Michael Waltrip made it clear at the beginning of the 2009 season that this year would be make or break for the Michael Waltrip Racing organization and for himself as a driver. Vowing to retire if his performance was not there, the driver who is in his 25th year at the Cup level has surprised many by putting himself in the top-12 in points.

A strong seventh-place finish at Daytona, followed by a fifteenth at Fontana gave Waltrip a boost of confidence and allowed the owner/driver to breathe a little easier on race weekend. For much of the team's existence, MWR cars have concentrated more on staying in the top-35 and making races, but a promising start to 2009 has this team concentrating on scoring top-10s.

"It just makes your life easier," Waltrip said of running well. "You have confidence that if you can make the right adjustments and tune on your car properly, you can go up and run in the top-five.  I'm very realistic. We thought if we could get out of here with a top-20, it would be a successful day.  Now we're looking at top-10s, and that's because our cars have gotten that much better."

A working partnership with JTG-Daugherty Racing, the addition of crew chief Robert 'Bootie' Barker, along with two years worth of notes, has propelled this team to the next level. Heading into this weekend's Kobalt Tools 500, David Reutimann sits fifth in points, Waltrip is in twelfth and Marcos Ambrose is in the twentieth-spot.

An overall improvement in preparation has translated to on-track success. In Las Vegas, the three cars qualified in the top-15, with Reutimann and Ambrose posting the fourth and fifth-fastest times. After being forced to the rear of the field as a result of an engine change, Reutimann was able to climb his way through the competition and score his first top-5 of his Cup Series career.

"I feel like the people that we have in place we can be one of those teams, we can be one of those teams that is consistent and have a terrible race for us still be in the top-15," Reutimann explained Friday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. "I feel like we are right on the cutting edge of being able to do that and as a driver I don't feel like I'm doing anything any different than I've ever done. I just feel like we have a better product on the race track right now and that's what we're seeing."

With hard work relating to on-track success, Waltrip knows that success starts with those working at the shop in Cornelius, N.C.

"One thing that I went around the shop this week and told the guys, I said, 'I appreciate you guys and what you're building because when we get it off the truck, it's just faster than it used to be.' Thats something you cant tune into the car. It just has to come that way," Waltrip pointed out. "Our team has made great strides in unloading cars that just go faster than we've seen before."

Whether this team's promising start to the season can translate into a year-long success story has yet to be seen, but there is no doubt this organization has committed itself to running in the top-10 week-in and week-out.