Charlotte Motor Speedway - NEXTEL All-Star Challenge

NEXTEL OPEN WINNERS: MARTIN TRUEX JR. AND JOHNNY SAUTER
NEXTEL OPEN FAN VOTE WINNER: KENNY WALLACE

Martin Truex Jr.: 1st (started 11th)
- The car was extremely tight but was good enough at the end to pass leader Carl Edwards and hold off a hard-charging Johnny Sauter for the win. Very exciting finish!

Michael Waltrip: 20th (started 32nd)
-The whole weekend was just miserable for Mikey. He downshifted while accelerating during practice and blew the engine. As per NASCAR’s rules, he would have to start at the rear of the field. However, during Open qualifying, Michael crashed his car without even taking the green flag, forcing them into a backup. The Open was kinder, but the NAPA machine was very loose and the team was unable to do much with it. In the last 20 lap segment, Michael had to pit for a flat tire and finished the race 2 laps down and out of contention. Hopefully the team had a successful “test session”, but I’m not really getting my hopes up.

David Reutimann: 21st (started 28th)
- David seemed to have similar problems as his team owner (except he was tight) and was often racing near him at any given point. He claimed that the frequent cautions hurt him. Then, just like Michael, he had a tire go down in the last segment and pitted under green. It states on both NASCAR.com and Race2Win’s race results that the #00 team also had an electrical problem, which may explain how they finished 7 laps down, but I cannot find anything about it in any race report.

Other Notes:
- As I suspected would happen, Juan Pablo Montoya caused a Lap 1 wreck when he passed to the inside of Dave Blaney on the start and dove too hard into Turn 1, sliding up into David Gilliland. The resulting melee took out several cars, including Gilliland, Paul Menard, Scott Riggs, Joe Nemechek and Jon Wood. AJ Allmendinger also spun but did not hit anything. I wasn’t surprised about the wreck at all and was even less surprised when Montoya acted like it was no big deal. It will not be long before the other drivers stop treating him nice because he’s such a big shot.

- The other Toyotas of Blaney and Allmendinger ran well. Blaney finished 4th and I really thought he was going to contend for the win for a while. Despite AJ getting caught up in Montoya’s arrogance, he was racing respectably and ended up 15th. The night before, AJ almost won the Craftsman Truck race and I think frightened eventual race winner Ron Hornaday for quite some time. All lot of people laugh at AJ and call him “Wall Dinger” or “Wallmendinger”, but he’s starting to really show what he’s made of.

NEXTEL ALL-STAR CHALLENGE WINNER: KEVIN HARVICK

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 9th (started 10th)
- His car handled well for the first few laps at the beginning of each run but would develop a shake after a while. The #8 team continued to improve on the car, but Junior sped on pit road after the first segment. Eventually the car was good enough to drive back up to 10th.

Martin Truex Jr.: 10th (started 19th)
- He moved up from his starting position but the car lost its Open-winning charm.

Dale Jarrett: 12th (started 13th)
- He used the race as a test session much like his teammates, but unlike them he ran well.

Casey Mears: 18th (started 16th)
- The car would get very loose in spite of the crew making constant changes to the car. In the third segment he brushed the wall and then was caught speeding on pit road. With 17 laps remaining in the last segment, the looseness got the better of him. He lost in underneath Denny Hamlin and the two cars crashed pretty hard. However, Hamlin stated during the broadcast that he was actually thankful that Casey put him out of his misery!

Kurt Busch: 19th (started 3rd)
- It looked as if Kurt’s night was getting better. He was just passing Jeff Burton in the quad-oval when his brother Kyle nudged him from behind and then attempted to pass him into Turn 1 although his leftside tires were in the grass! Kurt yanked his car to the left slightly as if to say, “Whoa! Not appreciated!” But it all ended in Turn 1 when Kyle dove in hard and lost control, wrecking both cars. It was pretty upsetting to watch (though I’m sure the majority of NASCAR fans loved every minute of it). I like Kyle and will defend him when it’s due, but this one was on him. Kurt kept his head in a post-wreck interview and even had a sense of humor about it, saying that he won’t be eating Kellogg’s any time soon! Kyle took off understandably. I’m sure they will talk about it and put it behind them – after all, it wasn’t a points race and it was for a million dollars.

