The 2007 NASCAR season was not any longer than previous seasons when one considers the fact that it once again featured only 36 championship point events in addition to the two non-point races – the Budweiser Shootout and the All-Star Challenge. As with any other year the season started in early February at Daytona International Speedway and concluded in late November at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Despite the season not being longer by calendar standards, it felt like one of the longest for first-year team Michael Waltrip Racing.
The season started off on a high note for Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) as all three teams qualified for the Daytona 500 despite the controversy that surrounded the organization due to a penalty placed on the #55 NAPA Team for a qualifying inspection violation. Car owner and driver Michael Waltrip was fined and lost 100 championship points before the season ever started as a result.
When the series left Daytona however, the struggles started to mount for the first-year organization. Dale Jarrett and the #44 UPS Racing Team struggled during the qualifying sessions throughout the first half of the season. Jarrett eventually missed his first race since 1994 when the series was at Richmond International Raceway in May. Waltrip himself failed to qualify for 11 consecutive races after starting the Daytona 500. The driver/car owner did not make his second start of the 2007 season until the Nextel Cup Series visited Dover International Speedway in June.
For Jarrett personally, the season was one of the worst of his career, qualifying for 24 out of the 36 championship events and finishing 41st in the driver point standings.
"This obviously was a more difficult task to take on than we first thought when we were getting ready for the 2007 season," Jarrett said prior to the race at Homestead. "Starting a new team with a new manufacturer is a big challenge and we probably hurt ourselves by trying to start three teams rather than just two. At the time, that's what we felt we needed to do but at the beginning of the year the team was scrambling to put forth a quantity of cars and quality got sacrificed a little there."
Despite the struggles, the season was punctuated with the occasional bright, shiny moments along the way. Waltrip and rookie driver David Reutimann flexed some muscle earlier in the year at Michigan International Speedway with both drivers finishing in the top 15. For Jarrett one of the highlights of the season was qualifying third at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the track's October race.
"I think we just took over the upset of the year from Appalachian State when they beat Michigan by qualifying third," Jarrett said after qualifying third for the race. "We can't leave everything to college football these days - we have to do something. It's been that kind of year because you just don't know what to expect."
The biggest news of the year for the organization was Jarrett's decision to retire from full-time Nextel Cup Series racing at the conclusion of the 2007 NASCAR season. While Jarrett says that a number of reasons contributed to him making the decision to retire, one of the reasons was the struggle of the 2007 season.
"It showed me that they are going to run these races, whether I'm there or note," Jarrett said. "So, I figured that out. Also, I don't know if it's the struggles we've had, but the Thursday nights or Friday nights (qualifying) are not a lot of fun. The level of stress - I can't even begin to tell you what that's like. That does take its toll on you. I just think that my job here at Michael Waltrip Racing and with Toyota - was to help move them along quicker - and I felt like after I thought about it that it could be done in different ways and I don't have to be in the race car for that to happen so that was another factor in my decision to step away from the car."
While the majority of the year was a struggle visible improvements were made by MWR as the season progressed, particularly during the last third of the season. As the season progressed the teams were solidly qualifying for races and then being somewhat competitive during the actual race events. As proof, the UPS Team scored their best finishes of the year during two of the last four races, finishing 19th at Atlanta in late October and 17th at Homestead during the season finale.
"It was hard work and determination," Jarrett said of the team's progress. "I'm really proud of all of these guys and this team. It certainly wasn't what anybody wanted, but we made a lot of gains and that will be beneficial down the road for this team."
With all that has happened in 2007 and despite all of the heart break throughout the year, Jarrett is optimistic about what the future will hold for MWR as they prepare for the 2008 NASCAR season and beyond.
"The people at Toyota and Michael Waltrip Racing continue to work extremely hard and that's why I'm really happy about some of the efforts we had at the end of the year," Jarrett said. "They continued to work hard all day and they aren't afraid of work. The results on the race track are not indicative of the hard work that has been put forth by this crew and everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing and Toyota. This has been a difficult year for us but we are making improvements and hopefully we'll be able to start 2008 strong and lock this UPS Toyota solidly in the top 35 in owner points."
