Place your bets, when with Michael Waltrip make another race?

[cgs]

a very poor showing from the #55 car this season. he has not once made the field on his qualifying time (having to race into the Daytona 500). both his other teams have made races on time but he'e not even been close. i don't think he'll ever make the top 35 in car owner points either until at least 2008

[blakebeatty]

a very poor showing from the #55 car this season. he has not once made the field on his qualifying time (having to race into the Daytona 500). both his other teams have made races on time but he'e not even been close. i don't think he'll ever make the top 35 in car owner points either until at least 2008

Instead of sammy hagar singing in NAPA commercials, it'd be more appropriate to have sir Elton singing Rocket Man "Well I guess it's going to be a long, long time..."

[MD24]

As long as there are so many entries, I don't see "Mikey the mouth" making too many races this season.

Hey harvick#1 bring back your signature :p :

[Cole_Trickle]

Talladega?

[harvick#1]

Hey harvick#1 bring back your signature :p :

back by popular request :laugh:

[harvick#1]

the 55 will be racing but Mikey sure won't be in it :p :

I'll be guessing Bill Elliott will drive the car to see if he can get that POS into the top 35 or atleast out of - points in the owners standings

[Sparky1329]

http://www.boomspeed.com/rockysmom/flyingpig.gif

:D

[RaceFanStan]

Poor Michael Waltrip, he took on more than he could handle ... :s
Now everyone is on his case & quick to put him down ...
The sad thing is that Michael's Toyota is a slug ...
Reutimann's & Jarrett's Toyotas aren't much better ...
Michael now has little hope of getting out of the hole he is in ... :s

[Sparky1329]

The only things Michael has ever had going for him was his big mouth, his huge ego and his last name. That's not much to build on especially for such a massive challenge. How smart was Toyota to be so snookered?

[MD24]

The only things Michael has ever had going for him was his big mouth, his huge ego and his last name. That's not much to build on especially for such a massive challenge. How smart was Toyota to be so snookered?

I couldn't agree more with you

[R. Mears]

Kind of reminds me of Kyle Petty. lol BTW is Kyle still racing?

[Erki]

I'll be guessing Bill Elliott will drive the car to see if he can get that POS into the top 35 or atleast out of - points in the owners standings

It already is. Those who don't qualify but get a top50 time, still get some owner points.

[Jonesi]

a very poor showing from the #55 car this season. he has not once made the field on his qualifying time (having to race into the Daytona 500). both his other teams have made races on time but he'e not even been close. i don't think he'll ever make the top 35 in car owner points either until at least 2008

Not accurate he has been close, in the 5 races since Daytona: twice he was fastest of the non qualifiers, twice he was third and once he was slowest.

[R. Mears]

Well he qualified 44th friday.

[dwboogityfan]

Unfortunately it seems alot of people are delighted at Mikey's failings which is a shame. My own view is that Mikey - like Kyle Petty - is having to do too much running his team and not being able to focus on his driving.
However, long term I think Mikey will be a good team owner. As for now if I was Mikey I would try a different driver for a few races just to see if that makes any difference. I know Awesome Bill has been mentioned which would be great but I'd go for Mike Skinner or Johnny Benson as they know how Toyota works from their time with the company in the Truck Series. Or if all else fails Ol' DW won't be doing too much after June and does have that past champions provisional...

[Mark in Oshawa]

Once again, Toyota proves that they are not THAT smart at all. If they wanted a big name to make a splash with as a team owner, they should have gone to Roger Penske right up front......because when one sifts through the ashes of the poor start Toyota is having, they will realize they need a big name with a proven track record to put this program on a proper footing, and out of the big name team owners, I think RP would be the only guy to maybe take that leap. Ganassi might....but Roger would be the best bet, since he went from Pontiac, to Ford and then Dodge....

[Jonesi]

Once again, Toyota proves that they are not THAT smart at all. If they wanted a big name to make a splash with as a team owner, they should have gone to Roger Penske right up front......because when one sifts through the ashes of the poor start Toyota is having, they will realize they need a big name with a proven track record to put this program on a proper footing, and out of the big name team owners, I think RP would be the only guy to maybe take that leap. Ganassi might....but Roger would be the best bet, since he went from Pontiac, to Ford and then Dodge....

Toyota didn't have the chance of picking up better teams. Knowing that Toyota was coming in with big $, the other manufacturers locked up all their top teams for at least five years (runs through '09). The only teams that would consider the 2-3 years of struggling were new startups or teams that weren't currently at the top of the food chain. The only other teams they might have gone with are Cal-Wells, Morgan-McClure, Robby Gordon.

