Truex-to-Waltrip Racing a 'done' deal?

  
Michael Waltrip, team owner, has a lot of heavy decisions to make in the coming weeks...maybe about Michael Waltrip the driver (Photo: Toyota Motorsports)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

    CONCORD, N.C.
    The word on the street is that Martin Truex to Michael Waltrip's team in 2010 is a 'done deal,' but Truex and Ty Norris, the general manager for Waltrip's operation, both insist their 2010 deals are still up in the air, for at least another three weeks.
   "We've been hearing the same things," Norris concedes. "But we're still in discussions with NAPA and trying to figure out things (sponsorship) for 2010 and beyond.
   "There are a lot of decisions that need to be made before we can even pursue something or get anything done.
   "The biggest issue right now is we're in negotiations right now with NAPA and Michael, to see what the future looks like.
   "We met a week ago and decided to give ourselves three or four more weeks, and then we'll make some decisions. So we're three or four weeks away from making the decision about what Michael and NAPA are going to do.
   "Only after we make that decision can we look at the second decision."
   All that would seem to imply that Waltrip himself has to make a good case for sponsorship-driver renewal with NAPA between now and the July Fourth 400 at Daytona.
   Waltrip goes into Sunday night's Coke 600 sitting 28th in the Sprint Cup standings, with only one top-10, that seventh in the Daytona 500, and his last tour victory was in the fall of 2003 at Talladega. His two teammates, David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose, have been performing much better.
    NAPA, which has been in racing for years, has a reputation as a very demanding sponsor. But then Waltrip's good touch at commercials has held him in good stead, despite lackluster performance on the track. Waltrip had UPS as a major sponsor for several years, but he lost that sponsorship at the end of last season, UPS moving over to the Jack Roush camp.
  

  

  
Martin Truex Jr. -- will he stay with team owner Chip Ganassi or move to Michael Waltrip's team? (Photo:Getty Images for NASCAR)