Chip Ganassi Racing

On November 12, 2008, NASCAR welcomed it's newest member of the family... Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

Struggling car owners Teresa Earnhardt, Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates came together to start an all new, Chevrolet backed, four car team.  The team is complete with three drivers, two full time sponsors, and now 110 less employees, after they were layed off after the merge.

No word yet on which team's shop will be used.

Martin Truex, Jr. signed a one year contract extension with the former Dale Earnhardt, Inc. early this year, and will continue to drive the #1 Bass Pro Shop's Chevrolet.  

The #41 Target car also has full sponsorship, but with one race remaining in the 2008 season has yet to be named a driver.  Regan Smith, Scott Riggs, and AJ Allmendinger are, according to Jayski, in the running for that ride.

Juan Pablo Montoya and his new #42 car will have sponsorship for nineteen races next season with Big Reg and other Wrigley products.  The #8 of young Aric Almirola doesn't have a sponsor.  In fact, no sponsor is really rumored to be going over there.  It could be possible that Target will support that ride.

“In this ultra-competitive era of NASCAR, it is necessary to build and sustain the strongest team possible and our combining with the people and equipment at Dale Earnhardt Inc. will help create a strong four-car program for years to come,” said Chip Ganassi. “This is a win-win for both organizations as well as all of our partners.”

Dale Earnhardt, Inc. owner Teresa Earnhardt is hopeful for the newly merged teams.

“Having a partner like Chip who is heavily involved on the competition side of the business is an ideal situation for DEI,” she said. “He has a long history of managing championship teams in the IndyCar and Rolex Grand-Am Series and I share his passion and goals of winning races and ultimately championships in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. I think this is a case where we are stronger together than we are apart.”

Both teams have a lot of improvements to make.  Neither team managed a win in 2008.  DEI scored eight top fives- all coming from Truex, Jr., Mark Martin and Paul Menard had twenty four top tens and nine DNFs.

Ganassi's numbers aren't any better, if you can believe this, they're far worse.  With their six drivers and three substitutes for an injured Dario Franchitti, the team scored a combined three top fives, five top tens and fourteen did not finishes.

The good news for both is that all the cars they will have next year are in the Top 35 in Owner's Points, guaranteeing them into at least the first six races of next season.

That, however, is about the only good news coming out of the merger.  Regan Smith, along with several shop and crew members will be out of jobs.  Sponsorship is scarce with the struggling economy and neither team is up to championship form.

I guess that's what the merger was for... right?

Thanks to Jayski, ESPN.com, Motorsports.com, Racing-Reference.com, and the USA Today for quotes, stats, and the information used in this piece.

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NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series enters the second-to-last race of the season at Phoenix with many teams still unsure about their 2009 plans. In recent years, most teams have already set their lineups for the following season by this point. However, plenty of drivers are still searching for employment, and plenty of teams are still attempting to put together the right packages to allow them to go racing next year.

A good amount of the field still lacks sponsorship for 2009 and beyond, and even top-tier teams are feeling the crunch. Longtime stalwarts such as Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing are having problems inking long-term deals in a crumbling economy. Four cars between them next season is a possibility, despite the teams running seven this year. Even Hendrick Motorsports recently had a modest round of layoffs that sent Stevie Reeves, Jimmie Johnson’s spotter, packing.

At last count, 35 full-time Sprint Cup seats have been filled by drivers for next season (not including Max Papis’ limited schedule with Germain Racing). Of those 35, cars for David Reutimann, Aric Almirola, Reed Sorenson, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya, Bobby Labonte, and Chad McCumbee have either partial sponsorship or none altogether. Assuming that two open seats with full sponsorship (the No. 21 at Wood Brothers Racing and the No. 41 at Chip Ganassi Racing) are filled, and assuming the worst in regards to all other unsettled teams, we could only see 36 full-time cars attempting the race at Daytona.

This week’s Quick Hits is, in effect, a premature analysis of cause of death for some cars that may not be around come February. Be prepared to say farewell to any of the following next year:

5. No. 28 or 38 Yates Racing Fords: Yates has full-time sponsorship for Paul Menard from his family’s hardware store chain for one car next season. While team owners Doug Yates and Max Jones have suggested that they will add a third car for Menard, rather than replace either Travis Kvapil or David Gilliland, the team cannot afford to patch together limited sponsorships as they have this year.

The two current drivers have combined to run eight races with blank cars, and the majority of the rest with very limited sponsorship. Had Ford not filled in some holes earlier this year, the team would have run 15 of 72 races unsponsored. With many of those companies probably not returning in 2009, the team may only have enough sponsorship for one of its current drivers next year.

