Mark Martin believes the angry No. 8 fans, along with some of us reporters, need a NASCAR history lesson.
Martin thinks Dale Earnhardt Inc. owner Teresa Earnhardt is being unfairly criticized for not allowing the No. 8 to go with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Hendrick Motorsports next season.
By Terry Blount, ESPN.com
Aug 09, 2007
When Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing merged into exclusively DEI a couple of weeks ago, Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek weren’t the only ones affected by the move.
While Marlin and Nemechek lost rides that were secured in the top-35 in the points standings, veteran Mark Martin was the only Ginn driver that retained his job.
Aric Almirola was acquired from Joe Gibbs Racing, but Ginn’s other development drivers, and over 120 workers, were left out in the cold.
July 30, 2007
This is the story, of a man named Bobby, who started four race teams of his own, all of them in financial difficulty, the youngest one shut down. This is the story of a woman named Teresa, absentee mother of three teams of her own, the most noted of her drivers already having found a shocking new home. Until one day this man met this lady and they decided in and of their own, that the two must somehow merge their race teams, and that’s how they became… Matt McLaughlin, FrontStretch.com
July 30
About 100 crewmen at Ginn Racing are expected to be fired this week, according to team sources, who say that would make a total of 160 people dropped from the roster in a two-week span. Team owner Bobby Ginn fired drivers Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin on July 17th, citing sponsorship problems, and last week Ginn said he was merging the rest of his operation, including driver Mark Martin, with Dale Earnhardt Inc.
July 28, 2007
As the merger was nearing its conclusion, Martin had the opportunity last Monday to visit the DEI headquarters—nicknamed the Garage Mahal. It was a moving, emotional experience for the 48-year-old driver who raced for years against Earnhardt.
“When you open the doors to DEI and you step inside, if you’re old-school like me, you realize the legacy and what it means. It means more to me, more than to someone who didn’t ... my character and myself as a driver have been, you know, shaped by competing with Dale Earnhardt,” Martin said.
Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News
July 28, 2007
“I think my duties have been increased,” Martin said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. “Everything that I did at Ginn Racing, I still have those duties, but even more now. All the things with the driver development program, the leadership, there’s more to do now. That’s what I expected. That’s what I want to do. There’s more of that happening right now. Of all my duties, this just means there are more of them to do, and it’s more exciting.”
July 27
Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Martin said not only is he happy to be driving for DEI, he thinks Earnhardt would be, too.
“I’d have to say that we’ve taken a huge step to becoming a superpower,” Martin said Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “The way we got there was a little bit of a winding road and some unexpected, but certainly the opportunity to work with young drivers is still very important to me, and I have tremendous opportunity now to do that. With this merger it means that we can get stronger and I can do more of what I hoped I could do.”
July 27, 2007
NASCAR created its four-car team cap as a way of saving the little guy, but the rule might have become the benchmark for squeezing out the underdog from the Nextel Cup Series.
The point was driven home by the merger of Dale Earnhardt Inc., and Ginn Racing, which was unveiled during a news conference Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The new four-car operation joins Roush Fenway Racing (five cars) and Hendrick Motorsports (four) as one of the circuit’s three largest teams.
July 27, 2007
To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of DEI’s demise because of Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s impending departure to Hendrick Motorsports now appear greatly exaggerated.
Any concerns DEI would collapse without Earnhardt as its marquee driver have given way to immediate expectations of contending in this year’s Chase for the Nextel Cup.
July 27, 2007
“I wish I could share everything with you I’m feeling right now … but when you open the doors at DEI and step inside, if you’re old school like me, you realize the legacy,” Martin said. “It means more to me than it might anyone else, because my character and myself as a driver was shaped by competing with Dale Earnhardt.
