Tag Archives: Michael Waltrip Racing

Michael Waltrip Racing statement regarding PIR incident

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 MWR PRESS RELEASE

STATEMENT

“The goal of Michael Waltrip Racing is to be a championship-level organization both on and off the track. The on-track incident which occurred during Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway was extremely disappointing and brought raw emotions of a long and hard championship battle to the surface. Though we generally cannot control certain actions on the track, the unfortunate reactions off the track Sunday did not live up to the professional standards in which Michael Waltrip Racing expects all of its representatives to live by. We commit to our sponsors, our manufacturer, our fans and NASCAR that we will do so in the future.”

MWR 5-Hour Energy team featured behind-the-scenes in ABC special

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2012 Watkins Glenn NSCS qualifying – MWR No. 15 Clint Bowyer
8/11/2012 | By Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images

The No. 15 5-hour ENERGY team will be featured in the ABC television special Catching Speed presented by John Deere that airs at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, September 2, 2012. The show features the Michael Waltrip Racing team as it prepares for The Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway—one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races.

“The opportunity for the Catching Speed program came along and it was just too good to pass up for our team and our sponsors,” said Ty Norris, MWR executive vice president business development. “The No. 15 team is all-new this year—a new driver, crew chief, crew, sponsor—and they along with the NAPA team are combining to make this the best year in Michael Waltrip Racing’s brief history.

“The No. 15 team is a group of great guys that has a ton of characters—they know how to have fun better than most of the teams in the garage, so it should be a very entertaining hour of television.”

The show features the 5-hour ENERGY team’s race preparation and execution from several different perspectives including the crew chief, driver, crew and marketing team.

Catching Speed even ventured away from the racetrack to follow the No. 15 team as it visited the high school of crew mechanic and Indiana native Travis Stock as the team went to play basketball after the garage closed.

Dover International Speedway remains ‘true’ to Martin Truex, Jr.’s heart

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Photo credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

The focus might currently be on Hendrick Motorsports due to the team carrying the momentum of last weeks All-Star winning weekend with Jimmie Johnson capturing the Sprint All-Star race, followed by Kasey Kahne winning the long endured Coca-Cola 600.

But my focus is going to be on Martin Truex Jr. this weekend at Dover International Speedway.

I’ve said since the beginning of this season… Martin Truex Jr.‘s fire has been lit and is so close to visiting Victory Lane – again – and soon.

Martin Truex Jr. has knocked on the double, steal doors of victory lane this season only to see the chance of winning dwindle, caused either by tire wear or set-up fluctuations due to weather. Truex, Jr., a southern New Jersey native, returns to his “home track” at the Monster Mile. Dover International Speedway stays “true” to Truex Jr’s heart – it was the track he raced his very first Nationwide race; His family and friends are nearby to where they can attend the race; Truex has 12 Cup starts and earned the one and only win from five years ago in a rain delayed race; Four top-10 finishes at Dover – also, not to mention the two pole positions he captured while driving the No. 56 NAPA Toyota. He finished eighth in last year’s spring Dover race.

“I feel like Dover is probably the next track where we have a real shot to get back to victory lane. We did the tire test there a few months ago (April 17-18) and had a really fast car there too. I always look forward to Dover but definitely more this year with the race cars we have and the team that we’ve got right now. I know we will be fast. It will be all about setting the car up for the long runs. We’ve got a great game plan going in. I think we can win the thing,” said Martin Truex Jr.

IT IS TIME. DOVER WOULD BE THE PERFECT TRACK FOR MARTIN TRUEX, JR. TO VISIT VICTORY LANE ONCE AGAIN.

Truex Jr. has been averaging top-10 finishes since the beginning of the season and is currently sitting 6th in points.

MWR transport driver to drive FDNY Rescue 4 in Darlington Hauler Parade to honor brother killed on 9/11

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Photo from The Rememberance Rescue Project

Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 15 5-hour ENERGY transport driver Al Nelson, a native of Long Island, N.Y., will get the special opportunity on Thursday night in Darlington to honor his brother Peter Allen Nelson. Peter Nelson was a firefighter in FDNY Rescue 4 killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Members of the Remembrance Rescue Project, a not-for-profit created by firefighters to restore, preserve and operate Rescue 4 and Rescue 5 from 9/11 as educational tools, historical artifacts and memorials, reached out to Al Nelson last month. The group informed Nelson that former FDNY Rescue 4 will be in Darlington at the same time as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events and asked if he would be willing to drive the Rescue 4 truck in the Darlington Car Hauler Parade on Thursday night.