4. No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota: With rumors of a buyout by Gillett Evernham Motorsports at a standstill, not much is known of the fate of this team. Bill Davis has entered this car in NASCAR competition since 1993, and whether Maxwell House, MBNA, or Caterpillar was on the car, it has never been unsponsored. Davis has had these issues with other cars before, but never with its mainstay Cup team.

Right now, the team’s best hope is that Toyota decides to move up its sponsorship from the Truck Series to this car, but that’s iffy at best. If the team puts Michael Annett in the car, they may attract sponsors based on his raw talent and potential, but the deals might be similar in nature to what Yates has been doing this year. Those life-support deals won’t be enough to sustain a team for too long.

3. No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Toyota: This is a team in disarray under a relatively new owner partnership. The team has no alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota past this season, no bona fide driver (with Brad Coleman getting the shaft in most of the team’s recent deals), and less than a full season’s sponsorship from DLP HDTV.

Recent reports have had the team switching to Ford and partnering up with the Wood Brothers for 2009, reuniting the Woods with Ken Schrader, who currently drives the No. 96. The Woods claim that their sponsorship for 2009 is all set, meaning the two could collaborate on finding deals for the No. 96. Regardless, rest assured that without some sort of alliance, this team will not be around in 2009.

2. No. 77 Penske Racing Dodge: Rumors keep swirling that Sam Hornish Jr. is going to return to the IndyCar Series with Penske for 2009, possibly to replace Helio Castroneves, who is currently facing tax issues. Regardless of Penske’s potential need for its IRL team, however, the results haven’t been there. The best American open-wheel driver of this decade hasn’t been able to translate his skills to the heavier stock cars.

If Hornish stays, look for Mobil 1 to stay with him. Mobil has been a longtime Penske sponsor and had been looking to expand to a full-time primary for a couple years before Hornish’s arrival. If Hornish departs, however, they may replace Kodak on David Stremme’s No. 12 Dodge.

1. No. 01 and 15 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolets: No one can say they didn’t see this coming. The No. 01 has had minor partners at best all year, and the No. 15 has neither driver nor sponsor for 2009 with Menard’s departure. Regan Smith’s win (cough) at Talladega has drawn some interest, but most agree that Aric Almirola has more promise than Smith, and any sponsorship attracted would probably go there.

The team may be merging with Chip Ganassi Racing, which would afford Smith a shot at the No. 41, Almirola’s needs permitting. J.J. Yeley has also stated that $12 million in sponsorship would land him in one of those cars for next season, but given his underwhelming performance this year, it might be a longshot.

On a more positive note, however, congratulations to last week’s winners at Texas: Ron Hornaday, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards in the Truck, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup races, respectively.

Copyright © 2008 Bench Racing Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series enters the second-to-last race of the season at Phoenix with many teams still unsure about their 2009 plans. In recent years, most teams have already set their lineups for the following season by this point. However, plenty of drivers are still searching for employment, and plenty of teams are still attempting to put together the right packages to allow them to go racing next year.

A good amount of the field still lacks sponsorship for 2009 and beyond, and even top-tier teams are feeling the crunch. Longtime stalwarts such as Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing are having problems inking long-term deals in a crumbling economy. Four cars between them next season is a possibility, despite the teams running seven this year. Even Hendrick Motorsports recently had a modest round of layoffs that sent Stevie Reeves, Jimmie Johnson’s spotter, packing.

At last count, 35 full-time Sprint Cup seats have been filled by drivers for next season (not including Max Papis’ limited schedule with Germain Racing). Of those 35, cars for David Reutimann, Aric Almirola, Reed Sorenson, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya, Bobby Labonte, and Chad McCumbee have either partial sponsorship or none altogether. Assuming that two open seats with full sponsorship (the No. 21 at Wood Brothers Racing and the No. 41 at Chip Ganassi Racing) are filled, and assuming the worst in regards to all other unsettled teams, we could only see 36 full-time cars attempting the race at Daytona.

This week’s Quick Hits is, in effect, a premature analysis of cause of death for some cars that may not be around come February. Be prepared to say farewell to any of the following next year:

5. No. 28 or 38 Yates Racing Fords: Yates has full-time sponsorship for Paul Menard from his family’s hardware store chain for one car next season. While team owners Doug Yates and Max Jones have suggested that they will add a third car for Menard, rather than replace either Travis Kvapil or David Gilliland, the team cannot afford to patch together limited sponsorships as they have this year.

