From Ruin to Redemption: Part 1

I want to infuse the emotion and uncertainty in this in as much detail as possible, so because of time constraints I will write this in two parts.

After an agonizing wait, Michael Waltrip’s penalties were announced in a press conference with VP of Corporate Communications, Jim Hunter, and VP of Competition, Robin Pemberton.

Apparently there was some sort of gel-like fuel additive found in the fuel system that leaked into the intake manifold, where the substance was initially discovered Sunday afternoon. According to Hunter and Pemberton, it was something they have never seen before and something that cannot easily be obtained. They denied to say what the substance was, which did not surprise me.

Penalties:

-Michael’s Bud Pole Qualifying time disallowed.

-Michael’s crew chief, Larry (David) Hyder – suspended indefinitely (“A very long time.”).

-Hyder fined $100,000.

-MWR’s VP of Competition, Bobby Kennedy, suspended indefinitely.

-Loss of 100 Champion and Owner points for the #55 NAPA Camry.

Despite the obvious severity of the above penalties, all I could feel was relief – they were letting Michael compete in the Duels. From what they said, they considered suspending Michael and the team as well, so all I could do was thank NASCAR for their mercy. With the incredible size of the infraction, he probably should have been booted.

The battle was not over. Michael bypassed his own backup car and instead took David Reutimann’s, which had seen Daytona Speedway before (unlike Michael’s backup). However, the car did not fit the templates. The MWR team worked on it with all they could.

Last night, Michael released this statement:

“In the past 12 months, Michael Waltrip Racing has hired more than 150 people and we currently employ more than 200. Although we have grown at an accelerated pace, it has been our mission to hire people with high moral value and character to properly represent our sponsors and our ownership.

“During preparations for the 2007 season and especially the 2007 Daytona 500, I specifically requested that our competition teams not disrespect NASCAR, our competitors or our sponsors by blatantly circumventing the rules.

“This is not the action of an organization, a manufacturer or a sponsor. This was an independent act done without consent or authorization from me or any of my executive management team. As an owner, I realize I am ultimately held responsible for the actions of my employees. Therefore, I accept the penalties issued tonight by NASCAR.

“I respect NASCAR’s rules, its people and the sport’s integrity, which is why I am so sad and embarrassed. I am dedicated to get to the bottom of this because I will not let the independent act of an individual or individuals tarnish the incredible accomplishment my organization has made to be where we are today.

“I want to apologize to the other owners, who know how hard I’ve worked to get here in such a short period of time, NASCAR, Toyota, NAPA, all my sponsors, the drivers and especially the fans.”

I greatly appreciated Michael taking full responsibility for what happened and for accepting what he got. A good owner. No excuses. No conspiracy crap. Michael, as the team owner and driver of the #55, ultimately should know what is going into his car. I went to bed feeling shaken but thankful for Michael’s second chance.

This morning, Michael addressed the media for the first time. It was during that conference that we learned that Michael had considered not running in the Duels. Thankfully, support from his wife, Buffy, the garage and even NASCAR itself changed his mind. The guilt Michael must have felt to consider withdrawing himself more than likely cannot be described in words.

We then learned that the #55 Camry was still being worked on as of 11 this morning. At first, NASCAR had stated that the car had to be through inspection by that hour. However, this was waived. Thank you again, NASCAR!!

Nerves were pretty much shot by then – would the car even be ready in time for the 1st Duel? And if it was, would it even be possible for Michael to race his way in, in an unproven car from the back?

The first was answered when Michael appeared on pit road before the his Duel. But…how would he race?

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

A few updates on Michael's situation from SPEED...

NASCAR has apparently escorted Bobby Kennedy (MWR's director of competition) "out of the garage". If that means out of Daytona completely, I don't know yet. However, it doesn't sounds especially good.

The #55 team is frantically working on the backup car, but although Michael was suited up in the garage, practice was over before he could get out on the track. From his expression he looked to be trying to put on a brave face, but in his eyes you could tell he was worried. The last I saw of him he was chasing after DJ's car as it was driving through the garage area.

