap and Michael was bumped out of the field by Bill Elliott needing to use a Champion's provisional. Like last week when the #55 team missed the show after having done so well for so many races in a row previously, I'm not too happy with the way things went this weekend. It was pretty obvious based on the practice speeds that DJ had no chance of making the race and that it would be borderline for David and Michael. That can't be happening. As the season went on the MWR teams had done a much better job of showing up with cars that had the speed necessary to make races, and I hate to see them take a step backwards. They absolutely have to show up with cars that are decent off the truck because one practice isn't enough to make changes to give them the speed they need to make races. In addition, while teams are always going to have mechanical issues, it can't be happening during qualifying when there's no margin for error for the MWR teams. Of course since they don't build their own engines, that's a Toyota issue - it's incredibly disappointing for the #00 to miss races to begin with and even more frustrating when it happens for reasons that are out of their control.

What I'm really bothered by though is Michael missing this race. While the #55 team needed to come to the track with a car that had more speed, Michael qualified 32nd, better than six go-or-go-homers, which should have gotten him into the race. However, because one of those cars was the #21 and Bill is guaranteed to race thanks to his Champion's provisional, Michael goes home and Bill gets to race even though he was slower. Even though MWR has used the Champion's provisional to their advantage, I wish they'd eliminate that provisional all together so no team can use it to get into races even when they're lacking the necessary speed. In addition, Michael was bit by having such an early qualifying draw. He went out second and as qualifying went on the track cooled down considerably, which meant that those that went out later picked up a lot of speed. Had he had a later draw I suspect Michael would be racing tomorrow. It seems to me that all the go-or-go-homers should qualify together so that there's no advantage for some teams over others based on their qualifying draw.

But more than all of that, as it has all season, it bothers me that Michael was one of the 43 fastest cars yet he's still going home. Michael routinely out-qualifies drivers like Robby Gordon and Kyle Petty, yet both of them are guaranteed to race each week because they're in the top 35 in owner's points, even though they're sometimes significantly slower than Michael. Of course all the teams are aware of the rules and need to adjust what they do accordingly, but I think it's ridiculous that Michael out-qualified 17 other cars and his team still had to pack up and go home. I highly doubt that Nascar is going to make many - if any - changes to the rules regarding qualifying for next season, but they're doing a tremendous disservice to many teams and sponsors. The rule was created to protect big-money sponsors and teams that show up every week to race - well there's big-money sponsors such as NAPA and UPS who spend a significant amount of money not just on their cars but in the sport overall that are being hurt by this rule, and all of these teams are attempting to race every week. It makes it so hard for new teams to have any kind of success and that's a problem that Nascar doesn't seem too concerned about.

I also feel terrible for Michael. He's been so happy and proud of the improvements his teams have made recently. That none of them will be racing on Sunday has to hurt pretty bad. With one more Cup race left, next weekend at Homestead will be very important for MWR so they can finish the season on a positive note. I suspect there might be a large entry list since it's the last race and one with a large audience both at home and at the track since the Cup Champion will be crowded. So it won't be easy for all three MWR cars to make the show, but I'd at least like to see two out of their three cars make the race. I'll have my fingers crossed all week that we'll see Michael (and hopefully his teams) racing at Homestead!!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2007

David Reutimann Wins at Memphis!!

David Reutimann didn't just win yesterday's Busch race at Memphis, he did so in truly dominating fashion, leading 194 of 250 laps! An outstanding win for an outstanding driver and team! I'm so happy for David - it's his first Busch win and hopefully it eases the pain of not qualifying for today's Cup race a little! Maybe not qualifying for the Cup race made David feel like he had something to prove, he said that he felt angry about missing the race - he and his team certainly showed what they're capable of with! David has now won in the Truck Series and Busch - as soon as the Michael Waltrip Racing cars are competitive in Cup, I have no doubt he'll win a race in that series as well! David is an extremely talented driver and I'm thrilled that he races for MWR!

I just wish I had been able to see David cross the finish line. I knew he had an extremely good car right from the beginning. He started the race second, and took the lead on the first lap. It was clear immediately that he was the man to beat so I was excited right away! I was going to a Halloween party last night but I figured the race would be long over before we had to leave. Unfortunately due to a record 25 cautions (which was ridiculous - they could barely race one lap after a restart without there being yet another wreck), that was not to be, and we had to leave with 40 laps to go. It was really hard to walk out the door! But I nearly screamed with happiness when I checked my cell phone and saw that David had done it! All night every time I thought about David winning I smiled - I can only imagine how terrific David must have felt! He's probably still walking on air!!

