Working On My Redneck ™ » mark martin

MWR A NASCAR Powerhouse?

Leon — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:39:16 +0000

(WOMR file photo)

In just its sixth full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, Michael Waltrip Racing is making a big push into becoming a powerhouse in NASCAR’s premier circuit.

Michael Waltrip Racing made its entrance into the Sprint Cup as a three car team with drivers David Reutimann, past Sprint Cup champion, Dale Jarrett, and the namesake owner, Michael Waltrip. The first year of their existence was extremely ragged and rough for Michael Waltrip. Within two short years, MWR had shrunk two to a two car operation, and stayed in that configuration until the 2012 season.

In just the first six races of the 2012 season, the new three car team fielded by MWR, has combined for four top 5′s and ten top 10 finishes. This new thrust is spearheaded by Martin Truex, Jr and his MWR #56 Napa Toyota. MWR finds its two full-time drivers, Truex, Jr, and Clint Bowyer, firmly entrenched in the top 10 in points!

Third year driver, Martin Truex,Jr. and crew chief Chad Johnson finished on an uptick, recording four top 10′s in the final five races of 2011. That momentum has carried into the 2012 season, as the duo have yet to finish worst than 17th this year. Included in those finishes are third at Bristol, and fifth at Martinsville.

Newby, Clint Bowyer, a high-profile free-agent previously employed by Richard Childress Racing, has found immediate chemistry with another new-hire, and his new crew chief, Brian Pattie. Pattie, leading the MWR #15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, has managed finishes of sixth at Bristol, and fourth at Las Vegas, brings his team into Texas sitting ninth in the Sprint Cup points. Their consistent start is the difference between MWR that once contended for wins only three or four times a year, now that team is in the running each and every weekend!

One of the keys to the turnaround at MWR was the hiring of former Richard Childress Racing competition director, Scott Miller as the Vice President of Competition. Miller is a NASCAR veteran, having sat atop the pit box for both Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton while at RCR. He brought a level of expertise and confidence to his new role at MWR, when he signed with the company in late 2011.

Another key acquisition was to bring on Mark Martin as a part-time driver of the #55 Aaron’s Toyota. Martin, one of the most respected drivers in the garage, also brought a level of professionalism not seen at MWR before this season. Martin has agreed to drive the MWR #55 Toyota for 25 races.

Martin’s absence id two races so far has given way to the 2012 “feel good” storylines. Michael Waltrip has hired Brian Vickers to drive in eight of the races that Martin will not participate in. Vickers was a casualty of Red Bull Racing’s departure from NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

In Vickers’ first appearance for MWR, he led 125 laps at Bristol en route to a fifth place finish. Between Martin and Vickers, that team has finished no worse that 18th with three top 10′s to its credit. Those performances find that team, along with the #15 and the #56, ranked in the top 10 in the all important owner points. That is guaranteeing their places in the starting lineup for this weekends race at Texas.

So it appears that Michael Waltrip Racing has put together some of the missing pieces of the puzzle for their 2012 Sprint Cup season. The aforementioned personnel additions stand to reason why MWR’s performance will improve drastically over the past five seasons.

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Evaluating The Silly Season Seat Changes

Leon — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:56:51 +0000

The Dinger's new ride

(WOMR file photo)

Of the announced seat changes that became public since the end of the 2011 Sprint Cup season, there are some upgrades in equipment and some obvious downgrades in equipment, as well. This is my evaluation of where some of these drivers stand following their off-season moves.

The drivers who have upgraded their positions

The first driver that comes to my attention as the most obvious upgrade has to be Kasey Kahne. His one year deal with Red Bull Racing was just a short pit stop with a team that was failing, and has officially shuttered their doors after the end of the 2011 season. In 2012, Kahne finds himself piloting the Hendrick Motorsports #5 Farmers Insurance Chevy, and doing so, for the foreseeable future. In addition to Kahne moving to HMS, he is bringing with him his longtime crew chief, Kenny Francis, as well.

The Dinger, better known as A.J. Almendinger, elevated his stature by securing the Penske Racing #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge driver’s seat. That seat opening became available after Kurt Busch’s infamous tirade and meltdown directed towards ESPN’s pit reporter, Dr. Jerry Punch. Last year The Dinger was employed, or underemployed, driving the Richard Petty Motorsports #43 Best Buy Ford. His future, and for that fact, the future of RPM has many question marks surrounding it. Best Buy bailed out on RPM after the end of the race season, and resurrected itself as a sponsor with the Roush-Fenway organization. The fact that the RPM#43 Ford team lost its major sponsorship was the out that allowed The Dinger to seek, and receive, his release from RPM. Thereby giving rise to the ability to seize the opportunity at Penske Racing, an obvious upgrade in equipment with better financing!

