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."
This week's hot-button debate focuses on Ginn Racing and whether or not the three-car organization is a real contender in the Nextel Cup Series. Ginn has seen successful results with Mark Martin behind the wheel of the No. 01 Chevrolet, but he is racing part time. Veterans Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek have been up and down, while rookie Regan Smith tries to acclimate himself to the Cup level. Read both sides of the argument and then weigh in with your take.
It was July 26, 2006, when Ginn Racing went from pretender to contender. On that date, real estate developer Bobby Ginn purchased majority ownership in the race team formerly known as MB2 Motorsports and started dumping truckloads of money into what had been to that point NASCAR's top mediocre team. Since then no Ginn Racing driver has won a race. No billionaire sponsor -- aside from Ginn himself -- has stepped in to help write checks. No prognosticator has spit that Ginn Racing is the future of NASCAR. But that day is coming.
At first glance, Ginn Racing is having a pretty impressive 2007: Four top-fives, six top-10s and a car in fifth place in the owner standings. But take Mark Martin out of the equation and things begin to look quite ordinary, especially when compared to many of the other three-car teams in Nextel Cup. Ginn has fared better this season than the established three-car teams of Evernham and DEI. However, two of the Ginn teams are right on the edge of the top 30, as Joe Nemechek is 26th and Sterling Marlin 30th. Ganassi's overall numbers are about the same, but two of the three Ganassi cars reside in the top 20. Then there's Childress, which has all three of its drivers in the top 12, and Gibbs, which is no worse than 21st. That places Ginn pretty much in the middle of the pack at best.
Staff Writer, The Tennessean, Sterling's Biographer
Published: Tuesday, 01/23/07
Columbia Tennessee, Sterlings home town, Sharon's hometown, Mule Capital of the world.
CONCORD, N.C. — Sterling Marlin is bearing down on the big five-0, the career twilight for most racers, but the popular veteran from Columbia (Tennessee) said he's not ready for a rocker.
"I feel as competitive as I ever did, and I know I can still get the job done on the racetrack," Marlin said Monday during a NASCAR Nextel Cup Media Tour luncheon. "How long will I keep going? I don't know. A lot depends on how I do this year. I might come back for another full season, I might run a limited schedule … right now I just don't know. I'll see how this year goes, talk to Bobby (team owner Bobby Ginn) and see what shakes out.
Ginn, who bought the team formerly known as MB2 Motorsports in mid-season last year, said, "Sterling has become a part of my family," and he said it will be entirely Marlin's call about when to quit driving. "Sterling is a veteran driver, and he'll know when he's no longer competitive," Ginn said. "He'll make that decision; I won't make it for him. I'm rooting for him, I'll tell you that. When he quits racing, we'll lose not just a great driver but a great personality."
Marlin, who has been chasing checkered flags in NASCAR's top series since 1976, has 10 Nextel Cup wins — including back-to-back Daytona 500 victories — and earnings of $40.2 million. After a strong run for the championship was stopped by a season-ending injury in 2002, Marlin has endured four straight winless seasons.
Thus the win in five years to maintain my allegiance rule is in play for me and Sterling must win this year. He is in the last year of the five year fan contract extension I gave him after his last win in 2002.
"It's been frustrating but I'm not giving up," Marlin said. "Bobby has brought a lot of fresh enthusiasm to the team. He's gone out and got some good people, and he's giving us everything we need to succeed. That's why I think we can do something this year."
Ginn, who grew up a racing fan, said, "I know how tough this sport is, and I know it's not getting any easier. I've been taking risks all my life. This is a business, but it's also something I love. Every morning when I get up I'm excited about it."
Marlin's No. 14 Chevy finished 36th in team owner points last year, and through the first five races this season only last year's top 35 teams are guaranteed starting spots. That means Marlin will have to make the first five races on qualifying speed, starting with next month's Daytona 500. "I think we'll be OK," Marlin said. "Everybody has worked hard to get ready. We'll roll into Daytona with a positive attitude."
Marlin is putting a positive spin on it. Frankly, this bothers me. Early indications are that we are up to speed at Daytona. But will we be up to speed at California, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Bristol? It's a long road or a tough row to ####, take your pick of metaphors.
The first function of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Media Tour Hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway on Monday was a lunch and press conference hosted by Ginn Racing. Among those on hand were the team's three veteran NEXTEL Cup drivers, Mark Martin, Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek. Each driver talked about how excited they were heading into the 2007 season as the team has undergone several changes, including the addition of Bobby Ginn who now owns a majority of team that was formerly known as MB2 Motorsports.
Bobby Ginn Team Owner Ginn Racing:
"I want to thank all the media for coming out today. Becoming involved in racing was something I always wanted to do. It was perfect timing as I ran into a great situation. I do believe that fate has a great way of working things out, as I met a guy named Jay Frye and I don't know which one of us was a better salesman, but he did a great job introducing me with the opportunity to come into a team that stayed together and worked together over the years. They had two great veteran drivers and a great crew chief in Ryan Pemberton. We've tried to work hard to make improvements where necessary such as bringing in Gary DeHart and with some of the other changes we've made.
We’ve been a two-car team. We will have a three-car team in ’07. We want to have four cars in 2008. We didn’t come in with a short-term attitude because we’re in this for the long haul. We’re going to do things right.
We had to get started quickly and our business plan is pretty much laid out for the next five years. We went into this with a plan and we knew it would take a long time to develop the shop and develop the way we work together in the shop. Having a background in real estate, the first thing I did was look and see if we had the facilities. You can't have a great shop if you don't have the facilities for that, and Jay had done a great job of putting together a great facility right before I came along and since then in the few months that we've been together, we have expansion underway to expand the facilities by another 30 percent. We’ve have begun to employ more people and build on our teams.
"One of the things that I believe -- in my own business, in life and in the race team, is that at the end of the day you can have all of the best sheet metal and all of the best motors, but if you don’t have great people you are never going to get there. That is what I saw here - the opportunity with Jay. I’m excited about it all and I know that he is too. We can have all the right people and equipment, but it’s all about getting everybody working together. "With the expansion, we’ve had to expand by 60 people in a very short amount of time. We’ve about caught up to where we need to be and to what we have to have in place for our four- car team next year."One of the things that we've decided to do is to announce most of the new sponsors between now and Daytona, to allow them the opportunity to have the podium.
"The last thing we had to turn our attention to is drivers. As I said the one thing I believe in is people and I believe in the drivers program. If you look at our drivers - that’s our future and it’s something that we have invested in early in our career in racing. Our two drivers that were here when I got here and both of whom I’ve gotten to be good friends with. Joe and his family and Sterling and his family have become a part of our family and this year we are going to put the best equipment we can underneath them and the best pit crews around them and just support them and we are expecting this year to be a great year." "One of the other things we needed to do this year at Ginn Racing was to bring in a third driver and what an opportunity to bring in one that not only had the experience and was a winning driver, with the ability to continue to win, but someone like Mark Martin, who is just what everyone wants to stand for.
Sterling Marlin (Driver of the No. 14 Ginn Racing Chevrolet):
"I’m excited about all the changes that Bobby Ginn has made since he came on board last year. He’s very serious about where he wants to take his race teams in the future. We had a little bit of an off-season last year but I’m looking forward to it."
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