Other Notes:
- Surprising, in spite of all the hype SPEED made of the race, it wasn’t very exciting. True, Jimmie Johnson looked like he was going to pass Kevin in the closing laps, but all in all the racing was poor. A lot of people blame the tires being too hard, but when you look all the way back, Humpy Wheeler caused the whole mess when he levigated the track a couple years ago. That blew up in his face (literally…remember all those blown tires?) and then he had to repave it. Of course, the speeds picked up to dangerous levels and the track hasn’t aged at all. NASCAR can’t have tires blowing left and right and wrecks at over 200mph, so a hard tire compound slows the cars down. Unfortunately, they also have no grip whatsoever. It’s just a shame – Charlotte was such a good track that was ruined because its president thought things would be greener on the other side of the fence.

- At the worst time for NASCAR, AT&T was announced by a judge to be allowed on Jeff Burton’s car during NEXTEL’s race. This is a situation where I feel bad for both parties, but this is what happens when cell phone companies sponsor things. In general, I’m on NASCAR’s side because NEXTEL was there first and it’s not their problem that AT&T bought out Cingular. But I also have sympathy for Jeff Burton as this must be incredibly stressful.

- The wing bracket deal for Dale Jr.’s #8 team resulted in a 100 point penalty and his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. was fined $100,000 and suspended for 6 races. I love Tony, but I believe he knew he did something wrong, for he explained in great detail why the brackets were wrong and how they performed in the wind tunnel. DEI is appealing the penalties (which is why Tony Jr. was there this weekend), though I highly doubt they will get far. It just sucks that this happened to the team after Dale Jr. announced he is leaving after this year.

Darlington Raceway - Dodge Avenger 500

RACE WINNER: JEFF GORDON

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 8th (started 21st)

- He basically had a great night! As much as he dislikes this track he ran very well and made a running joke with Tony Jr. on how many times he got a Darlington stripe. The Bud team was caught with illegal mounting brackets for the New Car's wing during prerace inspection. Big penalties are expected, and as Jeff Hammond has stated, he think Tony Jr. will be suspended for several races.

Martin Truex Jr.: 11th (started 25th)

- Came back from 1 lap down after pitting under green and having a caution come out soon after. This team continues to improve and impress.

Kurt Busch: 12th (started 18th)

- Another race where pit strategy didn't exactly work in Kurt's favor, and yet another solid Top 15 finish for the Miller Lite team.

David Reutimann: 33rd (started 14th)

- The last race for Domino's until the Chase was miserable for David and the team. The handling of the Camry was pretty bad and although Frankie improved it things didn't get any better. Near the end of the race it began to overheat and it cooked the engine as well as David's finish.

Casey Mears: 35th (started 11th)

- Casey was running very well when his engine began to give him trouble. It had started to overheat and finally the engine cooked. It was really disappointing because the car was very good and a Top 10 looked plausible.

Michael Waltrip: DNQ

- He was awesome in practice which made me nervous about qualifying. It seems ironic but then more than ever I didn't get my hopes up. I didn't want to expect him to qualify because he was good in practice, and unfortunately I was right in thinking that.

Dale Jarrett: DNQ

- Just a bad lap...

Other Notes:

- Although I wish someone other than Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson would win, I was really amazed that Jeff's engine lasted till the end with all that water shooting out!

- I felt so awful for Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger. Brian was running well when Jamie McMurray couldn't use a little more patience and plowed into the back of him. I don't buy his excuses either because from his in-car camera you can hear him let off and then hit the gas again. AJ was doing a wonderful job on the track he likened to falling off a cliff until a blown tire sent him and Kyle Busch into the wall. It's such a shame. TRB has really gotten their stuff together.