Nelson agreed and will now drive the Rescue 4 truck in Thursday night’s festivities.

“I learned about the Remembrance Rescue Project about a month ago, but I think what they are doing is truly special,” said Nelson. “My brother Pete and I used to be volunteer firefighters together at Huntington Manor Fire Dept. in Huntington Station, Long Island. Being a firefighter is something that people can’t take away from you. It was something that we enjoyed doing together and it had a camaraderie and brotherhood that is hard to explain.

“Pete was a really good firefighter and moved up the ranks pretty quick. He moved to Queens to be a part of Rescue 4 and worked his way up to third assistant chief by Sept. 11. He was on the fast track at the time he died and since then had his rank elevated to Honorary Chief. To be able to honor him in this way and see the things that the Remembrance Rescue Project are doing to honor the legacy of the men that passed and educate the young people on Sept. 11 is even better.”

Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota will also run a special Remembrance Rescue Project decal on the lower rear quarter panel throughout the race weekend at Darlington.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Rescues 1 and 2 lost their rigs at the World Trade Center, and those of Rescues 3 and 5 required major repairs before being placed back into service. Immediately after 9/11, Rescue 4 was the only rescue company covering the City of New York.

The Project involving former FDNY Rescue 4 and Rescue 5 is an educational effort focused at society, especially those who are too young to understand the events of September 11th and what that day means to members of the fire service and to the country as a whole.

The Eighth Annual Darlington Car Hauler Parade takes place on Thursday, May 10. The event starts at 4 p.m. with entertainment and live music at the Florence Civic Center in Florence, S.C. The parade begins at 7 p.m. and makes its way along a 12-mile route to Darlington Square.

Peter Allen Nelson’s obituary as published in the New York Times on Nov. 21, 2001 can be found here.

For more information or to make a donation to the Remembrance Rescue Project, please visit www.remembrance.co.

Source: MWR Media Release

NASCAR driver Mark Martin discusses his greatest fear

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Michae Waltrip driver Mark Martin. Photo courtesy of MWR.

Mark Martin has spent 30 years in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

He has raced against many of the sport’s greatest drivers including Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and modern day heroes like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Martin raced at the 200 mph superspeedways and banged fenders on the notorious bullrings in the days before SAFER barriers, HANS devices, full-faced helmets and roof flaps.

Nothing he’s encountered has ever unnerved the 53-year-old Batesville, Ark. native who’s made 40 trips to victory lane.

But, there’s still one thing in racing that makes his skin crawl. “It’s good luck charms,” laughs Martin. “I don’t like them at all.”

To this day, Martin immediately hands off anything that most consider “lucky.”

“I try not to insult fans when they give me something,” he said. “I try to be nice and say thank you, but I can’t get rid of them fast enough.”

That’s unusual in a sport where some drivers carry a rabbit’s foot in the car, tape verses to the dash, put lucky coins in their uniform pockets. Through the years drivers have shunned green paint schemes, eating peanuts near the car before the race and driving the No. 13.

But, Martin said he has good reason to shun the supposed bringers of good fortune.

His dim view of good luck charms dates back to one Sunday afternoon in 1993 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. A well-meaning fan gave Martin a four-leaf clover he taped to the dash of his car.

 “I got hit in the back right after the green flag came out,” Martin recalled. “I got hit so hard it destroyed my car and ruined our race. We got all tore up.”

That was the end of good luck charms for Martin. “I have been anti lucky charm ever since.”

MWR press release

Mark Martin to run under “Epic Swag” thanks to Twitter hacker

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Martin’s 60,000-follower Twitter account (@55markmartin) was hacked early Saturday morning rendering the 30-year NASCAR veteran completely powerless over his newest hobby. The unknown culprit – Epic Swag – commandeered the account and began changing every setting and altering followers.

For Martin, losing his Twitter account was almost unbearable.

“I felt naked,” he laughed. “I was locked out of my own account. I’d built my followers up and was scared I was going to lose all of it to this guy. I was mad at him, mad at myself, and really ticked off.”

Some quick work on a Saturday afternoon by Twitter and MWR restored Martin’s account to full functionality, and by late Saturday night Martin was back to tweeting about rap music, his schedule and answering fan questions.

