Michael Waltrip's No. 55 Dodge will officially be an entity of newly formed Waltrip-Jasper Racing, but the team will get its cars, engines and personnel from Bill Davis Racing.
Translation: Waltrip-Jasper Racing is a team primarily created so that Waltrip can take advantage of Doug Bawel's owner points. Bawel will be involved with the team, but the most important aspect is the fact that Waltrip will take advantage of the owner points compiled last year by Travis Kvapil in Bawel's team, then known as Penske-Jasper.
That team went out of business at year's end, and reportedly there were at least six teams involved in something of a bidding war for the team's owner points, which ensure a spot in the field for the at least the early-season races.
Waltrip, who has owned his own Busch Series team for some years, said, "The logical progression for me was ownership at the highest level, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. This is such a big step that I wanted to partner with someone who has intimate knowledge about ownership at this level. Doug Bawel and I have been friends for a number of years, and I have always respected the way he handled himself in the garage and with NASCAR."
Most of the remarks above are, at the very least, a bit overblown. The new team could just as easily be called Bill Davis with Security.
