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| Martin Truex, Jr.: On the upswing. |
All three MWR drivers made the most of a minimal pit stop strategy, repeatedly staying on the speedway to improve track position while others pitted for new tires. A harder Goodyear tire allowed all three drivers to advance to the front of the pack by staying out during the afternoon’s first caution period, and Truex and Vickers utilized the no-tire strategy again on the afternoon’s final caution with just 21 laps to go, putting them in a position to win.
Truex’s third-place
finish pushed him to fourth in the championship standings, and the New Jersey
native sang the praises of his team and crew chief Chad Johnston after the
checkered flag fell. “We've come a long way in the last 10 or 15 races,” he
said. “We've had a really consistent, really good race team (and) we've got a
lot of confidence.”
 |
| Bowyer: "A heck of a day for MWR." |
He called Johnston’s
decision to bypass the final pit stop, “the call of the race. We got back up to
fifth, sixth, seventh before that last caution and stayed out. I just want to
thank Chad (and) everybody on the NAPA team. We’ll go to California and try to
get to Victory Lane. We're getting close.”
Truex has said his
team’s turnaround began in June of last season, when a decision was made to
scrap most of the team’s arsenal of Toyota Camrys. “Our Competition Department
laid it on the line, telling Michael Waltrip and (partner) Ron Kaufman that our
cars were not up to par,” he said. “Ownership stepped up and said, ‘If building
new cars is what we need to do, that’s what we’ll do.’ It’s been a steady, upward
climb since then.”
A series of personnel
changes have also had a major impact. Johnston joined the team in June, with
former Richard Childress Racing hand Scott Miller coming aboard as Vice
President of Competition in September. The team severed ties with Executive Vice
President of Operations Cal Wells and Executive Vice President for Competition Steve Hallam near the
end of the 2011 campaign, and brought Bowyer, Martin and veteran crew chief
Brian Pattie on board during the off-season, providing a much-needed foundation
of experience and stability.
Bowyer called Bristol,
“a heck of a day for MWR,” adding, "these cars have been good ever since
Truex was running good at the end of last year.”
 |
| Big day Sunday for Brian Vickers |
Vickers, meanwhile,
enjoyed one of the strongest days of his Sprint Cup career, leading 125 laps in
his inaugural start of 2012. The former Red Bull Racing driver was the
proverbial “bull in a china shop” at the end of last season, wrecking a number
of cars in an ill-advised feud with Matt Kenseth that likely diminished his
standing in the Cup garage. Tabbed to drive the #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine at
Bristol, Martinsville and New Hampshire after Elliott Sadler declined the ride,
Vickers made a strong statement Sunday, keeping his car clean from start to
finish and recording the team’s third Top-10 finish (and first Top-5) in the
opening four events.
“When it's your only
one, you have to make it count,” said Vickers. “I can't take any of the credit…
I'm just proud to be a part of MWR and get three cars in the top five. What an
exciting day. Rodney Childers bolted together my first go-kart 20 years ago
and… he called a great race (today). It felt really good when we were out there
leading. It would have been awesome to hold onto that, but it's the first time
back so I can't complain.”
Vickers also praised
team-owners Waltrip and Kaufman, saying, “I don't know those two guys that
well, but I can tell a lot about them by the group of people they've built and
the team they've built. What an incredible organization.”
although I miss Micheal in the car, as an owner he seems to have the direction and vision to make it happen, and yes, the faith
ReplyDeletei know this will sound like i am a hater, but here goes anyway. how much of mwr does mikey actually own? in the past when there was rumors of financial trouble, the next week rob kaufmann bought a 50 percent share. when there were additional rumors, an unnamed person (my guess dw) bought an undisclosed portion of the team. dw mentioned 'my team' on air last week. on your show, mwr employees stated that when clint bowyer had only a partial sponsorship, they went to rob to make sure he would foot the bill for the remaining races. on another occasion, an mwr employee stated that when they needed to scrap the fleet and build lots of new cars, again they went to rob to foot the bill for the new cars. maybe im a hater, maybe not but it makes me wonder how much he owns.
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