July 27
Since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. announced his decision to leave DEI, that place has suddenly come alive. What had been a company that was keeping a fairly quiet profile has erupted into something that is capturing even the nay sayers attention. Almost immediately, Martin Truex, Jr. started racing like he was meant to…was it just his time or was his equipment all of a sudden more competitive? Amy Hair, Cup Scene Daily
July 27
Siegel is ecstatic, as well he should be. He and his senior management team—John Story, Joe Hedrick, Richie Gilmore, Steve Hmiel, Chad Warpula and Judy Queen—achieved the impossible. Not only does DEI get Mark Martin, an unparalleled mentor to its existing drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard, it also gets Almirola, the driver whose career Siegel helped launch in the first place. Marty Smith, ESPN.com
July 27
Dale Earnhardt Inc. lost its leader when Dale Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
It found a new one this week.
Tuesday’s merger between DEI and Ginn Racing may have been primarily about real estate and expansion, but the real jewel to the deal was the addition of Mark Martin.
July 26
DEI isn’t content to turn laps in 2007 and just wait for 2008 to get here. The company is taking steps now to remain competitive next season and beyond.
The team merged with Ginn Racing this week, adding Mark Martin to its stable starting at Sunday’s Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Some reports suggest Martin could drive the No. 8 vacated by Earnhardt next season. RICHARD DURRETT, The Dallas Morning News
July 26
Getting Mark Martin under DEI’s banner for the remainder of the season is the public relations move that helps ease minds fretting over the departure at season’s end of the red-headed stepson Dale Earnhardt Jr., AKA the most popular race driver in the United States. Doug Guthrie, Info.DetNews.com
July 26
Although Earnhardt Jr. eventually decided to make Hendrick Motorsports his future home, the changing fortunes of NASCAR racing have somehow brought Junior and Ginn together, at least for the rest of this season.
Ginn Racing’s merger with DEI puts Earnhardt Jr. in the middle of a newly constructed four-car stable with current teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard along with Mark Martin, whose No. 01 ride with Ginn gets folded into the lineup.Pete Pistone, CBS SportsLine.com
July 25
“This merger is great for both companies,” said Max Siegel, president of global operations for DEI. “Our stated goals included an expansion to four cars as quickly as possible and, in order to do that, we had to acquire more shop space. This relationship with Bobby Ginn and his company allows us to accomplish both, which makes this a perfect transaction.”
The deal includes applying the owner points of the No. 14 Chevrolet formerly driven by Ginn’s Sterling Marlin, which stood 30th, to the No. 15 driven by Menard, which was 38th. The move guarantees Menard a starting spot in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. Mark Decotis, Florida Today
July 25
Dale Earnhardt Inc. is adding Mark Martin to its driver roster and growing immediately to four Nextel Cup teams in a merger with Ginn Racing that is expected to be announced on Wednesday, the Charlotte Observer has learned. Dustin Long, Roanoke.com
July 25
It’s a complicated deal, one that will see the points go from Ginn’s No. 14 to DEI’s No. 15, which is driven by Paul Menard. Sterling Marlin drove the No. 14 at the beginning of the season, but Ginn released him last week because the car didn’t have a sponsor. Joe Nemechek also was released from the No. 13 because of lack of sponsorship DAMIAN DOTTORE, OcRegister.com
July 25
Kind of self-explanatory there. Another driver to watch who might slip out…Kevin Harvick, as Tony mentioned. Jeff Burton’s safe after a really strong start, and Harvick has picked it up as of late. But still….a blown motor and a bad pit stop, and suddenly things aren’t so rosy for him.
Mike: Don’t forget, though, Harvick is money at Indy, and he’s very strong at Bristol. He’s going to be pretty solid.
Tom: Yeah, Harvick is heading to several tracks where he’s won previously in his career. The final seven is a strong stretch for him…hard for me to see him missing it. I’d like to note that at California and Richmond – the two tracks right before the Chase cutoff – Kyle Busch was 9th and 2nd. Martin Truex, Jr. was 42nd and 28th in those same races. FrontStretch.com
July 25
Dale Earnhardt Incorporated is absorbing Ginn Racing, making it a four-car team in time for this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The deal, set to be announced Wednesday morning, was confirmed to The Associated Press Tuesday night by a person familiar with the deal who requested anonymity because an official announcement had yet to be made.
