In 2007, two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip started his own team and became one of the first Toyota teams. Since then he has had mixed success. But now, this team’s run is coming to a close. How is it they came to this point? Let’s take a stroll down memory lane.

As previously stated his team started in 2007. But they had an awful start. In his first race it was found that Waltrip’s car had unauthorized jet fuel in it. The team was severely fined for the incident. They were forced to reach out to Rob Kauffman, who purchased 50% of the team and helped them regain their feet. Despite this, the team struggled for the rest of the season, missing several races.

However, they soon claimed their first win. David Reutimann won the rain shortened Coca-Cola 600 in 2008. That is quite an achievement. And in then in 2010 he won the team’s second race, this time at Chicagoland. He also had a rather scary incident at Watkins Glen in 2011. He flipped over and barrel rolled down a straightaway. Yikes.

However, Waltrip Racing was about to start winning some more. In 2012 the team consisted of Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, and several drivers drove the no. 55 car. In 2012 Clint Bowyer won 3 races, and both him and Truex made the Chase. And Bowyer almost won the championship, had it not been for Jeff Gordon smashing his car at Phoenix.

The team came into 2013 with high expectations. Well, they certainly made some noise. Truex won his second career race at Sonoma, and Brian Vickers, who was driving part-time in the 55 car, won at Loudon. When the Series rolled into Richmond for the final race of the regular season, it seemed that both Truex and Bowyer would make the Chase again. Little did they know, this was the night that would be the beginning of the end for the team.

As the race was run, it became clear that Truex would be beat by Ryan Newman for the final Chase spot, since Newman was leading in the final laps. Suddenly, Bowyer, who was already secure in the Chase, spun his car. Wait a second. Bowyer, Truex’s teammate, spins in the final laps, destroying Newman’s lead. Sounds odd doesn’t it? Well get this, on the final restart, Brian Vickers, also Truex’s teammate, pit for no reason, giving Truex another point. And sure enough, Truex beat Newman out for the final Chase spot.

Several drivers spoke out, saying it seemed fishy that Bowyer spun. Well, after examination, Nascar stated that he did do it on purpose. They threw Truex out of the Chase, replacing him with Newman. After that things went in a downward spiral. Napa, Truex’s primary sponsor, announced they were stopping their sponsorship with MWR. That led to Truex losing his job, and now he is on one of Nascar’s lower level teams. And Truex didn’t even no about the cheating. What an awful chain of events. And get this, they haven’t won a race since.

And to make matters worse, Vickers, who was finally on the team full-time, is continuously suffering from blood clots and missing races. And now two years later, Rob Kauffman announced that he bought part of Chip Gannassi Racing, a totally different team. Not a great sign.

And now, after 9 years at the Cup Series level, MIchael Waltrip announced that the team will no longer run full-time. They will run part-time in 2016, and they had to let Bowyer out of his contract. Not a happy ending. This story just goes to show you that cheating has some very unfortunate consequences. And now this has effected the careers of several drivers. Well, that is an unfourtunate ending, but the best lessons are sometimes learned the hard way. After all, you live, you learn.