Martin will drive the Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.

Martin said:

Team president JD Gibbs said:

We’ve always hoped to have the opportunity for Mark to drive for us and to have him behind the wheel of our Interstate Batteries Toyota for the Nationwide race in Vegas is exciting. He is a great example to all drivers of the dedication it takes to be successful and certainly we’re honored to have him part of our efforts in 2012.

Mark Martin replaced Reutimann in Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00. Michael Waltrip will also drive the No. 00 in a few races in 2012. MWR also signed Clint Bowyer to drive the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota next season.

Reutimann said:

Tommy’s done a lot with a little over there and he’s definitely a racer, so that’s a good fit. With Tommy you never have to (wonder) what he’s thinking. He’s up front and that’s exactly what I need right now. He’s really put together a nice package over there. It’s awesome. Both our dads raced and Tommy has such an enthusiasm for the sport and that’s refreshing.

Baldwin said:

We’ve been working real hard since the end of the year to get our equipment right. Last year’s goal was to get in the top 35. This year we’re concentrating on competition. Given David’s experience, we thought it was best to bring him along to help us reach that next goal.

The team has not determined the number of races Reutimann will enter, nor has it decided on a car number. Last year, the team used Nos. 35 and 36.

TBR is currently seeking sponsorship to run the full season in 2012, as Golden Corral will not return.

Also, TBR signed an agreement to run Earnhardt Ganassi Racing engines next season.

Martin will drive 30 races, according to the report. Michael Waltrip, the team’s co-owner, is likely drive the restrictor plate events in that car.

Reutimann told FoxSports.com via a text message that he was informed of the decision this week.

Reutimann was re-signed by MWR in July of 2010. His contract was slated to end at the end of the 2012 Sprint Cup season.

MWR has also signed Clint Bowyer to drive the No. 15 MWR Camry with sponsorship from 5-Hour Energy. Both Bowyer and Martin will become teammates to Martin Truex Jr.

The news of Reutimann’s release is shocking, but understandable. Reutimann has struggled this season. He currently sits 28th in the championship points standings, with only two Top 10 finishes this season.

Update: It’s official. Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Mark Martin will replace David Reutimann in the No. 00 Sprint Cup Toyota next season. Team co-owner Michael Waltrip said:

David has been a significant part of Michael Waltrip Racing since the very beginning and will forever be a part of our heritage. We want to thank David for his contribution to our growth and success over the past five years and wish him well in the future.

There were more differences than I expected. But then I thought back to Red Bull, and how much different that was from the prior year [at Richard Petty Motorsports], and how the cars are. It’s all little things, but they keep adding up and it kind of takes time to kind of figure out that feel.

Unlike most NASCAR silly season deals, Kahne was signed by HMS a full season before he would actually make his first start for the team. This led to constant speculation of what Martin would do. He said he plans to drive in 2012.

Rumors ranged from joining Red Bull Racing to starting his own team or purchasing a team. He denied that rumor. Ultimately, Kahne ended up signing a one-year deal with RBR. Martin still has yet to announce his 2012 plans, but he is confident he will have a ride. Many speculate that he will drive for Stewart Haas Racing, sharing a ride with Danica Patrick.

RBR announced in June that they would be leaving NASCAR at the end of the Sprint Cup Series schedule. Since then, there have been no announcements or leaks of who might take over the team. Back when it was announced, there was speculation that Jay Frye, the team’s current general manager, could purchase the team with help from investors. Mark Martin and Ray Evernham were also rumored to be potential owner candidates.

Martin, however, appears to be considering racing part time next season, sharing a Cup seat with Danica Patrick at Stewart Haas Racing.

RBR driver Brian Vickers has also been attempting to line up potential buyers, but nothing has materialized at this point.

Honestly, we’re still trying today. We both agreed if an opportunity comes for him he needs to take it. But yes, we’re still trying to put something together this week and last week.

If Bowyer does leave, there are four or five other drivers who Childress would consider putting in the car. While Childress wouldn’t mention any drivers, prime candidates are Brian Vickers, Mark Martin (who is rumored to be headed to Stewart Haas Racing) and possibly David Ragan if he loses his ride at Roush Fenway Racing due to a lack of sponsorship.

Childress didn’t rule out Austin Dillon for the ride. But, he would put another driver in the car, as well. The plan is for Dillon to drive in the Nationwide Series full time, with Childress’ other grandson Ty Dillon replacing him in the No. 3  Bass Pro Shops Chevy in the Camping World Truck Series.

If sponsorship cannot be found, the No. 33 team would most likely drop to the Nationwide Series for Dillon.

