Waltrip shoring up legacy as a smart Cup team owner (cont'd)

But on Tuesday at his gleaming MWR race shop in Cornelius, Michael announced that this likely will be his last as a full-time racer in the Cup Series (he didn't completely rule out one day returning to a seat full time a la Mark Martin, but doesn't plan on it). Martin Truex Jr. will take over Michael's full-time Cup ride next year, albeit in the No. 56 Toyota as opposed to the No. 55 that Waltrip still will drive in the season-opening Daytona 500 and a handful of other races.

Stepping out of his full-time ride is a smart decision by Mikey -- one of many he has made as a Cup owner. The argument could be made that he's showing more potential now as an owner than he ever did as a driver.

Truex to MWR

Michael Waltrip Racing announced Tuesday that Martin Truex Jr. will join the team in 2010 and drive the No. 56 Toyota. Waltrip will step into a part-time driver role.

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Sure, Michael won two Daytona 500 races. That speaks for itself. But prior to winning his first one in 2001, he made 462 consecutive Cup starts without winning a single race -- and he has won a total of just four in 743 career Cup starts.

Even though Darrell proclaimed that Michael still has the rest of this season to get to Victory Lane, and Michael smiled at the compliment and the thought of it, the truth as even the Waltrips know it is that Michael almost certainly will never get there again as a driver.

But as an owner, perhaps that will be another story.

"I'm totally at ease with where I'm at," Michael said. "I think my legacy as a driver is pretty much shaped up by now. One time I lost 462 races in a row; I remember that pretty good.

"When people talk about giving up, that's just not who I am. That's not a part of me. I may have lost 462 races in a row, but I woke up that morning of the [2001] Daytona 500, and I knew I was going to win it. It's the same way with this team. I feel like we're in a battle, and we're going to win it."

Turning it around

Shortly after deciding to start his own Cup team in 2007, Michael invited Darrell over to where his new shop, which really was a converted old movie theater, was being whipped into shape. Darrell thought Michael had a long way to go and wondered when he intended to run, and how many cars he expected to field.

Darrell gasped at the information Michael threw at him. He intended to be running three cars full time in a season that was only four months in the offing.

"I said, 'One car, maybe; two cars, I don't know. But three cars? You're out of your mind,'" Darrell recalled Tuesday.

Yet three cars it was, right out of the box. They weren't very competitive that first year, when Michael's team sort of set the tone for the season by getting caught attempting to cheat to qualify for the Daytona 500.

It was ugly, and it was expensive. Michael joked Tuesday that he recently was told he has amassed more than $47 million in winnings as a driver, "but my half of this place [MWR] cost me 48."

He meant millions. He also joked that times were so tough during the first 18 months or so of operation that he considered putting a For Lease or For Sale up out front -- but not really because, as he said himself, giving up was never an option in his mind. (Continued)