Michael Waltrip Racing sets July 7 announcement to discuss future; Martin Truex Jr. remains mum
It appears Martin Truex Jr. could possibly be hired to replace owner/driver Michael Waltrip at Michael Waltrip Racing.
// David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
LOUDON, N.H. – Michael Waltrip Racing has set a July 7 news conference to talk about the future of the organization, MWR Ty Norris vice president and general manager said Sunday morning.
It appears MWR is set to announce the hiring of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
When asked if he had any update on his contract situation, Truex Jr. said Saturday he didn’t and when asked when he would announce anything, he smiled and held up two fingers, indicating two weeks.
It is expected that Truex will replace Michael Waltrip as a full-time driver at MWR with Waltrip likely driving a partial schedule. Truex’s younger brother, Ryan, drives for MWR in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. Neither Truex nor Waltrip have denied reports of Truex being headed to MWR.
“What [the announcement] will do is start to paint the picture of what 2010 and beyond will look like,” Norris said Sunday in the New Hampshire Motor Speedway garage. “It definitely is going to answer a lot of questions and really start to paint the picture of what MWR’s future will look like.
“I don’t know that you’re going to get all of your answer on the 7th, but I think you will get the answers to a lot of the questions that most people are asking.”
Truex has one career victory in 134 career starts and he made the Chase For The Sprint Cup in 2007. The 2004 and 2005 champion in what is now known as the Nationwide Series driving for Chance 2 Motorsports (co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Inc.), Truex has spent virtually his entire NASCAR career either with an association or for DEI.
He made the Chase amid the tumultuous DEI year where Earnhardt Jr. made the decision to leave DEI and go to Hendrick Motorsports. Truex signed a one-year extension to his contract last August but still hasn’t been able to find the consistent finishes he had in 2007. DEI merged its Cup operations with Chip Ganasssi Racing after last year.
If MWR fields a full-time car for Truex and a part-time effort for Waltrip in addition to keeping David Reutimann and its relationship with JTG Daugherty Racing, it would be at its maximum four teams.
MWR still needs to re-sign the alliance with JTG Daugherty, and Norris said he wants to get that done.
“It has been mutually beneficial on both sides, almost exactly how we anticipated it could be,” Norris said. “We’ve been thrilled.”
Norris said the priority is to get all three cars (including the JTG Daugherty car) as Chase For The Sprint Cup contenders before expanding to a fourth car or supplying cars to other organizations.
“We want all three to be Chase contending before we start taking on more,” Norris said.