The two current drivers have combined to run eight races with blank cars, and the majority of the rest with very limited sponsorship. Had Ford not filled in some holes earlier this year, the team would have run 15 of 72 races unsponsored. With many of those companies probably not returning in 2009, the team may only have enough sponsorship for one of its current drivers next year.

4. No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota: With rumors of a buyout by Gillett Evernham Motorsports at a standstill, not much is known of the fate of this team. Bill Davis has entered this car in NASCAR competition since 1993, and whether Maxwell House, MBNA, or Caterpillar was on the car, it has never been unsponsored. Davis has had these issues with other cars before, but never with its mainstay Cup team.

Right now, the team’s best hope is that Toyota decides to move up its sponsorship from the Truck Series to this car, but that’s iffy at best. If the team puts Michael Annett in the car, they may attract sponsors based on his raw talent and potential, but the deals might be similar in nature to what Yates has been doing this year. Those life-support deals won’t be enough to sustain a team for too long.

3. No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Toyota: This is a team in disarray under a relatively new owner partnership. The team has no alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota past this season, no bona fide driver (with Brad Coleman getting the shaft in most of the team’s recent deals), and less than a full season’s sponsorship from DLP HDTV.

Recent reports have had the team switching to Ford and partnering up with the Wood Brothers for 2009, reuniting the Woods with Ken Schrader, who currently drives the No. 96. The Woods claim that their sponsorship for 2009 is all set, meaning the two could collaborate on finding deals for the No. 96. Regardless, rest assured that without some sort of alliance, this team will not be around in 2009.

2. No. 77 Penske Racing Dodge: Rumors keep swirling that Sam Hornish Jr. is going to return to the IndyCar Series with Penske for 2009, possibly to replace Helio Castroneves, who is currently facing tax issues. Regardless of Penske’s potential need for its IRL team, however, the results haven’t been there. The best American open-wheel driver of this decade hasn’t been able to translate his skills to the heavier stock cars.

If Hornish stays, look for Mobil 1 to stay with him. Mobil has been a longtime Penske sponsor and had been looking to expand to a full-time primary for a couple years before Hornish’s arrival. If Hornish departs, however, they may replace Kodak on David Stremme’s No. 12 Dodge.

1. No. 01 and 15 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolets: No one can say they didn’t see this coming. The No. 01 has had minor partners at best all year, and the No. 15 has neither driver nor sponsor for 2009 with Menard’s departure. Regan Smith’s win (cough) at Talladega has drawn some interest, but most agree that Aric Almirola has more promise than Smith, and any sponsorship attracted would probably go there.

The team may be merging with Chip Ganassi Racing, which would afford Smith a shot at the No. 41, Almirola’s needs permitting. J.J. Yeley has also stated that $12 million in sponsorship would land him in one of those cars for next season, but given his underwhelming performance this year, it might be a longshot.

On a more positive note, however, congratulations to last week’s winners at Texas: Ron Hornaday, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards in the Truck, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup races, respectively.

It seems Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates are on a roller coaster ride they simply can't off of.

A few weeks ago, I reported a possible merger between Ganassi and Petty Enterprises among the fifty or so other rumored mergers floating around the garage area.

However, it seems an alliance between the Dodge team and the struggling Chevrolet team of Dale Earnhardt Inc. may join forces, possibly in 2009.

Just days ago, ESPN called the merger 'unlikely', but for these two struggling teams, it could be their last chance to salvage anything from the disappointing 2008 season.

According to Jayski, CGRWFS would switch to Chevrolets in 2009 or 2010, when their contract with Dodge is up—and may send sponsor Target to 24-year-old Aric Almirola.

Juan Pablo Montoya has partial sponsorship with Wrigley's next season, and DEI driver Martin Truex, Jr. has Bass Pro Shops on board. No word on if this new team would run the currently un-sponsored for '09 No. 01 for Regan Smith, the No. 15 which is sponsorship-less and driverless for next season, or the No. 41, which, with two races left in the season, is still driverless for next year.

"We're talking to a lot of different people," Felix Sabates told ESPN on Tuesday. "We're keeping our options open. Obviously, the way things are going today with sponsors, unless you have the sponsors you can't run.

"We only have a sponsor for the 41 car [Target] and the 42 [Wrigley's Big Red] for half a year. We're looking at all possibilities."

The switch from Dodge would be beneficial to Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, as the manufacturer's future with the sport is a great unknown beyond the year 2010, at the latest. Depending on a future merger with GM, the number of Dodge teams could dwindle next year.

Talks between the teams are allegedly underway.

