No sooner had Michael Annett closed the books on his 2010 Nationwide season with Germain Racing than he began the process of bonding with his new race team for 2011, Rusty Wallace Racing. Annett will replace Brendan Gaughan in the No. 62 RWR Toyota Camry and will compete with new teammate Steve Wallace for the full 2011 Nationwide season.
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[/media-credit]In fact, Annett took little time to even celebrate his top-15 finish with Germain Racing in the Nationwide point standings, scheduling a lunch with his new RWR team almost immediately to get to know them.
“I’m just moving on to next year,” Annett said. “We have a break but we don’t have a whole lot of time either.”
Annett’s new relationship with Rusty Wallace Racing has been brewing for some time. Annett could not make the jump until the end of the 2010 season, however, as he was under a two-year contract with Germain Racing.
“We talked to them and we just definitely liked the way they do things,” Annett said about RWR. “Their style meshes with my style when you see the way they show up to the track and present themselves and their equipment. It is bar none the nicest in the Nationwide garage.”
The other enticing factor that sold Annett on Rusty Wallace Racing was having a two-car team, where information and data could be shared in order to improve the competitiveness of the car and driver.
“I was with a single-car team for the past two years,” Annett said. “I am excited to be able to go to the race track and know that I have a teammate there. That will be a huge advantage.”
Annett also acknowledges just how fortunate he is to have his 2011 plans completed, especially with the state of the economy and the challenge of sponsorships. Annett’s current sponsor, Pilot Travel Centers, will continue to be his primary sponsor on his new ride.
“It’s really tough out there and there are a lot of good drivers out there that don’t have full-time rides for next year,” Annett said. “It’s really exciting for me to be able to have that put away and have no uncertainty in looking forward to next year.”
Annett is also looking forward next year to capturing the ultimate prize that every racer covets, a race win. In 2010, the best that Annett could accomplish with Germain Racing was two top ten finishes throughout the season.
“Rusty is just committed to winning races,” Annett said. “He will do everything it takes to get into Victory Lane.”
Team owner and principal, Rusty Wallace, could not agree more with his new driver.
“We’re extremely excited to welcome Michael Annett and Pilot Travel Centers to our team,” Wallace said. “Michael has shown a lot of promise over his first two seasons and we’re looking forward to helping him continue to develop his career. We fully expect Michael and the No. 62 team to be amount the contenders in 2011.”
Not only will Annett have a new teammate in Steve Wallace, but he also will be able to race with one of his good friends.
“Steven and I hang out pretty much every day,” Annett said. “That relationship there was already formed and that’s another cool thing about it.”
“We used to sit around and talk and joke and say how cool it would be if we could be teammates next year,” Annett said of Wallace. “We thought it was a pipe dream and then everything came together like it did. It just makes it that much more exciting for myself.”
With his new teammate and friend at his side, Annett has already begun picturing how his new relationship and team might play out in 2011.
“I already have a picture in my head of Steve and I finishing one, two at Daytona,” Annett said. “That would be pretty cool if we could show up at Daytona and finish like that, or at least both of us pushing each other to that.”
But for now, especially in the short off-season, Annett knows he needs to put those dreams aside and focus on building that relationship with his new team. And he wants to do that as quickly as he can.
“The biggest thing is to have a relationship formed,” Annett said. “You want to make sure you show up each week knowing that you have six or seven guys with you that would take a bullet for you and go to battle with you every day.”
“That’s pretty much what the race weekend is, a two to three day battle,” Annett continued. “So, you want to know you have guys that would jump on that grenade for you and you for them. You just want to get that relationship formed so that when we do show up to Daytona we are ready to go and everybody knows that everybody else is there for the same reason.”