I'm also very happy for Michael - he's won in the Busch Series a few times while racing for himself, but this is the first time another driver has won in a car that he's owned. It's also the first win for his organization for Toyota. After all they've been through this season, it has to be a wonderful feeling to show that they have the ability to get into Victory Lane. There's no doubt that Michael and those who work with him at MWR can put together a strong team - if they can do it in Busch, they can do it in Cup! It's just a matter of getting the right pieces in place to make the cars more competitive so they can race up front regularly like David does in Busch.

I can understand why David was so insistent on wanting to race for the Busch Championship again next season. He knows that the team he has is a strong one that's capable of a championship series. If he has cars like he had yesterday on a regular basis, it's going to be David racing away with the Championship next series, not Carl Edwards! David has such a bright future, not just in Busch but in Cup as well!

The one thing that wasn't so great about yesterday is that apparently ESPN didn't bother showing David's Victory Lane celebration because of how long the race broadcast went due to all the cautions. Although I understand that they had other obligations they had to fulfill and the race had gone far longer than they expected, I think they did their viewers a huge disservice. Showing the winner celebrating in Victory Lane is part of the story of every race, but that celebration is particularly worthy of being shown when it's a driver who has never won in the series before who is racing for an organization that has struggled so much in Cup. In addition, it does a disservice to David's sponsors. Aaron's should get the same exposure that the rest of the sponsors do when their cars end up in Victory Lane. ESPN's race coverage has been very disappointing this season, and this is just one more example of how little they seem to understand what fans want.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2007

Michael Waltrip Racing Announces New Partner; Dale Jarrett To Retire

What a day for Michael Waltrip Racing!! Lots of exciting news for sure! As rumored, Dale Jarrett will race just six races next season before turning the #44 - and the UPS sponsorship - over to David Reutimann. David, who has extended his contract with MWR for the next three years, will start the season in the #00 before getting into the #00. In addition, Michael announced that he was bringing on a partner, Rob Kauffman, a founder of Fortress Investment Group, who has acquired 50% ownership of the new company formed as a result, Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings, LLC.

I'm thrilled that David was not only re-signed, but re-signed for the next three years! He's an outstanding driver and person, and I've been so impressed with him, not only this season but also when he was in DW's truck as well. David has so much talent as a driver, and I have no doubt we'll be seeing David win some Cup races as soon as he has cars that are competitive enough to allow him to race up front regularly. I think David will end up being a good fit for UPS - it's clear they like David, and from the sounds of it, DJ thinks very highly of him too and played a major role in getting David into the #44. It's a little disappointing that David won't be able to continue racing the #00 since that number has so much family history for him, but UPS would like to remain with the #44. What's good is that David said yesterday that he'll apparently be keeping his crew chief, Frank Kerr, and his team - that's outstanding for David because he has such a great rapport with them and they seem to work extremely well together.

David will also race the #99 again full-time in the Nationwide Series because he wants the opportunity to race for a Championship again in that series. While I love to watch David race in the now-Busch series, and I think his chances of winning the Championship next season are pretty good, if there's one thing that I wish was different is that I would have rather seen David concentrate on Cup only next season, and that the #99 would be used for driver development. But I can't really complain too much about having more opportunities to see David race!

Although DJ is only going to be racing a handful of races next season he plans on remaining involved with the #44 team and UPS. DJ talked about how much he wanted to help MWR and the #44 team grow, but I have to wonder if the extent to which he's going to be involved next season is because he still has contractual obligations to UPS and MWR because of the deal he signed prior to the start of this season which was supposed to be a two-year deal for DJ to race full-time through the end of next season. What makes me think that is when it was said that DJ would fulfill all his hospitality obligations to UPS. I can see how UPS might want to get as much mileage about of DJ as possible before he retires completely considering how closely connected DJ and UPS have been the past seven years. UPS is really going to get the best of both worlds - a talented driver in David, and continue to have DJ represent them. As I've said previously in this space I've never warmed to DJ, and once he said that he didn't care one way or another whether he continued to race, nor was he very upset when he didn't make races, I thought it was definitely time for him to get out of the car. So I can't say I'm as heart-broken as a lot of fans that DJ's retiring. I appreciate all that DJ has done to help MWR get off the ground and I can recognize that DJ has accomplished a lot in the sport, but I just don't have the same fond feelings for him that others do.