And the last driver to upgrade positions is none other than Danica Patrick. Not only will she be running a full Nationwide schedule for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and JR Motorsports, Patrick will also be augmenting that ride with a partial Sprint Cup schedule driving the Stewart-Haas Racing #10 GoDaddy.com Chevy.

The drivers who have downgraded their positions

The driver that took the biggest downgrade in both equipment and financing obviously is Kurt “The Mouth” Busch. Busch’s fall from grace is very well documented with problems at both Roush-Fenway Racing. Busch went from a primo ride with Penske Racing driving the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge to the very underfunded James Finch Phoenix Racing #51 Chevy. Even though Phoenix Racing receives their motors from Hendrick Motorsports, the team still has to be considered an underdog in the Sprint Cup world.

Clint Bowyer will take a step back as well. Bowyer moves from one of the premier race teams, Richard Childress Racing, to a very middle of the road team in the likes of Michael Waltrip Racing. Even though MWR has two race victories with David Reutimann, it still can not be considered a very serious threat on a weekly basis yet.

Bowyer’s departure from RCR is one still shrouded in a veil of mystery. Neither party really wants to take responsibility for the separation. Notwithstanding, it will be very interesting to see if Bowyer can be the key element that will lift MWR to the next level of competition in the Sprint Cup series.

Continuing with the Michael Waltrip Racing saga, Mark Martin is moving over to the MWR fold. Most certainly the fact that Martin is leaving Hendrick Motorsports, that too can only be noted as a downgrade. As you will recall, Martin is being unceremoniously removed from the HMS #5 Chevy to make room for the above mentioned Kasey Kahne. Martin won five races for HMS in 2009, however, he has been winless for the last two years.

Hanging with the MWR theme, David Reutimann was rooted out of his ride in the MWR #00 and replaced with the aforementioned Mark Martin. It was just announced that Reutimann was signed for a one year deal with Tommy Baldwin Racing. Even though MWR was not an upper tier race team, Reutimann hooking up with TBR would also be considered a downgrade, as well. TBR has struggled in its brief history, even though they made all the races in 2011. That team started out as a “start and park” until sponsorship could be secured.

But the real hard luck story for the 2012 season would be David Ragan. Having won the July Daytona race, The Coke Zero 400, Ragan now finds him without a ride in any series and nothing in sight, with just 51 days til the Daytona 500!

What are your views on the silly season driver changes?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

NASCAR Silly Season Is In Full Swing!

Leon — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:29:35 +0000

(WOMR file photo)

The latest rumors floating around the garage area after Sunday’s race in Martinsville, VA are gaining traction this week!

Musical chairs at Michael Waltrip Racing:

First of all, it appears that David Reutimann is out of the driver’s seat of the Michael Waltrip Racing #00 Aaron’s/Tums Toyota at the end of this season. The talk in the garage is that Mark Martin will slide into to #00 Aaron’s/Tums Toyota on a partial schedule. There has not been an announcement of who will fill in for Martin in the races that he will not be driving the race car. The formal announcement from MWR will be forth coming at Texsas Motor Speedway this weekend.

This from Bob Dillner on Race Hub:

Dilner contacted David Reutimann via text message on Tuesday. Reutimann returned the text stating that he, Reutimann, had “zero” to talk about regarding his place with MWR in 2012! Ty Norris, a VIP with Michael Waltrip Racing, stated to Dillner that there would be an announcement at the Texas Motor Speedway that would answer most everyone’s questions on this subject.

If this comes to fruition at Michael Waltrip Racing, the line up will have Clint Bowyer driving the MWR #15 5-Hour Energy Drick Toyota, Martin Truex, Jr. driving the MWR #56 Napa Toyota, and Mark Marin driving a partial schedule in the MWR #00 Aaron’s Toyota. There is a possibility of Michael Waltrip racing the restrictor plate races, plus a few more to fill out the season in the MWR #00 Aaron’s Toyota. That gives MWR a powerhouse of talent for the 2012 season!

From the Stewart-Haas Racing rumor mill:

There is talk going around that Darien Grubb will be out as the crew chief for Tony Stewart’s #14 Office Depot/Burger King Chevy at the end of the season. It is rumored that Steve Addington, the crew chief for the Penske Racing #22 Shell/Penzoil Dodge driven by Kurt Busch, will be hired to take over the crew chief for 2012!

