Pemberton among new crew chiefs at Waltrip

CORNELIUS, N.C. -- Michael Waltrip Racing on Friday unveiled its 2008 Sprint Cup Series crew chief lineup with the recent hiring of Paul Andrews, Bill Pappas and Ryan Pemberton.

"My vision of Michael Waltrip Racing becoming one of the elite organizations in NASCAR has not changed since the day I started this team," Waltrip said. "Over the past four months we have made significant moves to position ourselves for success with the addition of my new business partner Rob Kauffman; our Technical Director, Dr. Eric Warren; and EVP of Business Operations Cal Wells.

Daytona Countdown

We are counting down the days to the 50th Daytona 500 on Feb. 17, 2008. Each day we will highlight a number that corresponds to the countdown number.

• More
• 50th Daytona 500 ticket design
• Get your tickets
• Book your travel

"Our logical next phase was to bring in race and championship winning crew chiefs to lead our teams. And we have done that with the addition of Paul Andrews, Bill Pappas and Ryan Pemberton.

"The degree of difficulty in our monumental start up in 2007 was evident and standing flat-footed heading into 2008 was not an option for us. I could not be more proud of the recent developments. MWR is here to stay and I think these moves show our commitment to long-term success."

• Andrews will serve as crew chief for Michael Waltrip and the No. 55 Toyota.

"I am really looking forward to working with Michael again," Andrews said. "Last year as the season went on, it was evident that Michael Waltrip Racing was making improvements. There is so much potential here, which is noticeable and that's what attracted me to this team."

Andrews, who established a relationship with Waltrip during his tenure at Dale Earnhardt Inc., entered the NASCAR scene with the late Alan Kulwicki in 1988. The team won the 1992 Cup championship, and most recently worked at Petty Enterprises with Kyle Petty and Bobby Labonte.

"Good things will happen for this organization because they are continuing to hire quality people," Andrews said. "I wanted to come here and help them work their way into the top-35 in points because I know they are capable of doing that."

• Pappas is assigned to the team which will field the No. 44 for Dale Jarrett then become the No. 00 team, at Martinsville, when David Reutimann takes over the No. 44.

"Last season, Michael Waltrip Racing built a foundation and now they are working on the internal pieces," Pappas said. "I am pleased to have been chosen to be apart of this growth. I respect the vision of both Toyota Motorsports and Michael Waltrip Racing.

"In addition, it is a tremendous honor to be an integral part of Dale Jarrett's final races. Jarrett is an ambassador to the sport and has had great success throughout his career. I am eager to work and learn from him throughout the season."

Pappas was chief engineer at Ganassi Racing and won the Indianapolis 500 with Juan Montoya in the driver's first visit to The Brickyard in May 2000. During his tenure at Ganassi, Pappas engineered cars that led the Indy 500 in every race from 2000-2004, and helped Ganassi celebrate an Indy Racing League championship with Scott Dixon in 2003.

• Pemberton is the crew chief for David Reutimann, who will race the No. 00 for five races before switching to the driver of the No. 44 UPS team. Pemberton and Reutimann will remain together through the transition.

"Michael Waltrip Racing is a team that's growing and I want to be a part of that," said Pemberton, who left DEI on Dec. 11. (Full Story) "I have respect for this team because I know how hard it is to start up an organization from scratch. There's a lot to overcome just to make it to the racetrack when you are developing a new program especially of the magnitude they did.

"I can appreciate all of their hard work and dedication last season. Also, I feel really good about being David's crew chief. I told many of my peers that I had decided to make Michael Waltrip Racing my home and they said that I would enjoy working with David and that says a lot about him."

Ryan Pemberton enters his 12th season as a Cup Series crew chief, most recently the crew chief of the No. 01 team with Mark Martin.