Michael Waltrip Racing continues rise as premier organization
Michael Waltrip remembers a time when his company, Michael Waltrip Racing, was only brought in conversation because of how awful things were going.
Back when qualifying for races were few and far between. When a cheating scandal at Daytona nearly ended the company before he really even began. Years before two of his three drivers would be talked about as championship favorites with one week remaining before the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup begins.
“Pretty good times for MWR and when I think of good times it reminds me of the bad,” said Waltrip on Friday at Richmond International Raceway. “I remember coming here in 2007 and we didn’t even have a garage stall. Our cars were out on pit road because the garage was full and I don’t even know if any of us qualified. Now we’re here and we’re talking championship, so that’s really fun.”
Clint Bowyer enters Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 as the defending winner of the event. In April he finished second. He might have won last weekend at Atlanta had it not been for a blown engine while he was leading. Bowyer is second in the championship standings, 28 points behind Jimmie Johnson, however he’s winless when it comes to seeding for the Chase.
He’s locked in though, unlike teammate Martin Truex Jr. who fights for a wild card position. Truex has a win and sits 13th in points, which would give him one of those two spots. He and his broken wrist however, need to survive 400 laps on Saturday night. Last Sunday he finished third.
For Waltrip, it’s a perfect scenario. MWR is relevant, they’re contenders and not just one hit wonders as some may have believed after they came out of nowhere last season. Bowyer finished second in points to champion Brad Keselowski in his just his first year with MWR. Now, here the company is again, riding a wave of consistency and momentum toward the Chase. But it’s still not enough for even Waltrip to say that they’re going to be yearly Chase contenders.
“We’ve done it this year for sure and that’s great, but we have to do it every year. The cool thing about this year are the challenges that we’re been faced with. The new car was huge to get your arms around to get it to the nth degree of tuned up and ready to race these boys,” said Waltrip.
“While we’ve done a nice job the first part of the season, we were consistent, but we didn’t have the speed that we needed in order to contend for wins and then as the mid-season came along I think we kept closing that gap and just got better and better and better. I think we’re peaking as an organization as this Chase approaches so we’re very confident about our chances to race for a championship and we’re even more confident about 2014, 2015 and beyond.”
It would be hard to blame Waltrip for the confidence and eagerness about what the future holds for MWR. Even while building new cars this season when NASCAR introduced the new Gen6 model, MWR never blinked and have been on par with the likes of Hendrick, Gibbs and Roush.
Truex has a win, as does 2014 full-time driver Brian Vickers. Only running a partial schedule this season, Vickers stunned the garage with a victory at New Hampshire in July. He’ll join Bowyer and Truex in competing for the Chase next season. A championship is expected to follow in the near future.
And whether it comes this year, or next or perhaps after that, Waltrip knows it won’t be easy. Lessons learned from the past will continue to lay the path for future success. Waltrip noted the teams will continue to work hard on capitalizing at tracks they’re most successful. Then go into survival mode at others when it’s necessary. That will be the plan as the Chase begins next weekend, as well.
“I know that Clint loves Loudon and Martin loves the mile-and-a-halfs so you just play to your strengths and you hope that you can take advantage of those tracks and opportunities and I think we’re going into the Chase as an organization at a very opportune time,” he said.
“Last week, I think Clint showed a tremendous amount of speed and Martin showed a tremendous amount of heart. Brian showed a tremendous amount of perseverance and all those things will be key in the Chase and I look forward to seeing our guys in that Chase because we learned so much and grew so much last year as an organization, hopefully we can take advantage of that this year.”
Can Dale Jr. step up performance in the Chase?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in what is arguably his best season in several years. Currently seventh in points and is all but locked in to the Chase. He has 14 top-10’s and five top-5’s. The question is -Is it good enough?
When Earnhardt made the move to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, his massive legion of fans were very excited. The general consensus was that he would now be in the best equipment and will now have the opportunity to showcase his talents.
The excitement was further backed up by his win that season in the qualifying race at Daytona. Jr. Nation was buzzing! It was short lived however. He did manage a win that season and made the Chase. The team struggled in the Chase, however, finishing 12th, last amongst Chase contenders.
The following season results were dismal. So bad that, after just 12 races, crew chief and cousin Tony Eury Jr, was replaced. Brian Whitesell sat atop the pitbox for one race, but the team settled on Lance McGrew to take over the crew chief duties. There was no real improvement. With no wins, only two top-5’s and five top-10’s. Earnhardt finished 25th in the final standings. Jr. Nation was not happy.
