[lilsexy08]

Michael has not qualified for one race exception of Daytona and then got penalized but he has not qualified for any other races. Do you think he made a mistake with Toyota? I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on that.

[LSC9901]

This will be a loaded question/thread. NO DOUBT !!!!

I'd like to look at it from the other side of the fence first. Did Toyota make a mistake ?? I think they did. Michael Waltrip has never been a great driver. He had good luck with DEI but before and after that he was/is below average. A portion of his fame is due in part to his visibility on TV.

If there was a mistake on his part it was that Toyota was/is an unproven commodity in the cup series. Possibly in time they will learn the technology it takes to be a winning force. It just isn't there right now and it seems like it may take a while before it actually happens

[wingkey1]

Nope. Expect his performance would have been the same regardless of what brand MWR chose for their first year in business.

Likely he'd be in more hot water if he chose any other brand because then there would be successful teams against which to compare him (Roush, Hendricks, Evernham, Childress, etc.).

Compared to the other Toyo teams, he is their (Toyo's) very best choice. None of the others are providing anywhere near as much exposure, even with his "problems". We should all have such "problems".

[Mike24]

He's better as a analyst. He was actually a pretty decent driver back in the 90's... but that was the 90's.

[RUSTYFAN2]

Originally Posted by lilsexy08

Michael has not qualified for one race exception of Daytona and then got penalized but he has not qualified for any other races. Do you think he made a mistake with Toyota? I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on that.

No...I think Toyota made a mistake with him!

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Mike24

He's better as a analyst. He was actually a pretty decent driver back in the 90's... but that was the 90's.

Mike, I'm going to have to respectfully question your definition of "Pretty decent."

I did some research ( rather quickly, though) and I came up with the following:

From his first start in 1985 thru 1999 he had 428 starts. In those starts he had

17 top fives......3.9%
81 top tens.......18.9%
2 poles............. 0.4%

I have to admit that my concept of "pretty decent" and your's might be different because I have a tough time being objective about Mikey. In fact, I have spent the last 28 years disliking DW and virtually everything connected with the Waltrip's.

DW was a great driver, but IMNSVHO, Mikey has made a career of living off his brother's driving talent and fame.

In his defense, I don't believe that his questionable driving ability is what is keeping him from qualifying. I think he started his new teams wholly unprepared for what lay in store for him. I think his sales ability and his inability to utter a paragraph without mentioning a sponsor's name, will keep in in good stead with NAPA, Domino's for the rest of this season. And I also believe that in the second half of the season we'll see a completely different MWR. I wish him well. I love to see entrepreneurs and small businessmen succeed.

But I still just don't like the guy.

[Mike24]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Mike, I'm going to have to respectfully question your definition of "Pretty decent."

I did some research ( rather quickly, though) and I came up with the following:

From his first start in 1985 thru 1999 he had 428 starts. In those starts he had

17 top fives......3.9%
81 top tens.......18.9%
2 poles............. 0.4%

I have to admit that my concept of "pretty decent" and your's might be different because I have a tough time being objective about Mikey. In fact, I have spent the last 28 years disliking DW and virtually everything connected with the Waltrip's.

DW was a great driver, but IMNSVHO, Mikey has made a career of living off his brother's driving talent and fame.

In his defense, I don't believe that his questionable driving ability is what is keeping him from qualifying. I think he started his new teams wholly unprepared for what lay in store for him. I think his sales ability and his inability to utter a paragraph without mentioning a sponsor's name, will keep in in good stead with NAPA, Domino's for the rest of this season. And I also believe that in the second half of the season we'll see a completely different MWR. I wish him well. I love to see entrepreneurs and small businessmen succeed.

But I still just don't like the guy.

Pretty decent, as in ok. Not great, but he was OK back in the 90's. Now.... he's not that good.

[trollmc08]

Originally Posted by lilsexy08

Michael has not qualified for one race exception of Daytona and then got penalized but he has not qualified for any other races. Do you think he made a mistake with Toyota? I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on that.

Well lilsexy I will have to try and not turn this into a Mickie bashing post, I think most know how I feel about him. I do think he made a mistake with Yoda but like wingkey said his performance would have been just as bad with another brand. I think his biggest mistake was not being good enough to stay at DEI or good enough to move to another big team.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Mike24

Pretty decent, as in ok. Not great, but he was OK back in the 90's. Now.... he's not that good.

In the '90's he was better than Derek Cope and Hut Stricklin, but his records shows he did worse than Lake Speed and Morgan Shepard.

I'll accept your "pretty decent" description. He far out shined Loy Allen and Rick Wilson (two guys who should have been arrested for masquerading as professional race drivers). Mikey was far better than those two.

[obrien2]

I would be happy to see him, toyota, and any other driver for toyota fail. They have no place in nascar, unfortuneatly, even management must have made some money on toyota coming in.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by obrien2

I would be happy to see him, toyota, and any other driver for toyota fail. They have no place in nascar, unfortuneatly, even management must have made some money on toyota coming in.

IF they were racing Toyota's, I might empathize a bit with you, but they're racing NASCAR Race Cars, and the only thing Toyota about them is the Toyota logo on the hood and the technical help TRD is giving them. The thing has about as much in common with a Toyota as Elton John has in common with Conan the Barbarian.

If you're commenting on the fact that a foreign car is running in NASCAR, I can name at least four foreign makes which have run in NASCAR races and one which has won.

I can't comment on the money thing. I'm not sure how the NASCAR financial structure works, but I would rather think NASCAR opened the doors to Toyota in order to increase the fan base, which, at the bottom line, means more money.

[Racer Duck]

Mikey might have done OK had he limited MWR to 2 teams and hung up his driving shoes. But he took Toyo's money and got himself in deep sssstuff.

He's a great salesman (but I wouldn't buy a used car from him) .. he always finds a way to mention his sponsors, no matter what the situation.

But he doesn't have the talent to drive and run a multi-team operation. Don't know any who do.

I'll not bring up his driving talent .. that subject has been beat to death.

[clutch]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

I'll not bring up his driving talent .. that subject has been beat to death.

Two Daytona 500s........that must be a fairly exclusive club

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by clutch

Two Daytona 500s........that must be a fairly exclusive club

It is but he did that under the guidance of DEI. Now he can't even get into a race.

[oncea3fan]

I believe he is an ok driver, not high end not low end. with the teams he ran with, I don't believe any ever won a race with any drivers, now with DEI he was in good cars and he won some races, be he still had the back up stuff, jr. got the prefered stuff.he has done well with the busch and goodies dash series. I do think driving and running a multi car team won't work for him, I think you willl see him retire in a few years and be just an owner, and as toyota gets better he will be the leading team.

lots of growing pains