JTG Daughtery Racing’s alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing is up at the end of the year. So what they are just an also ran 36 weeks of the year you probably just mumbled. True. With Bobby Labonte behind the wheel the only thing the team has guaranteed itself is a spot on the starting grid every week. Now that they are in the top-35 in owner points they don’t even need that.
JTG once had Marcos Ambrose as their driver. While Ambrose wasn’t a consistent driver he did offer the team a few great finishes, was always a threat to win on the road courses and was pretty nifty at the short tracks.
Now saddled with an aging driver who hasn’t been competitive in years the team is relegated to the back of the pack.
In fairness all of the problems are not of Bobby Labonte’s making. Labonte has been able to put together a few good runs and at JTG, much like his time at Yates and Richard Petty’s teams, has had inferior equipment.
With the alliance up at the end of the year and MWR planning to add Clint Bowyer now is a perfect time for JTG to join either Richard Childress or even Joe Gibbs Racing (who will also field three cars) and try to pick up the pieces.
Joe Gibbs Racing is the toast of the Toyota’s in NASCAR, Michael Waltrip Racing is slightly above rear runners. The addition of Clint Bowyer may show that it is drivers that struggle not equipment but if JTG trusts in their drivers then they know in their hearts it is the equipment that needs to be changed.