Darlington Raceway - Diamond Hill Plywood 200

RACE WINNER: DENNY HAMLIN

Casey Mears: 9th (started 5th)

- A pretty solid night, although the wrecks were happening all around him (and he got to witness the tiff between Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman occur right in front of his nose). He was ESPN's in-car reporter, which was nice, though they didn't talk to him too much.

David Reutimann: 24th (started 33rd)

- David just plain doesn't like this racetrack! He got into several wrecks but always managed to keep it together and stay on the lead lap. I think he would have finished much better if he hadn't gotten involved in accidents, which kept pushing him to the back. All in all, despite the crazy night, David is now 3rd in points!

Todd Kluever: 38th (started 38th)

- Got into a wreck not of his own doing when Aric Almirola got into him while Todd was passing him on the outside. *Sigh*

Other Notes

- I'm getting so sick and tired of listening to Juan Pablo Montoya treat Brad Parrott like a worthless piece of crap. I can not believe how he talks to him! This isn't the first time Montoya has blatantly disrespected Brad and I'm sure it won't be the last. I miss Brad like crazy...I want him to come to HMS and be with Casey again. Casey didn't make him cry out of anger when he won his first Busch race and Casey didn't act like he was above his crew chief.

- The Newman/Stewart feud was interesting. What was even more interesting was that Stewart (of course) blamed it all on Newman like he was the victim. And, of course, I'm sided with Ryan.

The 2007 Season So Far - Brandon Whitt

It's pretty frustrating that an up-and-coming, talented driver with a Craftsman Truck Series victory under his belt hasn't been in a racecar since Las Vegas back in March.

Brandon joined CJM Racing late last season, giving the underfunded, struggling team a fighting chance at making races. He qualified for Phoenix in the fall but finished 43rd due to a mechanical failure (of course). In 2007 he attempted three races and DNQed (of course) for all of them. Suddenly the #72 Dutch Quality Stone Chevy disappeared from the entry lists and rumors began to fly that Brandon had been fired and CJM was pairing up with Greg Pollex (formerly the owner of ppC Racing) in the Busch Series with driver Jason Keller. And the rumors were vehemently denied (of course!).

Well they were true. Brandon gave that backstabbing team all he had and they screwed him over. Which is basically the story of his NASCAR career.

Back in the CTS Brandon was screwed over by Red Horse Racing even after getting their first win - I have never forgiven Jeff Hammond for that (though it made me feel a little better after 2006 driver David Starr was also fired even though he won a race and finished 4th in points). If I were Aaron Fike I wouldn't count on being in that ride in 2008 unless he wins the bloody championship.

Brandon did enter the ARCA 200 at Daytona this year in his Brandon Whitt Racing Toyota and ran very well before a typical ARCA wreck took him out. He was on a radio show later and said he was planning on taking the car to Talladega...but he didn't appear on the entry list, and my guess is that sponsorship couldn't be found.

In April he was putting a deal together (you can read about it on his message board), but the sponsorship fell through...

It's just frustrating because I know how talented Brandon is, but none of the other team owners seem to realize it. They'll bring in drivers who do nothing but wreck but ignore the ones with raw talent sitting on the sidelines. Darrell Waltrip has been his biggest supporter and has interestingly made a few snide remarks about RHR and how it treats its drivers. He has also shown sympathy for Brandon's situation and I've been hoping for a long time that DW would give Brandon a chance in the #00 Tundra.

I just hope something happens soon because in this day and age when you're out of sight you're out of mind....

The 2007 Season So Far - Martin Truex Jr.

Martin has had a steady and decent year. Despite a rocky start to the season with a late race crash at Daytona and an engine failure at California that put the #1 Bass Pro Shops team dangerously close to the 35th place in owners points, Martin now sits solidly 18th in the standings. In his sophomore year, he has 3 top-10s so far, but has run much better than numbers show.

