Waltrip-Jasper Racing
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| Owner(s) Name | Michael Waltrip Doug Bawel (#55) |
| Racing Series | NEXTEL Cup, Busch Series |
| Number of Championships | None |
| Car Number(s) | #00, #44 , #55 (NEXTEL Cup) #99 (Busch) |
| Driver(s) | David Reutimann (#00-NEXTEL, #99-Busch) Dale Jarrett (#44-NEXTEL) Michael Waltrip (#55-NEXTEL, #99-Busch) |
| Primary Sponsor(s) | Burger King/Domino's Pizza (#00-NEXTEL) UPS (#44-NEXTEL) NAPA (#55-NEXTEL) Aaron's (#99-Busch) |
| Shop Location | Sherrills Ford, North Carolina |
| Homepage | Michael Waltrip Racing at Toyota Motorsports |
Waltrip-Jasper Racing is a NASCAR team. Owned and operated by two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, it currently fields the #55 NAPA Dodge Charger in the Nextel Cup Series, and the Aaron's Dodge Charger in the Busch Series, both driven by Waltrip himself.
In 2005, it was rumored that the team would merge with Haas CNC Racing to form a second car for Waltrip to drive in 2006 with Aaron's and the National Automotive Parts Association sponsoring. However that never came to fruition.
However, in 2006, in order to ensure that Michael's #55 car, originally supposed to be part of Bill Davis Racing, would qualify for the first 5 races, Michael's own team merged with Doug Bawel's #77 car which had run under the banner of Penske Racing in the previous year. The team receives equipment from Bill Davis Racing.
In 2007, Waltrip-Jasper Racing will switch to Michael Waltrip Racing and field three new Toyota Camrys in the premier series, the #55 driven by Waltrip sponsored by NAPA, the #00 sponsored by Burger King and Domino's Pizza driven by David Reutimann, and the #44 for Dale Jarrett sponsored by UPS.
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[edit] Car #00 History
WJR began racing in the Cup series in 2002, making its debut at the 2002 Aaron's 499. The car was the #98 Aaron's Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Kenny Wallace. Wallace qualified 27th and finished 21st. MWR ran another race that season at the Tropicana 400, the #00 Chevy for Jerry Nadeau. Nadeau qualified 34th but finished 37th after suffering a steering failure. WJR attempted another race that season, the NAPA 500 with Buckshot Jones driving with sponsorship from Charter Pipeline but failed to qualify. Jones ran the EA Sports 500 the following season with Jones, where he started sixteenth and led nineteen laps before being relegated to 40th due to a crash. He attempted Atlanta again, but failed to qualify. Mike Skinner closed out the year for MWR at the Ford 400, qualifying 17th but finished 39th after a wreck.
In 2004, Wallace returned to WJR. Running four races for the team, his best finish was a 22nd at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Wallace ran two races in 2005, finishing 27th at Darlington Raceway. Johnny Benson ran a pair of races that season as well, but did not finish higher than 42nd. David Reutimann made his Cup debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway that season, qualifying 26th and finishing 22nd.
In 2006, the #00 will campaign Ford Fusions under the moniker of MBA Racing with Hermie Sadler driving, his best finish 40th at the Daytona 500. Bill Elliott will drive the car's Chevys in five races in 2006 with sponsorship from Burger King.
David Reutimann will drive the car full-time in 2007 with sponsorship from Burger King and Domino's Pizza, competing for Rookie of the Year.
[edit] Car #44 History
Veteran driver Dale Jarrett will drive the brand-new #44 UPS Toyota in 2007. Jarrett will be automatically eligible to use the champion's provisional in the all of the races in the 2007 season and future seasons, as he is the most recent champion not in the top 35 in 2006 owners points.