I'm no Jimmy Spencer fan, but he said something that unfortunately I agree with...that no matter what happens, this has made Toyota look worse than they already do. This is not Toyota's doing - this is Michael Waltrip's doing! The point is, if it was Toyota's doing all the Toyotas would have failed inspection. I realize fans love Michael but now it seems they are grasping onto anything to keep Michael innocent. No driver, no owner is above pushing the envelope! Michael has done it before and he will likely do it again...though that likelihood may go down a bit depending on how severe any penalties he may receive are.

Supposedly NASCAR will be holding a press conference announcing Michael's fate “soon”. Anyone complaining about how long it's taking better watch their words: NASCAR is going to be 100% sure of what the issue is before they make a decision. Would fans rather they just guess?

Thankfully we got some comic relief in the form of a ROTY contender RC car race. The first lap was um, basically a wreck-fest! Crashes, flipping cars! But our hero David Reutimann made it through the chaos and put the entire field a few laps down. You go, David! Brandon was also racing, wearing a flashy black-and-neon orange suit, and looked like he made it through the wreck without damage, but no word on his finishing order.

Thanks, rookies. You put a smile on my face that I really needed!

Michael's Wild Risk: A Nasty Error

I just want an announcement to be made from NASCAR’s lips!!!

The only things that are for certain are that David Hyder has been suspended indefinitely and Michael will not be able to use his primary car. Michael will also not be participating in the first practice, which is going on right now, and he is not accepting interview opportunities. Here are some rumors that are / have been floating around:

-- Michael and the entire #55 team will be suspended for 12 weeks
-- Michael will be suspended for 4 weeks
-- David Hyder will be suspended for a year
-- Apparently the #44 was being reskinned as the #32?? This made no sense to me in the first place when it was posted on Jayski, and since then it was corrected to say that it’s a #00 car (David’s backup car) being reskinned to a #55 (to be Michael’s primary car…if he’s allowed to race at all)
-- All three MWR teams will be suspended. This I’ll have a huge issue with, because it’s not fair that anything wrong with Michael’s car should cause the other two innocent teams to suffer. I’d be half furious at NASCAR and half furious with the #55 team for making this mess to begin with!

Oh, man. This is crazy! To give me even more confidence, here are some Toyota quotes from TRD senior VP Lee White in an article from NASCAR Scene Daily:

“One thing I can tell you is that the elements of ethics, integrity, character, honesty are things that are extremely important, probably paramount, to my company. Are we a little disappointed that one of our teams is involved in things that have transpired here? Yes, we can't deny that. ... Depending on what that outcome is, obviously, we will have some further discussions with that team and decide what our relationship is going to be in the future.

“The rules are the rules, and we expect to participate by the rules. We hold our own people to a very high standard, and certainly we hope we have partnered with the right people and hold their people to a high standard.”

He then goes on to say he’s going to have a meeting with Michael and MWR to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Oi.

Basically, this whole situation has gone downhill very quickly. When NASCAR ran the suspicious #55’s motor this morning, the manifold filled up with the “liquid” again. Obviously there was something intentionally done to the car, for Hyder was expelled from the track. As far as anyone knows right now, Michael will be allowed to practice in David’s backup car, but any further into the future than that is unclear.

I’m at the point where I just want to know what’s going to happen, good or bad. Waiting is killing me.

Daytona Disasters!!!!

I got home from work today, nervous and excited to see how the MWR cars qualified, but the last thing I expected was to discover Michael’s #55 NAPA Camry, as well as an intake manifold, had been confiscated by NASCAR.