I also practically jumped up and down for joy when it was confirmed as part of this announcement that Michael will continue to race the #55 full-time next season! Michael had said that was the plan a number of times recently, but the best laid plans have a funny way of changing. Some have said that surely NAPA wants Michael to step aside, but it's pretty clear that NAPA wants Michael to continue representing them and racing for them otherwise another driver would be in the car next season. Eventually I know the day will come when Michael steps out of the car for good just like DJ is doing, but Michael told Nascar Now he has no plans to retire and that he intends on continuing to race as long as he feels he can race competitively. If he has a good race car I know Michael can race up front and contend for wins so now that the MWR cars are getting more competitive, I hope that means that Michael will continue to race for a few more years, but I suppose that depends on how quickly the drivers in MWR's development program progress.

One thing that wasn't announced at the press conference was who the driver of the #00 would be when David moves to the #44. It was said that they would consider putting either Josh Wise or Michael McDowell in the #00, but that they're also considering other options. So the speculation about who might get that ride will continue. I imagine that a lot of it will depend on sponsorship - whether they find some and who that sponsor wants in the car, though based on Ty Norris's comments just now on XM it also depends on whether Josh and Michael will be ready by next April to race in Cup. I'm very happy to hear that it sounds like Michael McDowell has joined the MWR driver development program. Michael has spoken highly about him recently and he appears to have a lot of talent and potential, just like Josh. I think it's a little soon to put either of those two drivers in the #00 though, especially full-time. I'd rather see them race full-time or share a ride in the Truck or Nationwide Series so that they can get experience before move up to Cup. Maybe putting a veteran in the car who is willing to split time with the two young drivers, as well as mentor them, much like Mark Martin is doing at DEI would work. No, I don't think Steve Park is going to end up in this ride. Not when he hasn't raced Cup or worked much with a sponsor since 2003. Though I saw elsewhere that apparently Michael mentioned in one interview or another that Johnny Benson was being considered - I wish Steve had hooked up with a Toyota truck team at some point because that might led to other opportunities with other Toyota teams.

Contrary to what David Poole reported, Fortress Investment Group isn't buying into MWR. However, Rob Kauffman, a founder and managing director of Fortress is making a personal investment in MWR. That was made clear several times, that this is a personal investment by Kauffman. I think this is ultimately going to be a very good thing. Kauffman will be a huge asset on the financial and business side, which will allow Michael to focus on the motorsports side, an area that Kauffman has no experience with. Since Kauffman lives in Europe I suspect that Michael will remain in control of most of the day-to-day operations and much of what happens just as he always had. It's interesting that this partnership is going to result in a new company, Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings, LLC. For one thing Michael's name remains prominent, but additionally, I have to wonder as someone else on Michael's forum wondered about as well what that new company actually entails and what kinds of protections are in place for Michael to retain actual ownership of Michael Waltrip Racing and the teams.

What no one saw coming was that Cal Wells, formerly the owner of PPI Motorsports would come on board as Executive Vice President of Operations. MWR essentially merged with PPI prior to the start of this season when they not only purchased the owner's points from the #32, but also hired most of the #32's crew and some other personnel. It had been thought that this deal was mostly on paper, particularly since Cal was working with Robby Gordon Motorsports as a consultant for a while. However, a few months ago Michael made a comment on his XM show that Cal was still actively involved, and it's clear now that was very true. Some of Robby's fans have to be all twisted up inside that Cal was hired by Michael, not Robby given that Cal has known Robby since he was young. However, Cal had said in an XM interview that while he wanted to help Robby out as much as possible he could never go into a formal business arrangement with him because he felt it would damage their personal relationship due to Robby's control issues and overall attitude as owner. Robby's loss is definitely MWR's gain! It'll be humorous to see all the ways that Robby's fans, a large percentage of whom can't stand Michael, try to spin what was announced today as negative news that's a sign that MWR is on the verge of folding as many are trying to convince them is going to happen - I think not! In fact, if Robby doesn't look to make some of the same kinds of moves that Michael has - develop young drivers so he can expand and bring on outside partners, his organization might be the one in trouble.

Believe it or not, this morning, a few hours before this announcement was made I actually got to talk to Michael. Some friends were visiting Raceworld today and got to spend a little time with Michael. So one of them was kind enough to put Michael on the phone. It was a very brief conversation, in which he did most of the talking since I was too excited about hearing his voice to say much! I honestly can't even remember exactly what was said beyond him saying that he wished I was there and that he hoped to see me soon - no clue if it was explained to him who I was and that he actually knew that he was talking to someone who is a familiar face to him or whether he says stuff like that to fans who he talks to on the phone all the time. But even in that short conversation, he sounded so happy - he's always happy around his fans, but I think what he was announcing today was making him happy too. This season has been such a struggle for him, but the future looks really bright for MWR. It has to make him feel good that someone believes in him and his organization and their chances for success enough to invest so much in it. I'm really, really happy for Michael - after a very rough start, it appears that things are really starting to turn around for MWR - I'm very excited to see what next season has in store for Michael and his teams!

