Michael Waltrip Expected to Shift to Part-Time and Truex Becomes Top Driver at MWR
A true era will come to an end Tuesday when Michael Waltrip is expected to announce that not only is he scaling back to part-time driving status in 2010, he’s also lured away Martin Truex Jr. to replace him in the No. 55 Napa Auto Parts Toyota.
Sure, Michael never was the prolific race winner or season champion that his older brother Darrell was. But Michael had his own unique gift: he was funny, intelligent, savvy and never acted like he was better than anyone else or that he was entitled to special treatment just because he was Darrell’s kid brother.
Some people may think Michael has been just a happy-go-lucky guy that went where the wind took him. On the contrary, he’s a very calculating, shrewd businessman. He would not have gotten to where he is today if he was a dummy. And, even though he hasn’t won but a handful of races on the Cup level, he has an obvious eye for talent, first bringing in David Reutimann and now, from what I’m hearing, Truex into the Waltrip fold.
Truex leaving Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and moving to MWR isn’t really all that big of a surprise. It will reunite Truex, who was one of the discoveries of former Dale Earnhardt Inc. executive Ty Norris. Norris is MWR’s vice president and general manager.
Given how DEI has morphed into EGR and continues to struggle for success, moving to MWR is a good move for Truex. I wouldn’t call it the best move he could have made, though. He might have been a bit more at home as driver of a third team for Stewart Haas Racing or a fourth team driver for Joe Gibbs Racing.
But obviously, those opportunities just didn’t present themselves to Truex at this particular time, so he’s apparently going where he thinks he can greatly improve his chances for success, rather than continuing to be what he has become at EGR: an also-ran.
Like so many other veteran drivers, Waltrip will revert to part-time status in 2010, essentially making Truex the organization’s top driver. While I’ll hate to see Michael scale back, at the same time, doing so will only serve to make MWR even stronger.
Go ahead and call me crazy, but I think this move could not only make Truex a strong contender to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup more often, Waltrip can go about doing what he set out to do when he first formed his new organization in 2006: to win the Cup championship. I predict that MWR and Truex and/or Reutimann could be potential championship contenders by 2011, if not 2010.
Michael, you’ve given us some great memories, some outstanding and hilarious TV commercials and you’ve always said what’s on your mind during all your TV appearances for Speed TV. While we’ll miss you racing full-time, at least we know you’re still going to be around full-time, just in a different role.
Best of luck to you and Martin. I raise my glass and toast to both of you for a long and successful relationship.
Catch y’all right back here at ARD on Tuesday.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/06 at 03:50 AMWith the advances MWR has made in the last year, I really think this could be a good move for Truex. I also believe that Michael may be making the best move of his life. I believe he makes a very good owner driver, and a better owner. With the experience he has as a driver, he knows what works for his team, and he can still drive a few times a year when he gets the itch.
I think this will be a perfect match.
You say Michael “never acted like he was better than anyone else or that he was entitled to special treatment just because he was Darrell’s kid brother.” You can’t be serious. He is one of the most arrogant drivers NASCAR has ever seen. He is one one of the drivers I am always happy to see have bad luck,
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