It took approximately 10 days but Bobby Ginn finally took the time to talk to Sterling Marlin about the status of his contract. Ginn caught Marlin Thursday while Marlin was on the way to do an interview with Nashville Tennessee's Channel 5 TV. That interview is the original source of this report.
Marlin intends to get paid for the rest of the year via his contract with Ginn. Towards that end he is taking no chances. He has been contacted by two persons regarding other rides but feels forced by his contract with Ginn to turn them down at this time.
Most telling is a conversation Marlin had with former Ginn CEO Jay Frye. Jay told Sterling he could go ahead and drive for somebody else if he got an offer. Marlin asked Frye for that in writing.
Regan Smith will replace Sterling Marlin in the No. 14 car next week at Indianapolis, and Joe Nemechek has been released from his duties in the No. 13 car as Ginn Racing continues its ongoing restructuring.
"We are starting our future now," said Jay Frye, Ginn Racing's CEO and general manager. "A lot has been said about our program recently and this shows we've been working hard to solidify our future."
Marlin said he was shocked by the news.
"You know, it kind of caught me by surprise," the driver said Wednesday [ Wednesday? That would be hard to do since it is only Tuesday] evening on Sirius Satellite Radio. "I guess they've got to do things to reorganize and do what they gotta do. And, you know, I do have a valid contract with them and they gotta do what they say they're gonna do and everything will be fine."
Marlin said he would have liked the situation to be a little more classier.
"Well, you know, the classiest thing to me would have been to finish the year out," Marlin said. "I didn't make it any secret that I was planning on cutting back next year, running 15-20 races. But to do something in mid-year, just totally unexpected -- you know, Joe [Nemechek] had the same thing happen to him -- and, you know, it's sponsor-driven. "... I can get up and look in the mirror and know I've done everything right. I don't think that's the case on the other side so I'll just leave it at that."
I just don't understand Sterling. I call it and he is shocked? What world is he living in? The imaginary world of the old elementary school library book "Fair Play?" He is (was) my favorite race car driver. But his ignorance of the business of NASCAR just blows my mind.
Or is it just a good ole boy act that fakes out his less than average educated fan base but has grown weary on my ears? If he was so shocked, how come many of us knew he and Joe were scheduled to be on that Sirius broadcast this afternoon?
I don't know what to think really. But barring a sponsor riding to the rescue, putting him in a Furniture Row car, and some kind of bizarre victory at Bristol or another short track this year, I probably won't be worrying about it much longer.
How about that Jamie McMurray and that win at Daytona? Huh? Huh? Nudge, nudge. Say no more, say no more.
The plans for next year are for three cars: Mark Martin and a yet-to-be announced driver in the No. 01, Regan Smith in the No. 14, and Joe Nemechek in the No. 13. But only one of those vehicles -- Martin's U.S. Army car -- has sponsorship in place for 2008.
The odd man out appears to be Marlin, who turned 50 earlier this year. The former Daytona 500 champion would like to run a partial schedule next season like the one Martin is running now, but the prospects of doing that at Ginn seems dim.
"Sometimes thing happen for a reason, and you've got to step back and reevaluate where you're at, and it will make you better for a long time. I think that's where we're at," team CEO Jay Frye said. "We're backing up, we're evaluating where we're at, and that's going to help us better next year this time. Joe and Sterling's contracts are both up at the end of the year. If we continue like we are, what effect does that have? What do we do? What are we doing? Is that part of our future? Joe certainly could be. Sterling, probably not. If we have a part-time opportunity for him and we can put it together, great. Right now, I can't guarantee that's going to happen."
With the Busch team shut down -- right now, there are no plans to revive it -- Smith is losing out on valuable seat time. Frye said the team wants to get Smith in more Cup races, other than those he's splitting with Martin in the No. 01 car. How? "We're working through that, too," said Frye, also a minority owner of the team. "He's got to race every week, too."
Sponsorship would solve a lot of problems, but it's proven hard to find. Every week, Frye watches his three cars -- all inside the Top 35 in owner points -- make the race. And he watches other teams with big sponsors and better funding go home.
"We couldn't be more frustrated because of that," Frye said. "The sponsors that we have, they've been with us a long time. There's a reason. We provide a good value to them. It's a partnership. We're not just taking their money, not that other teams are. We're a good place to be, we think. You continue and continue, and it's like the twilight zone. Every week is the same thing. We do what we do, and others don't. I'm not knocking those teams, but it is what it is. How do we show that value to somebody? We're trying. Every day, we're trying."
"Unfortunately we did what we did a couple of weeks ago, and basically that was a derivative of, we grew so fast, and we just had to reevaluate where we were at people-wise," Frye said Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. "Again, even at that point, we didn't know what we were going to do. Did we have enough, not enough? We didn't know where we were at. It became apparent we had too many [people]."
