Ryan In No. 99 & Martin Jr. In No. 00 At Kansas, First Race Together
CORNELIUS, N.C. – Diamond-Waltrip Racing announced today that two-time K&N Pro Series East champion Ryan Truex and two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Martin Truex Jr. will share the No. 99 Toyota for the remainder of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series season.
The brothers will replace Trevor Bayne.
DWR will field two cars this weekend at Kansas Speedway, marking the first time the Truex brothers will race against each other. Ryan Truex, who capped his second K&N East Series championship season last weekend in Dover, will drive the No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota at Kansas while older brother will pilot the No. 00 OUT! Pet Care entry. Ryan Truex will then race at Charlotte, St. Louis, Phoenix and Homestead-Miami, while Martin Jr. will race at California and Texas.
“I am very proud of the Diamond-Waltrip race team and the progress our team has made this year,” said majority owner Gary Bechtel. “On the track, this has been a sensational season and I feel as if we can win a race before the end of the season. The root of the issue regarding Trevor and his future with DWR is simply economics. DWR held an option on Trevor’s contract, but without appropriate funding, we could not match the provisions of that contract extension by guaranteeing him a full-time ride in the No. 99 car next year. We could not commit to the demands of the agreement.
“We all wanted to work towards a positive solution, but time was not on our side. We had to make a business decision and Trevor had to make a business decision. We owe it to our race team, sponsors and everyone personally invested in this organization to move forward with those who will be with us in 2011 and beyond.”
Bechtel said his Nationwide Series team is strong and finalizing a program he expects to announce soon.
“We have a very good plan in place, but we just haven’t reached a point where we can publicly discuss it at this time.”
Bechtel and his son Blake along with Michael Waltrip Racing own Diamond-Waltrip Racing that fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.
Ryan Truex said he didn’t think twice when offered a chance to drive for the Jerry Baxter-led DWR team that owns three poles and five top-five finishes in 2010.
“These are tough circumstances, but I love driving in the Nationwide Series and I’m pumped up about racing this weekend,” said the Mayetta, N.J. native. “My main goal this weekend is to keep this team’s momentum up and continue to deliver a great racing program to OUT! Pet Care. They came on board this year and have been a big boost for the entire organization and I want to get them a win.”
Martin Jr. will drive the No. 00 sporting a reversed-colored OUT! Pet Care paint scheme in Saturday’s race at Kansas. He expects Saturday will be a big day for the Truex family.
“This is pretty cool. I always hoped this day would come but I didn’t have any idea it would come this year,” said the 2004 and 2005 Nationwide champion. “We raced a lot on the computer and he’ll claim he beat me, but we’ll see what happens Saturday. I’m real proud of him. He’s had a good season winning the East championship for a second time and he’s done real good in his first few races in the Nationwide Series. He’s got a good deal driving for the Diamond-Waltrip guys. I’ve told him to just stay patient, learn as much as he can and everything will fine.”
MWR is a class organization and hope the best for the truex family and waltrip. I’ll start watching nascar again.