Everything is up in the air," Sabates said. "We're just talking in theory. We don't know what is going to happen. We don't have anything concrete with anybody. And I'm not saying we will do anything."

For months, you've heard the rumors.  Who will Ganassi merge with?  Will they be in Dodges next season?  With Texaco leaving, will they have enough sponsorship to make it in 2009?

Last week, minority owner Felix Sabates told NASCAR Now that the team would "do what the have to do" when it came to a merger.  Another high ranking Ganassi official told the show yesterday that "a lot of people are talking to a lot of people" about possible mergers for next year.

Not very helpful, now is it?

So, what are these merger rumors?  Speculation has risen about Ganassi combining it's operation with IndyCar rival Roger Penske, Toyota team Michael Waltrip Racing, and the latest has them merging with Petty Enterprises, which would allegedly send their Target sponsorship to the No. 43 of Bobby Labonte.

A merger with Gillet-Evernham Motorsports has also been discussed.  However, with a "99.9% certainity" that GEM will go to Toyotas next year, the merger seems unlikely.  The rumor hasn't been confirmed—or denied—by the GEM camp.

So, if the team merges with Petty, and Kyle Petty drives the #45 part time in '09—which is a mess in itself—the operation would become a four car operation.

But wait, Chip!  Ganassi still has the No. 41, which will is vacant for next year as Reed Sorenson will be leaving for GEM.  With only three races left in the season, Ganassi is yet to name a replacement- even though Sorenson announced his move more than two months ago.  Rumors also began that things were so bad between the driver and his car owners that he might leave early, but that hasn't happened- at least, not yet.

Ganassi is also suffering from the loss of Texaco/Havoline, which announced around the same time they won't be returning.  Wrigley will be sponsoring Juan Pablo Montoya for nineteen races next year, but that leave seventeen other events unsponsored.

The drama and unknown isn't new to the Ganassi team, though.

In 2001, Ganassi took control of Sabates's SABCO team, renaming it Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.  Sterling Marlin, who drove the #40 at the time, and Jason Leffler, driving the No. 01, were now Dodge drivers.  The team had an all new look and no doubt a new attitude as well.

Things were definitely looking like the season would be great after Marlin won a qualifying race for the Daytona 500.

Sadly, things would go downhill very, very quickly.

On the final lap of the Daytona 500, Marlin made slight contact with the car of Dale Earnhardt.  Earnhardt would crash, collect Kenny Schrader, and die as a result.

Fans were quick to lash out at Marlin.  He and his family were mailed, e-mailed, and faxed threats.  Police even were set up outside the Ganassi race shop in Mooresville, NC after a threat was called in there.

To my knowledge, Ganassi never spoke on the tragedy.  And, with the performance of Marlin, he didn't need too.  His driver went on to win two races and finished a career high third in the points standings.  Lefller, however, wasn't so successful.  The Cingular driver failed to finish eight races, failed to start five and managed just one top ten at Homestead.

Jimmy Spencer replaced Leffler in 2002, driving the No. 42 Target Dodge.  While he didn't qualify for two races and collected seven DNFs, Spencer scored two top fives and six top tens.  Despite this, Ganassi fired Spencer, which lead "Mr. Excitement" to file a lawsuit against his former owner, alleging breach-of-conduct and even charging him with sabotaging cars.

"It's ridiculous; we never had a signed contract," Ganassi told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazatte.  "We kept bartering back and forth during our original negotians, and we never got to a final agreement.  I don't owe him anything, and he knows that."

Marlin, too, would eventually be released from the team.  With 25 year old Casey Mears replacing Spencer, another young gun would, too, step into the team.  After a serious neck injury suffered at Kansas, twenty six year old Jamie McMurray replaced Marlin—and won two weeks later.  The following season, McMurray would replace Marlin.

McMurray, though, wouldn't stay long.  They never seem to at Ganassi.  He left in 2005 to replace Kurt Busch at Roush, and Mears also left a year later to replace Brian Vickers at Hendrick Motorsports.

19 year old Reed Sorenson came up to NASCAR in 2005, and David Stremme came up in 2006.  Their two years together- before Stremme was eventually let go—saw the two go winless, and score four top fives—all from Sorenson- and fourteen top tens, three of which came from Stremme.

Ganassi's last win came in 2007 with Montoya at Infineon.  While Montoya and his car owners had it out over several crew chief changes during the '08, he is signed through at least next year.  The team's other Indy import, Dario Franchitti, only made 10 races, after failing to qualify for eight others, and his team was shut down before the summer Daytona race due to a lack of sponsorship.