[BobbyC]

It has come to the point Mikey has taken a few cars to TRD to inspect what has been happening with the cars. Toyota is committed to the team that they are working on everything to get their cars in -- there are no Camrys in the Exempt List.

Once Toyota gets everything well, however, watch out.

[Jag_Warrior]

BTW is Kyle still racing?

Kyle Petty raced in NASCAR?

:D

[RaceFanStan]

Kyle Petty has raced in NASCAR Cup racing from 1979 to the present season ...
Kyle Petty has 790 Cup starts, 8 wins, 51 top 5s, 172 top 10s & 8 poles

Kyle Petty also has raced a limited schedule in the Busch Series 1982 to 2000 ...
Kyle Petty has 55 Busch starts, 0 wins, 5 top 5s, 11 top 10s & 0 poles

Kyle Petty also had 1 race in the Truck Series in 1997 & finished 11th

[Jonesi]

He also played a NASCAR driver in Stroker Ace. ;-)

[R. Mears]

He also played a NASCAR driver in Stroker Ace. ;-)
I forgot about that movie. How long ago was that(without googling)15 years?

[Sparky1329]

I forgot about that movie. How long ago was that(without googling)15 years?

Probably close to 25-30 years ago. :D

[R. Mears]

Probably close to 25-30 years ago. :D
Damn, I'm older than I thought also more senile too. :D
Around the smokey and the bandit era? Disco too. LOL

[Sparky1329]

Damn, I'm older than I thought also more senile too. :D
Around the smokey and the bandit era? Disco too. LOL

Yep. Dayum! You're old. :D

[djarumdudley]

He also played a NASCAR driver in Stroker Ace. ;-)

the greatest upside down finish until this years 500.

[Jag_Warrior]

Kyle Petty has raced in NASCAR Cup racing from 1979 to the present season ...
Kyle Petty has 790 Cup starts, 8 wins, 51 top 5s, 172 top 10s & 8 poles

Kyle Petty also has raced a limited schedule in the Busch Series 1982 to 2000 ...
Kyle Petty has 55 Busch starts, 0 wins, 5 top 5s, 11 top 10s & 0 poles

Kyle Petty also had 1 race in the Truck Series in 1997 & finished 11th

Heck of a nice guy from all that I know about him. But his "Use By" date passed a loooooong time ago.

[tstran17_88]

I think we're missing the bigger picture here. Paul Menard has three DNQ's so far this year. :D

[POS_Maggott]

Thats a pretty good point..

Mikey has started the season in a hole, and has had a very rough time getting out of it, but a lot of good drivers in good cars have also missed races.

A number of times, Mikey was faster than them in quals, but because of the Daytona situation, everyone focuses on his story instead of showing the he was usually faster, compared to the other cars that went home.

[tstran17_88]

but a lot of good drivers in good cars have also missed races.

I hope your not referring to my post about Menard?

My post about Menard is my attempt at a joke. I can't stand him. I’m from Wisconsin and generally always support all the Wisconsin drivers, but the one’s from the La Crosse area seem to rub me the wrong way. (Sauter’s and Mernard’s)

Every time he DNQ’s for a race in a DEI car just proves my point about Paul. That if my dad was worth 5 billion dollars, I’d be driving in Nextel Cup also.

[POS_Maggott]

I hope your not referring to my post about Menard?

My post about Menard is my attempt at a joke. I can't stand him. I’m from Wisconsin and generally always support all the Wisconsin drivers, but the one’s from the La Crosse area seem to rub me the wrong way. (Sauter’s and Mernard’s)

Every time he DNQ’s for a race in a DEI car just proves my point about Paul. That if my dad was worth 5 billion dollars, I’d be driving in Nextel Cup also.

Not really, but you can look at the cars that have missed races and see that a lot of them are previous winners in either Cup or Busch.

Menard is a good driver though, so I'm not counting him out of my statement.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I think with the strength of drivers now entering NASCAR, you can be a damned good driver and not make races just because of the 35 guarnteed spots, and the 10 or so extra cars trying to make each race. That said, Mikey I don't think is an exceptional driver, and you couple that with an average to bad performance by his team, and you will keep missing races. The mess in Daytona put Mikey's team off on the wrong foot, and they may never recover. He had a poor team last year that struggled with a make of car that at least was proven. Now he has a brand new car with a crappy team. Recipe for disaster. Missing the Daytona 500 put him in a hole they wont get out of until next season. Toyota must be wondering why they put so much stock in this guy....