From Roush-Fenway Racing:

It has been rumored that the Roush-Fenway #6 Ford driven by David Ragan may be parked, if no sponsorship can be secured for the 2012 season. Roush has said that he would be willing to run Matt Kenseth’s #17 Ford unsponsored for 2012, if necessay. However, without sponsorship for the #6 team for 2012 would result in folding the team. That leaves David Ragan as the odd man out at Roush-Fenway Racing.

Nevertheless, Ragan has been upbeat about his 2012 possibilities. The assumption is that Roush has given Ragan the freedom to pursue other employment opportunities.

Stay tuned as the puzzle pieces start to be placed in the appropriate places for 2012!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

NASCAR “Free Agents” Still Undecided On Future

Leon — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:26:34 +0000

(workingonmyredneck file photo)

Now that the biggest of free agent has re-signed with Roush-Fenway, with big financial help from Ford Motor Company, the Carl Edwards story is finished. According to Jack Roush, Ford Motor Company stepped up to offer Carl Edwards an incentive program, including Ford stock that would that would come to fruition in the third year of the contract!

Still unsettled contractually, Clint Bowyer has yet to finalize his plans with Richard Childress Racing for 2012. It is widely assumed that Bowyer will re-sign with RCR for 2012, even though there are some sponsorship questions that still need to be finalized.

Likewise, Juan Pablo Montoya has yet to commit to another year with Target Chip Ganassi. Like Bowyer, it is expected that JPM will continue driving for EGR #42 Target Chevy in 2012.

However, the future of Brian Vickers is completely up in the air. Since Red Bull Racing has stated that they are pulling out of NASCAR as a race team, Vickers is scouring the garage area for employment opportunities for 2012. In looking at all the powerhouse race teams for 2012, it would appear that “there is no room at the inn” for Vickers! Unless Vickers can bring substantial sponsorship that would allow an established race organization to start a third or fourth team, like Joe Gibbs Racing and/or Stewart-Haas Racing, Vickers may be relegated to an underfunded less competitive race team for 2012.

Now Mark Martin’s future may possibly involve many twists and turns. It is a given that he is out of the Hendrick Motorsports #5 GoDaddy.com Chevy at the end the 2011 season. That is the only thing that is factual. However, there could be many possibilities that Martin could be dealing within deciding his future. First, Martin could get involved in ownership of a Sprint Cup team. There has been some garage rumors stating that Martin could get involved in a partnership ownership status, possibly with a group to take over the Red Bull Racing team. Secondly, Martin is running a very limited Nationwide and Camping World Truck schedule with Turner Motorsports, that could be part of his future plans as well. Could that be where Martin lands for the 2012 season, running a part-time schedule in both series? Could his future be a Sprint Cup team owner and part-time competitor in Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and/or Camping World Trucks series?

What are your thoughts on where these “free agents” may land next year? The possibilities are endless!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Red Bull Is Leaving NASCAR After 2011

Leon — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 04:52:18 +0000

(workingonmyredneck file photo)

Now that the news has broken that the owner of Red Bull has announced that they will be leaving NASCAR at the end of the 2011 season as a car owner, there leaves many questions still unanswered.

What will happen to the two car team that it presently runs? Who will take this opportunity to test their hand at NASCAR ownership? What will happen to all the people that are presently in the NASCAR Red Bull Racing organization? Will Red Bull stay in the series as a sponsor, or withdraw entirely? Is Red Bull like so many other entities in the past that were “flashes in the pan”? Just how, when. where. why, and who will fill the Red Bull Racing void that is going to occur?

Where does Red Bull Racing’s abdication from NASCAR leave Brian Vickers?

It appears that Jay Frye, Red Bull Racing’s general manager, is in hypersonic mode trying to line up possible investors that would be interested in purchasing the rights to this race team. One interesting note is that Mark Martin, who is leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of 2011, and Jay Frye are very good friends that go back to Martin’s days with Ginn Racing.

Here is an intriguing idea. Could Mark Martin possibly be interested in pursuing ownership in this race team? After the 2011 race season, the GoDaddy.com sponsorship could be up for grabs. It has been announced that the Hendrick Motorsports #5 Chevy will have a new primary sponsor, Farmers Insurance, when Kasey Kahne takes over this ride in 2012.

If Martin were to become a partner in this organization, and if he were to successfully bring the GoDaddy.com sponsorship with him, would it also be possible that he might be interested in offering Danica Patrick a ride in the second team car? After all, she is the big GoDaddy.com spokeswomen!

Think about this proposal, it could happen!

