Michael Waltrip gets a Ford for 2001.

Fifteen year NASCAR veteran Michael Waltrip and his Ultra Motorsports team have announced that as of October's Winston 500 at Talladega the team will run Ford chassis with Penske engines in place of their current Chevrolet package.

The team, which began the year as Mattei Motorsports, have undergone substantial changes during the first half of the 2000 season even though Waltrip currently lies 28th in the Winston Cup points standings.

Ultra boss Jim Smith has had a long-time association with the Blue Oval and is trying to get the team back on track after taking over the team earlier in the year. "My goal here at Ultra Motorsports is to take Michael, take this team that is 28th in the points and make it a successful team," said Smith.

The team have also firmed up their plans for next year by re-signing Waltrip and crew-chief Bobby Kennedy. This, and the change of bodyshells, Smith hopes will be the catalyst for a more successful year in 2001. "We're going to give them the tools they need to be equal or better than anyone else on the racetrack," Smith added.

Waltrip and the team have had a disappointing year thus far in the #7 Nations Rent Chevrolet scoring only one top five finish in the first 19 races of the year. Engines have been a major handicap and the team have suffered several blow-ups during the year so far, a fact that has contributed greatly to their poor position in the table. However the Larry Wallace tuned Penske engines are regarded as some of the best in the Winston Cup field and Smith knows that part of the process in building a successful team is having a good engine.

The team will run the Ford/Penske set-up for the final five events of the year in order to get themselves prepared for the 2001 season where Waltrip will be looking to score his first points scoring victory of his career. The younger brother of NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip won the non-points Winston event in 1996.