September 12, 2012
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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A few weeks ago, I wrote about the fact that it appeared that the No. 56 NAPA Toyota driven by Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota driven by Clint Bowyer were solidly in the top 10 in points, and had the chance of bringing Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) its first two Chase berths in its five year existence.
This week, that chance became fact, and they are now in the hunt to bring MWR its first ever top tier NASCAR Championship title.
Many fans have been looking at the top two drivers to not make the 2012 Chase, last year’s second place Championship contender Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 ford for Roush Fenway Racing, and Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, and wondering what happened to make them miss the top 12 slots.
But, as Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Light Dodge, pointed out this week in Richmond, it isn’t that they didn’t do well; it is that the two MWR drivers did better, and seemingly surprised everyone by taking the two slots that Busch and Edwards might otherwise have occupied.
“I think the bigger surprise has been the performance of the Waltrip teams to really push them out. When you look at it, I don’t think Kyle (or Carl), I don’t think they’ve ran poorly. I think the Waltrip organization stepped up and pushed them out,” Keselowski explained Friday afternoon. “At the end of the day there are only 12 holes. So it doesn’t mean necessarily that if you’re not those 12 spots that you ran worse than you did the year before. Sometimes it just means everybody else ran a little better and you didn’t improve.
"So I think that should be the real story, the performance that they’ve had and not necessarily kicking everybody else in the butt that hasn’t performed. I think they’ve just taken those seeds. And if you look at it, they’ve taken two spots that would clearly have put (Kyle and) Carl in elsewise.”
“I know a lot of people look at the Chase and they’re used to seeing the same faces and maybe kind of take it for granted how important or how special it is to make that deal,” Truex, Jr. noted Friday. “For us, it’s been a big goal for a few years now since I’ve been with Michael Waltrip Racing. One of our main goals before the year started was “Okay, how are we going to make the Chase?” To be able to come in here -- with two cars in the Chase and being able to accomplish one of our goals is huge for us and (I’m) just so proud of the team for what they have accomplished -- and from where we’ve come.”
For Clint Bowyer, who, until this season, had spent his entire career as part of the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable of drivers, what has happened with the MWR team this season validates his decision to leave a proven Championship team in RCR for the seemingly more tenuous situation at MWR.
“It’s unbelievable -- to come to a new team, a new home like I did with MWR -- and be able to have the success our first year is a dream come true,” Bowyer beamed after winning the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night. “With everything new, (I) never would have dreamed in a million years all this would have happened this quickly.”
“We have great teamwork there, the best teamwork I’ve ever seen,” noted the team veteran, Mark Martin, driver of the MWR No. 55 Aarons Dream Machine on a part-time basis. “The atmosphere at MWR is serious but light. We’re having a blast. We have really great teamwork, really great people -- I couldn’t be more proud to have both teammates in the Chase.”
“The atmosphere at MWR is serious but light -- it’s not heavy. We have really great teamwork there. I couldn’t be more proud to have two teammates in the Chase. When I came there I wanted to help them get there.”
“Martin is on the verge of winning every week -- he could have contended to win this race as well,” Mark noted of his teammate. “He is on the verge of a hot streak. Obviously you’ve seen Clint. You saw what Tony Stewart did last year, and these guys are performing really, really well going in.”
“I’m half of the ownership of Michael Waltrip racing,” noted the man with the name on the front of the company. “In 2007 when we started this team, I made it all the way to March before I figured I was broke, and I met Rob (Kauffman) in April and he bought half the team in October and since then it’s been steady progress. It’s just a great working atmosphere. I’m thankful for tonight.
"I’m really happy having two cars in the Chase. My inspiration for having a team from the beginning was Dale Earnhardt; I always wanted a team like Dale had. So anytime something goes good, I always think about what all he meant to me.”
While Waltrip puts a lot of the credit for the overall MWR success on the fact he was able to bring Mark Martin on (“He’s like the E.F. Hutton of NASCAR, when Mark talks, everyone listens – he’s done it all, he’s a legend, made us a better race team,” noted Waltrip when asked why he brought the elder statesman of NASCAR into the MWR stable), Martin is quick to dismiss that he had any more impact on the newly found success of the team than any other member of the team.
“I deserve no credit for getting them over that hump. Martin Truex, Jr. deserves the most credit probably because he suffered through the building stages of the organization, and starting last year at Texas, you started seeing the momentum building in the 56 car. So the groundwork was starting to get laid and had been coming for years. I was just lucky to come in when I did and be a part of it.”
Waltrip’s former teammate during the most successful portion of his driving career, Dale Earnhardt Jr., says even though he has to race against the drivers of his former Dale Earnhardt Incorporated teammate, he couldn’t be more proud of his friend.
“Michael really put everything he had into it, made the full commitment right out of the box. They did struggle. Now he's able to enjoy all the efforts and the sacrifices he made. It's been a challenge, I know. When I see him up there with his two drivers, Truex and Clint, I know he's as proud as he can be. I think he deserves it more than anybody, to have put as much as he has into the sport, even as a driver. He put everything he had into it for all those years. He's finally really able to enjoy it.
"You know, it's great to see. I'm proud for him. We got to race against him, but it's great to see him do well and see his company do so well. He generally has a knack for it. I think he'll be around for quite a while winning races, developing that program even further.”
Denny Hamlin, who goes into the Chase in the top seed, agrees that MWR will be the team to watch over the next ten weeks. “(Michael) turned that team from a team that can barely make the top 35 to a legit championship-contending team. That’s no easy task. You look at the progression of the race team, they are legit now. They are guys you have to beat week in and week out.”
As for a chance to actually celebrate winning the Championship? Bowyer says he would have one hell of a party. “It would be pretty big. Helluva lot of fun. Jimmie (Johnson) seems like he has a blast doing it. I promise you, I could throw a better party than him. Might not survive it, but we would have a lot of fun!”
And Michael Waltrip -- he’s in what he feels is the perfect spot after years of turmoil. “I’m pretty damned happy right now. That’s what it’s all about -- being happy.”
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