“It’s such a cool link to my fans and I really didn’t want to give it up, so I’m thrilled I got it back. You see those commercials about people getting hacked and you really don’t think much of it, but when it happens to you it’s big. Real big.”

Martin returns to the driver’s seat on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. where he’ll have a special surprise for his Twitter hacker.

“Epic Swag stole my name last Saturday so this weekend I’m stealing his. We’ll run Epic Swag above the driver’s window where my name is usually. What do they say: ‘turnabout is fair play.’ ’’

Car owner Michael Waltrip likes the idea.

Source: MWR PR

Michael Waltrip Racing, JTG Daugherty take big hits on fines, suspensions from Talladega

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As tweeted earlier by Racingal.com, NASCAR confiscated the windshields from Michael Waltrip Racing’s #00 and #56 Toyotas and from the #47 Toyota for JTG-Daugherty Racing on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. Each team was forced to switch out the windshield for a new one after they were found to have unapproved modifications.

Full press release below:

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 25, 2011) – NASCAR has issued penalties to the No. 00, No. 47 and No. 56 teams that compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as a result of rule infractions discovered during opening day inspection Oct. 21 at Talladega Superspeedway.

 

All three cars were found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-3.2.1A (unapproved modification to an approved windshield) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book.

 

Crew chiefs Rodney Childers (No. 00), Frank Kerr (No. 47) and Chad Johnston (No. 56) have each been fined $50,000 and have been suspended from the next four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship events and suspended from NASCAR until Nov. 23. Car chiefs Steve Channing (No. 00), Raymond Fox (No. 47) and Anthony Lunders (No. 56) have likewise been suspended from the next four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship events and suspended from NASCAR until Nov. 23. Additionally, Bobby Kennedy, director of competition for Michael Waltrip Racing, has been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

 

Car owners Rob Kauffman (No. 00), Tad Geschickter (No. 47), and Michael Waltrip (No. 56) have each been penalized with the loss of 25 championship owner points. Drivers David Reutimann (No. 00), Bobby Labonte (No. 47), and Martin Truex Jr. (No. 56) have each been penalized with the loss of 25 championship driver points.

RESPONSES:

JTG DAUGHERTY RACING

“We are very disappointed in this entire situation and we will not appeal NASCAR’s ruling,” JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty said. “We look forward to racing at Martinsville Speedway this weekend and getting ready for next season.” Team chief race engineer Brian Burns will assume the role as crew chief for the #47 Toyota Camry replacing Frank Kerr and Bob Bechstein has been named car chief replacing Raymond Fox following penalties assessed by NASCAR.

 

MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING

“Michael Waltrip Racing is ultra-sensitive and very serious about working within the guidelines of NASCAR policy. We do not condone this type of activity and as such we will take appropriate internal corrective action immediately. We thank NASCAR for providing a fair and equitable platform for all of its competitors and respect its decisions; therefore, we will not appeal.” The following team personnel moves will take effect until NASCAR reinstates the suspended crew members:

#56 Team: Veteran crew chief Pat Tryson will serve as interim crew chief in place of suspended crew chief Chad Johnston at Martinsville. Allen Mincey, #56 race mechanic, will serve as interim car chief in place of suspended car chief Tony Lunders

#00 Team: Bobby Kennedy, executive vice president of race operations, will serve as interim crew chief in place of Rodney Childers. Chris Hall, #00 race mechanic, will serve as interim car chief in place of suspended car chief Steve Channing.

Both crew and car chiefs will return to their positions following their suspensions.

Sources: NASCAR PR

Clint Bowyer signs three-year agreement with Michael Waltrip Racing

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Team owner Michael Waltrip (left) and driver Clint Bowyer (right) pose for a photo with the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 7 in Kansas City, Kan. Waltrip announced that Clint Bowyer will join Michael Waltrip Racing for the 2012 Season. Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR 

 

Michael Waltrip Racing announced Clint Bowyer will drive the team’s #15 Toyota with 5-hour Energy as the primary sponsor for the next three NASCAR Sprint Cup seasons beginning at the 2012 Daytona 500. The announcement ends months of speculation for the highly valued free agent.

Bowyer, 32, is a six-year veteran with four victories, two pole positions, 30 top-five finishes and 90 top-10s in Sprint Cup competition. MWR is finishing its fifth season competing in the Sprint Cup series and has scored two wins.