What are your thoughts on Red Bull Racing?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

How The HMS Crew Chief Swap Really Worked

Leon — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:39:29 +0000

Photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

As the media reported last week, there was a major shakeup, a crew chief swap, a company upheaval, or whatever you would like to call it, at Hendrick Motorsports!

After closer scrutiny, it appears that the way this swap is going to really happen is as follows:

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the #88, all his sponsors, AMP and the National Guard, etc., are really moving into the #24 shop with all its equipment in tact. Crew chief Steve Latarte and all the #24 support and race team is staying put in their shop.

Jeff Gordon, the #24 and all his sponsors, are moving over to the #5 shop with Alan Gustafson. All the #5 support and race team staying intact, as well.

Likewise, Mark Martin, the #5 and all his associated sponsors will move over to the #88 shop with all the #88 support and race team in tact, as well.

So in the final analysis, the real movement in all this crew swap upheaval at Hendrick is that the three drivers affected are shifting to new race shops/buildings within the organization. Those particular race teams are changing paint schemes and numbers to reflect their new driver’s sponsors and affiliations.

That, my friends, in a nutshell is the final analysis of “The Great Shakeup AT HMS”!

And as Paul Harvey used to say,”now you know the rest of the story”

What is your take on the “New Hendrick Motorsports” lineup?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDENCK!

A Shakeup At Hendrick Motorsports

Leon — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:26:38 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

On Tuesday Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, announced a multi-team shakeup for 2011. Hendrick cited the reason for the shakeup was due to a lack of performance.

Here is the scorecard for 2011: Steve Letarte, who has been crew chief for Jeff Gordon for the last five seasons, will move over to the team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Lance McGrew, who has been on Earnhardt’s pit box since May of 2009, will be paired with Mark Martin next year.

Earnhardt has won just one Sprint Cup race since arriving at HMS in 2008. He qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship that season but finished 12th in the 12-driver field.

Alan Gustafson, who has been Martin’s crew chief the last two seasons, moves to Gordon’s team.

The only driver left unaffected is Jimmie Johnson, who, with crew chief Chad Knaus, just won his fifth straight Sprint Cup championship.

“This will improve us as an organization, across the board,” Hendrick said in the statement. “We had a championship season, but we weren’t where we wanted and needed to be with all four teams. We’ve made the right adjustments, and I’m excited to go racing with this lineup.”

In addition, the Gordon and Martin teams will be fielded out of the same facility, now known as the 5/24 shop. Earnhardt and Johnson will be in the 48/88 shop. Previously the 24 and 48 cars were built in the same building, and the 5 and 88 were together. A major shift of emphasis at HMS!

The other three drivers were winless, and only Gordon made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, finishing ninth in the final standings.

What is your take on the shakeup at Hendrick Motorsports?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Martin-Hendrick: Could Get Ugly

Leon — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:23:13 +0000

(photo courtesy Geoff Burke/Getty Images)

If anyone doesn’t think that Mark Martin is a proud old warrior, you better rethink that thought! Martin made it clear last week in a very rare flare of anger after ESPN analyst, former crew chief and team owner, Ray Evernham, suggested that Mark Martin should bow out gracefully from the Hendrick Motorsports stable of drivers to allow Kasey Kahne into the #5 Chevy.

The audacity of that suggestion struck a very raw nerve in the 51 year old warrior. An irate Martin made it abundantly clear that he will not give up his ride without a fight! He has a contract with HMS and fully expects Hendrick to fulfill his part of the contract! Anything less than that is totally unacceptable to Martin.

Rick Hendrick created this mess by signing Kasey Kahne to a contract that is not starting until 2012. Granted, Hendrick needed to strike and sign Kahne early, however what is a driver of Kahne’s caliber to do for the 2011 season? Therein lies the confusion, the rancor, and a huge logistics problem. Hendrick has five drivers signed with the maximum of four race teams allowed by NASCAR. No problem according to Hendrick, Kahne will join the team after Martin leaves at the end of the 2011 season!

Obviously Hendrick wanted Kahne to join his company, no matter what the cost. However, it has been a disaster in the making from the start. Why make the announcement in early 2010 for the 2012 season? That announcement only fueled the fire of speculation over Kahne’s future employment status for 2011. The collateral damage from Hendrck’s announcement has caused the waters surrounding Mark Martin to become muddied, turbulent, and infected with alligators waist deep!

In 2010, Martin’s team has struggled with their performance, adding additional fuel to the fire, and magnifying this tenuous position that Martin has been thrust into! The outside speculation and pressure continues to mount weekly

So this is the deal. HMS has five very talented drivers, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt,Jr.,Mark Martin, and Kasey Kahne, signed to drive four cars. It doesn’t appear that Hendrick has been able to line up a ride for Kasey Kahne for the 2011 season, at this point in time. A talented driver, such as Kahne, will not be willing to sit out an entire season waiting for the contract to become enforceable.

