I like the possibilities for this organization as they keep building towards a more stalwart foundation. Clearly they’d like to become the best or second-best Toyota team out there. Even as good as they were, I feel they slipped a little bit last year — Brian Vickers and Red Bull took a big step forward and we know how good Joe Gibbs Racing is. Now that MWR has acquired Martin Truex Jr., it is up to them to prove that they can take the next step with consistent performances to become consistent winners.
David Reutimann should be as driven as ever, Martin Truex Jr. has something to prove, and I don’t want to leave out Marcos Ambrose, who had a great 2009. All three drivers should be better than they were last year.
The only things that can hold this team back — and this goes for everybody in the garage — are the big changes coming with this car. How well the team and drivers adapt to the spoiler could be the difference this year as MWR battles to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup. I think Truex and Ambrose will respond to the change quite well because they like looser race cars, but I’m not sure how much Reutimann will like it. I don’t think the car will be as fun to drive once the changes are in place.
Of course, that won’t be the only challenge the team faces. There’s a lot of little things on the horizon in the sport that could have an effect on all teams so everybody has to be prepared and be willing to adapt. Changes will favor the bigger teams that have more resources.
Starting lineup
By Mike Harmon
Team #00
Driver: David Reutimann (Finished 16th in the 2009 Cup standings, 1 career Cup win)
Crew chief: Rodney Childers
Primary Sponsor: Aaron’s
Reutimann was one of the breakthrough performers of the 2009 season. He improved his average finish by 6.9 positions and generated the first five top-five finishes of his career. He more than doubled his top-10 total from four to 10 and finished each of his 36 entries. In fact, he was one of the more consistent drivers on the circuit as he logged only 10 finishes outside of the top 20. I’m most curious to see his follow-up effort.
Team #51
Driver: Michael Waltrip (will run a part-time schedule)
Crew chief: Bobby Kennedy
Primary Sponsors: NAPA
One has to appreciate Waltrip’s sense of humor and efforts to promote the sport. He’s still a factor on occasion, creeping into the fantasy consciousness as a longshot fourth driver in certain venues. He ran 34 races during the 2009 season and produced two top-10 and seven top-20 finishes. He opened last year with a bang, producing seventh and 15th-place finishes at Daytona and Fontana, respectively.
Team #56
Driver: Martin Truex Jr. (Finished 23rd in the 2009 Cup standings, 1 career Cup win)
Crew chief: Pat Tryson
Primary Sponsors: NAPA
Truex experienced a drop-off in performance last season. He produced five fewer top-10 finishes and his average finish dipped by 3.7 positions. He continued to experience issues with equipment failure and logged another five DNFs. He raced outside of the top 20 on 22 occasions.
Therein lies the question for 2010. Can he and his team stop the flood of performance issues and become a more consistent force on the circuit? He’d generated 10 top fives and 25 top 10s in the two years prior to last year’s slowdown.
Team #47 (owned by JTG Daugherty Racing, run out of MWR shop)
Driver: Marcos Ambrose (Finished 18th in the 2009 Cup standings, zero career Cup wins)
Crew chief: Frank Kerr
Primary Sponsors: Kingsford/Clorox/Little Debbie/Kleenex/Bush’s Baked Beans
In a season where many of the steady heroes of the sport took a huge step backward, Ambrose broke through the pack to produce a standout campaign. He cracked the top 20 in the overall standings in his first full season in the Sprint Cup Series last season. He registered four top fives, seven top 10s and 19 top-20 finishes (19.6-position average finish).
It was an impressive run, to be sure, with Ambrose posting a 20.8-position average running position while completing 34 of 36 events. Ambrose closed the season well with two top-15 finishes in his final three starts.
