#00-Michael McDowell, the Michael Waltrip Racing rookie, said Friday that he may be on the market for a new team, depending on MWR’s sponsorship search. He’s already spoken to several teams about his driving future, including Petty Enterprises. Petty official Robbie Loomis said Friday that McDowell is among a small group of three or four drivers being considered for the team’s #45 car next season. McDowell said MWR has an option on him, but if it does not secure a sponsor for him in the next few weeks, he may have to look elsewhere for a ride. Casey Mears and Chad McCumbee have also been mentioned as candidates for Petty’s #45 car. Other options that potentially could be available to McDowell include Chip Ganassi Racing’s #41 car and Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ #10 car. There are also openings at Penske Racing and Richard Childress Racing.(SceneDaily)(8-9-2008) UPDATE: Mike Skinner is listed in the Michigan entry list as the driver of the #00 Champion Mortgage Toyota field by Michael Waltrip Racing, no word on what is up with regular driver Michael McDowell.(8-11-2008) UPDATE 2: Michael McDowell said he supports Michael Waltrip Racing’s decision to replace him with Mike Skinner in the 3M Performance 400 this weekend at Michigan. McDowell, whose #00 team is currently outside the top 35 in owner points, said in a statement that he’s in favor of doing “whatever it takes to improve the performance of our team. No driver wants to get out of the car, but I understand that every part of our program needs to be evaluated, and that certainly includes me. I plan to support Mike Skinner and our team any way I can, and hopefully learn some things that will help when I get back in the car.”(SceneDaily)(8-12-2008) UPDATE 3: Mike Skinner will assist Michael Waltrip Racing in efforts to evaluate its 18-month-old full-time Sprint Cup Series program by racing the #00 Champion Mortgage Toyota at Michigan, Bristol and California. “Michael Waltrip Racing is fully committed to our sponsors, the success of our race teams and ensuring Michael McDowell, Josh Wise, David Reutimann and I have the necessary tools to succeed as drivers,” Waltrip said. “We’ve asked Mike Skinner to evaluate areas where we can improve our on-track performance. I thought he did a really nice job of working with Red Bull and A.J. Allmendinger earlier this year and our #00 Champion Mortgage team could use the same experienced insight. We feel the same way about Michael McDowell as we did when we signed him,” Waltrip said, “But this is the toughest, most competitive form of racing in the world and I know Michael and MWR can benefit from Skinner’s input.” Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Michael McDowell is scheduled to return to his seat at Richmond.(MWR PR)(8-13-2008)
