You’re 41. You’ve got four NASCAR wins. You’ve worked for the same people for the most of the last decade. And now you’re out of a job with just three weeks until the end of the season. What do you do?
This is the question David Reutimann has to to answer right now. What does he do? He’s not young, he doesn’t have money or sponsorship to bring (that we know of) and he’s not miraculously going to be anything more than what he is. What you see is what you get.
Reutimann’s first foray into NASCAR came in 2002 with Joe Nemechek. After sporadic runs through that season and 2003, he was hired by Darrell Waltrip Motorsports. He eventually moved full time to the Cup and Nationwide Series with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007.
During his time with the Waltrips, Reutimann has four wins, and points finishes of second and third in the Nationwide and Truck Series’. His best Cup season to date came in 2009 when he finished 16th in the points after one win, five top-fives and 1o top-10s.
Only Michael Waltrip has more wins in his equipment than Reutimann – and to date Reutimann can claim all two of the team’s Cup wins.
What’s more, this season he’s only a little worse than teammate Martin Truex Jr. – average of finish of 22.9 compared to 18.4 – and is four spots behind Truex in the points.
Reutimann’s release on Thursday was a stunning turn about. He had been granted a three year contract extension just last year and was a consistent force with the team. To his credit, Reutimann did a lot with sub-par equipment. Apparently it wasn’t good enough though.
The worst part of all of this is that Reutimann faces pretty bleak prospects on the market, especially given the timing. Teams are cutting back, have already filled spots or are only looking at drivers who are bringing something to the table. Like David Ragan, Reutimann will be hard pressed to find anything worth while or competitive, especially at the level he’s at now.
As they say, it’s not show friends, it’s show business. Thank you MWR for making that painfully clear.
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You heard him say it. Sure he was angry and it’s not true – Waltrip did win two Daytona 500s after all – but it definitely adds an uncomfortable element to the Clint Bowyer to Michael Waltrip Racing rumors. Strange bedfellows?
We often say around here not to burn bridges – the community is too small and you never know when you might need someone’s help. While that’s especially true for crew members and other team employees, it also applies to drivers.
Beyond the obvious awkwardness, Bowyer generally finds himself in a very difficult spot.
In a year where a driver like Greg Biffle acknowledged he took a cut in pay with his new contract, Bowyer, according to some reports, was asking for as much as $7 million a year and helicopter rides to the track. While that may not quite be the case, we keep hearing the number is high. It’s no wonder he hasn’t locked anything down.
Even with sponsorship from 5 Hour Energy, a deal rumored to be just a partial season, Bowyer’s position isn’t a whole lot better. I think what we’re seeing is Bowyer without any really good option left, looking for a team willing to take a chance that it can close the gap. Enter Michael Waltrip Racing.
If all goes according to plan it looks like Bowyer will make the move. In reality the team represents a step down from RCR. In five full NASCAR Cup seasons MWR has just two wins and has firmly cemented itself as a weekly field filler with performance that can best be described as mediocre.
To Bowyer’s credit, he represents the hope and aspirations of an organization that has struggled through the years. Is he the answer for MWR? Only time will tell.
But what about that comment?
Even Denny Hamlin jokingly asked Waltrip about it last night on Inside NASCAR. An awkward exchange ensued where Waltrip half-laughing pointed out that Bowyer called him the worst NASCAR driver EVER. Yikes.
Obviously this is pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things. And with the right amount of money, anybody can get over anything. I suppose it’s not like Bowyer called Waltrip the worst owner in NASCAR ever. That might have been unforgivable.
For much of the early part of the season it was Carl Edwards who took up all the oxygen as the chief target of 2012 speculation. And after months and rumors, Edwards ultimately re-signed with Roush Fenway Racing.
Up next was Clint Bowyer who looked early on like another candidate to re-sign with his existing organization. Then came the end for Red Bull Racing and revelations that Bowyer was in advanced negotiations with the team. After that Bowyer began earnest negotiations with Richard Childress Racing, but in recent weeks those have fallen apart.
This weekend both Bowyer and team owner Richard Childress commented on the driver’s contract.
Childress said:
“We’ve tried and we’ve worked really hard to put the deal together to keep Clint. It’s not 100 percent off the table but it’s getting tougher and tougher as the day goes by.”
Bowyer, responding to Childress’ comments, said:
“That’s fair. Just working on everything. That’s the biggest thing, trying to get everything done as far as the future. There’s opportunities and stuff we’re trying to weight out.”
With the window for re-signing about closed it looked like Bowyer had a couple of alternatives in Richard Petty Motorsports, Michael Waltrip Racing and potentially Roush Fenway and Joe Gibbs.
Then on Wednesday Lee Spencer at FoxSports reported that RPM co-owner Andrew Murstein said the organization was no longer in discussions with the driver. She also reported JD Gibbs said a lack of sponsorship made pursuing Bowyer a “non-issue.”
