Having Kenny Wallace and A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) Toyota in the past two races, MWR has announced that Mike Bliss will take command of the Champion Mortgage Camry for the TUMS QwikPak 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Wallace scored the teams highest finish with a 12th place finish at Talladega two weeks ago. Allmendinger wasn’t as successful. With a 43rd place outing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the team barely remains outside of the top-35 by 63 points.

“I watched the Cup race at Lowe’s and I felt bad for everyone when AJ wrecked and I know he did too,” Bliss said. “They lost some ground there. We’ve just got to work harder. We’ll do our best this weekend to gain some ground on reclaiming a top 35 spot.”

With a main goal of getting the 00 Camry inside the top-35, Bliss is thrilled to have the opportunity.

“I'm just really looking forward to this weekend,” continued Bliss, who finished 30th in his last attempt (April 2007) at Martinsville in a NSCS event. “When I walked into MWR for the first time, I was really impressed with facility. I couldn’t believe how nice the place was.”

Bliss continued, “Not only is their operation impressive, but MWR is getting pretty good. This is a big accomplishment for Michael Waltrip and his teams are doing a good job.”

Bliss’ resume includes 13 wins, 18 pole awards, 61 top-five and 107 top-10 finishes in the Craftsman Truck Series and one win, three pole awards, 20 top-five and 50 top-10 finishes in the Nationwide Series. Bliss is confident that he is qualified for the position and has what it takes to help the team reach their goal, but he has to make the race first.

“The biggest deal for us is going to be on Friday afternoon when we attempt to qualify,” said Bliss. “We have to do that first. Once we are in the race, I know the game. They have got to get back in the top 35. I know that I can't do anything stupid and I need to try to do the best I can and more. It’s one of those deals where if a guy is going to cut you off, you may have to let off one time to keep from being knocked out of the race.”