One thing that is noticeable is his improvement on 1.5 mile tracks that seemed to trick all of DEI last year. The #1 team has their best finishes on them, with a 12th at Las Vegas, an 8th at Atlanta and a 7th at Texas (one top-10 was also at Talladega, but that is not surprising).

However, Martin has seemed to struggle with the new car (formerly know as the Car of Tomorrow). He has gotten into some wrecks and short tracks will be short tracks, but if NASCAR is going to bring the new car in full time next year, the team is going to have to improve to be competitive.

Just recently came the bomb, when Dale Jr. announced he will not drive for DEI next year. Rumor had it that Junior would extend JR Motorsports into the Cup Series and Martin would leave DEI as well to drive there. When the Darlington weekend began, Martin stated that he would race out his contract with DEI, which runs through 2008. Although he said that Junior leaving the team would not affect the #1 directly, he did admit that he would miss having him around to seek advice from. "I think missing his experience, being able to go to him any time I want, call him any time I want and get true information from him. That's probably going to be the hardest part and the worst thing I'll miss about it."

I think Martin and his team will continue to improve as the season rolls on. The man didn't win two Busch Championships by being stupid. I am interested to see what will happen to him next year and how Junior's absence changes how he is treated at DEI.

The 2007 Season So Far - Todd Kluever and Scott Wimmer

In typical Roush fashion, Todd Kluever is being deprived of a full-time ride in any series this year. He is part-time in the Busch Series, splitting his #16 ride with teammate Greg Biffle. As of Darlington, he has competed in 7 races and has an average finish of 22nd, two DNFs due to wrecks and a best finish of 11th. Many times this year Todd has run incredibly well only to get caught up in somebody else’s mess. While racing for the free pass at Atlanta in the 17th position, Sam Hornish lifted his back tires off the racetrack on the backstretch and blatantly crashed him. To add salt to the wound, NASCAR awarded Hornish with the free pass even though he caused an obvious wreck to get it!

It is just a shame that Kluever gets the lousy end of a deal and his talent is wasted so Cup drivers can get more money (nothing against Biffle). Everyone knows how difficult it is to develop a driver if he cannot spend time with his crew all the time. In some ways I wish he could leave Roush Racing, but then the fear comes up that, much like Brandon Whitt, he will not be picked up by another team and drop into oblivion.

Scott Wimmer, after being screwed at Bill Davis Racing and unable to make much of McClure’s #4 car in the Cup Series, finally caught a break when Richard Childress offered to put him part-time in the Busch Series #33 Holiday Inn Chevy – an offer only a fool would refuse. Although I was hoping for a full-time ride, Scott seems very happy with what he’s doing and smiles more than I can ever remember.

In 6 starts, Scott has 3 top-10s and an average finish of 17.2, with a best finish of 7th at Nashville. A nice surprise came when Scott was placed in the #21 AutoZone Chevy when Kevin Harvick does not race it (though I kind of feel bad for Timothy Peters, who drove the car beforehand). His first race in it did not disappoint – he finished 10th at Richmond!

Both drivers have the potential to win this season if they can overcome the disadvantages of part-time rides. It should be exciting to watch!

The 2007 Season So Far - Casey Mears

It's hard to believe that in a Hendrick Motorsports car, Casey has only one Top 10 in ten races. You could say that the #25 is cursed, but unless you are superstitious you have to think there is a logical reason for the team's struggles. This year, there are two: a horrible start and then bad luck, resulting in the #25 teetering frighteningly close to the 36th position in points.

Before the start of the season former #25 crew chief Lance McGrew was replaced by Darian Grubb - who has a great reputation after his stint with Jimmie Johnson during the beginning of 2005 when Chad Knaus was suspended. Darian is a Daytona 500 winning crew chief, so it was easy to feel very optimistic about his pairing with Casey. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out as quickly or as well as HMS would have wanted it to. The chemistry between driver and crew chief was slow in the making, and Casey swiftly plummeted down through the standings.