[edit] Car #55 History
The car started in 1971 at what turned out to be the only Winston Cup race at Smoky Mountain Raceway as the #41 Ford owned and driven by D.K. Ulrich, who finished 29th out of 30 cars for heating problems on the 4th lap. During his days an owner, Ulrich never had much in the way of money, so as a result many of the big-name drivers weren't very interested in his ride.(Although Richard Petty once drove Ulrich's car at the 1986 Coca-Cola 600 when his regular wasn't ready. He finished 38th after experiencing engine problems.) Ulrich ran full-time for a couple of years, but normally he stepped aside and let other drivers race for him. During his tenure as an owner, he earned a reputation of being good at developing younger drivers. Sterling Marlin, Tim Richmond, Morgan Shepherd, and Mark Martin all went on to successful careers after piloting Ulrich's car. In 1987, Ulrich noticed a young short track driver from California named Ernie Irvan. Irvan qualified 20th in a Dale Earnhardt-sponsored car for a race that Ulrich didn't make. Seriously pondering hanging up his helmet for good, Ulrich put the aggressive young Irvan in his car for three races that year, with Irvan's partner Marc Reno as crew chief. When Ulrich was able to get Kroger as a full-time sponsor for the team, he fielded the car full-time in 1988 with Irvan competing for NASCAR Rookie of the Year in the #2 Chevrolet/Pontiac. Irvan had problems finishing races that year, and finished 59 points behind Ken Bouchard for Rookie of the Year. 1989, proved to be a much better year for the team, posting 4-top ten finishes and ending the season 22nd in points, three better than the previous year. Unfortunately, Kroger decided not to renew its contract, and Irvan had no choice but to leave the team. Ulrich was able to get several different sponsorships together for 1990, and the team ran most of the races.
The car returned full-time for 1991 as the #55 Pontiac piloted by rookie driver Ted Musgrave. The team disappeared for a couple of years before returning in 1994 as #77 USAir Ford with veteran journeyman Greg Sacks handling the driving chores. During this time, Doug Bawel, an executive from Jasper Engines & Transmissions, became a business partner with Ulrich, and co-sponsored the team for the 1995 season, with the car originally piloted by rookie Davy Jones and later Bobby Hillin Jr.. After the season, Bawel bought the entire team from Ulrich and started a partnership with Jasper salesmen Mark Wallace and Mark Harrah, with team changing its name to Jasper Motorsports. Hillin continued to drive the car for 1996, and the first part of 1997, before being replaced by Robert Pressley and Morgan Shepherd. Pressley won the job to drive the car for 1998, during which he had a then-career-best finish of 3rd at Texas. 1999 proved to be a tumultulous year for the team, struggling with qualifying and finishing 39th in points. For the 2000 season, Ryan Pemberton came aboard as crew chief and made a huge difference as Pressley finished 25th in points the next two years, finished 2nd at the 2001 Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland, and the team didn't miss a race until Waltrip's failure to qualify for 2006 Brickyard 400. Pressley and Jasper parted ways after the season, and former sprint car champion Dave Blaney was tabbed to replace him. But Blaney, while competitive in some races, was average at best, and was gone at the end of 2003. Mark Wallace sold his share of the team, and Roger Penske took his place. As a result, the team switched to Dodge.
The team also got a new sponsor in Kodak, as well as a new driver in rookie Brendan Gaughan. Despite grabbing 4 top finishes, Gaughan was replaced to the shock of fans by another rookie, Travis Kvapil. In his first year in the Cup circuit, he finished 32nd in points with two top-10 finishes. When the season came to a close, it was announced the #77 car would not run the 2006 season.
[edit] Busch Series
Waltrip made his debut as a car owner in 1996 driving the 12 MW Windows Ford Thunderbird. He ran thirteen races that season, winning the pole at Richmond International Raceway and posting three top-five finishes. The next season, MWR switched to the #21 with sponsorship from Band-Aid and had three fourth-place finishes, and had six top-ten finishes the following season. In 1998, Waltrip fielded a second car, the #14 Rhodes Furniture Ford for Patty Moise full-time. Moise made 19 starts and a best finish of tenth at Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing 37th in points.
In 1999, Waltrip got his first career win as an owner/driver at the All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300. The next year, he switched to the #7 as well as driving the #99 car with Aarons sponsorship for three races, his best finish coming at Michigan International Speedway, where he placed second. Ted Christopher drove the 99 at Memphis Motorsports Park with sponsorship from LesCare Kitchens, qualifyin 29th and finishing 28th. WJR switched to the #99 full-time in 2001, as Waltrip drove twelve races, his best finish third at the Aaron's 312. Waltrip also fielded the 99 for three races for Shawna Robinson, who had a 19th at Talladega Superspeedway, and Kerry Earnhardt, whose best finish was a 20th at Kentucky Speedway.
Waltrip had sole driving duties in 2002, running nineteen races and winning at Michigan International Speedway. The following season, he won at Bristol Motor Speedway. After making 31 starts in 2004 and winning at Nashville Superspeedway, Waltrip had only four top-tens in 2005. In 2006, Waltrip partnered with FitzBradshaw Racing to pick up FitzBradshaw's #40 car's owner's points. He will drive a majority of the races in 2006, with his brother Darrell and David Reutimann driving additional races.