PR: MWR

 

Announcement to come at Talladega regarding MWR and JTG Daugherty Racing

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In an earlier blog, (NASCAR teams suffer broken relationships) I reported that Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing were in a possible break-up and ending their alliance with each other.

 

Here’s an update:

According to JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Tad Geschickter and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team [#47 Toyota] and driver Bobby Labonte, will likely maintain its current alliances with Michael Waltrip Racing and Toyota in 2012.

 

Geshickter confirmed that JTG Daugherty will no longer operate out of the MWR shops in Cornelius, NC, in 2012, instead moving back to their its own facility in Harrisburg. Geschickter also revealed plans to expand the team in the foreseeable future, saying, “We’re definitely looking to become a multi-car team in 2013.”

 

Geschickter said an official announcement of next year’s manufacturer and driver lineup will likely come at Talladega in two weeks.

UPDATED: NASCAR teams suffer broken relationships – but they must move on

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Breaking up is hard to do – at times. Sometimes it’s the inevitable; other times, it’s just what needs to happen.

So what are the top “break-up” stories going around NASCAR these past few weeks? Well, I dug around and came up with the top three:

RED BULL RACING

Red Bull Racing filed a WARN notice this week as part of North Carolina’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that layoffs were impending and expected by Dec. 17, 2011.

The notification with the state does not mean the team will or will not be sold but covers Red Bull if it does not sell the team and shuts down or sells the team to a buyer that lays off workers.

North Carolina law requires the 60-day notice to the state and employees if at least 50 employees will be laid off. Red Bull Racing expects to layoff 152 employees. If an employer does not notify the state and its employees of layoffs, it could be responsible for 60 days of wages plus a $500 fine for each violation.

As many of you may recall, Red Bull announced back in late June that it was selling the team – but that was almost four months ago, with no announcement of a buyer, as of yet. One person of interest has stepped forward, former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve – who has kept no secret about his interest in Cup racing – but indications are that there have been no productive discussions.

MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING/JTG DAUGHERTY RACING

In the meantime, is Michael Waltrip Racing ending its alliance with JTG Daugherty Racing? MWR currently fields two teams: No. 56/ Martin Truex Jr. and No. 00/ David Reutimann, and supplies cars for No. 47/Bobby Labonte and JTG Daugherty Racing out of its Mooresville, N.C., shop.

News from the Charlotte Observer stated that Michael Waltrip Racing is preparing to add a driver, but not a team. Team co-owner Michael Waltrip said Friday he hopes to have a deal completed with driver Clint Bowyer and a sponsor within 7 to 10 days. MWR also reported that the move would not necessitate the addition of new personnel or expansion. However, MWR has named Scott Miller as Executive Vice President of Competition effective at the conclusion of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Miller had just separated ways from RCR as Director of Competition at Richard Childress Racing after 7 years.

When asked whether Miller’s departure and destination were linked to his own, Bowyer grinned and said, “I wish him the best and, who knows, maybe I will be working with him someday.”

MWR has been providing resources for the JTG Daugherty team – in essence a third team – but that relationship will end at year’s end. Team owner Brad Daugherty plans to keep his organization on track next season, but is currently looking at options to align with another team.

So, on that note, as speculation is floating… that <signs were> Brad Daughterty has always had great admiration for Richard Petty and always wore the #43 jersey during his college and NBA career. Is JTG Daughtery leaning to form an alliance with Richard Petty Motorsports?

“I haven’t talked with Richard Petty Motorsports,” team owner Tad Geschickter said. “There’s no truth to that at all.”

LITERALLY:  STENHOUSE VS BAYNE

According to Wood Brothers Racing co-owner Led Wood and Sirius Speedway, a decision will be made in the next few weeks about whether Trevor Bayne will return to the legendary #21 Sprint Cup Series Ford next season, or be replaced by current Nationwide Series point leader Ricky Stenhouse.

If it were up to Wood, he would keep Bayne in the driver’s seat. However, as he puts it, “a decision on who will steer the #21 Ford next season will be made by Ford Motor Company and Roush Fenway Racing,” which whom the Woods have a longstanding technical alliance.

A decision will be made in the next few weeks.

UPDATE: Kevin Harvick, Inc. submits a WARN filing with the State of N.C.

Kevin Harvick Inc., which announced this month that it would merge its Nationwide Series operation into Richard Childress Racing and that the majority of its Camping World Truck Series operation had been sold to Eddie Sharp Racing, notified the state of North Carolina that it planned 103 layoffs under the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.