When the chemistry started to make itself known, suddenly good luck disappeared. At Martinsville, a Lap 3 mechanical problem took Casey out of contention. Texas handed him another early wreck, this time on Lap 1. Although the damage wasn't extensive, the alternator became a problem later on. Things were looking up at Phoenix until another wreck not of his making ended his night. Possibly the worst of them all happened at Talladega while Casey was in 2nd. A miscommunication during pit strategy before green flag pitstops sent Casey flying into the inside retaining wall, by the bumper of his teammate and best friend Jimmie Johnson. Finally at Richmond he was caught up in yet another wreck but fought back to 18th.

In one sentence: Casey is now running much better than his finishes show, but because he performed so poorly at the start of the year he has no points cushion to fall back on.

Meanwhile, the Busch Series has been incredibly kind, with seven Top 10s and four Top 5s in eight starts, including a 2nd place (nearly a win) at Fontana. Crew chief Chad Walter is absolutely amazing and I definitely feel that we'll see Casey and the #24 (maybe it's the number?) in Victory Lane this year.

The 2007 Season So Far - Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Jr.’s year began a lot like Martin’s, but after the Daytona wreck and the California engine failure, he made leaps and bounds in points. Going into Darlington he sits 12th, breaking his way into Chase contention.

Though he hasn’t won since Richmond of last year, his performance has been impressive, even if some finishes seem mediocre. Pit strategy has bit the #8 Bud team (Bristol) and wrecks have also harmed them (Texas while running 2nd, Phoenix and Richmond).

While track time has been good in general for Dale Jr., internal affairs at DEI have not gone so well. It was a well-known story that Junior was renegotiating a contract with the wish of owning more than half the team. For months, everyone said that things were going well and it was expected Junior would be staying with the team. However, today Dale Jr. held a much anticipated press conference live on SPEED at JR Motorsports and announced he was a free agent and would not return to DEI in 2008.

It did not surprise me at all, but it crushed me. It relieved me. It angered me and made me proud. I just can’t really see much in DEI’s future without Dale Jr., and that is not said with arrogance. DEI has rollercoastered since Dale Earnhardt’s death and although the cars have been running better, the team as a whole seems to lack focus and consistency, both with drivers and sponsors. Teresa barely shows herself and has a myriad of puppets to speak for the team. It is ridiculous and not what DEI was meant to be. I was hoping that Junior would get his partial ownership and turn the team around. Obviously Teresa did not believe in her own remarks!

“While we are very disappointed that Dale Jr. has chosen to leave the family business, we remain excited about our company’s future. Our aggressive expansion and diversification plans have not changed. This company has continued to thrive since Dale left us in 2001, and it will thrive following today’s announcement. Dale and I built this company to be a championship-contender, and those principles still apply. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. will win, and we have other extremely talented drivers and hundreds of employees that are dedicated to the programs we founded. This company has a great legacy and a bright future, built on loyalty, integrity, and commitment.”

Family business? Isn’t that was Junior was trying to create?

I am beginning to think Michael leaving DEI was the icebreaker.

Now the big question is where Dale Jr. will end up. He stated that he’d prefer to remain with Chevrolet, but I think we all know it is not certain. Obviously the first thought that comes to mind is RCR and I would have no problem whatsoever with that choice, despite people saying it would only keep Junior in his father’s shadow. Hendrick Motorsports would be a doozy and immensely amusing to me (“Junior fans around the globe pass out!”), but all four cars are full and I would NOT want someone fired for Junior’s sake. Ginn Racing would be interesting. Joe Gibbs Racing I would not want. In fact, out of almost every team besides Roush Racing, I would be most unhappy with that choice. It would cause a lot of friction, for Tony Stewart would be threatened from his #1 seat. Plus, JJ Yeley would most surely either be fired or forced to give up his owners points to whatever car Junior would drive.

