Struggling Waltrip's future with DEI in doubt

DOVER, Del. -- Michael Waltrip posted a strong second-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 last Sunday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but that hasn't solidified his position with Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Dover International Speedway that Waltrip could be replaced in DEI's No. 15 as early as next year. Waltrip's and sponsor NAPA's contract with DEI is up at the end of this season.

	Michael Waltrip

"Michael would probably want to finish his career at DEI, but the chances of that happening I wouldn't say are 100 percent right now," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't make the call. I don't make the decision. All I can do is speculate, just like everybody else."

Earnhardt Jr. said the reason for the speculation is a lack of performance. He said Waltrip and his team would have to pick up the pace in the 24 remaining races before he'll be brought back.

"He's going to have to run good," Earnhardt Jr. said. "That team's going to have to run good. To bring Michael back next year, there needs to be some convincing there, you know? It's all fair. It's a business, you know?

"We hug each other, and we're buddies. We do all those things that friends do. But when you get inside the garage area, everybody knows it's business."

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Waltrip was approached by reporters during Busch Series qualifying at Dover but shrugged them off with a shake of his head and a lifting of his hands.

Waltrip was hired by Dale Earnhardt in 2001 and won the Daytona 500 in his first race with DEI. Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. have become good friends on and off the track. The two have won 10 of the last 14 restrictor-plate races, with Waltrip winning four of those.

Waltrip had a tough start to the season, crashing out of three of the first five races. He has rebounded with three top-10 finishes, but is 24th in the Nextel Cup points standings. He is 613 behind leader Earnhardt Jr., which means he's 213 points out of the Chase for the Championship.

"Michael's going to do what he can do for himself, try to help himself, do what's best for himself," Earnhardt Jr. said. "He owns a racecar. He knows what that's all about."

Waltrip owns his own Busch Series team, and he's third in the points this year, with a victory and Nashville.

After finishing second last week, Waltrip said he regained his confidence.

	Martin Truex Jr.

"I know I have the talent and ability to do the job," Waltrip said. "It just reaffirms that. It's so easy for me to get down on myself. It's just my personality. But it's nice to be reaffirmed. Jamie (McMurray) and I were talking today before the race and he said, 'Dude, I never see you any more'. And I said, 'Well, when I'm 30th in the points, I try to hide from everybody.' And so maybe I can raise my head up and look some around this week."

Martin Truex Jr.'s sensational start to the Busch Series season for Chance 2 Motorsports -- co-owned by Earnhardt Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt -- has prompted speculation that he might be ready to step up to Nextel Cup. But though Truex has won four times in 2004, Earnhardt Jr. said he wasn't going Cup racing in 2005.

"No, absolutely not," Earnhardt Jr. said. "He's just not ready. You could do it, and he might run OK, but you're hampering his ability at the pace he needs to. Two solid years of Busch is perfect. Anything less is a bit too much of a hurry, I think.

"We could try to keep up with the hype and build up his skill. Say he has a great year this year and then goes Cup racing. But he's not going to run good when he got here. We're going to try to take him off the market on the Cup side and run him another year."