Notes: Waltrip brings in more sponsors for No. 56

DOVER, Del. -- Michael Waltrip has mastered the art of the sponsorship deal.

Michael Waltrip Racing announced a three-year deal with Monster Diesel as an associate sponsor on Martin Truex's No. 56 Toyota starting with Sunday's race at Dover. Truex's main sponsor is NAPA -- long associated with Waltrip during his racing career -- and the team recently added an online tire retailer as another associate sponsor.

Truex

MWR fields Cup rides for Truex and David Reutimann. Truex won the pole Friday and his only career victory came three years ago at Dover.

"I feel like we're on the verge of winning races and getting into the Chase and all that good stuff," Truex said.

Truex could use a strong run to make the jump into the top 12 and move closer to securing a spot in the Chase. He's 13th entering Sunday's race, only 16 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 12th.

Truex was in the Chase in 2007 when he drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

MWR recently added TireMonkey.com as an associate sponsor on Truex's car. At a time when some teams are hurting for sponsors, Waltrip seems to collect them as he builds his program into a championship contender.

"We're going to keep spending the money because we want to put him in the Chase," Waltrip said. "If we don't have sponsors, we lose money."

Waltrip said he's actively working on securing more sponsors for Reutimann. Reutimann is 24th in the Cup standings.

"I think people see us as a young, upcoming team," Waltrip said. "Martin has certainly made our cars this year more relevant than they have been, that car particularly, in the past. I believe that people see us as an organization that can get up there and contend and challenge."

Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, has competed in only three races this year as he focuses on ownership.

"We believe if we can get in the Chase and race in the Chase we become profitable," Waltrip said.

Montoya

Why are they booing?

Juan Montoya has no idea why he's booed during race introductions. He just figures it's better than no reaction at all.

He's not the only successful driver who's jeered on a routine basis.

"I ask the same question about Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson or Kyle Busch," Montoya said. "I would rather get booed than ignored, to tell you the truth. I don't really care. It is funny. I find it really entertaining."

Montoya, who made the Chase last season, has shook off a slow start to position himself for another run this year. He has four top-six finishes in the past five races and is in 17th place.

"We have been so close to winning, we run up there every week," he said. "I'm sure it's going to happen pretty soon, but it is kind of frustrating sometimes."

Gordon still looking for sponsor

Robby Gordon still needs sponsorship in order to attempt to qualify for all the Cup races this year, and if he does find enough sponsorship, he hopes to run the entire season.

Gordon

Earlier this season, the veteran owner/driver had toyed with the idea of running a monster truck as well as the Indianapolis 500 while scaling back his Cup Series driving efforts, but some of those plans have not come to fruition.

Still, Gordon won't guarantee that his Robby Gordon Motorsports No. 7 car will run in every event.

Gordon wouldn't pinpoint a specific race where he might have to stay home. He said he would not start-and-park.

Gordon does have commitments for some off-road events. During the race at Pocono in June, Gordon will miss track activity Friday and Saturday so he can run the Baja 500. Michael Waltrip will practice and qualify the car for him, Gordon said.

Gordon was penalized 25 points and fined $25,000 earlier this week for attaching a brace holding a wood block inside his right-side door panels at Darlington. The brace and wood block, used to help reduce the amount of damage to a car, were found during initial inspection and he never used the items on the track.