Clint Bowyer won’t drive for Ganassi in 2016
You can scratch off Chip Ganassi Racing as a possible destination for Clint Bowyer in 2016.
Bowyer said Friday that he and Michael Waltrip co-owner Rob Kauffman were going their separate ways. Kauffman agreed to purchase a stake in Chip Ganassi Racing earlier in the month and Michael Waltrip Racing announced this week that Bowyer was free to find another ride and the team would not field a full-time entry in 2016.
Ganassi had been mentioned as a possible candidate for Bowyer because the team fields two cars and has the ability to expand. However, the team said it would stay at two cars for 2016. Ganassi currently has Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson.
“We’re eight months into a three-year commitment,” Bowyer said of his contract with MWR. He re-upped with the team in 2014. “Again, Rob has invested a tremendous amount into MWR and into this sport. That being said, he made a business decision to move forward and that direction as we all know from his previous statements is the Ganassi organization. For my career and me and my future, it’s just unfortunate and Rob and I, our futures didn’t align anymore. It’s as simple as that. It was a mutually agreed upon thing and it was something that was not ugly and it was something that we did professionally and we made our decisions and that’s why we’re where we’re at.”
Kauffman said Michael Waltrip Racing was no longer commercially viable. From NASCAR Talk:
“Michael Waltrip Racing really wouldn’t have existed through today without substantial and continued financial support from me,’’ Kauffman said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I think just from a business standpoint that didn’t make sense any longer. You can’t have a top-10 budget and top-10 resources and not be in the top 10 for a sustained period of time.
“It’s a performance-related business. It’s a great sport, but a very difficult business model. From a business decision it just made sense to not go forward with that organization because it isn’t really commercially viable.’
Bowyer is fighting to make the Chase on points as he’s winless in 2015. He hasn’t won since 2012, when he finished second in the points standings. Kauffman had said he made the announcement about the dissolution of the team during the season to help prevent a postseason surprise for all of the people who have jobs with MWR. The early notice can help them find positions for 2016 with other teams as well.
While Bowyer is the big focus of the drama at MWR because of his stature within NASCAR, there are many people without seven-figure annual incomes looking for work for next season.
“These employees are real people with real lives with real families and a lot at stake,” Bowyer said. “They’re racers just like I am. The racer in you doesn’t change the reality side of life and reality is that you need to provide for your family. I thought it was extremely important to me to get in front of that and I owed it to these employees to get this done as soon as possible even knowing where we’re at on the bubble and everything in the Chase. I think being honest and being straightforward and doing that for these people in the long run will set them up to make the most out of a difficult situation for us all and that’s me included. I need to start actively pursuing my career and that’s what I’m doing. The first piece of the puzzle is set on the table and now we have to go to work on all of our behalves. As far as our performance just like you said, I thought it was more dangerous in more mind of making an announcement like we did in Pocono and not saying anything for another month and a half, we owe it to those people to be honest with them and it was not a day later than what we made our agreement that they were told.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
