Waltrip's 2007 a year to forget
By Jeff Owens
Monday, December 24, 2007
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If there is one driver on the NASCAR circuit who can't wait for the calendar to turn it has to be Michael Waltrip.
Though he is used to struggling at NASCAR's highest level, Waltrip has also enjoyed a sizable measure of success, having won two Daytona 500s. He has also developed a personality and TV persona that has transformed him into a star far greater than his on-track achievements might ordinarily merit.
But for Waltrip, 2007 was definitely a year to forget.
In fact, when you consider all the drivers who struggled and underachieved in 2007, none was more disappointing or hit rock bottom harder than Waltrip.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman all had disappointing seasons, missing the Chase For The Nextel Cup. But none suffered the trials and tribulations of Waltrip, who experienced the sport's biggest fall from grace.
Entering 2007, Waltrip was one of the most talked about drivers and team owners on the circuit, having landed major support from Toyota and using it to build his own three-team Cup operation.
Fans and the media marveled at how Waltrip pulled off such a coup, with some arguing that he was a brilliant businessman for parlaying a mediocre driving career into a well-funded three-car Cup team.
Then, before his new team even hit the track, it all came crashing down around him at Daytona, when Waltrip was caught with an illegal fuel additive
in his Toyota during qualifying for the Daytona 500, bringing much scorn from NASCAR.
Suddenly, the man who was being cast as a brilliant businessman was in some serious trouble. After being hit with one of the stiffest penalties - $100,000, 100 points and two key suspensions - in NASCAR history, Waltrip's blunder made national headlines, humiliating him, embarrassing Toyota and his sponsors and nearly costing him much of the financial backing his whole operation was built with.
Suddenly, the foundation Waltrip had established had some major cracks in it.
The trouble didn't end there. Waltrip had to think the worst was behind him after Daytona. He was wrong.
He failed to qualify for the next 11 races with his own team while teammates Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann also struggled just to make races.
Week after week, the question was not how Waltrip and his new Toyota teams would do in the race - it was whether or not they would even make the race.
In the end, Waltrip missed a staggering 22 of 36 points races. Perhaps even more embarrassing, former Cup champion Dale Jarrett, who left Robert Yates Racing to bring sponsor UPS to MWR, also missed race after race, failing to qualify 12 times. Only his six past champions provisionals kept his number of DNQs from approaching Waltrip's.
Adding to their embarrassment was the fact that Reutimann, a rookie, wound up being the most successful driver in the Waltrip stable. He failed to qualify only eight times, though he did give up his ride to P. J. Jones twice.
In all, the three Waltrip teams failed to qualify 42 times and produced only two top-10 finishes in 65 starts. All three teams finished outside the top 35 in owner points, putting the organization in jeopardy again in 2008.
Though all the Toyota teams struggled in the manufacturer's first Cup season, Waltrip and his organization, Toyota's flagship team, was certainly
Toyota's biggest disappointment and an embarrassment.
That had to be a major consideration in Toyota's decision to go out and sign Joe Gibbs Racing to a big contract. As one of the top three organizations in NASCAR, with three top-10 drivers, Gibbs now becomes Toyota's top team, the organization the manufacturer is depending on to make it competitive and produce its first NASCAR Nextel Cup success.
You have to wonder where that leaves Waltrip and his three teams. After such a horrible first year, and with Gibbs now in the Toyota camp, will it get enough backing and support to survive its growing pains?
By midseason this year, there were already rumors and rumblings that Waltrip would lose sponsors and wind up going out of business.
It hung on, but had to take some major steps to reorganize.
In serious need of cash and financial help, Waltrip has already sold half of his team to businessman Robert Kauffman. Jarrett will retire after just five races next year, and Reutimann will take over his No. 44 car.
That means Waltrip may cut back to just two teams. Sponsorship for the No. 00 car Reutimann drove this year is up in the air, and Waltrip is considering splitting that car between two young, inexperienced, virtually unknown drivers.
The big question going into 2007 was how well Waltrip and Toyota would do. The big question going into 2008 is whether or not Waltrip can turn things around and survive such a tumultuous beginning.
One thing is certain: 2008 can't be much worse than 2007. If Waltrip has only modest success, it will be a step up. And if he can get through Speedweeks at Daytona without a major hiccup, then that, too, will be a better start than last year.
Waltrip, who fittingly failed to qualify for the season finale, couldn't wait to get 2007 over with.
As the longest year of his life reaches a close, he probably can't wait to turn the calendar on a new year.
Jeff Owens is a writer for NASCAR Scene - published weekly, 50 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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