"The core group here is still here and will continue to be here," Martin said. "The 01 is sponsored for '08 and the driver lineup is set for '08 and the crew chief is set for '08 and I know the team members are the same ones who have been involved at that place for a long time. Don't forget this is the little team that could, and I expect it to get back to that. Trying to go through explosive expansion is a really tough thing to do, and for various reasons, [Ginn isn't] being as successful at expanding as quickly as they had hoped. Getting back to that core group and getting stronger, it's exciting for me in that respect."
Did I just watch Sterling Marlin's last NASCAR Nextel Cup race? Will Regan Smith be announced as the new driver of the 14 on Tuesday? While it sounds like Joe may still be with Ginn, it doesn't sound like Sterling will be. Stay tuned.
Sources indicate that Ginn Racing may already have been removed from Kyle Busch's short list of potential employers for 2008 and beyond. If so, that would be disappointing for Jay Frye, CEO and general manager of Ginn Racing.
"We would certainly be interested in speaking with Kyle, yes," Frye said prior to last Sunday's Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan International Speedway. "All this just happened last week. I think the dust needs to settle, and hopefully within the next couple of weeks we'll be able to get with his group and see where we're at."
Explaining why he would like to add Busch to the Ginn stable of Cup drivers that currently includes part-timers Mark Martin and Regan Smith, and veteran full-timers Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin, Frye added: "He's 22 years old and he's already been out here a couple of years. He's one of the best Cup drivers out here today. So he's a phenomenal talent. We think he's a great kid. So the upside is huge. The potential is huge. And when you speak of potential that means what is yet to come and he's really, really good right now."
Of course when someone is available and teams are pursuing him, you hear all kinds of stuff floating around the garage. One of the rumors making the rounds in Michigan was that Ginn Racing already had offered Busch a job. Frye said that wasn't true, although he added that he would like to make it happen.
He said the plan for next year is to again pair Martin with another young driver in one car, while Smith, Martin's part-time partner this year, moves up full time from the Busch Series to the Cup Series. Future plans for Nemechek and Marlin are still being formulated, Frye added, although he did say Marlin wants to cut back to a part-time ride next season as well and the team is still discussing "how it would work, if he could or not, and that's still kind of up in the air."
Most of Frye's recent focus has been on trying to catch Busch's attention -- sort of like the young up-and-coming sophomore at the high-school prom trying to land at least one dance with the most popular senior, where he can pitch the seemingly outrageous idea of beginning a long-term romance.
"There is no truth to the rumor that we've offered him a job. We certainly want to offer him one, yes. We certainly want to talk with them," Frye said of Busch. "We think between him and Regan, if we could match them up as two young 22-, 23-year-old guys that would definitely set the program up for a long time. Mark would be a phenomenal mentor for those two as we go forward. It could be a very exciting prospect."
Frye said Ginn Racing is poised to go to a four-car Cup operation next year whether Busch comes aboard or not.
"We've been preparing for the Busch team, along with Regan, to graduate into the Cup Series," Frye said. "It would just be a Cup team vs. a Busch team. We're already a four-car team. It just happens that one of the teams is a Busch team right now."
Personally I think Kyle wants to go to DEI, run Childress power with sponsorship from Bud and shove it in Hendrick's and Jr.'s faces!
This does not sound good for my man Marlin. If Martin is paired with a young driver it will be Karl Kinser. Then you would have Nemechek and Smith. Signing Busch or any other full time driver would leave Marlin out of a ride. However, realistically speaking, being forced to retire might be best for Marlin.
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Add Ginn Racing to the rapidly expanding list of Nextel Cup operations interested in signing Kyle Busch. The 22-year-old became available for next season when Hendrick released him from his contract a year early in order to sign Earnhardt Jr.
"We would certainly be interested in talking to Kyle, yes," said Jay Frye, general manager of the Ginn team, which may expand to four cars next year. "... He's one of the best Cup drivers that's out here today. So he's a phenomenal talent, and we think he's a great kid. The upside is huge, the potential is huge. And when you think of potential, that means what is yet to come. And he's really, really good right now."
I can see Ginn putting Busch in the 01 for the points. Martin could move to the 14 and share it with Marlin. Smith could get promoted to the 13 for the points. Nemechek would have to start over again with a new team. Army would sponsor Smith full time and Martin part time. Waste Management picks up the other half of the 14. CertainTeed, Panasonic and Ginn sponsor Busch. It is the lack of sponsorship remaining that will bite Nemechek in the butt again leaving him to start over with the new team and new sponsors.
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