Dare I say? MWR? Though in my wildest dreams I’d love to see it, I think the possibility of this happening is slim to zero. So many things are against it – Toyota (aah! Sacrilege!), current team struggles, Michael Waltrip as a team owner (noooo they hate each other!)…but…crazier things have happened before.

Dale Jr. says he will listen to any and all offers. If none suit him, he will start his own team. If this were to happen, I would be stunned.

Silly season starts earlier every year! I wish Junior all the luck in his future and hopes he finds a comfortable fit, wherever it may be.

The 2007 Season So Far - Kurt Busch

I had high expectations for Kurt this year, since he began to run very well at the end of 2006 and because NASCAR approved a more typical, sloping Dodge nose (to me it looked mostly as if the grille was moved up more toward the hood and not the vertical part of the nose). The building year for Kurt was over at Penske. He had gelled with crew chief Roy McCauley and with teammate Ryan Newman. He had gotten married to the love of his life Eva Bryan. He had even started to make some fans who absolutely hated him before tolerate and even like him. Things were looking up.

It's been said that Kurt had the best car at the Daytona 500 this season along with Tony Stewart, but unfortunately Kurt faced an unavoidable mishap when Stewart suddenly checked up as they drafted 1-2. With only milliseconds to react and nowhere to go, the #2 Miller Lite Dodge tagged Stewart's bumper and the two best cars were wrecked.

The next milestone was the Penske cars' improvement on 1.5 milers. Both Kurt and Ryan ran notably better on the so-called "cookie-cutters" than they had during the previous year.

In early April, however, events took a sad turn. Roy McCauley took a leave of absence as a result of his wife, Amy, suffering with the effects of her Leukemia treatment. Troy Raker, a Penske engineer, would take over as crew chief.

Since then, Kurt's average finish has been 9.8, and yet the entire team is frustrated. Kurt has been contending for wins, leading a combined 76 laps at Texas, Talladega and Richmond. Most of their problems have been ill-timed pit calls which seemed good at first but quickly went sour. Kurt, of course, has been very upset with the consequences of these calls - who wouldn't be? I've been very disappointed seeing his cars that deserve to be covered in confetti and champagne in Victory Lane finish behind several cars at the end of the day.

I like Troy and I think Kurt likes him as well. We all feel a little thwarted.

But like Kurt said after Texas, "It’s not as much of a hardship as Roy and Amy are going through."

It's nice to put things in perspective.

The 2007 Season So Far - Michael Waltrip Racing

Since college was very busy near the end we missed out on a lot of interesting happenings in NASCAR. Now that college is over for the summer we'll have more time, but race reports were tedious to write so we're going to do a different format that's easier to compose and read. For now, we'll write some summaries on how our heros are doing in the 2007 stint of NASCAR racing.

Ten races have passed this year, and there have been some high highs and low lows - plenty of drama to go around. Some of our diverse group of drivers are having great seasons while some are just struggling to make races; one is scrambling just to find a ride. But such is NASCAR, especially these days when the fields are so competitive. To start things off I’ll summarize Michael Waltrip Racing’s topsy-turvy season.

MWR started the season with high hopes (but maybe not high expectations). Unfortunately, Daytona did not go as planned for Michael Waltrip, whose #55 NAPA Camry was found with a suspicious substance in its intake manifold during pre- and post-qualifying inspection. NASCAR confiscated the car and tested it further, and it was concluded that the substance was in the fuel system – and it was not supposed to be. This led to MWR's vice president of competition Bobby Kennedy and Michael's crew chief David Hyder to be removed from the track, banned indefinitely and a fine of $100,00 and 100 driver and owner points. Rumors began to fly regarding what this substance could be, but to this day it has not been released. Furthermore, to this day, no one but the person or persons who put the substance in the car know who is responsible. However, Michael took complete accountability for the situation, as a good team owner does, for it is his name that appears in the organization's title.

