Worlds apart: Waltrip team's rebirth has international flair.
A team that started running the lower-tier Nationwide Series 13 years ago from a small garage bordered by pens for horses and chickens in owner Michael Waltrip's backyard now counts three Brits and an Australian among a brain trust whose background is reflective of the organization's cosmopolitan co-owner.
Rob Kauffman, an investment banker from Yonkers, N.Y., bought half of Waltrip Racing in October 2007 and monitors its progress from his homes in London and Rome. He says growing the team through overseas recruitment was necessary to find an edge on Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, which have won five of the past six championships.
"If you try to do it exactly the same way as them, there's no way to compete," says Kauffman, who persuaded his wife's personal trainer to leave Italy and join the team. "So we've tried to take a different approach."
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