[tstran17_88]

Missing the Daytona 500 put him in a hole they wont get out of until next season. Toyota must be wondering why they put so much stock in this guy....Mikey made the 500 though.

[dont_be_jack]

Mikey made the 500 though.

That's right, put him in his place! Seems that we can't remember what happened 2 months ago now...

[ms0362]

Toyota is most likely questioning their decision to go with Waltrip. Napa is probably thinking they should have stayed with DEI. Mikey's in a whole heap of trouble. He won't qualify at Texas. My guess is, there's going to need to be a short list of entries, and a couple with have to screw up qualifying for him to make the cut.

[cgs]

i wouldn't be suprised to see the NAPA livery transplanted onto Dale Jarrent's car for 1 or 2 races before the season is done.

[JovialJooles]

Well, I like Mikey, he's a character and can laugh at himself...

I agree with a lot of what's been said, I think he needs to get Bill Elliot to start a few races, just to appease NAPA. Plus, if he was out of the car for a while, he could concentrate on the team.

A good article here -

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/columns/story?seriesId=2&columnist=newton_david&id=2802401

As far as DEI is concerned, I just don't think they are the force they once were. I hope Jnr moves to Childress for next year, he needs to be with a team that will support him and give him good equipment. Whilst Teresa is at the helm, I don't think Jnr is going to move forward.

Julian

[Sparky1329]

This must've been posted at Infield Parking on April Fool's Day. :D

"CORNELIUS, NC --- Michael Waltrip Racing announced Friday morning that driver Michael Waltrip is being relieved of driving duties in the number 55 NAPA-sponsored Toyota Camry. Waltrip has missed four of the season’s first five races, and has a season point total of negative 27 after incurring a 100 point penalty for a fuel additive that was discovered in his car’s intake manifold after qualifying for the Daytona 500 in February.

“We simply can’t continue on the path we find ourselves on,” stated an obviously dejected Waltrip, “and the time has come for a change. I’ve decided to release myself from my driving contract, and begin the search for a replacement.” No possible replacements were named, and any potential candidates would have to first be approved by Toyota Racing Development officials.

Michael Waltrip’s struggles as a driver began in 1985, and have continued through to the present day. Despite a handful of super speedway wins in DEI-prepared Chevrolets, including a pair of Daytona 500 victories, Waltrip’s career has been marked mostly by mediocre finishes and several memorable television commercials.

When asked if the controversy surrounding this year’s Daytona 500 had anything to do with the decision, Waltrip reminded that he is still working on finding out exactly who placed the fuel additive in his Toyota. “Just like OJ’s tireless hunt for his wife’s killer, we’ll continue to follow the leads until we find out once and for all, just who it was that actually made our car seem competitive during Daytona 500 qualifying.”

Ads for car parts, guns, rent-to-own furniture, and other necessities for the NASCAR fan still grace the Michael Waltrip Racing website, reminding visitors that Waltrip’s effectiveness as a pitch man can still lure advertisers into signing million dollar endorsement deals despite his complete inability to competitively drive a stock car at the sport’s highest level.

Despite his firing, Michael tried to remain upbeat. “It’s not cool to be fired by yourself, and it’s really uncool to have to fire yourself,” said Waltrip in a statement that was clear only to himself, “but you have to remind yourself to look at the bright side. We’ve got some really cool things going on at the Raceworld shop this summer where the fans will be able to participate in some actual shop activities. That is, if we still have a shop this summer.”

[tstran17_88]

That sounds more like a stunt he would pull to keep his face on the 5 o'clock news.

[ted@economy]

Try this solution on for size.Michael buys out Robbie Gordon and puts Robbie in the NAPA seat with the #7.Besides an ego,Robbie comes with a top 25 in points.He runs unsponsored a lot,and likely would be able to bring some sponsorship with him.That would salvage the 2007 season for Mikey and,who knows,the two are enough alike they might get along.

[Sparky1329]

Robby and Michael alike? :rotflmao: I want some of what you're smoking.

[djarumdudley]

did you forget that Robby Gordon chucked his helmet at Waltrip's car a couple years back at Loudon?!

[cgs]

plus Robbie has just signed a deal with ford for this year so i don't see him defecting to toyota so soon!