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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: MWR Ready To Challenge
Michael Waltrip thinks his third-year team is ready to contend for a NASCAR Sprint Cup championship...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted July 07, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Michael Waltrip believes his team his ready to join NASCAR’s elite. (Image: SPEED)
Halfway through his team’s first season in Sprint Cup racing, an abject disaster by almost any objective measure, Michael Waltrip had more than a few sleepless nights, wondering if he’d made the right decision to join the ranks of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner/drivers. Or even if he’d be able to keep the doors of Michael Waltrip Racing open.

But now, with a multi-year renewal of long-time sponsor NAPA and the signing of driver Martin Truex Jr., who next year will drive the No. 56 NAPA Toyota, Waltrip believes his team his ready to join NASCAR’s elite. That means regularly challenging the likes of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing for a Sprint Cup championship.

MWR’s David Reutimann is currently 14th in points, and Marcos Ambrose has overcome some early season teething problems to rise up to 18th in points in the JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota that’s run out of the MWR shops. Add Truex into the mix and the team really could accomplish some great things next year, Waltrip believes.

“Well, we're 50‑something points away from it (12th place in points) right now with David's car,” Waltrip said during Tuesday’s announcement at MWR. “He could race his way into this Chase, and he's very competitive everywhere. So I think we're not that far off.

“I hope everybody is taking notice to what we've accomplished with that rookie from Australia (Ambrose), with Tad and Jodi's (Geschickter, co-owners of JTG) team,” said Waltrip. “He is impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if Marcos doesn't race his way into position to race for the championship in 2010 as well. Then you got Martin, who has Chase experience. … I think we're positioning ourselves nicely to contend.”

And that has the team on target with its plans. “Our goal when we started this year was to infiltrate — make our way into the top four or five teams, and we've been able to accomplish that,” said Waltrip. “Now we just need to try to make that — bring the other cars along with it.”

Waltrip’s brother, Darrell, who himself tried and failed to make it as a Sprint Cup owner driver, said Tuesday that he was very impressed with what Michael had accomplished.

“He wanted to be a team owner, and he wanted to do it right,” Darrell said of Michael during the Truex announcement at MWR’s shops. “And I have so much respect for what he accomplished, because I tried it, a bunch of us … tried it, and we couldn't make it work. Unlike so many others, Michael had the fortitude to hang in there. He paid a heavy price, and here he is today sitting here with all of you employees, a beautiful shop, got a … a Coca‑Cola 600 trophy … in the cabinet, along with a couple of Daytona 500 trophies, and his dream is coming true.”

Michael credited perseverance with getting him through the tough times. “I'm here today to tell y'all that there has been a time or two when I thought maybe it was going to say ‘for sale’ or ‘for lease’ out front instead of ‘Michael Waltrip Racing,’ but we pushed through, and we've made this place a formidable competition to the rest,” Waltrip said.

As for his decision to step out of the cockpit of the No. 55, at least as a full-time driver, Waltrip said he was OK with his decision.

“I'm totally at ease with where I'm at,” said Waltrip, who will drive at least a handful of races next season, including the Daytona 500. “I think my legacy as a driver has been shaped up by now. I probably don't have Hall of Fame numbers, there is one time I lost 462 races in a row, I remember that pretty good. When people talk about giving up, that's not who I am. That's not a part of me, and you don't race 462 times in a row — I woke up on the morning of that (2001) Daytona 500 and I knew I was going to win it; I knew I could win it. That's the same way I look at this team. I feel like we're in a battle and we're going to win it. So it makes me — I'm happy.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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