Speaking of crew chiefs, Donnie Wingo, currently on top of the No. 41 Target Dodge, is rumored to be leaving after the season for a job at Roush-Fenway.  Don't you love all this Ganassi drama?

What will happen next to the ever struggling, and sometimes controversial, Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is anyone's guess- because honestly, I don't think even they know what they're going to do.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Reed Sorenson told the media that he and team owner Chip Ganassi were working on a contract extension.

Ah, how things change in such a short amount of time.

Today it was announced that Sorenson would be joining Gillett Evernham Motorsports beginning in 2009, leaving the team he's driven for since he was 17. GEM hasn't yet named Sorenson's car number or sponsor, but rumors have him replacing the struggling Patrick Carpentier.

"I'm pretty pumped up about this," the twenty two year old Georgia native said. He went on to say he "can't wait to get in their cars" and hopes to win a championship with his new team. Sorenson's now former boss, Felix Sabates, said on Friday that Sorenson "is as good as he's ever going to be" when asked about rumors coming out of Bristol that the young driver would leave the team after this season.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates has been a revolving door of drivers since 2005, including drivers like Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, David Stremme and most recently former Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, whose team had to be shut down in July due to lack on sponsorship.

No word from CGR on whether or not Franchitti, who continues to driver for the team part time in the Nationwide Series, will pilot the #41 now that Sorenson has left. Also no word on if sponsor Target, is rumored to be leaving at the end of the season, will return.

Reed Sorenson began racing quarter midgets when he was six years old, winning his first national championship in 1997. The following year he moved up to Legends cars, winning 13 of 25 races that year, and two years later he won 30 of 50 events that he competed in.

Sorenson was just getting started, as he went on to win ASA rookie of the year in 2003, and signed that year with Chip Ganassi Racing. That's also the year he graduated from high school.  That's right, high school.

After winning his first ARCA race in 2004 with the team, was named driver of the #41 Target Dodge in 2005.

Win-less in Cup, Sorenson has been able to rack up five top fives and thirteen top tens, no to mention becoming the youngest pole winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, at just twenty one years old.

Much has been made in the business sections of this nation's top newspapers about the U.S. automotive industry and its struggles to stay relevant in the 21st century.

Chrysler's most recent involvement in NASCAR could be seen as a road map through this decade's automotive design and engineering minefield.

Analyst Kelly Crandall's latest article, revealing Brad Keselowski's refusal of an offer to drive Penske South's recent Daytona 500 winning seat, is a staggering indictment of Chrysler's ability to stay competitive in NASCAR's top series.

If one of the Nationwide Series' top young stars recognizes that he's better off waiting two years for a competitive seat rather than stepping into a race-ready ride like the No. 12 then something is seriously wrong in the Dodge camp.

There may be a lot of contributing factors to Keselowski's decision, such as contracts with Chevrolet, loyalty to Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and the promise of a Hendrick Motor Sports seat. But it's obvious that he was granted the opportunity to make that choice by JR Motorsports.

Keselowski's decision confirms that Dodge has become the laughing stock of NASCAR.

After sitting out of NASCAR competition for a quarter of a century, Chrysler brought Dodge back into the Sprint Cup fold with a lot of fanfare in the 2000 offseason.

The Dodge division spared little, if anything, in luring Ray Evernham from Hendrick Motor Sports to set up the Dodge flagship team; buying Chip Ganassi's loyalties for his NASCAR maiden entry, convincing an up-and-coming Bill Davis Racing to switch brands, and, of course, bringing Petty Enterprises back into the fold. That cost a lot of Chrysler cash.

The 2001 season driver lineup had it all with past champion Bill Elliott, Daytona master Sterling Marlin, NASCAR ambassador Kyle Petty, John Andretti, Ward Burton, and a host of up-and-comers (Jason Leffler, Casey Atwood, Buckshot Jones, and Stacey Compton).

That generous investment paid off immediately with a first row sweep at that year's Daytona 500, another pole 16 races later, and the ultimate win in Detroit's backyard at Michigan International Speedway seven months into the season.

The rest of the season was a Dodge tour de force with top fives, top tens, and wins at Darlington, Charlotte, and Homestead. A third place finish in the points race for Marlin and Ganassi showed that the Dodge Boys were back with a vengeance.

Seven short years later those drivers are only fond memories and the Chrysler/Dodge teams they drove for are in shambles.

In between, there were flashes of brilliance: a Daytona 500 win, Ryan Newman's 2003 season, Kasey Kahne's emergence with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, and Ganassi and Penske Chase runs stand as high points.