Apparently pre-qualifying inspectors found an oil-like substance inside the manifold. They didn’t know what it was and there is not supposed to be any oil in that area, so obviously they seized the part. Michael made his single-car run and posted a decent time that would put him 24th out of 61 cars, but things turned ugly again after the NAPA Camry was done, for NASCAR decided to take the entire car back to North Carolina and basically search it up and down. According to an ESPN video, Marty Smith reports that it isn’t certain if Michael will get the car back in time for the Duels on Thursday. What is even more frightening, he may not be able to race at all if NASCAR detects cheating is the cause of the strange substance. Michael claims it must have been oil, yet Jim Hunter retorts that the inspectors do not think it’s oil.

I’m incredibly upset about this! If this is blatant cheating and not some part malfunction, I’ll be furious that the 55 team – and that includes Michael, because as a team owner / driver I highly doubt he wouldn’t know what’s being done to his car – if NASCAR finds that there was something intentionally done to the manifold. They absolutely cannot afford to be messing around with the rules! Not when they don’t have owners points to fall back on! If anyone thinks that NASCAR “can’t” disqualify Michael and send him home, they’ve done it before. Last year at the Pennsylvania 500, Chad Chaffin failed post-qualifying inspection when his car was too low. He was sent packing.

Brandon Whitt’s ARCA race did not go well, to make this week even better! He hung in the back of the pack until he got caught up in a wreck near the middle of the race, ruining his chances of showcasing his talents. Josh Wise also dropped out of the race because of the damage he received in the same wreck.

David is also in a Duel all by himself – as of now Michael and DJ are in the first Duel, while David is in the second. Great.

Basically the only good things that have really made me happy so far is that Justin Allgaier and Jeremy Clements finished the ARCA race 7th and 3rd respectfully, and David qualified 14th overall, making him 7th in his Duel, which I believe gives him a chance of being locked in on that speed.

I’m so freaked out I don’t even know anything about Junior, Martin, Casey, Kurt and Brandon yet. I’ll have to calm myself down tomorrow and get up to date on them.

And Speedweeks Has Only Just Begun...

One week from now, history will be made with another Daytona 500 winner. A new mini Champion will be crowned.

However, with a little less than a week until the big race, there is plenty to talk about.

Last Thursday, Dale Jr. added to the DEI controversy by stating that he will not resign unless he has majority ownership of the team. This is an extremely bold statement and potentially could be the end of DEI. Apparently, Junior will leave the team at the end of this year if Teresa does not hand more than half of it to her stepson. If Teresa agrees to his terms, Dale Jr. remains and Teresa’s arguable “team owner” status will be reduced.

Sometimes I cringe at what Junior tells the media. This was one of those mouth-dropping instances when I wondered immediately after if he’d regret ever saying anything. For his own sake, announcing something this huge right before the biggest week in NASCAR can lead to a lot of media harassment, team focus blurring and – this is Junior we’re talking about – loads of speculation. However, I believe that Dale Jr. has the right to request this. While many would say he is selfish, greedy and spoiled to make such a demand, I’d challenge anyone to declare that Teresa is fit to be an owner of such a big name team. DEI has been snowballing into disaster for quite some time since Dale Earnhardt died. Maybe it’s time for change. Maybe Junior can bring it back to where it was and where it should be. He did great with Chance 2, of which he had half ownership of (Teresa simply provided the car, and took credit for the two championships…HA!). But, I think the big question is: What will happen if Teresa refuses? Bluntly put, DEI will crumble. Why do you think Kerry and his son Jeffrey were suddenly signed, after years of ignoring Dale’s eldest child? Damage control. Last ditch effort to have an Earnhardt, any Earnhardt, in DEI if Junior decided to leave. However, I don’t think it would be enough to hold the team together. The only person in this situation who has everything to lose? Teresa. So she’d better be thinking real hard about it.

The Bud Shootout ran last night and was our first glimpse at how the Toyotas will perform. Brian Vickers and MWR’s Dale Jarrett hoped to prove that they would be a factor. Dale led from the pole…but that first lap, which he unfortunately didn’t even lead, was the closest he was to the front all night. The #44 team struggled all night, finishing higher than only Bill Elliott in the underfunded #37 car of the cars that were still moving at the end. There was some hope that it was simply a test. According to some of DJ’s comments following the race, that was pretty much what they could do. Not very encouraging, considering he even lost the draft at one point. Brian Vickers led some laps and ran respectfully, finishing 8th. So…still some work to do before the Duels on Thursday.

