Waltrip excited for MWR in second half of Sprint Cup season
By SceneDaily Staff
Thursday, July 24, 2008
- TEXT SIZE: Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Reset Text Size
- 3 Comments. Leave a Comment
- Digg This
- Add to Del.icio.us
- RSS Feeds
Drew Hallowell / Getty Images for NASCAR
Latest Headlines
Michael Waltrip says his organization is bringing its latest-generation new car to the track this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As teams continue to work with the new car, MWR is constantly trying to pick up the pace and stay with the improving trend in the garage. To achieve that, it has modified this version of the car a little.
"This is probably generation three of our [car of tomorrow] program," Waltrip said. "It is lighter. It has a lower center of gravity. To me, those two things are key elements to what this new car needs. Drivers talk about how this car is heavier than the old cars. That means the center of gravity is very critical. A way that I can explain this is if Jeff Gordon and I are racing, and if he has a lower center of gravity in comparison to mine, then he will have the ability to make it through the corners faster. We have to make sure that our cars are the best. That’s our challenge and charge here at MWR.
"We have been able to lower our center of gravity by 5/8th of an inch. That may not sound like much, but it is a big deal. It is like lowering the engine by 4 inches. That’s how important we think our most recent gain is."
Waltrip said the team has tested at Kentucky Speedway and The Milwaukee Mile in preparation for this weekend's race and that his is the first car like this for the organization. He adds that 12 are in development with the team.
"Everything has gone real well in testing so we are really optimistic about the Indy race," he said. "I am really looking forward to the second half of the season. I believe we are putting together some really special cars. We are really organizing and coming together as a group. I feel better about MWR today than I ever have because of the things we are doing and accomplishing. I also love the job that David Reutimann and [his crew chief] Ryan Pemberton are doing on the track. [My crew chief] Bobby Kennedy and I have almost won two races this year. You just can’t argue that.
"We were coming to the white flag at Talladega with the lead. If the motor would have run one more mile, I would have won that race. At Loudon, we were right there with a chance to win."
He sees those as key signs of improvement with his group. Last year, Waltrip was outside the top 35 in owners points and trying to just make races. This year he's more securely in that group, sitting 31st in owners points, with one top-five finish (second at New Hampshire Motor Speedway).
"Last year, we didn’t have that to hang our hats on," Waltrip said. "We missed races and had two top-10 finishes. We weren’t able to contend for races. Now we are. Reutimann is poised to break into the top 20 in points. Last year, he was 45th. We have got ourselves rooted solidly in the points. Now we’ve added another veteran crew chief with Peter Sospenzo. Starting in Indy, he will be guiding rookie Michael McDowell. He’s all in. He’s here to take McDowell to another level. It’s really fun here at MWR. I can get excited when I talk about this right now because I can really see it happening. There have been so many days when I have wanted to see the needle moving. I wanted to know what we were doing in order to get to that next point. I knew it was all going on, but it wasn’t coming together like I wanted it to. Now, I see it coming together and that is a great thing.”
Comments
3 responses to "Waltrip excited for MWR in second half of Sprint Cup season"
Anonymous said:
Jul 24, 2008 at 4:13 PMThis team and the 2 others will never win MWR couldnt even go but 1 yr without having to bring in a partner. Millions of $$$ blown or put in Michaels acct
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse ReportBRIAN PECENCO said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 1:09 AMGO MWR i cheer for you every weekend brian
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse ReportDot Green said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 4:45 AMWhen you think of all MWR has taken on last year and this year, lot of credit goes out to them, and their sponsors. I beleive if Toyota stepped up for MWR and believed in them up a little more we would see better finishes. Right now I think TOyota is concentrating too much on Joe Gibbs.. But go Michael with your attitude and winning ways you will make it happen.
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Report