But the highlights have diminished and with only two drivers in the Chase since 2005 Dodge is in serious decline in the NASCAR garage. If Kahne drops out of contention for the '08 Chase it will be the first time since 2002 that Dodge has been out of the top 10 in points by Homestead.

One common thread among these Dodge teams is driver turnover. Some proven veterans have been fired by, or bailed on, Dodge teams for countless reasons including a soap opera of personality clashes and alleged marital infidelity.

The knee-jerk reaction was to import established open wheel stars from the fractured IRL and Champ Car series. The result has been a disaster, with only J.P. Montoya having a modicum of success.

The infrastructure of the teams has been in constant flux. Crew chiefs have been passed around like trading cards and some have moved on in frustration.

The owners who looked like geniuses a few short years ago now look completely incompetent and lost.

Sponsorships have been cobbled together and few remain constant from week to week. Now a NASCAR stalwart, Texaco/Havoline has spit the bit. If not for the big red Dodge Dealer cars, Chrysler wouldn't have any true identity left on the track.

This tragic downfall can only be laid at the feet of Chrysler's board of directors and the Daimler Benz money men that abandoned them as soon as times got tough. The Benz boys knew where the market was moving and it wasn't in Chrysler's direction.

The choice was "America or the World, Dodge Motorsports or McLaren Mercedes"...and the Benz money men bolted.

Mercedes faces its biggest sales challenge here in the States. Lexus, Infinity, Cadillac, and even Buick have all taken a huge piece of the quality based luxury car market away from the Europeans.

With quality, reliability, and high repair cost issues in its recent history, the European luxury car manufacturer's new technological gimmicks look like tinsel on a dying Christmas tree.

The top of the line German brands have been exposed for the poseurs they are and now depend on blind loyalty from the wannabe bourgeoisie to make sales targets.

So the choice was simple: back to the continent and Formula 1.

Chrysler Corp. has a history of government and union bailouts due to poor market strategy and shortsightedness. Another low interest "charity ball" wouldn't surprise me.

With a history of shaky quality, bad model choices, and singular design, Chrysler has to depend on the fringe market of Jeep, PT Cruiser, and nine MPG pickup truck lovers to cover the wishy-washy sales of the brick-like Charger and the rest of its horrendous-looking, low MPG, model line.

The Dodge Charger is the perfect example of Chrysler's lack of touch with its market and its NASCAR fan base.

The Dodge Intrepid was the perfect racecar—smooth, sleek, aerodynamic, and a winner on the track. Was it boring? Yes, but so was the incredibly successful Ford Taurus, which made Ford bring that design back from the dead because it was so popular among its loyal fans.

The racing budget is drying up, the engineering re-prioritized, and the future of the newest Dodge V8 "Hemi" is in question, as is everything coming out of the Chrysler design studios.

If Dodge is a major player in NASCAR's 2010 season, I'll be shocked.

I can't see Chrysler surviving another season with its teams in such disarray, its sponsors bailing, and its fans wondering who they can count on for a top five, much less wins. The future was four years ago and somehow Chrysler missed the memo.

"Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" used to be the mantra of the American automotive industry.

But not for the Dodge Boys. Not anymore.

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NASCAR’s Silly Season may be wrapping up.

Scott Wimmer, who until recently has been rumored as a possible driver in the new Richard Childress Racing #33 ride, will not return to the Chevy team in 2009.  Wimmer and Jeff Burton combined to win a Nationwide Series owners championship for RCR in 2007.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Wimmer hasn’t posted enough wins in the car and was not the new sponsor’s driver of choice.

RCR has announced that Clint Bowyer will move to the #33 next year with the General Mills sponsorship and soon to be ex-Hendrick driver Casey Mears taking over the #07 Jack Daniels ride for ‘09.  It seems general Mills wasn’t trilled with the former Kellogg’s driver hawking Cheerios.  Will Mears be able to do at RCR what he has not been able to do on a consistent basis at Hendrick Motorsports or at Chip Ganassi Racing?  It will again come down to the equipment that he is given.  Casey could argue that his stuff has been at the bottom of the pecking order at both shops.

Speaking of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates; Chevron-Texaco dropped their little bomb this week that they will no longer be supporting the #42 car of Juan Pablo Montoya after this season.  It seems the Texaco brand is going the way of DeSoto, and they will be investing their advertising monies in a different direction.  Sirius Speedway/Motorsports Soapbox is also reporting that the Target sponsorship that has been gracing the #41 driven by Reed Sorensen may be gone as well.  Chip will have to do some serious sponsor work in the off season to fill the quarter panels of those rides while trying to get the #40 back up and funded.