The Shootout was frustrating for Dale Jr. It seemed he had a good car, but was always the helper and never the recipient. To compound all the problems, he caused a massive wreck in the tri-oval coming to the checkers when he ran into the back of Elliott Sadler. Denny Hamlin was hit, went into the grass, came back out on the track and nearly went upside down when Kasey Kahne slammed him on the driver’s side. Meanwhile, reacting to the whole mess, Junior veered left down pit road, collecting Greg Biffle in the process. Everyone was okay and Junior admitted fault for the crash, thankfully.

Tony Stewart won and proceeded to suck up to Kyle Busch after tapping him from the lead in the middle of a turn many laps before. Better suck up. While I don’t think it was maliciously intentional, it was careless and stupid. Or…just typical Tony.

Qualifying was today, but that’s another story.

Dedication to David

Well, David did a great job today of both breaking my heart and making me love him even more.

After completing second practice in 12th – the second fastest go-or-go-home car – this afternoon he was being interviewed on NASCAR Live. He was asked about the pressure he is being faced with because he has to qualify on time for the Daytona 500, and knowing David, I expected one of the most heartfelt and honest answers a driver could give. I got it.

David paused and the genuine emotion that appeared on his face was as clear as day. He replied after a moment that this was his life, and that qualifying is like life or death. They have to make races – they just have to. When he stopped talking he looked afraid but put a quick smile on his face to mask it. Yet his eyes were averted and he came across as being very shaken. David had just openly shown his heart to the world, and had let the fans into the mind of himself as well as Michael Waltrip, Brian Vickers, Jeremy Mayfield, Ward Burton, Brandon Whitt, Kenny Wallace, Paul Menard and all the other drivers who are not guaranteed a spot in the greatest race in the world.

I couldn’t help but getting choked up myself. In a short time I’ve grown extremely attached to David…he is one of the truest drivers out there. He has so much raw talent and it terrifies me to think that he could miss the Daytona 500 and other races to come. How would Domino’s and the once-skeptical Burger King react if David struggles? How understanding will they be that David is a rookie with a rookie team and a rookie manufacturer? Will they give him a chance to develop or will they demand someone else? Do they see that David could be a champion and a superstar or do they want instant results, like what is becoming more disappointingly popular these days?

Concerning the go-or-go-homers, the magic number of three is being tossed around – the top three fastest single-car qualifiers. They say that if a non-top 35 driver is part of the trio of fastest qualifiers they have a good chance of being locked in. Using today’s second practice, David would be second and Michael would be third, so that gives me hope. But despite all that my stress level is through the roof! If qualifying doesn’t go well tomorrow – okay, technically today – it’s going to be a long week till Thursday.

Happy With Quals!

The starting lineup is set for two races tomorrow, both involving stock cars but in different series: The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and the ARCA/REMAX series. There are a few drivers in each that I’m very interested in, and I’ve been fortunate enough that great things have happened concerning them.

Firstly, Dale Jarrett is in the Bud Shootout tomorrow, which is exciting enough – Toyota’s first competitive race! What’s even better is that during the drawing for the starting lineup last night, DJ drew the pole! It’s awesome that a Toyota, not to mention an MWR Toyota, will start #1 in the first race of the year. Dale was 11th in first practice and 14th in second practice. In first practice also, Kurt, with a striking gold Miller Lite Dodge, was 17th and Dale Jr. was 6th, while in the second session they were 2nd and 3rd, respectively. The #2 will take the green in 17th and the #8 will take off in 19th.

