McDowell to take over MWR’s No 00 when Reutimann moves to No 44
Quote selected text Published January 5th, 2008 in NASCAR News
Michael McDowell, the 2007 runner-up on the ARCA circuit, will succeed David Reutimann in the #00 Sprint Cup car at Michael Waltrip Racing.
McDowell, a 22-year-old native of Phoenix, likely will take over the #00 Toyota in late March at Martinsville, Va., when Reutimann will slide into the #44 car being vacated by the retirement of teammate and 1999 series champion Dale Jarrett.
A formal announcement is expected soon.
- Reutimann makes the switch from No 00 to No 44
- McDowell to drive Cup car for Waltrip after Jarrett’s retirement
- McDowell might be let go from MWR
- MWR doesn’t plan points swap when drivers shift
- Champion Mortgage to sponsor the No 00 MWR Toyota
Another kid they’re force feeding into the series. Put him in a Nationwide car for a year or two first. After all, that’s what the series was originally designed for. He does have talent, but all the seat time he gets in other series will make him better.
with all those veteran drivers with out rides this season. You would of thought MWR could pick a decent driver. what is MWR getting to be a shoestring operation.
Whatever they do, don’t crush this guy’s dreams. It happens too many times when an athlete in any sport doesn’t live up to the hype. Martin was lucky enough and got a second chance after failing in NASCAR the first time. You go from prospect to suspect if you don’t perform and get results. Many a career has been ruined because of this.
McDowell will be a great asset to the team and is ultimately more ready for the ride than MWR’s other protege in training, Josh Wise. Unfortunately, MWR didn’t put Josh in a car enough times to get seat time instead… due to the struggles of the first year Toyota operations, they tended to put one of their more experienced guys in the ARCA cars to try to see if they can figure things out for their Cup events. McDowell ran almost a full season in ARCA and if he’d run the first 2 events, I think he’d beat Kimmell for the title… he had that level of a performance. Wise is just now starting to get seat time in NASCAR-style stock cars. I think he’s another can’t miss as well but at this time, McDowell deserves the knod and I hope he does well.