By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
With a win at Daytona International Speedway in February, Michael Annett is off to his best start since 2012 with Richard Petty Motorsports.
After two years of lackluster performance, Annett’s frustration grew and grew and ultimately tested his relationships on and off the track. Was there ever a chance for Annett to give up and walk away? The answer is no!
“Never giving up is a way that I would ever want to walk away from this sport,” the veteran driver said. “I am a very loyal person. When I sign up to start something with a group of people, I hate making changes. I want to try and make it work because everyone started with a goal. I hate making those changes but sometimes in our sport it is necessary. I started to learn that being around long enough.”
Ultimately, had to learn that there can be loyalty, but auto racing is also a business with change being necessary.
One of the biggest keys to the No. 1 JR Motorsports success was team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. bringing on Travis Mack, who was let go from the crew chief position at Leavine Family Racing in June 2018. For Annett, the confidence and excitement from Mack has translated to the overall comraderie of the team.
“I think Travis was a big part of it,” Annett said. “He came in with like 10 races left last year. He kind of got his feet wet and a grasp of everything. With the excitement and confidence he brings, everyone was starting to buy in last year. It grew over the offseason.
“It’s contagious. Not only the No. 1 team but the entire shop in general has bought into his contagiousness. You really don’t have the option. It’s instilled confidence in myself, confidence in the guys, and I know what they have in me. Everyone believes in each other and wants more of the accolades we are getting right now.”
With the No. 1 team having that confidence, Annett believes that has translated over into their performances in practice and the race. According to the 32-year-old driver, the team feels like they are finally adding to the overall performance of JRM.
“I think our notes are a little more important after practice
for the other engineers,” he said. “We always felt like we weren’t adding to
the team with being a four-car team and not doing your part. It makes our
notebook that much thicker as an organization and everybody is pulling from
each car now rather than us pulling and asking a lot from the other teams.”
As the confidence and performance increases, the team finds pride in being disappointed in some of the things that they are disappointed with. The next step is for the team to qualify well and build up their playoff points.