Maybe the 2009 version of Silly Season is still going strong.  Not only are there still seats to be filled, but more importantly, there are hoods and quarter panels to be filled.  When long time sponsors leave the sport; as Texaco will, Target might and Kodak, Pfiser and Goodwrench have,  the impact can have a long term affect.  Lets hope there are enough  new willing partners to keep the NASCAR ship afloat.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

On Friday, I had the opportunity to speak with road-racing legend Scott Pruett.

He is the driver of the No. 01 Telmex Lexus-Riley Daytona Prototype for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in the Rolex Grand-Am Series. He also drives stock cars for Ganassi in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series.

Pruett is the current points leader in the DP class, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, and four of the first six races of the 2008 season. He also won the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona last week by the closest margin in Grand-Am history.

Scott has driven in practically every series in North America.

From Rookie of the Year at Indianapolis in 1995 to NASCAR—from winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans to 24 Hours of Daytona—from Champ Car to Trans-Am, Pruett has warmed the seat of many a race car. You can learn more about Scott’s storied career here.

Because of the length of the interview, and thus the length of this transcript, I’ve broken it down into two parts. I will post Part Two in the next couple of days. 

Adam Amick: Scott, welcome. 

Scott Pruett: It’s good to be here. We’re actually here in Columbus, Ohio at the Good Guys Car Show. So even on my weekends off I’m just a fool for racing and cool cars and stuff. So I’m having a great time. 

AA: What kind of cars have you seen up there this weekend? 

SP: Well, I’m here with Air Ride. You know, coming to these shows it’s amazing how many hours and expense goes into doing some of these cars. I mean all this stuff is hot rod stuff—a lot of ‘50s and ‘60s, even back in the ‘30s and ‘40s.

You know, the good old muscle that America was built on. You get a lot of these builders like the Ring Brothers to come along and take what was already a beautiful car and make it even that much nicer. 

So it’s just amazing. I’m like a kid in a candy shop right now checking out all this cool equipment. 

AA: That’s fantastic. I understand that you took a little vacation time with the family this past week. I know every time I see you interviewed it’s always, “Hi to my family back home”. Your family is really important to you. Tell us a little bit about that aspect of thanking your family, saying “hi” to them, and how important that relationship and their support is in your racing career. 

SP: You know, it’s amazing. I’ve been very fortunate to do what I’ve done for a long time. You have a lot of really good people around you—mechanics, engineers, and so on. The thing that you typically don’t see is the fact that, you know, the majority of us—girlfriends, wives, kids, they’re the ones who put up with all this crazy stuff that we do. 

I mean we [spend] forever hours on the road—endless day after day, weekend after weekend, and they’re the ones that are running the shop, the business at home. I like to joke with my wife that she’s the CEO of...certainly of our household. 

It’s just amazing what they do in putting up with what we do, and the fact that all of us love what we do, and don’t get me wrong, but at the same time we also love our families. And a lot of them don’t get the time or just can’t fit into their schedules to travel on the road as much as we do. 

It all started out with my little boy, who’s eight now, he was five or four at the time, when I’d say, “Hi to my family at home”, he thought I was talking directly to him. So he’s waving at the TV, and so it just got to be this tradition that we started and just keep on doing it. 

AA: So, hi to your family back home, even though you’re up in Columbus. You’re a traveling man. 

Let’s talk a little bit about the 2008 Grand-Am series to date. You started off with a bang—another win at the 24 Hours of Daytona. This time with...You’ve got quite the crew in that car: yourself, Memo Rojas, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Dario Franchitti. And you guys went out there once again and just put on a clinic in that Lexus Riley on how to run that car successfully for 24 hours flawlessly. 

SP: You know, that is the true test of man and machine. A lot of the listeners don’t realize that the Daytona 24 Hours is the most difficult race in the world. It’s 24 hours, a lot of darkness because it’s held at the end of January, so you’re talking about 13-14 hours of darkness. You’re talking about a fairly short track—three-and-a-half miles, starting sixty to seventy cars. 

So it’s tough. I mean, it’s tough on drivers, it’s tough on crews, it’s tough on teams, and it’s tough on everything. The fact that Ganassi has won that race three consecutive years, two consecutive with the 01 car, is nothing short of fantastic. One, it was a record. Two is the fact that when you get a great group of guys together, you’re working almost like one. 

You know, with myself, and Juan Pablo, and Dario Franchitti, and Memo Rojas, you just keep it up. I mean, just hour after hour after hour, and what’s crazy is when you get to the 12-hour mark and go, “Dang, we’re only half way there.” It’s just amazing. 