The woes continued in 2010. Results were again dismal. Three top-5’s and eight top-10’s were not the stats the team needed. After finishing 21st in the points, again a change was needed. Enter Steve Letarte.
2011 brought renewed vigor into the team and the Jr. fans. Starting from the pole in the season opening Daytona 500, the fans had something to cheer about. Though the team did not manage to find victory lane, they were able to score 12 top-10 finishes, make the Chase and ended up seventh in the final standings.
2012 brought more success. Earnhardt scored the much needed win at Michigan. He also stayed in the top five in points for most of the season, made the Chase, but tragedy struck at Talladega. A huge crash near the end of the race ended the season early for Earnhardt due to a concussion. A win and 20 top ten finishes were definitely an improvement.
This season Earnhardt has been one of the most consistent drivers, at least early in the season. He was in the top five in standings until Charlotte, where he finished 39th with an engine failure. Through the middle of the season, results have still been solid, but he has been slowly sliding back. Though, he has 14 top-10’s, he has not led a lot of laps and still is yet to find victory lane. Finishes of tenth to fifteenth will keep a driver close in the standings, but it will not win championships.
Earnhardt is probably under more pressure to perform than any other driver in the garage area. Fans and some media are constantly comparing him to his father. His stats pale in comparison to dad, but so do many others.
The reality of the situation is that the entire team has to step up and perform better once the Chase starts. When competing against teams who have four and five wins, tenth place is not good enough. Letarte has without a doubt been a good change for Earnhardt. Additionally, Earnhardt has become more involved with the team from a technical standpoint. He is giving much better feedback now than he did in previous seasons. The pieces are definitely coming together.
To do well in the Chase, the team will have to take more risks and quit playing it safe. In the last several races the performance has been off a little compared to earlier this season and the team has been playing defense trying to stay in the top ten.
Earnhardt continues to sound confident and was quoted earlier this week saying, “I feel like we belong in the Chase, feel like if we can put ten races together – I think we can do it as good as anybody when it comes down to it.” Once they are locked in, it is time to take a chance, try different strategies, and hope that rolling the dice will put them in victory lane. There is no way to beat Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth without winning.
The bar is set high, but that is to be expected. After-all, this is the premier racing division in the country – just average is just not good enough.
More driver changes announced, several still unknown
This past week the NASCAR silly season still had a full head of steam. The major announcement this week was from Richard Childress Racing. RCR announced that Jeff Burton would not return as the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet. Burton cited the fact that, “…. There was a lot of funding that wasn’t in place.” Later that same day, the team announced that Caterpillar would return for the 2014 season, though the number of races for the sponsor was not announced.
It is widely rumored, though not made official by anyone, that Ryan Newman could be a possible replacement for Burton. Newman has sponsorship agreements with several companies that he could bring to RCR to fill out the remainder of the season for the No. 31. When Newman is able to make an announcement it should put several rumors to rest and allow the rest of the dominoes to fall in this silly season.
JTG-Daugherty recently announced that AJ Allmendinger will replace Bobby Labonte next season in the No. 47 Bush Beans Toyota. Allmendinger was asked to drive the car at several races earlier in the season to help assess the teams problems. He performed very well in the car, and has performed well for several other teams this season. Labonte was to finish the season splitting time with Allmendinger, but the former series champion broke three ribs in a bicycling injury. Allmendinger is driving the No. 47 at Richmond.
Reed Sorensen has replaced Scott Speed in the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Ford. Sorensen will compete at Richmond and most of the remainder of the season with the exception of Dover and Phoenix. The team has said they are talking to several drivers to fill the seat for 2014.
Also announced Friday at Richmond, Cole Whitt will replace David Stremme as driver of the No. 30 Swan Racing Toyota. Stremme that he did not “know what the hell is going on” and that he thought he was going to Chicago. Stremme would not comment on whether he still had any ownership in the team.
In addition to Newman, Burton and Stremme we also still do not know the plans for Juan Pablo Montoya or Mark Martin. We do know that Montoya visited Furniture Row Racing in Denver on Tuesday. Neither entity has commented on the results of that visit.
It has truly been one of the silliest silly seasons in recent history. Each time an announcement is made, it sets off a series of events in the its wake. Once the Chase field is set, expect more announcements within the week.