There has been some speculation that SHR owner Tony Stewart wouldn’t want to go through the hassle of fielding a third car to run it part time. If that is indeed the case, he would be in the market for a part time driver. Mark Martin’s name has been rumored as a potential candidate.

Martin, who will leave Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Cup team at season’s end to make way for Kasey Kahne, has said in the past that he is looking for a part time ride next season, and that he has nothing in the works. So, it would seem that Martin is available.

Plus, for SHR, it would be good to have a driver with Martin’s knowledge of how a successful team should run behind the wheel of one of their cars. That’s not to say Stewart, a two-time champion, doesn’t know. But, how could it hurt to have Martin providing feedback as well?

It would also give the pit crew more on-track reps so that they can be at the top of their game when Patrick is in the car. This is very important because Patrick is sure to have a bullseye on her back thanks in part to her meteoric rise to the top ranks of NASCAR without much experience.

But, in order for Martin to join SHR, a sponsor would need to be found. That seems to be the main concern. But, is it really?

Martin currently drives the No. 5 Chevy, which is sponsored by GoDaddy.com so he obviously has a relationship with them. Given their relationship with both he and Patrick, they could step up and sponsor races for both drivers. But this, of course, is speculation.

When asked about sharing a ride with Patrick, Martin said:

There are some scenarios that could be perfect for me. But for right now, that’s pipe dreaming. For now. … I’m cool. I’m 100 percent at peace.

Driving a car does not show athleticism.

Racing reporter Jeff Gluck called Tate ignorant, a sentiment Johnson agreed with. And, honestly, there’s no argument, Tate is ignorant. That’s not say he is wrong, or that he should change his opinion.

The fact that he is ignorant stems from being misinformed or ill-informed.

An athlete is defined as a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina per Merriam-Webster.

“Driving a car,” in Tate’s mind, does not really take any of those skills. And, I would agree with that. The problem is that Tate is using his definition of driving a car. He’s using his experiences driving as his frame of reference.

Driving a car down the highway at 70-80 mph is very different from driving a race car around a track at 200 mph for four hours. For starters, the temperature inside of a race car can get as hot as 120 degrees. Sure, the drivers have air boxes that blow cool air into their helmets, but their bodies still take the physical abuse of the extreme temperatures. I think it takes physical skill and stamina to deal with that.

Second, getting your car around a corner on the highway doesn’t take as much physical strength as it does in a NASCAR stock car. While stock cars do have power steering, it isn’t the same as what’s in our cars. The cars are much heavier and harder to turn. When you add in the differences in handling and the length of races, turning your car for 400-500 miles requires both strength and stamina.

So, in that regard, yes I would call drivers athletes.

Tate went on to tweet that someone could be trained to drive a race car, while you can’t be trained to run a 4.4 40-yard dash. That, too, is an ignorant statement.

If drivers could be trained, there’d be a lot more successful drivers in NASCAR. You don’t think 1999 Winston Cup champion and 32-time winner Dale Jarrett and two-time Cup champion, 50-time winner, and NASCAR hall-of-famer Ned Jarrett  tried to train Jason Jarrett to be a driver? The third generation Jarrett was not successful in Nationwide or Sprint Cup.

But, if Tate’s comments were accurate, he should have been.

You can be trained to drive a race car, yes. But it takes much more physical skill to be successful.

Offensive and defensive linemen cannot run 4.4 40s. Does that make them any less of an athlete than a wide receiver? No, it makes them a different type of athlete.

Mike Sando, or ESPN.com, agreed with Tate, but said he took the wrong tack. He wrote:

[I]f the 100 best football players spent five years training as drivers while the 100 best drivers spent five years training as football players, I suspect the football players would be closer to competing admirably in their new sport.

This is the statement of someone who knows little about racing. Yes, football is a difficult game, and yes it is physically demanding to play. But football players get a lot more down time than NASCAR racers. They get more breaks to rest. NASCAR drivers do not get much time to rest. A pit stop is about 50 seconds, including time on and off pit road. Tv timeouts are longer than that.

Football players get half time. NASCAR drivers get cautions. And, football players are not on the field 100% of the time.

Also, football players play 16 games a season. NASCAR drivers compete is 36 races per season. Drivers compete in 144 hours (if a race is four hours), compared to 48 hours for football players (games are roughly three hours). I’m sure, without doing a statistical comparison, that drivers have more “up” time than football players per race/game, so it’s safe to say they have to deal with more physical demands over a season than a football player.

To be fair, a football player gets hit more often than a driver, and probably are more dangerous. But the impacts for drivers — at over 180 mph in most cases — are no cakewalk.