Posted by silverdsl at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2007

In the News: Michael Waltrip Racing (10/10)

Dale Jarrett has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow and Michael Waltrip Racing has a press conference on Friday, and at the conclusion of both we'll know what the lineup will look like for MWR next season. It's all but certain that DJ won't race full-time in 2008, and might race as few as six races, just enough to take advantage of his Champion's provisional. Last night on Nascar Now Michael confirmed that he and David Reutimann would both race full-time for MWR in Cup in 2008, and there will also be two Busch cars, one for David, and the other presumably for Josh Wise or another young driver so they can continue to advance their driver development program. The only thing that's still unknown is who will take over for DJ next season once he steps out of the car. It's heavily rumored that David will move from the #00 to the #44 after the first six races, with another driver stepping into the #00.

It's still unknown what driver that will be it's been rumored that MWR has talked with both Jeremy Mayfield and David Stremme. I'm not surprised that MWR would show interest in those two. For one thing they already talked with Jeremy once about a ride last year before he opted to sign with Bill Davis Racing. In addition, although some fans think no team would ever possibly have any interest in Jeremy because of what's perceived to be his attitude issues, the reality is that Jeremy is a proven winner on the Cup level who knows what it takes to get into the Chase. What would also appeal to MWR is that he's raced Toyotas before in Cup and understands the challenges that come with racing for a team not locked into the top 35 in owner's points. However, some fans of Jeremy apparently spoke with Michael at Raceworld yesterday and he indicated that while he had spoken with Jeremy, it didn't look like things were going to work out with him.

Which leaves Stremme. When David was released I immediately thought that MWR might show interest in him, though at the time I was thinking he would be their back-up plan in case David Reutimann signed with another team. Although the results haven't been very impressive for David S. in Cup, he's young, marketable and seems to be pretty good with the media so I can see how that would make him attractive to MWR. He also knows how to qualify for races on time - last season when his car dropped out of the top 35 in owner's points, David was able to make races on speed. It's not the same as dealing with that over a full season, but he definitely stepped up and qualified well when he needed to. That said, David has never been high on my list of drivers that I like and he's one of the few drivers who I've wondered whether he's over his head in Cup. To be fair it's possible that David has never been given cars that are as competitive as he needs to show what he's truly capable on the Cup level, but I've not seen too much from him to make me think that he's going to win a lot of Cup races, but maybe that could happen with the right team.

Of course there could be some other driver that they're talking to as well. MWR sometimes plays their cards close to the vest - that Bill Elliott was going to race some races for them last season with Burger King as a sponsor came out of left field. There's other drivers like Tony Raines who are available, or MWR could look outside of Nascar and try to lure another open-wheel racer to try their hand at stock car racing like so many other teams have been doing lately.

One thing's for sure, contrary to what some believe, MWR isn't folding at the end of this season, UPS and NAPA aren't bailing and it appears that they're going to have three teams next season. It appears they may still have to find sponsorship for the third team so I'm not 100% positive until I hear what's announced on Friday as to whether that will be a full or part-time team, but I think MWR is going to make every effort to race it full-time. I'm sure some are going to assume that everything that MWR is doing are panic moves are because they found out recently that they'll be losing sponsors, but Michael said on his XM show last night that what they'll be announcing on Friday is something that's been in the works for six months. It's increasingly clear based on the rumors that circulated earlier this season, as well as DJ's more recently comments, that he had decided quite some time ago that he lost some of his enthusiasm for racing, something Michael has probably been aware of for quite some time. In addition, I suspect that MWR has known the the deals they had with Burger King and Domino's might not last past this season. Burger King never seemed to do much with their sponsorship, which made me wonder how committed they were to sticking around and it's been said for a while that there might be financial consideration that would prevent Domino's from being as involved in Nascar as they had been previously. It's possible that one or both of those sponsors will be back with MWR next season, but I would guess that MWR has been working on finding additional sponsors in an effort to try to continue with three full-time teams. Fact is, while some fans are convinced that no one at MWR has a clue about what they're doing, the reality is that MWR is made up of people with a significant amount of experience working in motorsports, just like any of the other Cup organizations.

In other news, Michael and Ty Norris feel good about the direction MWR is heading in, particularly with the addition of Dr. Eric Warren as Technical Director. Michael said,

“We worked really hard to get into a position where, when somebody like Dr. Warren showed up, we were ready to take that help and run with it. Our guys have done a tremendous amount of work, and Toyota as well, to get us to the point now where we feel good about where we are.”

