Big MWR Announcements!!
Jess
I got home from shopping today and since NASCAR.com is my homepage it was like bam! Bootie Barker's going to be Michael's crew chief in 2009, bam! MWR is aligning with JTG-Daugherty Racing in 2009!
I've been wondering for quite a while what Bootie was going to do next season, since it was never confirmed that he would stay with Haas as it transferred to Stewart-Haas. Quite honestly I'm a bit shocked Stewart wasn't able to lure Bootie to be Newman's crew chief, or at least stay with the company. Things that make you go, "Hmm."
Michael is notoriously difficult to get along with on the racetrack and it's his abuse of crew chiefs after Tony Eury Jr. that caused me to stop listening to his radio chatter. I'm hoping Bootie doesn't take any mouth from Michael when he gets frustrated and I also pray there isn't much mouth to take in the first place. I feel Michael needs a "big name" crew chief so he will respect and trust him (I believe it gives him confidence, as well).
My only worry is that Bootie was recently suspended this season for messing with the wing on the #66 car of Scott Riggs. We obviously don't need to go into an in-depth look back to Daytona in 2007 but I can imagine Michael may have mentioned something along the lines of, "Leave your cheating ways behind you," when Bootie was hired.
Anyway, I'm very excited for Bootie to come on board!
This will allow Bobby Kennedy to go back to managing all three teams, which is what he was originally employed to do and what I think he's always wanted to resume. Yay!
The rumors about the MWR-JTG partnership turned out to be true.
And I can't be happier! This sounds extremely promising and it's very interesting since the team will be run straight out of MWR's shop. Marcos Ambrose seems like such a cool guy and a big sponsor like Little Debbie is always welcome! So this development has definitely "unwrapped a smile" on my face! Oh don't groan, you know that was cute. 
Personally I'm thrilled to have Frank Kerr back in MWR's shop. I never wanted to see him go last season - he's a great crew chief!
In other news, it was announced yesterday that Michael McDowell will be replaced this weekend at Talladega by Kenny Wallace - it wasn't specified if McD will be back this season. I have mixed feelings about this situation...on one hand I'm not entirely surprised at how much McD's struggled, since he really doesn't have all that much experience, so I understand why MWR is taking him out of his ride. On the other hand, he hasn't been getting the same equipment (gen 3 cars) as Michael and David until recently, so it's to be expected he'd have trouble. One moment it sounds like he will be re-signed for 2009 and then the next it sounds like he's a free agent. Although McD has said and done some things that I haven't liked, he's not a bad guy and I don't want to see him being yanked around. I hope MWR is able to give him a solid "yes" or "no" before too long so he's able to find a ride somewhere.
The big boys of MWR have said in several places that they need to find sponsorship for the third team and I'm assuming - since I don't think Champion Mortgage is quite a "real" sponsor - that means McDowell. If funding can be found that's great, but I can't help but think about Josh Wise. He's MWR's future and likely will take over the #55 when Michael retires, but he needs seat time in Nationwide before then. Aaron's is sponsoring the #99 for ten races (run by Michael and David), but to run the rest with Josh a sponsor needs to be found. Would taking a chance on a fourth Cup team be worth it when you have a Tony Stewart-praised driver waiting in the works? Time will tell.
I've been wondering for quite a while what Bootie was going to do next season, since it was never confirmed that he would stay with Haas as it transferred to Stewart-Haas. Quite honestly I'm a bit shocked Stewart wasn't able to lure Bootie to be Newman's crew chief, or at least stay with the company. Things that make you go, "Hmm."
Michael is notoriously difficult to get along with on the racetrack and it's his abuse of crew chiefs after Tony Eury Jr. that caused me to stop listening to his radio chatter. I'm hoping Bootie doesn't take any mouth from Michael when he gets frustrated and I also pray there isn't much mouth to take in the first place. I feel Michael needs a "big name" crew chief so he will respect and trust him (I believe it gives him confidence, as well).
My only worry is that Bootie was recently suspended this season for messing with the wing on the #66 car of Scott Riggs. We obviously don't need to go into an in-depth look back to Daytona in 2007 but I can imagine Michael may have mentioned something along the lines of, "Leave your cheating ways behind you," when Bootie was hired.
Anyway, I'm very excited for Bootie to come on board!
This will allow Bobby Kennedy to go back to managing all three teams, which is what he was originally employed to do and what I think he's always wanted to resume. Yay!The rumors about the MWR-JTG partnership turned out to be true.
And I can't be happier! This sounds extremely promising and it's very interesting since the team will be run straight out of MWR's shop. Marcos Ambrose seems like such a cool guy and a big sponsor like Little Debbie is always welcome! So this development has definitely "unwrapped a smile" on my face! Oh don't groan, you know that was cute. Personally I'm thrilled to have Frank Kerr back in MWR's shop.
I never wanted to see him go last season - he's a great crew chief!In other news, it was announced yesterday that Michael McDowell will be replaced this weekend at Talladega by Kenny Wallace - it wasn't specified if McD will be back this season. I have mixed feelings about this situation...on one hand I'm not entirely surprised at how much McD's struggled, since he really doesn't have all that much experience, so I understand why MWR is taking him out of his ride. On the other hand, he hasn't been getting the same equipment (gen 3 cars) as Michael and David until recently, so it's to be expected he'd have trouble. One moment it sounds like he will be re-signed for 2009 and then the next it sounds like he's a free agent. Although McD has said and done some things that I haven't liked, he's not a bad guy and I don't want to see him being yanked around. I hope MWR is able to give him a solid "yes" or "no" before too long so he's able to find a ride somewhere.
The big boys of MWR have said in several places that they need to find sponsorship for the third team and I'm assuming - since I don't think Champion Mortgage is quite a "real" sponsor - that means McDowell. If funding can be found that's great, but I can't help but think about Josh Wise. He's MWR's future and likely will take over the #55 when Michael retires, but he needs seat time in Nationwide before then. Aaron's is sponsoring the #99 for ten races (run by Michael and David), but to run the rest with Josh a sponsor needs to be found. Would taking a chance on a fourth Cup team be worth it when you have a Tony Stewart-praised driver waiting in the works? Time will tell.