So Bowyer appears to have burned the bridge at RCR and is left without opportunities at RPM and JGR. What’s available to him is a potential ride at MWR and the off chance of a ride at RFR. If I were Bowyer, I’d be reconsidering my managment right now.
He’s potentially leaving behind an organization with a combined 99 Cup Series wins and six Cup championships – with one driver currently tied for the points lead – and his only serious option is a team with two wins in five seasons of full-time Cup competition. Yikes.
Even if Roush is an option you have to believe with the existing holes the team has in sponsorship for several of its drivers, it wouldn’t sign another, presumably to take over for David Ragan, without serious dollars backing said driver.
There is absolutely a chance something else could come together – perhaps even a return to RCR – and there has been the long standing rumor that Bowyer has sponsorship from 5 Hour Energy (sponsorship that I suspect is not worth much if this rumor is true) but with the season winding down, Bowyer’s options are running out.
With just 10 races to go until we crown a champion, this will definitely be a storyline to keep an eye on. I wish Clint Bowyer good luck in finding a situation that’s even in the neighborhood of the one he has now.
Could Michael Waltrip match the success of Richard Childress?
I know it’s an odd question, but I was thinking about this the other day. At this point both have built teams that are consistently competitive and capable of winning races and on track they both have had very comparable success in their driving careers (though Waltrip’s career has lasted 14+ years longer). With Waltrip stepping into the role of owner, could he join Childress as a mediocre driver who became a great owner?
Richard Childress spent 12 full and part-time seasons competing in what is today the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He began his career in 1969 (at age 23) serving as one of the fill-in drivers at the now infamous Talladega race (it was boycotted by the sport’s top drivers). Through the years, across 285 starts, Childress accumulated zero wins, six top-fives, 76 top-tens, and zero poles. He ended his career with an average finish of 17.6.
Michael Waltrip began his NASCAR career in 1985 at age 22. Through 761 starts over 26 seasons (and counting), he has four wins, 39 top-fives, 128 top-tens, and four poles. Waltrip has an average finish of 21.9.
What blossomed into Richard Childress Racing began with Childress’ first race in 1969. He gave up the drivers seat in 1981 to Dale Earnhardt; Ricky Rudd took over in 1982. Earnhardt returned for the 1983 season and never left. Together Childress and Earnhardt racked up 69 wins and six championships. On top of that, RCR has another 20 Cup wins. They also have 75 wins and six championships in the Nationwide and Truck Series’.
Michael Waltrip Racing began in earnest in 1996, fielding a Nationwide and Truck ride for Waltrip. For the next several seasons Waltrip and a slew of other drivers ran in the Nationwide Series. In that time, Waltrip racked up four wins (David Reutimann has one win in 2007).
In 2007 the team underwent a major expansion and began fielding Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, and David Reutimann in the Cup Series. While the team struggled both on and off the track through their first couple of seasons, they came into their own in 2009. Despite missing the cut for the Chase, Reutimann was consistently competitive and even scored his first Cup Series win. In addition the team fields a car for Marcos Ambrose, who has shown recently that he is capable of running up front. With the addition of Martin Truex Jr. and Pat Tryson this season, and prospects like Trevor Bayne and Ryan Truex, the team has a solid foundation from which to grow.
While the two organizations are at vastly different stages in their life cycles and Michael Waltrip doesn’t have a young Dale Earnhardt behind the wheel, they really share a lot of similarities. Both had humble beginnings (Waltrip ran the team until quite recently from a shop on the property of his Sherrills Ford, N.C. home), some early struggles, and owners with an intense passion for and commitment to NASCAR.
While it’s still young, MWR has quickly made itself a competitor in NASCAR’s top series. Given another 20 years can Waltrip find the success Childress did?
I get asked all the time by family and friends about the constant travel that is necessary to be apart of the sport we call NASCAR. People always want to know where I’m going and how we get there. It’s a topic I explored in a post I wrote last summer here at TNI called Flying the Friendly Skies… Racing Style. If you get a chance, check it out and then when you are done, click over and take a look at this cool video I found online tonight. It’s a segment DJ Copp did for his ”Over The Wall” feature on NASCAR Now in which he discusses travel and shows off a couple of MWR’s planes. (By the way, in case you don’t know about DJ’s work, hit up ESPN.com and do a search. His segments do a great job exposing our world to fans.)
What you will notice from the video, is that the teams’ planes don’t look a whole lot different on the inside then your typical commercial jet does. The seats aren’t really any nicer or roomier and we have the standard amenities like a closet sized bathroom and your friendly neighborhood flight attendants. But where the planes lack in the luxury department, they make for with the convenience they offer. Depending on the race, we can often be back home in Charlotte within a matter of hours of the fall of the checkered flag.
