Michael Waltrip Racing names technical director

CORNELIUS, N.C. -- Michael Waltrip Racing on Tuesday named Dr. Eric Warren as Technical Director for the multi-car Nextel Cup Series operation. Warren joins MWR with a decade of engineering experience in the motorsports industry.

"Eric brings a level of expertise that will help Michael Waltrip Racing become a major force in the near future," team owner Michael Waltrip said. "He joins us following a successful five-year period at Evernham Motorsports.

"Under Eric's leadership, they won 13 Cup races, with six of those occurring last season alone. He could have united with any team, but he chose us and we are fortunate and proud to have him here today."

A native of Mt. Airy, N.C., Warren was glad to accept MWR's offer for numerous reasons.

"I've known Michael for a long time," said Warren, who has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University. "He's given me the opportunity to come to his team where I feel like I can help make a difference.

"I felt like it's hard to do that at established teams that are already winning. Because of my relationship with Michael and Toyota, I want to be here to contribute to the organization and build on their strengths to run better."

As Technical Director, Warren will have various responsibilities.

"I will oversee all the engineering, test teams as well as all the fabrication of the cars," Warren said. "It's a building process, which is something I went through at Evernham. We started building and growing and we eventually we won races."

Warren sees potential in MWR and he looks forward to the future.

"David [Reutimann] is running well and there is proof of performance capability," Warren said. "By providing leadership and getting process and structure in place, our goal will be to make all the races. Then we go after top-20s, top-10s and gradually that builds into a championship team over time.

"There is so much potential here. This is a good place to work and we want to continue to create an environment where people want to come here."