And then we have to put up with—like last year was a very difficult race because we saw a lot of rain, we saw dry, we saw fog, and we saw just these ever-changing conditions that you had to adapt for; and everybody just did a fantastic job. 

AA: Now you talk about the 24 Hours of Daytona being the most difficult, I’d like to liken that real quick then with the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Why do you feel Daytona is more difficult—is it because of the fact that there is more darkness? What is it that’s more difficult about Daytona than the 24 Hours of Le Mans; more cars, tougher conditions, what? 

SP: Yeah, I mean I’ve won that race [Le Mans] as well when I went back with Corvette in 2001. We won that race. And so I’ve done both and had a lot of success at both places. 

There’s two things: One, Le Mans is eight miles long, so instead of three-and-a-half miles, the track’s almost three times as long—two-and-a-half without a stretch. And the fact that, you know, you talk about doing that race in June where the amount of darkness is a lot less. So you’re talking about maybe six hours of darkness in comparison to 13 or 14 hours of darkness. And they don’t start as many cars. 

So, on a longer track, not as many cars, and less darkness is how I liken the two. Daytona is significantly more difficult, without question. 

AA: Alright so let’s talk about the difference, just last week, you made a brilliant pass coming off of NASCAR [turn] four at Daytona in the Brumos Porsche 250 to get Alex Gurney, pass him, and win by eight one-hundreds of a second—the closest finish in Grand-Am history. 

Tell us about the difference between the 24 Hours and the 250, not necessarily from the length of race, but from the driving conditions themselves and it as a race. 

SP: It’s 100 percent balls-out racing. I mean from the drop of the green flag you are... 

We have stuff specifically for the 24 Hours. The brakes have changes—a lot bigger brakes, the defroster. A lot of the things that you need for a 24-hour race or there’s a lot of pieces and parts that are different...that add a lot more weight to the car. 

So, one of the things is we lighten the car up a little bit—I mean we’re still within the rules, but we’re running a little bit heavy for the 24. You put sprint brakes on it, you put more aggressive [brake] pads on it so it stops better. The engine is tuned up a bit more because you’re not looking at going 24 hours, you’re looking at going two hours and 45 minutes. 

And from the drop of the green flag, you are at it and on it. I mean, knowing this race is going to be over in two hours and 45 minutes, cutting your way through traffic, laying out your two pit stops and how to work it out from a strategy standpoint—when you want to stop, when you want to change drivers… 

The whole makeup of that race is 180-degrees from how you approach the 24 Hours. 

AA: So you’d maybe liken it to the difference between running a 5k and running a marathon? 

SP: Yeah, or an ultra-marathon, and then maybe even more like doing the 100. You know, where it’s all over in a very short period of time and it’s just this big sprint to the checkers. 

In the way you approach it and the way the team approaches it, you know Ganassi and everybody at Ganassi do a great job and the way you look at that race it’s just different.

You know the 24 Hours, it’s the 24 Hours—don’t take any chances, don’t look at trying to make a move where you might tear up the car or bang the car or anything. In comparison to the short race, which is get it done…Get it done now! Because that window of opportunity is closing really fast. 

AA: Now tell us about that move you made on Alex [Gurney] at the end of the 250 there (Pruett laughs). You were asked this and I don’t recall...it seems like you—not sidestepped the question but went a different way with the answer. 

How much did your drafting experience and racing in stock cars lead you to know, maybe that Alex didn’t, that you could pull up alongside him and use a side-draft to help get by him coming off of NASCAR four. 

SP: Well there is...Because I’ve done so much racing over the years with Indy cars and NASCARs and sports cars, and you learn. I mean, you learn things. There were a couple of things I learned from. 

One: Defensive—I knew that we run the majority of the oval and in the middle of the back straight we make a left-right-right-left and we call it the, “Bus Stop”. And I knew getting through there that I had to be within just a couple lengths behind him if I was even going to get that opportunity. 

He and their team had set the car up where they ran more downforce—which means they were quicker through the infield and slower on the straight. We had just the opposite where we had less downforce and less drag, where we were faster on the straight and slower on the infield. So it’s just 180 degrees. 

So I knew going through the Bus Stop that I needed to be on top of him. So I just pulled a “Hail Mary” through the Bus Stop and I thought, “You know it’s never over ‘till it’s over so let’s see if we can make something happen.” And then we came out of there and we were going through NASCAR three into NASCAR four, and I was coming up behind him at a pretty high rate.