Meanwhile in ARCA, Brandon Whitt attempted to qualify today after being 4th in practice yesterday. He made the field in 23rd place. "We knew we weren't going to be very good by ourselves based on what we saw yesterday during practice,” he said. “But the thing that matters is how we run tomorrow, and we were very pleased with the way the car handled in the draft. Our BWR Camry is set up to be there at the end of the race tomorrow although we didn't want to start quite that far back; we'll just have to take it and move our way up tomorrow.” I’m absolutely thrilled his Toyota is a good car, and hope this ARCA race has a better ending for the #51 BWR ride than the last one.

Josh Wise, running the #22 Eddie Sharp Racing Development Camry (supported by MWR), also qualified today in 18th. This is what he had to say: “The car drove a lot better than it did yesterday and I think that gave me a lot more confidence on how it's going to race. Our ultimate goal is to race good; it's always nice to qualify well, but it's all about the race. This Eddie Sharp Racing team worked really hard to get this car ready for this weekend and we've made a lot of improvements. As long as we are learning and improving, those are the most important things. There’s a lot of pressure being one of the first Toyotas to take to the track in competition, but really no more pressure than I put on myself already. This is an exciting week for Toyota, and I'm just really excited to be a part of it.” Josh seems to be a really nice guy so I will definitely be cheering him on tomorrow.

In spirit, anyway, because I’ll be at work. Figures.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...Oh, Wait...

Another savvy business move by Michael that will likely come under fire once other fans hear about it (though right now I think most are watching Dale Jr.’s situation). David now is basically 37th in points from last year and is listed under Cal Wells as the car owner. This helps him a little bit, but only if qualifying is cancelled or rained out – he would be locked into the field if this was the case (along with Michael, who is 38th in points, and DJ could use his champion's provisional). However, if the qualifying session is held he will still have to qualify on time during the first five races at least, so this isn’t exactly like what Michael did last year with the #77, which guaranteed him into the first five races.

I don’t know what to think about moves like this. The logical part of me says, “Hey, no one was using those points anyway.” But morally, I’ve never been a big fan of someone using owners points he didn’t earn. This bothers me in cases such as Brian Vickers and Casey Mears as well…even though Brian earned points last year he doesn’t get them because he’s in a new ride. I don’t particularly like how the points that guarantee a driver into the field stay with the car, but I suppose it puts some power into the car owner’s hands and makes a team attractive to prospective drivers if the ride is vacated. In the end business is business and all is fair in love and war, I suppose.

I’m also nervous about this specific deal because Cal Wells now has ownership of the 00 (technically the #100). I can see this because MWR hired the ex-PPI team members, but it still makes me uneasy that David’s car is now under “Waltrip-PPI Racing”. It may be just a name like Waltrip-Jasper Racing was last year, but I can’t help being leery of these types of partnerships. I don’t know how much – if any – say Wells has in David’s team, and to me it seems like Michael already has enough to worry about to have to take into account another car owner.

But Michael’s a smart guy so I should put more faith into him! And if it rains any time soon during qualifying I’ll definitely be thankful for those points.

Casey, Meet Darian

I wasn’t quite expecting this announcement yesterday! Not to say I’m disappointed, just a bit surprised, mostly due to timing. Casey now has a new crew chief – Darian Grubb. The same Darian that guided Jimmie Johnson to his first Daytona 500 victory as well as four top 10s in the first four races, including another win at Vegas, while Chad Knaus was suspended. Should I be kicking up my heels in joy? Well…yes and no.

It certainly is exciting because Darian got a lot of good press during his short but productive tenure as Jimmie’s crew chief, and he seems to be a great candidate for a full-time position. But let’s not forget that while NASCAR can suspend someone from the track, they can’t exactly forbid him to stay out of the shop. No doubt Chad was in the shop every day and on the cell phone every chance he could get while the 48 team was at the track, working that Chad magic on the Lowe’s machine. However, racing is a team sport. It’s very unlikely that Darian has little talent, since crew chief calls can be so vital during a race, and that gives me comfort to know he’s got what it takes to end up in Victory Lane with Casey some day.

