Michael Waltrip Racing set for final NASCAR race
Published 8:49 am Sunday, November 22, 2015
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Clint Bowyer wanted the epilogue on Michael Waltrip Racing to focus more on the good times and good people than the missteps that affected the organization since its start.
Jet fuel scandal. Race manipulation. Chase probation.
All were part of the fabric of the MWR story.
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MWR’s rocky nine full years in operation ends today when the organization folds, leaving a checkered past behind as the key players move on from a disheartening final season.
“It’s a sad weekend because there was a lot of effort on a lot of people’s parts,” Bowyer said Saturday.
Team co-owner Rob Kauffman has invested in Chip Ganassi Racing beginning next season. Bowyer moves on to a one-year stint at HScott Motorsports before he replaces Tony Stewart in 2017. David Ragan needs a ride. Brian Vickers’ career is on hiatus because of blood clots. Waltrip also has a broadcasting career.
“Sunday it’ll be hard, but I’ll choose to smile,” Waltrip tweeted. “We were underdogs who nearly survived in a grownups world. Ultimately we didn’t win it all.”
Setting a tone that followed the team for years, MWR found trouble at the start of the 2007 season in the Daytona 500. Waltrip’s own car failed inspection when a suspicious substance was found in the Camry’s intake manifold. NASCAR determined it was a fuel additive and kicked out competition director Bobby Kennedy and crew chief David Hyder.
In 2013, NASCAR determined that MWR manipulated the outcome of the race at Richmond in a bid to get Martin Truex Jr. into the Chase and slapped it with heavy penalties.
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Bowyer said the struggle to find sponsorship helped doom MWR more than Richmond.
“Everybody wants to always talk about Richmond,” he said. “Richmond didn’t do anything. We regrouped, we reorganized and we were a two-car team.”
Bowyer made the Chase this season but his title shot was crippled when NASCAR penalized the team for an infraction in the opening playoff race.
“I knew it was going to be a tough task to keep the group together and compete for a championship,” Bowyer said.
Danica Patrick arrives at the garage after practice for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race
Saturday
Nov. 21