To make a long story short, MWR fought back to have all three cars make the Daytona 500. In the first Duel Michael made a fine showing of his new Toyota Camry (specifically David Reutimann's reskinned backup car) and raced his way in after leading some laps (and accidentally wrecking Dale Jr. - don't worry, he was fine and was able to continue!). Because Boris Said, who was guaranteed anyway because of his single-car qual time, raced his way in as well, David Reutimann was locked in before he even got into his car. Dale Jarrett was locked in because of his Champion's Provisional, but hey, MWR was in the Daytona 500!!

To put it frankly, MWR's year has pretty much gone downhill since. Michael has not qualified for a race since Daytona, David has missed three and DJ used up his six Champ's Provisionals after Talladega and promptly DNQed at Richmond.

MWR has lost two crew chiefs: David Hyder and Matt Borland. I could see Hyder being let go since he was of little use to MWR while suspended, but Borland parting ways came as more of a dull shock. DJ had just used his last provisional and obviously the #44 team was not doing well. Apparently MWR wanted to change Borland’s role to a technical director but he declined the offer after accepting it, according to Michael on Inside NEXTEL Cup. The most surprising thing about the whole deal was DJ’s reaction during the Busch Series broadcast he was commentating for on ESPN the night he DNQed at Richmond. He practically begged Borland to come back; that he was very valuable and MWR needed him. To be honest my jaw dropped, and I felt very admiring of him to make such a bold statement, but a little sad, too. I don’t think Borland is coming back.

Michael has also had some personal problems to further add to his frustration. In early April he was charged with reckless driving after crashing his SUV about a mile from his home in the wee hours of the morning after he fell asleep at the wheel. He left the scene of the accident and walked home, and was nowhere to be found until that evening. I still don’t know what to think about the whole deal – I’m just glad he wasn’t injured because the pictures of the wreck are very frightening. But the whole story sounds so suspicious…from walking home in his socks to seemingly hiding out for many hours. I don’t know. Everyone makes mistakes. We’re all human.

Astonishingly enough, MWR’s bright spot is in a little unknown rookie named David Reutimann. This boy (who somehow I consider a “kid”, even at 37 years old) is an amazing driver with a lot of talent and heart – but he’s also a bundle of nerves! I’ve grown quite fond of David the person as well as David the driver, for he impresses me every race he runs, in both Cup and Busch. He has gelled wonderfully with Cup crew chief Frankie Kerr and Busch crew chief Jerry Baxter, and with cousin Shawn as his spotter his teams are very tight. The #00 team has been a pleasure to listen to on Trackpass, and I love them because even when things are rough they never give up on each other.

The most obvious thing I can say about David is his Busch Series effort with the Aaron’s Dream Machine. He sits 4th in points after Richmond with one Top 5 (a 2nd place) and three Top 10s. But he has also been steadily improving in his Cup program, most notably at Talladega, where he drafted up to the front with no teammates to help him and ran 3rd and 4th for the latter part of the race. When a Top 10 seemed right in reach the engine expired, which was a huge disappointment. On the bright side, though, he opened some eyes and showed that MWR has some hope.

I predicted that this would be a rough season. With about fifty cars attempting to qualify for each race, there was no doubt in my mind that I would see Michael, DJ and David miss some races. I’ll admit I thought Michael would have made a few more than he has, but he has been showing some major advances in his qualifying efforts. But unlike many of my fellow MWR fans, I’m not placing blame on any one thing, be it Toyota, the drivers, the teams, the crew chiefs or NASCAR. It is what it is, and everyone knows the rules when they put their names on the entry blanks.

Ty Norris, MWR’s general manager, is one of my favorite people. He recently talked about the organization’s troubles, and I couldn’t agree with him more. “They told that to us on a number of occasions and [Toyota's chairman] explained to us that he has a 100-year plan,” he said. “We said we love his 100-year plan and we'd love to be a part of it – if we can get through our 100-day plan.” There is nothing with more truth to it.

If MWR can just hold on, they will be a force to be reckoned with one day. And despite everything that has happened, I’m proud to be a fan.