Besides being home quickly from races, we also don’t have to deal with the usual hassles of commercial air travel. There is no standing in long lines waiting to go through the security screening and no long waits to collect bags once the flight is over. And since most teams fly in and out of two smaller airports in the Charlotte area, there is no airport traffic to deal with; save for the mad dash out of the parking lots. We simply grab our bags, walk down the stairs, and head straight for our cars.
So now that you’ve gotten a glimpse into what it’s like to travel the circuit on private aircraft, know that it’s not exactly “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” But, it isn’t all bad either.
Jenna Fryer at the AP first reported this weekend that Pat Tryson, crew chief for Kurt Busch has been effectively shut out of the Penske shop because of his announced defection to Michael Waltrip Racing next season.
The story quotes Penske VP of Operations Mike Nelson as saying “It really breaks down to 2009 vs. 2010. He’s not there for the discussions that we have about 2010. That’s a lot of what we’re doing at the shop right now.”
Essentially Tryson is relegated to performing his duties through e-mail and phone calls, though he is allowed at Penske’s Tuesday morning meetings.
Personally I have all the respect in the world for Penske Racing. I think it’s a great organization with a lot of smart people in charge. This move boggles my mind though.
This move says to me: “we’re more concerned about what happens next season than our chance to win a championship this season.”
Certainly the #2 crew is capable of handling everything that needs to be done before races. Car Chief Jeff Thousand is a NASCAR veteran, with experience as crew chief for Rusty Wallace. He is largely credited with the team’s increased performance this season. So by all means leadership is not an issue.
What this does do is throw off the team’s flow. They are used to working with and communicating to a certain person and now that is limited. Let’s be honest there is only so much you can do telecommuting. Being the leader of the team from your living room is not easy.
Certainly I understand the position Penske is in. They have a team leader leaving and he will take with him the knowledge he has accumulated at the organization. If that includes information for next season that could be a detriment to them. I guarantee the non-disclosure he’s signed will do little to keep information from passing on.
All that being said, I think there should have been a greater effort made in closing him out of discussions and work for next year (at least some of which he is probably already aware of), while keeping him at the shop. The other option was just releasing from his contract. A change in leadership at this point in the year could be bad for performance, but this move wasn’t a whole lot better.
I believe Tryson is committed to the team, but now he can only do so much.
500 Posts!
On a completely unrelated subject, this marks our 500th post! As always thank you for all your support. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Here’s hoping for another 500.
There has been much speculation over the last several weeks regarding where Martin Truex Jr. will race in 2010 and beyond. This speculation has been fueled mostly by Truex’s own comments on a possible move, which started at the Talladega race in April. The turmoil surrounding the DEI/CGR merger, and the lack of performance from the EGR teams this season appears to be a big motivator. Since 2008, Truex has been rumored to be leaving DEI/EGR for Dale Jr.’s Cup team (that never materialized), Stewart-Haas Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske Racing, and most recently Michael Waltrip Racing.
Mike Mulhern was the first to break the news about Truex’s possible defection to MWR, and his story pondered whether the deal was actually already done. Since Mulhern’s article first appeared we’ve heard that the deal isn’t necessarily done but that NAPA is very interested in securing Truex. But there has yet to be an announcement from either side about the future and after talking about it initially, Truex has now become reluctant in answering any media questions regarding MWR and 2010.
Stepping back now from the rumors and speculation, I’m curious about what team would be the best fit for Truex moving forward. I’ve got to believe that a possible move from EGR to MWR would only be driven by a more lucrative contract. I say that because neither team appears to be better then the other in terms of performance and potential. Truex and his teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya, currently sit 19th and 15th in the points, while MWR cars are 11th, 18th, and 32nd respectively. The lone bright spot for MWR and a possible selling point for Truex has been David Reutimann and his Coke 600 win. But the win in a rain shortened 600 on a Monday had more to do with lucky strategy than it did with actual team performance. So jumping from the #1 team at EGR to the #55 team at MWR appears to be a lateral move at best.
The other wildcard in this situation is Truex’s long time sponsor, Bass Pro Shops. There was much talk earlier this season after EGR shut down the #8 team that Bass Pro had an out in its contract if either Truex didn’t have two team cars, or his performance wasn’t up to par. This appears now to be false, and according to press releases from 2007 and EGR’s Steve Lauletta, Bass Pro is signed through 2010. This would certainly rule out the possibility of Bass Pro Shops following Truex to MWR, SHR, or any other team.
Only time will tell where Truex ends up for the 2010 season and beyond, but I’m of the opinion that Truex will indeed jump ship. I feel like he’s had one foot out the door since the walls started crumbling at DEI, and I’m surprised he’s waited until now to possibly make a move. Usually, drivers who aren’t interested in a move to another team don’t become the topic of so many rumors. And if he wasn’t interested in moving, it’s very easy to put down the rumors and speculation and just say “I like where I am, I’m staying.”
On top of that, his performances this season have been less than inspired, and chances of a big contract brought to you by NAPA or possibly a better ride elsewhere may be enough to lure him away.