Skinner on preliminary Cup entry list in No. 00, apparently replacing McDowell
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Mike Skinner is on the entry list for this weekend's 3M Performance 400 Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway, where he will apparently replace Michael McDowell in the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.
McDowell, a rookie whose team is 36th in owner points, will temporarily be pulled from the car in a move similar to what Skinner did with AJ Allmendinger and Red Bull Racing earlier in the season.
Cal Wells, MWR executive vice president, said Sunday that McDowell could be removed from the car if it failed to get back into the top 35 in owner points at Watkins Glen. McDowell's 25th-place finish on Sunday left him eight points short of the 35th-place team of Allmendinger.
"If we choose to do that, it would be for two reasons," Wells said Sunday before the race. "One would be to evaluate the package itself, and the other would be to make sure we get in the shows. Not that McDowell can't bust a lap off - because he can - but anything's possible."
Wells said Sunday morning that no contracts were in place yet to replace McDowell, and nothing had been set up. But the pace apparently picked up once the No. 00 remained outside the top 35 and faced the prospect of qualifying on speed at Michigan.
"We'll do what's necessary to evaluate that," Wells said. "One of the business objectives we have is keeping that car in the top 35, and we haven't been able to do that."
McDowell declined to speculate on the move Sunday morning and was unavailable for comment Monday afternoon.
Wells said bringing McDowell back to the team in 2009, which would require picking up the option on the driver's contract and securing sponsorship, is a priority.
"We have a lot of things in the hopper that involve Michael," he said. "All of the things we're selling are built around Michael McDowell. We made a very big investment in him. He's a very talented guy. I like Mike a lot personally, and I feel he's really championship-caliber.
"It's just going to be a matter of sequencing - when he matures, when that team matures. As far as sponsorship, we're not selling around anybody else. I just hope the timing works out, but I don't know right now."