MWR seemed to be moving in the right direction even before Dr. Warren came on board, but since they hired him there's no doubt that they've made even more progress. Not only have all three cars started making races more regularly, but they've started racing a lot more competitively too. In the past I would expect that even if Michael made a race his car wouldn't have enough speed to where he'd actually be able to race and he'd spend most of the time racing around in back. Now it seems that when he makes races he's actually able to do some real racing, including at times up front like he did at Talladega, which is great to see!

Ty said,

“The biggest mistake we made was in the summer of ’06, when we designed our structure, one of our lead people would be a ‘technical director.’ But we didn’t want to plug somebody in who didn’t have those qualifications. And then we had two people turn us down, two nonbelievers who bailed on us at the last minute, because they said ‘Man, you guys aren’t even under one roof yet, and you don’t have enough cars built.’ So when they bailed, we went into the season without that key position solidified. So we went through the first part of the season on gut feelings, throwing stuff at it, rather than basing things on science. Now with Dr. Eric Warren coming on, all those things we were looking for in the summer of ‘06 are starting to come around.”

It's hard to know exactly who Ty is referring to when he talks about there being non-believers, but I would guess that one is Matt Borland and the other is Larry Carter, as someone elsewhere suggested. Carter left prior to the start of the season to become Jamie McMurray's crew chief, and Borland left when he didn't work out as DJ's crew chief. While Carter might be happier at an established organization where there are no concerns about having to make races, I wonder if he's really satisfied working with Jamie. Although Jamie did start the season fairly strong and won at Daytona, the results for him since have been pretty unimpressive, much like the rest of his career.

Ty also talked about how hard Michael has worked. He said,

“Even people who have been in this sport for 20 years don’t understand what it has taken Michael to build this team, the countless hours, how much money, and how much work to keep it together.”

Something that continually amazes me is how many fans, seem to think that putting together a Cup team and fielding competitive cars is easy and that the struggles that MWR has had to endure this season mean that Michael's an idiot and that the organization as a whole is a failure. That couldn't be further from the truth. There are some things that I would have liked to have seen MWR do differently - and I'm sure there's not a single person in the organization who doesn't wish that they could erase the whole Daytona mess - but there's never been a doubt in my mind that Michael, Ty and everyone at MWR are working extremely hard to make the organization a success. It's not easy. Mistakes are going to be made. But in the end, I'm pretty confident that MWR is going to be successful.

Although some fans are having a hard time admitting that MWR is starting to improve, some in the garage area have taken notice. Ty said,

“The cool thing about it has been our resiliency,” Norris said. “People left us for dead. But we didn’t quit. And now even Jeff Gordon came up to and said ‘Man, you guys are making it work.’ People are recognizing that it’s going to work, that we’re going to survive."

I think it's great that someone like Jeff would take the time to acknowledge the progress that MWR is making. There's no doubt in my mind that MWR is going to survive and some who think that they're a sinking ship are going to end up being very surprised by what happens in the future.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts

*Richard Childress said today that it's unlikely that Richard Childress Racing will field a 4th car next season, and that he's rather wait until 2009 to find the "right combination" that makes it a "good fit" for their organization. From the sounds of it, sponsorship might be a problem, which isn't surprising since a 4th team wouldn't be locked into the races each week due to a lack of owner's points so some sponsors might be leery of that situation, particularly if RCR didn't have a marquee driver lined up to be behind the wheel.

*Speaking of David and him re-signing with MWR, he says that a sticking point that's keeping him from re-signing is that he wants to stay in the #99 Busch car next season but MWR wants to put a young driver in. It would be great if MWR were able to field two Busch cars next season but as an organization that is still trying to get a solid foundation in place to be successful, I'm not sure they have the resources to field two full-time Busch cars, particularly two competitive cars. Dale Jarrett is going to be retiring at the end of next season so there will need to be a replacement for him, and Michael will eventually step out of the #55 as well, so I can understand why MWR wants to put a young driver in the Busch car in the hopes of being able to advance him to Cup in 2009.

*However, David also indicated in he same article that he would probably re-sign with MWR. that's definitely great news and not a surprise. For one thing David had expressed interest in returning to MWR all along. But beyond that since RCR likely won't have a 4th team next season, David probably doesn't have many other options other than staying with MWR. I'm really happy that David will likely be back at MWR next season since I think he's a huge asset to MWR - he's a very talented driver and a terrific person. I'll be even happier when an official announcement that they have a signed deal with David