#22-Scott Wimmer says he’s working on a new three-year contract with Bill Davis Racing, and he hopes to benefit from the team’s likely expansion. “A lot of people don’t see what goes on every weekend,” Wimmer said Friday at Michigan International Speedway. “We’ve been caught up in wrecks – some have been our fault, but others haven’t – we’ve had some mechanical problems and things like that. We’re a single-car team, and I think we’re running better this year than we did all last year and we’re further down in the points.” Wimmer was entirely optimistic when talking about his future, but Davis sounded less upbeat when asked to comment on the driver’s status. “It’s a performance-driven sport, and we certainly have not had a very good year,” Davis said. “We like Scott, and we’d like to make Scott as successful over here as we did in the Busch Series. Everybody knows what it takes over here. It takes performance.” Davis doesn’t like to use his team’s status as a single-car team, nor the fact that it lost Dodge factory backing two years ago, as an excuse for poor performance, but Wimmer said the team has been behind all season understanding the aerodynamic properties of a new body style for 2005. “It’ll just takes a little bit to get it all together, and hopefully these last 15 races we can really show what we can do and gear for next year,” Wimmer said. “I hate saying that. Every year it seems like I say we’re gearing for next year, but that’s really all you can do.” Davis has fielded a second car six times this season, and Wimmer said he benefits each time he has a teammate. Davis said he is “pretty close” to putting together a second full-time team for next year. Davis’ team hasn’t been a big player in the rumor mill, although his team has long been linked with Toyota’s anticipated, eventual move into Nextel Cup because he fields two Toyotas in the Craftsman Truck Series. Recently rumors have Michael Waltrip and sponsor NAPA heading to Davis after the two-time Daytona 500 winner leaves Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the year. BDR and the part-time Cup team owned by Waltrip combined forces for the second time and are fielding a car this weekend for Johnny Benson. Waltrip told the Associated Press he needed time to weigh his options, adding, “I hope by the middle of September it’ll be obvious what I’m going to do.” People shouldn’t read anything into the combined effort, Davis said. Wimmer, meanwhile, disavowed any inside knowledge about the rumors. “I heard a couple things this week, so it’ll be interesting how it all plays out,” he said. “Some of the drivers that are (rumored) to come over here, I’ve heard, are going to be great teammates, so I’m excited.”(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
AND during Speed Channel’s Happy Hour practice coverage, Wimmer was asked about his status, he said he is signed thru 2006 and excited about next season.(8-20-2005)
