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A week
ago, Michael Waltrip made the official announcement that he had
signed Dale Jarrett to drive a second car for Michael Waltrip
Racing starting in 2007. An earlier announcement had let the
world know that MWR would be driving Toyotas. So now, much is
being written about “Jarrett going to Toyota.”
But I have
a question: What’s the big deal?
People
have been talking about Toyota as if they’ve pulled off the
biggest coup in NASCAR history, by going out and “getting”
Jarrett. Several articles have been written about how “Jarrett
moving to Toyota” is going to affect the sport. There have even
been rumors of a huge monetary bonus that Toyota offered
Jarrett, as if the car manufacturer bribed him to join them.
(All those involved have denied the rumor, by the way). But is
it as big a deal as all that?
Look at it
this way. Toyota didn’t go out and “get” Jarrett. Michael
Waltrip did. Toyota didn’t negotiate a contract with Jarrett.
Michael Waltrip did. Toyota wasn’t directly involved in the
deal at all. It was a deal between Dale Jarrett and Michael
Waltrip. It was nothing more than a driver changing teams. It
happens every year.
In fact,
look at the changes from 2005 to 2006. Jamie McMurray changed
teams. Kurt Busch changed teams. Bobby Labonte changed teams.
Sterling Marlin changed teams. Several other driver changes
were made on some teams. And in almost every case, the driver
changed from one car manufacturer to another.
And let’s
not forget that with the “Car of Tomorrow” entering the scene
next year, everyone will be driving new cars eventually.
So, how is
the Jarrett move any different? The only difference is that
Toyota is new to NASCAR Cup competition, so apparently that
makes it more newsworthy.
Yes, it
may be big news that Toyota is entering the sport, but the real
story is how they got TEAMS to change over to their cars, not
individual drivers. Thee story shouldn’t be about Toyota
getting Jarrett to drive for them. The story SHOULD be about
Toyota getting MWR as an organization to make the move to
Toyota. Of course, that story is already several weeks
old.
So, why
did Jarrett make the move from Robert Yates Racing to Michael
Waltrip Racing next year? Maybe he felt that RYR no longer
offered him a real opportunity for one last championship. Maybe
things at RYR weren’t headed in the direction he wanted to go.
Or perhaps, after several years at RYR, he was simply ready for
a change, a chance to shake things up. Maybe it was none of the
above. The only person who knows the answer to that for sure is
Dale Jarrett.
Did Toyota
have anything to do with it? Maybe Jarrett tested one of their
cars, and liked the way it drove. Maybe he looked into the
specs of what they planned to build, and liked what he saw.
Maybe he didn’t like Ford’s version of the “Car of
Tomorrow” and wanted to distance himself from it. Maybe it was
none of the above. Again, the only person who knows for sure is
Jarrett.
The only
things we know for sure are that he is racing next year
for Michael Waltrip Racing, and that he has announced that 2008
will be his final season. And we can be fairly certain that
Toyota had nothing directly to do with either decision. |
