Anybody out there got a Tylenol? There have been loads of headlines with all the organizational movement over this silliest of silly seasons- no one has done more to keep NASCAR media types busy than the newly minted Earnhardt- Ganassi Racing organization.
Trying to stay on top of all the developments will make your head spin.
If you’re an outsider trying to get a handle on how economic hard times have impacted sports- the goings on in NASCAR racing that led to the merger of Dale Earnhardt Inc. with Chip Ganassi Racing are Exhibit “A.” With these two teams, we’re not talking about some struggling start-ups with one foot in the financial grave and another on a banana peel. It wasn’t that long ago when Dale Earnhardt Jr., Michael Waltrip and Steve Park were gracing our television screens and running pretty well. As for Chip Ganassi, he had veteran Sterling Marlin keeping this organization’s name in the headlines. In the last few seasons, it appeared the owner who also experienced successes in open wheel racing was developing kind of a new age NASCAR- supplying foreign intrigue with names like Montoya and Franchitti, combined with youth- in the form of drivers gone by- such as Jamie Mc Murray, David Stremme and Reed Sorenson.
But that was yesterday.
This tells you all you need to know: the newly minted EGR (also less affectionately
known as Chip ‘n’ Dale) appeared to have the inside track to sign erstwhile Petty driver and former champion Bobby Labonte to either pilot the #41 car or the #8. This would have appeared to be a good move or both. We are told, that due to sponsorship concerns- like namely securing them- played a part in Labonte saying “thanks, but no thanks” and signing on at Hall of Fame.
The good news for Earnhardt- Ganassi is they have guys who can drive. Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya are easily top top 20 drivers, and could be “chasers” if things break right. There’s nothing that suggests that Truex can’t do the job- it seems that more often than not, they can’t keep his car together.
Montoya has a different set of problems. He can get a car up front, and he’s got the guts of a junkyard dog. The problem here is that it would seem the brash attitude has alienated more than a couple drivers, so much to the point that a similarly tempestuous driver will think nothing of putting a fender on him. JPM has loads of potential, and even engendered a little fan sympathy after swapped paint and decals with Kyle Busch last season.
People who know a lot more than me about driving a race car really love this guy, so I take them at their word when they say he’s got upside.
All the tweaking with his team certainly didn’t help either. Montoya has gone through crew chiefs like Kasey Kahne has gone through girlfriends…..and it’s not change that Montoya has always appreciated.
While Truex nails down the #1 ride and Montoya will pilot the #42, NASCAR’s Rodney
Dangerfield, Aric Almirola will run in the #8. Almirola looked all poised to take the ride full-time in 2009, after Mark Martin’s departure, but Army abandoned the ride to sponsor Ryan Newman over at Stewart- Haas. Rumors also persisted during the negotiations with Labonte that he might get the #8. Almirola has made decent runs, and frankly he seems more deserving of a legitimate shot than some of the guys out there, but it’s always his name that comes up when there’s a discussion of dumping a driver.
Thanks to a partnership with Front Row Motorsports, John Andretti will drive the #34. Lord knows Bob Jenkins tried anything and everything to get his car into races last year, but his cars simply weren’t fast enough. I’m not sure how much this helps, but what the heck? At this point, it can’t hurt to try.
Under a different set of circumstances, in different times, this merge of two once-powerful racing programs would look like a sure fire winner. Teresa Earnhardt has resources, and Chip Ganassi has racing passion. The team will run in Chevys, which given Dodge’s recent track record, it’s good they’ll be in bow ties. Certainly, the two are better together than they are apart, but how much it will really impact their drivers fortunes remains to be seen.
PHOTO CREDITS- Chip Ganassi and Teresa Earnhardt by TorontoSmokeFan, Martin Truex Jr. by Walter G. Arce, Juan Pablo Montoya by plstt, Aric Almirola by suzi_field, John Andretti by purduenila. These pictures and more from these photographers may be found at flickr.com.
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