Therefore, having five drivers for only four race teams has put rick Hendrick into a very delicate situation. Martin has made it very clear that he is not “expendable”, and is not going to be pushed out of the #5 Chevy! Hendrick has been extremely busy trying to line up employment in 2011 for Kahne. As the season starts to draw to close, the possibilities for Kahne’s 2011 season are not looking so bright!

The Kanhe signing has had many side affects within the HMS organization. Nevertheless, you can’t fault Hendrick for grabbing Kahne when he could, even though it has turned into a car owners worst nightmare!

Hendrick’s options seems to be dwindling as the days tick off! What is car owner to do?

What are your thoughts as to how Hendrick could solve his delicate problem?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Is Dale Jr’s Fortunes Martin’s Misfortunes?

Leon — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:33:01 +0000

(photo courtesy Tom Whitmore/Getty Images)

Could it be that Dale Earnhardt,Jr.’s rise in the standings this season is related to the fall of Mark Martin?

Earnhardt finished fourth last Saturday night at the Coke Zero 400 and climbed up to 12th position in the Chase. Meanwhile Martin was caught up in one of the “big ones”, finished 28th and fell out of the Chase to 13th place.

Is this just racing luck or is there something to this analysis? If you look at the bigger picture, maybe there is something here. During the off season Rick Hendrick made some changes to try to bolster the sagging performance of “NASCAR’s rock star”, Dale Jr. and the #88 race team. Hendrick moved some “key players” from Martin’s team over to Earnhardt, Jr.’s team. It was explained as part of “reorganization “ effort to help both teams.

After last year’s performance, Mark Martin’s team really didn’t need any help, they had 5 victories to show for themselves. What needed help? Now 18 races into the season, Martin has zero victories and has fallen out of the Chase.

There is also this small item, what to do with the new Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kasey Kahne, for the 2011 season? There is much conjecture on the future of Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, and Hendrick Motorsports. Martin has a contract to drive full time with HMS in 2011, but the water is still very murky as to how the pieces of this puzzle will fit together.

Does any or all of this Kahne, Martin, and HMS negotiations have an affect on the Martin’s 2010 performance? One thing that is for sure, winning in NASCAR requires a multitude of factors to fit together snugly, from mechanical to mental, and many things in between. There are some people that may wondering if Hendrick’s tinkering may have upset the apple cart.

Nevertheless, there is some happy news for the ardent Mark Martin fan. Martin is only a handful points out of 12th place. The driver currently in 12th place is Carl Edward, hardly a powerhouse and winless in 2010.

What is your view on Martin’s slide and Junior’s ascent?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Is He That Good?

Leon — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:43:52 +0000

(photo courtesy Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images)

Hey Brian France are you listening?

I propose that you change the name of the Nationwide Series back to the Busch Series. Better yet, the Kyle Busch Series!

The 25 year old throttle jockey from Las Vegas had just another day at “the office” Saturday at Louden, N.H. Busch lead 125 of the 200 laps to win the Nationwide race there. That propelled Busch into the position for all time laps leader in that series passing Mark “The Kid” Martin! Kyle has now lead a total of 8,117 laps in the Nationwide Series, and he is only 25 years old!

In the 2010 Nationwide Series Busch has won 6 of the 13 races, additionally, he has not raced in all the races this season. To show how dominating that Kyle has been in the Nationwide Series, he has won 36 races in his 186 starts since 2003. That is a great average, winning 19.35% of all races that he has competed in for this series!

With 36 wins in this series, Busch has now tied Kevin Harvick for second place on the all time win list. The overall leader for most wins is Mark Martin with 48 victories, but that was accomplished over a 21 year career in this series. Busch has accumulated his 36 victories in less than eight years racing in the Nationwide Series!

Last year ol Kylie ran away with the series championship winning nine races and finishing second in eleven other races. Think of that statistic, in 20 of the 35 races Busch was either first or second! That is just udder domination! Most likely he would be on another dominating run this year had he opted to run a full Nationwide schedule. (Actually J.D. Gibbs opted for him!)

There is one thing for sure, like him or hate him, nobody can dispute the talent of this young, edgy, arrogant, some might say cocky “Las Vegas Weasel”! At just 25 years old, Kyle has already established himself as one of the elite talents in NASCAR.

Just think how good he might be when he gets a little experience at this racing game!

What is your opinion of the ol Kylie?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!