So, to say that a football player would be better at racing than a race car driver would be at football is ignorant at best. There are more factors to driving a race car than Sando knows.

Sando also goes on to write:

It’s possible for top racing drivers to remain competitive well past their physical primes.

He uses Mark Martin as an example. Martin is 52 years old, but he must not know much about Martin because Martin has one of the most rigorous fitness regiments I’ve ever heard of — probably one that the majority of football players in their prime couldn’t complete while competing in races every week.

At the end of the day, football players and NASCAR drivers are different types of athletes, but both are athletes. One is not more of an athlete than another, just like an apple is not more of a fruit than an orange.

No…I don’t. I am very interested and would love to commit to Jay Frye (Red Bull Racing vice president and general manager) and that organization to help Jay move forward and rebuild that organization in all forms. There’s a lot of things I want to do in the sport still, including driving race cars, and outside of driving race cars. But as an equity owner, I can’t see it happening anywhere. I’m not interested in doing that.

As with anything a NASCAR driver or owner says regarding rumors about future moves, you have to take what Martin says with a grain of salt until he actually signs with another team to be a driver only. It is very rare for someone to tip their hand before deals are finalized and Martin has been in the sport long enough to know that.

Martin also left himself a little wiggle room by saying that he couldn’t see it happening. He didn’t say it wouldn’t, won’t or can’t happen. I’m not saying he will become an owner, but I don’t think he has decided yet.

Coming back to Daytona International Speedway, David Ragan knew he had what it takes to win the Coke Zero 400.  With the help of his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth, Ragan was able to take home his first career win and get redemption at Daytona.

Two Car Tango

The two car tango: You either love it or you hate it.  It forces drivers to work together, teammates or not.  They have to talk with each other on the radio and coordinate their strategy.   Before this style of racing cam about, you would see large groups of cars drafting together at Daytona.  Some drivers preferred to race up front, others would ride out the race in the back until the closing laps, when they would race their way to the front.

With the two car draft, the drivers really have no choice but to ride two-by-two the entire race.  It keeps the drivers close enough that they have to race constantly, but not so close that they take out the entire pack if one car spins.

But, the biggest downside of the two car tango is, if the driver behind you isn’t the best dancer.  Right off the bat on lap 5, Brad Keselowski got into the back of Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne putting him into the wall.  Bayne was forced to take his car to the garage and was not able to finish the race.  A lack of communication between drivers seemed to be the cause of the accident.

On lap 23, there was another incident of this style racing.  Greg Biffle got into teammate and points leader Carl Edwards, sending him into the inside wall.  Edwards’s team was able to repair the damage, but he had other problems. The accident broke the crush panels on Edwards’s car, causing him to inhale exhaust fumes. The team later fixed the problem, but he was eight laps down.

Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr’s tango did not work out as planned.  At the start of the race, Earnhardt and Johnson hooked up and decided to ride it out towards the back of the field.  When Johnson made a pit stop to make adjustments to his car, Earnhardt pitted with him to make sure they would stay together on track.  Earnhardt and Johnson had great radio communication throughout most of the race.

When a late race caution came out, however, the No. 48 team pitted without informing the No. 88 team.  This resulted in Earnhardt Jr not having a teammate to draft with and a slim chance to get out front to win the race.  Earnhardt seemed agitated about the incident on the radio.  Adding insult to injury, Earnhardt and Johson were involved in the crash on the final lap and finished19th and 20th, respectively.

Their teammates, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon had a similar strategy of hanging near the back until the closing laps. In the final laps of the race, Gordon and Martin were charging to the front when Red Bull Racing teammates Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers checked up. Kahne slid up the track in front of Gordon and the two made contact.

Gordon spun, but was able to save it, setting up the first green-white-checkered finish. On that G-W-C attempt, Martin was trying to draft with Joey Logano because neither had a drafting partner when the two made contact and Martin spun, hitting Vickers. That triggered the big one and set up a second attempt at a G-W-C finish.

RBR teammates Vickers and Kahne had no problem with the two car racing in the early part of the race.  They led about 20 laps total with Kahne out front.  Kahne finished the race fourth and Vickers, getting slight damage in the last lap pile up, finished 12th.

In conclusion, the two car tango is still taking some time to get used to.  I miss the huge packs racing three and four-wide at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway.  I also miss how drivers would switch drafting partners continuously during the race, trying to get their car out front.

With the two car draft, it’s almost like two teams become one.  If one car can’t win, the person drafting with them can’t win either.  But, when leading the race, the car out front will be the winner rather than both teams getting the win.  There are pros and cons with all styles of racing.  I think this two car tango is going to be around for a while so we might as well get used to it!