"I've given them everything that I could," said Truex on Tuesday after announcing he'd take over a ride at Michael Waltrip Racing. "There got to be too many questions, too many things that were uncertain."
Which is why, as we guessed a year ago, his one-year contract extension with the Teresa Earnhardt-run operation would be all for naught thanks to a nasty set of decisions and circumstances that have left a once proud team in survival mode, and might have left Truex settling for a team he might not have otherwise gone to.
A five-day span of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing couldn't have any better for David Reutimann and his suddenly surging Michael Waltrip Racing.
Friday afternoon, the driver of the No. 00 Toyota scored the pole for Sunday's Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Raceway, just days after his Monday win in the rain-delayed and then shortened Coca-Cola 600.
And to hear Reutimann tell the story earlier this week, there was a time when this type of success for MWR was not only unexpected, but the whole operation of MWR appeared to on the brink of closure.
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- It took 75 races and three rain delays for David Reutimann to earn his first Sprint Cup Series victory.
When a fluke finally put him in position for a win in Monday's rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600, the journeyman driver nervously paced around his car on pit road at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Two hours later, he was declared the winner of one of NASCAR's crown jewel events when the race was stopped once and for all.
"It wasn't the prettiest win, but somebody has to win," he said. "When you envision yourself winning your first Sprint Cup race, you envision it different. But it's so hard to win these deals, we'll take it any way we can."
A year ago, that No. 00 driven by Michael McDowell suffered one of the single-most violent crashes in NASCAR history as it first slammed the turn one wall before rolling multiple times down the track in qualifying. McDowell, miracuously, was uninjured.
Friday, though, David Reutimann continued his hot start to the season in the No. 00 by taking the pole for Sunday's Samsung 500.
Prior to the 2009 season, an outlandish guess would have been picking a car from Michael Waltrip Racing to be fifth in points after three races.
No, that's not a slight to the organization. It's just that previous success wouldn't exactly lend to such results.
MWR's David Reutimann, however, isn't afraid to buck that trend -- as was clear after he earned his best career finish last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Michael Waltrip was one of the drivers on hand for this weekend's Preseason Thunder preview event at Daytona International Speedway, and judging from the transcripts, he certainly had some of the more interesting quotes.
Those quotes included Waltrip -- the winner of the 2001 and 2003 Daytona 500s while driving the No. 15 for Dale Earnhardt Inc. -- admitting that jumping into team ownership has hurt his driving career and that if his personal results don't improve pretty drastically in 2009, he might be forced to hang up the driving gloves in 2010.
For a preseason preview event, Waltrip's words definitely were somewhat of a surprise.
Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.
Driver: David Reutimann Team: No. 44 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota '08 Final Standing: 22rd (-3287) Best Race: California (Sept.) & Richmond (Sept.) (9th-place) Worst Race: Samsung 500 at Texas (41st-place)
Season in a box: In 2008, David Reutimann illustrated further how the driver from Zephyrhills, Fla., has the talent to compete in NASCAR's top series despite his lack of competitive equipment.
CORNELIUS, N.C. (AP) -Mike Skinner will take over Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 00 Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, replacing rookie Michael McDowell for the next three races.
Waltrip said Tuesday he asked the veteran Skinner to help the team evaluate where it can improve its on-track performance, as Skinner did earlier this year when he drove five races for Red Bull Racing, replacing A.J. Allmendinger.
"Michael Waltrip Racing is fully committed to our sponsors, the success of our race teams and ensuring Michael McDowell, Josh Wise, David Reutimann and I have the necessary tools to succeed as drivers," Waltrip said. "We've asked Mike Skinner to evaluate areas where we can improve our on-track performance."
Skinner's efforts were a big hit with Red Bull Racing and A.J. Allmendinger especially because he essentially cemented to the race team that what A.J. was feeling and communicating to the team about the car were accurate.
To me though, the best way to improve on-track performance at Michael Waltrip Racing would have been not jumping to a three-car team for its debut in 2007. And it's second step should have been hiring a veteran for the No. 00 instead of stock car novice Michael McDowell for 2008.
While he didn't race it, Dale Jarrett finally hopped into the big, brown UPS truck Saturday prior to the Sprint All-Star Race XXIV during driver introductions.
Watch below as Jarrett takes the mammoth vehicle for a low-speed lap around the speedway:
I suppose you could say this is my way of honoring the former Sprint Cup champion who finished his career with an impressive 32 race wins in NASCAR's top series. Among those, were wins at Daytona, Charlotte, Darlington, and Indianapolis -- some of the sport's crown jewels.
Frankly, I know for a fact that I just simply couldn't write a a story about Jarrett that matches with some of the best stories that NASCAR writers can do, so I'll take my humble dose and let them tell the story of his incredible career.
The information, via the Charlotte Observer, comes from Dr. Dean Sicking, the man behind the creation of the SAFER barrier.
Dr. Dean Sicking, whose team at the University of Nebraska developed the steel and foam energy reducing barrier, said on Sirius NASCAR Radio that data shared with him by NASCAR showed a 70 mph change of velocity at the moment of impact.
hat change of velocity number is important in studying high-impact crashes. If measures the difference between the speed a car is traveling the moment -- in milliseconds -- immediately before and the moment immediately after an impact.
In McDowell's case, that means his car lost 70 mph in the instant that it hit the wall.
So imagine this: you're driving down the local interstate at about 70mph and then much less than a second later, you have come to a complete stop.
Think that would be a little painful on the body? I'd imagine so. Somehow, though, with the innovations in race car safety with the SAFER, the HANS device, and the plethora of other safety components, McDowell walked away from his impact with little more than soreness.
The article goes on to state that Sicking has determined that the stopping impact that killed Dale Earnhardt in 2001 was around 42-44mph.
In any case, the new car in the Sprint Cup Series has passed its safety test with more than flying colors.
The water invading the hull of the Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing sinking ship finally got to be too much for the talented Martin Truex Jr.
A five-day span of NASCAR 
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- It took 75 races and three rain delays for 
The old cliché 'what a difference a year makes' couldn't have rang more true for 
Prior to the 2009 season, an outlandish guess would have been picking a car from 
Michael Waltrip
Current 
Michael McDowell's vicious wreck last Friday during qualifying