By AP.org
Two months ago making a public pronouncement that he would try to entice Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to sign with his team. Still keeping up a pretense of having a healthy organization, one in which sponsors should be interested in, he tried to snag the hottest and presumably most expensive stock car driver of all time. Tommy Thompson, FrontStretch.com
July 25
The merger could be DEI’s answer to the critic’s who forecast the demise of the organization founded by the legendary Dale Earnhardt Senior. When Dale Earnhardt Junior announced his defection to Hendrick Motorsports earlier this year many said that the team was finished and would never recover. Greg Engle,Cup Scene Daily
July 25
DEI will immediately add the No. 01 Chevrolet, which is co-driven by Mark Martin and rookie Aric Almirola, and take the season points from Ginn’s No. 14 team and apply it to DEI ‘s No. 15 entry of Paul Menard.
The No. 14 has been driven this season by Sterling Marlin, but the two-time Daytona 500 winner was released from the ride last week as team owner Bobby Ginn reorganized the operation he purchased last summer. MIKE HARRIS, AP.org
July 25
Dale Earnhardt Inc. will be a four-car Nextel Cup operation when it arrives at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after Tuesday’s merger with Ginn Racing.
Sources close to the situation said the deal was finalized late Tuesday afternoon and that an official announcement will be made on Wednesday. David Newton and Marty Smith, ESPN.com
July 24
Ginn Racing hopes to have a decision on the future of the No. 13 car before Friday’s Nextel Cup qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a source close to the situation told ESPN.com
The financially strapped organization has been in discussions with Dale Earnhardt Inc. about possibly selling the No. 13 team for its owner’s points or merging with the company formed by the late Dale Earnhardt. David Newton, ESPN.com
July 21
The other shoe fell quickly at Ginn Racing. Veteran drivers Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek both lost their rides this week as the team restructured, perhaps so that it could merge with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and remain under NASCAR’s four-car limit for each team.
Read More Sports Illustrated.cnn
July 20
Speaking of DEI, reports say it could merge with struggling Ginn Racing although DEI brass is denying them. Ginn, by the way, on Tuesday announced it was releasing Sterling Marlin and evaluating the future of the No. 13 ride of Joe Nemechek, who also was sent packing. Ginn is replacing Marlin with Regan Smith and replacing Smith with part-timer Aric Almirola, who is leaving Joe Gibbs Racing and who will join Ginn at Watkins Glen in the car Smith previously shared with part-timer Mark Martin. Mark DeCotis, FloridaToday
July 19
Could the No.13 be a lucky number for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated?
Already on record as wanting to add a fourth team, DEI may be in a position to buy the team that Ginn Racing officially shut down earlier this week. Greg Engle, Cup Scene Daily
With reports of a Dale Earnhardt Inc./Ginn Racing merger a possibility, why wouldn’t Teresa Earnhardt have given Dale Earnhardt Jr. part of the company? I’m sure he could have come up with the money if that was the issue. Wouldn’t that have been better than a stranger having part of the FAMILY company?
Read More… MSN.Foxsports:
Jul 18, 2007
Dale Earnhardt Inc. wants to expand to four full-time teams in 2008; Ginn Racing needs financial relief. If they merged, problems for both would be solved.
DEI president Max Siegel confirmed Monday his company is working through the details about a buyout of Ginn, which fields full-time cars for Mark Martin, Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek.
Read More… Savannahnow:
Jul 18, 2007
DEI president Max Siegel confirmed Monday that his company is working through the details about a buyout of Ginn, which fields full-time cars for Mark Martin, Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek.
Read More… Jacksonville:
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