I’m also a little worried that this move may put a lot of added pressure on Casey to get a victory quickly, especially at Daytona. I imagine it might be encouraging as well as intimidating to be paired with a Daytona 500 champion crew chief while you haven’t won a Cup race yet. Casey is a very underrated drafter and he has all the skill to win at Daytona, but I hope his fans don’t feel like he has to win or run incredibly well because Darian is last year’s 500 defender.

Either way, CJ will be going for it!

Las Vegas Testing

Vegas testing was this week (and here I am, several days late). With the new reconfiguring of the track from 12 to 20 degrees, 50+ teams with over 90 cars showed up for a chance to check out the new surface. Speeds will increase and lap times will decrease, of course, but the one drawback of going fast is dancing toward the edge of control. Several drivers learned this the hard way.

Day 1 brought in impressive times along with some hard wrecks. In the morning, Scott Riggs led with a lap of 29.426 seconds, or 183.511MPH. Compare that to Kasey Kahne’s 2004 track record of 174.904MPH and you can really see the difference 8 degrees of banking can make! Casey Mears and Kurt Busch were 19th and 22nd respectively in their A cars. Then you have to looks down the charts to find David Reutimann in 39th, Martin Truex in 46th, Dale Jr. in 47th, Michael Waltrip in 63rd, Dale Jarrett in 67th and Brandon Whitt in 77th. It looks bad, but with three more sessions the teams can afford to experiment. I’ve heard over and over again that it’s better to find out what doesn’t work for the car.

PM speeds found Riggs’ teammate Kasey Kahne topping the charts. Kurt moved up to 10th and Casey up to 12th. Junior also improved to 28th and Michael to 36th. But Martin dropped to 45th, David to 53rd, Dale to 59th and Brandon to 74th.

Along with speed, incidents marked the day. Five drivers crashed, including Tony Raines, Reed Sorenson, A.J. Allmendinger, Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne. It was reported by NASCAR that Brandon Whitt blew a motor, but the team denied it. Don’t really know what happened there.

Day 2 hoped to bring improvement for the DEI and MWR camps. In the AM, Paul Menard ripped out an amazing 188.370MPH lap. Dale Jr. followed in 14th place. Then came Casey in 20th, Kurt in 28th, D.J. in 29th, David in 49th, Martin in 57th, Michael in 62nd and Brandon in 71st.

In the PM session, some relief was brought to MWR. Michael shot up to 9th place! Elliott Sadler led with the fastest speed of Vegas testing – 188.772MPH. Dale Jr. sat in 20th, Kurt in 22nd, David in 32nd, Martin in 53rd, Brandon in 65th and Dale in 68th. However, amid the celebration about Michael, we found out that the 8 car damaged one motor and completely demolished a second. Even worse, David was among those who crashed, apparently crunching up his right rear. I believe the damage was not too severe. I suppose we should just be thankful that our drivers did not suffer the fate of poor A.J., who wrecked his second and final car on the last day. How miserable! Rookie David Ragan also slapped the wall.

All in all, it’s difficult to say where the teams are at this point. Obviously, the Evernham Dodges are going to contend for the pole come March. Casey and Kurt appear to be in fine shape to race. DEI looks like it may have to put in some extra hours to improve a bit, but if Paul can release a lap like his Day 2 Session 1 speed, he should be easily in the race. It’s really MWR that I am worried about. Despite Michael’s fast lap, their times usually occupied the bottom of the charts. Dale has 6 championship provisionals, so he’s in the Daytona 500, but I don’t know if the provisionals can be used consecutively (the Busch Series made the 1 out of every 5 races rule, I believe). I think David can qualify, but there are so many uncertainties. However, they are in better shape than poor Brandon. He will be lucky to qualify for any race this season.

If you want to look into more detail, the Vegas Testing times can be found on Jayski.

Only a week till the Bud Shootout! Daytona is coming!!