Michael Waltrip Racing’s Cal Wells denies that the company and Bootie Barker have parted ways. But will Barker be the crew chief for the #55 Toyota when Sprint Cup action returns to the track next week at Atlanta?(Fox Sports)(8-26-2009)
UPDATE: ESPN’s Marty Smith posted the following on his Twitter account Wednesday evening: “Yes, folks, I talked to Bootie today. He told me this: ‘I will be crew chiefing, I just won’t be crew chiefing the #55.’ He will stay at Michael Waltrip Racing.”(8-27-2009)
UPDATE 2: Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) announced that veteran crew chief Gene Nead has been named interim crew chief for two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip and his #55 NAPA Auto Parts team. Nead officially joins MWR on Monday and will call the final 12 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season for Waltrip. Robert Bootie Barker remains with the organization and will be assisting engineering with special projects. Nead is a familiar face to MWR. Earlier this season, he worked for JTG Daugherty Racing who has a technical alliance with MWR. He led the teams NASCAR Nationwide Series program with driver Michael McDowell.(MWR PR)(8-27-2009)
