If needed, Michael Waltrip Racing could swap its owner points to ensure that drivers David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip are locked into the top 35 beginning at Martinsville. With MWR set to have different drivers in two of its cars after Dale Jarrett’s final points race on Sunday, rookie driver Michael McDowell said he’ll likely inherit the owner points of the car that is outside the top 35, if necessary. All three MWR cars are currently in the top 35, but McDowell knows it makes little sense to have the unsponsored #00 locked into the field with David Reutimann and the #44 UPS car or Michael Waltrip and the #55 Napa car on the outside. As for finding a sponsor, McDowell said the only thing he can do is get the best finishes possible once he debuts at Martinsville. Aaron’s has sponsored the #00 and Reutimann through the first five races.(SceneDaily.com) AND other teams may swap points depending on how they stand after the race at Bristol as the 2008 Owners Points will be used for the the Top-35 guaranteed spots at Martinsville March 30th. Just to be clear, the Top-35 would only be locked in for Martinsville, not the rest of the season, the Top-35 can change from race-to-race all the way thru the last week at Homestead. Other teams/drivers that MAY switch: #45-Kyle Petty and #43-Bobby Labonte [Petty is currently 40th on OWNERs pts, 60 out of 35th and the #43 is 19th after Bristol], Labonte would have the past champions provisonal to use…up to 6 #2-Busch [10th] and #77-Hornish [made it in at 35th, so doubt they would switch now]…again, with Busch still having 5 champion provisionals left to use. #17-Kenseth [11th] and #26-McMurray [36th] could swap, but have not heard anyone from Roush metnion it NASCAR would have to approve any of these points swaps.(3-15/16-2008) UPDATE: Petty Enterprises will decide in the next week whether to swap the owners’ points between Bobby Labonte and Petty to assure Petty a spot at Martinsville. Petty is 40th in points. Labonte, who would be guaranteed a spot as a past champion (2000), is 18th after finishing 38th on Sunday.(ESPN.com)(3-17-2008) UPDATE 2: Petty Enterprises could petition NASCAR for a swap of points between Petty and the 19th-ranked Dodge of teammate Bobby Labonte, who would be in the field as a past champion. But Robbie Loomis, the team’s vice president of operations, said he might be comfortable with Petty qualifying on speed at Martinsville.(USA Today)(3-17-2008)
