Many to precede Stewart learned ownership's risks

All the pieces, it seemed, were in place. The two lead drivers were established, bankable personalities and multiple Daytona 500 winners, one a former series champion as well. Major sponsors had signed on. They had backing from a manufacturer so awash in cash, that teams of rival car makers were girding themselves for metaphorical war. They had a technical whiz of a crew chief who had won 12 races in the previous five years. They unveiled plans for a state-of-the-art race shop. Michael Waltrip Racing looked like it had everything it needed to be successful as a budding organization on NASCAR's highest level.

Michael Waltrip Racing

Results by Car

	55	44	00
Starts	53	60	59
DNQs	19	12	9
Wins	0	0	0
Top-5s	1	0	0
Top-10s	4	4	0
DNFs	6	13	13
Poles	1	1	0
Avg. St.	29.1	28.5	30.2
Avg. Fin.	28.3	28.5	29.1

Except, that is, for timing, good fortune, and those precious owners' points. Everybody knows the story -- Waltrip's car was busted at Daytona for an illegal substance in the fuel system, NASCAR changed the rules so a past champion's provisional could be used only six times in one season, and the team spent the remainder of that 2007 season just fighting to make races, much less compete in them. The DNQs piled up, eventually totaling 39 between Waltrip, Dale Jarrett and rookie David Reutimann, but even those were eclipsed by the heartbreak.

Things have improved a little for the Waltrip team since then, but not to the point where they're a threat to contend every week. The team's top two cars made every race last year, Waltrip earned a rain-assisted runner-up finish at New Hampshire, and Reutimann scored a pole at Homestead. But it's still been a slog, with funding issues, one big sponsor leaving for another organization, and economic reality prompting the formation of an alliance with another team. Nothing has come easy. No wonder Waltrip is pondering retirement after this season if his team's fortunes don't turn around.

And now comes another well-known driver breaking into the ownership ranks. After 10 successful years and two championships, Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing after last season to take control of a struggling operation formerly known as Haas CNC Racing. Once again there's the marriage of a champion and a former Daytona 500 winner, this time in the form of Ryan Newman. Once again there are big sponsors on board and solid manufacturer backing. There's even Matt Borland, the former crew chief at the Waltrip shop, winner of all those races on the pit box with Newman at Penske Racing, now at Stewart-Haas Racing in the role of technical director. (Continued)