2015 Reviews: Michael Waltrip Racing
Welcome to our 2015 reviews. Instead of going driver-by-driver we’re going to review teams this year. We’re starting from the bottom of the standings and working our way up. Rest in peace, Michael Waltrip Racing.
Drivers (standings in parenthesis): Clint Bowyer (16th), David Ragan (27th), Brett Moffitt (34th), Michael Waltrip (43rd), Brian Vickers (45th)
Highlights: Bowyer made the Chase despite not winning a race. Bowyer had 12 top-10 finishes in 2015 and used a strong summer run to power into the Chase. Bowyer was sixth at Indianapolis, eighth at Pocono, sixth at Watkins Glen and fifth at Bristol. The four finishes surrounded a 41st at Michigan and solidified Bowyer in the top 15 of the Sprint Cup points standings. He also finished third at Sonoma in June.
Moffitt, filling in for Vickers at Atlanta, finished seventh. And that’s really about it for the No. 55 car, which was driven by Waltrip, Moffitt, Vickers and Ragan. Moffitt was the only driver in the No. 55 who got a top 10 in 2015.
Lowlights: Well, uh, do we want to lead with the big news or get to that in a moment? OK, we’ll lead with it. Rob Kauffman, Waltrip’s business partner at MWR and the financial backer for the team, left to partner with Chip Ganassi. Without Kauffman’s money, Michael Waltrip Racing said it wouldn’t run full time in 2016, leaving Bowyer and Ragan to look for new rides.
Vickers was sidelined for the season after two races because of a reccurrence of blood clots and Ragan took his place after filling in for Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing. Ragan didn’t show much speed in his MWR tenure.
Sure, Bowyer was in the Chase, but it was a symbolic Chase berth. He was penalized 25 points for an inspection infraction at Chicago and ended up 16th in the points standings. Yes, even behind Matt Kenseth, who was suspended by NASCAR for two races. And yes, he would have finished behind Kenseth even without the penalty. That’s how bad Bowyer’s Chase was.
Overview: Waltrip isn’t going anywhere. He’s still got his analyst role at Fox Sports and sponsorship from Maxwell House. He said in October he was planning to attempt the Daytona 500, though it’s unclear how he would do so. He could run the team himself or team with another Toyota team to run the race.
If he chooses the latter option, he’s looking at an alliance with either Joe Gibbs Racing or Furniture Row, who has an alliance with JGR. They’re the two factory-backed Toyota teams left now that MWR ceases to exist full time.
Bowyer is going to spend a year in Kahnegatory in 2016 with HScott Motorsports before moving to the No. 14 car at Stewart-Haas Racing to replace Tony Stewart. He likened the deal to falling in a pile of cow manure and smelling like roses. We’re inclined to agree.
Ragan’s future is unclear. There aren’t any competitive Cup Series rides open for 2016. Is he better served going to win races in the Xfinity or Truck Series if possible rather than hanging on at NASCAR’s top level?
Previous Reviews: Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, JTG-Daugherty Racing and Germain Racing, HScott Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing.
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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!
