Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, two of NASCAR’s struggling mid-tier teams, agreed Wednesday to merge starting next season.
The new team will have four Sprint Cup cars—the No. 1 for Martin Truex Jr. and No. 8 for Aric Almirola from DEI, and the No. 42 of Ganassi’s Juan Pablo Montoya—along with the No. 41 with a driver to be named later. Reed Sorenson currently drives that car for Ganassi, but he’s already announced plans to leave.
The combined team will be called Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Both organizations have struggled to secure sponsorship this season, forcing the teams to pool resources.
“In this ultra-competitive era of NASCAR, it is necessary to build and sustain the strongest team possible and our combining with the people and equipment at Dale Earnhardt Inc. will help create a strong four-car program for years to come,” Chip Ganassi said in a statement released by the team. “This is a win-win for both organizations as well as all of our partners.”
Ganassi shuttered his No. 40 team in July when he couldn’t find sponsorship for former Indy Racing League champion Dario Franchitti, who has since returned to that series.
That move forced Ganassi to lay off 71 people, and he was hopeful he could avoid more cutbacks after joining forces with Earnhardt. DEI, however, was expected to reduce its staff with the new venture.
Both teams said details of the new organization will be announced later.
“Having a partner like Chip who is heavily involved on the competition side of the business is an ideal situation for DEI,” Teresa Earnhardt said in a statement. “He has a long history of managing championship teams in the IndyCar and Rolex Grand-Am Series, and I share his passion and goals of winning races and ultimately championships in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
“I think this is a case where we are stronger together than we are apart.”
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