Friday, November 04, 2011

CONFIRMED: Martin Replaces Reutimann at MWR

Michael Waltrip Racing made it official today, announcing the hiring of veteran Mark Martin to share in driving duties of the #00 Toyota with team owner Michael Waltrip next season. The pair will replace David Reutimann, who was informed earlier this week that he will not be retained beyond the end of this season.

Martin will compete in 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in each of the next two seasons, sharing the #00 Aaron's Dream Machine with Michael Waltrip. Waltrip will compete in restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega and the annual Sprint Cup race in his home state of Kentucky.

"The performance level is not where they'd it like to be right now," said Martin at Texas Motor Speedway. "But they're making a serious move toward stepping that up. I'm really excited to have a chance to be a part of that. Everybody knows I like to help people. Getting a chance to work with some of the young drivers that come along and come through the program is something that really means a lot to me."

Martin joins Martin Truex Jr. and recently acquired Clint Bowyer in the MWR stable, beginning with the 2012 Daytona 500. MWR will utilize a combination of drivers and sponsors to fill the remaining races when Martin and Waltrip are not behind the wheel.

Waltrip laid the decision to terminate Reutimann squarely at the feet of Aaron's CEO Ken Butler, saying, "It was not going the way we hoped it would, (and) he wanted to know what we were going to do. He picked a future Hall of Famer to drive the Aaron's Dream Machine."

Butler said he was "very appreciative of what David (Reutimann) has done, but our contract was up next year. Our thinking was, 'What's next? What can we do next? What's the next big deal?'"

Martin called MWR "the best option on the table at the present time. They presently have a very good program, and they have fast race cars. Their average finish probably doesn't equal the speed of their race cars, but they are making serious moves."

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:04 PM

    That away to toss your sponsor under the bus Mikey. Understand the business end of it, but there may be the faint smell of a bridge beginning to burn next to Beak's fully engulfed bridge.

    Steve in TX

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:25 AM

    Mark please retire again...

    ReplyDelete