DEI has purchased Ginn Racing with an official announcement expected on Wednesday to unveil the four car lineup which will include Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Martin Truex, Jr., Paul Menard and Mark Martin. The merger was reported by ESPN and is expected to be formalized with an official announcement on Wednesday.
Earnhardt Jr will have a new teammate this weekend.
So now Regan Smith and Aric Almirola are being hung out to dry, at least temporarily. Regan was to drive the 14. But apparently the 14 points are going to Menard to lock him in the show. It now appears that Regan is out of a ride before he ever got to drive it. Tough luck, a smartass Sterling Marlin fan might say. Easy come easy go young gun.
But seriously. I suspect Regan will get the 14 next year at DEI and that Almirola will be sharing the 01 with Martin next year. Of course all of those plans are at least up in the air at this time.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.has scheduled an 11 a.m. ET news conference at his JR Motorsports shop in Mooresville, N.C., during which he will announce his plans for next season, according to a team spokesman. Sources have indicated to NASCAR.COM that those plans center on Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful organization in Nextel Cup this season, with 10 race victories in 14 starts. Hendrick, with six total championships on NASCAR's premier series, would fit with Earnhardt's desires to drive for a contender and to continue to pilot Chevrolets. The Hendrick team also had ties to Earnhardt's late father, who shook down the first car the organization ever built, and was behind the wheel when team owner Rick Hendrick recorded his first NASCAR victory in a Busch race at Charlotte in 1983. Earnhardt Jr.'s car sponsor, Budweiser, also appeared on Hendrick cars in the mid-1990s.
Mike Davis, communications director for JR Motorsports, would confirm only that Wednesday's announcement concerned Earnhardt's plans for 2008 and beyond. A spokesman for Hendrick Motorsports declined to comment. Earnhardt and his manager, sister Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, have spoken with a number of unspecified team owners since the driver's impending departure from DEI was announced May 10. Three Chevy teams -- Hendrick, Richard Childress Racing, and Joe Gibbs Racing -- emerged as frontrunners, with Ginn Racing lurking as a dark horse. The contract of Hendrick driver Kyle Busch expires after the 2008 season, and The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Busch may have asked to be let out of his deal.
Bobby Ginn has no problem with a beer sponsorship and is hotly pursuing NASCAR's most coveted free agent. Ginn has room for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and has planned to expand to four teams since taking over majority ownership of the team known as MB2 Motorsports last season. The Florida-based land developer said several weeks ago he would pursue Earnhardt, and Ginn Racing has emerged as a viable option through on-track performance by Mark Martin and Ginn's desire to field a winner. Ginn said Saturday he's had "exploratory conversations" with Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, but has yet to speak to Earnhardt himself. He said he never would have taken it this far if he didn't think his organization was a perfect fit.
"If I had no ability to do it, I wouldn't have embarrassed myself or wasted his time," Ginn said. "I believe we can support it and I believe he wants to win and I want to win. You put two people together that are damned determined to get there, that's a combination that has generally led to successes. "I don't want to bring him here, if I had any opportunity to do it, and make him believe he can't win a championship." Jay Frye, general manager at Ginn, is a St. Louis native who once worked for Anheuser-Busch, the parent company for Budweiser. Ginn believes Frye's past relationship with A-B, and Ginn's entertainment ties to the resorts he owns and golf tournaments he hosts makes it a perfect fit. But he firmly believes Earnhardt is the most important part of the puzzle.
"You can build great cars and have great teams, but you've got to have that spark plug that is going to put you in the winning," Ginn said. "To go after a winner, even if we had no chance to get him, it's like asking a pretty girl for a date. You have nothing to lose, you might as well ask. But I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think I could support him."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. officially will say goodbye to Dale Earnhardt Inc. on Thursday morning, Yahoo! Sports has learned. A highly placed source within DEI as well as additional sources familiar with the situation told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday afternoon that both Junior and teammate Martin Truex Jr. will announce Thursday morning that they are leaving the DEI camp at the end of this season and will drive for Earnhardt's heretofore Busch Series operation, JR Motorsports. Sirius Radio also reported late Wednesday afternoon that the Earnhardt/Truex split with DEI was a done deal and that the new Cup team entry will field Chevrolet chassis built by Hendrick Motorsports and will use Hendrick engines as well.
Sources tell Yahoo! Sports that Earnhardt Jr.'s primary sponsor, Budweiser, will follow Junior to JR Motorsports. Budweiser's contract with DEI is due to expire at the end of 2008, but Yahoo! Sports sources believe there are provisions within the contract for an early exit if Earnhardt Jr. does not drive the No. 8 Chevrolet for DEI. The press conference, which is expected to be televised nationally, will take place at JR Motorsports headquarters in Mooresville, N.C., at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday.
1998, NFC Championship Game, everyone has already christened the Vikings as NFC champs, everyone that is but the Atlanta Falcons and a few Falcons fans in the nosebleed section of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Gary Anderson misses a potential game winning field goal, the first after two perfect years attempting field goals. The Falcons take it to overtime. Morten Anderson, who at that point had already broken George Blanda's record for most NFL games played, splits them. The Dirty Birds go to The Super Bowl, in the Falcon's only Super Bowl appearence.
The 17 year old Danish foreign exchange student who had never seen american football was not about to play center and have another man touch his but taking the snap. He wasn't about to be quarterback and stick his hands under another mans rump either. So he did what he knew how to do. He kicked the football.
How old is he? He played when helmets were leather, well, not actually, that's how the joke goes, but some players still wore helmets with one bar. Did his blood test that was required before rejoining the Falcons yield nothing but dust? No, but he poked fun at himself saying that after he resigned. Does he have a wheelchair in front of his locker? No, but only because his teamates haven't found one to bring in yet. Has he been playing NFL football longer than some of his teamates have been living? Well, uh, yes.
You can learn more interesting facts about The Great Dane from this excellent video from NFL films.
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