Official: Earnhardt & Ganassi form new four-car team

Originally Posted by CGRFS PR

MOORESVILLE and CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 12, 2008) – Two of motorsports’ biggest names – Earnhardt and Ganassi – will launch a four-car team beginning in 2009 through the combination of the motorsports operations of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Inc. (CGRFS). NASCAR stars Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the Nos. 1 and 42 respectively and future star Aric Almirola will be behind the wheel of the No. 8. The driver of the No. 41 will be named in the near future. “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.” “Having a partner like Chip who is heavily involved on the competition side of the business is an ideal situation for DEI,” Teresa Earnhardt 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.” Details of the new four-car operation will be announced at a future date.

source

With the Penske, GEM, Petty and RGM, I doubt Chrysler (Dodge) will care too much about the loss of the Ganassi Dodges. All it would take is GEM to add a 4th Dodge and Petty to add a 3rd Dodge to make up for the loss of the 41 & 42 Dodges in terms of car count, and then either Penske adding a 4th Dodge or RGM adding the 2nd team he keeps talking about but never actually does, and that'll make up for the lost 40 Dodge. Dodge doesn't really lose here at all just by losing Ganassi's underperforming teams. Also let's not forget, Felix Sabates ran Chevys before Chip Ganassi bought into the team.

The big loser in all this would seem to be Regan Smith's #01 team. That team will apparently cease to exist now, which is a shame all around. Regan won the race in Talladega, even though NASCAR's enforce-it-when-they-choose-to ruling took it away from him and that team. While Regan might land in the 41, RIP team 01.

Also, it wouldn't surprise me at all, now that this is official, to have the #8 run with the Target sponsorship currently assigned to the #41 team if no sponsorship can be found for the #8 team, and no driver is named for the #41 team by mid-January or so. That would leave Montoya on his own island with the #42 and only half a season of sponsorship. That's an interesting spot for him to be in.

Bottom line, I think this is a good move for all involved. Both teams were underperforming but showing brief sparks of promise. Bringing all efforts under one roof should help everyone there. Who knows, maybe we'll see Truex & Montoya back in the chase in 2009.

And in case anyone's counting...
Hendrick: 4 teams
Roush: 5 teams (must narrow to 4 by 2010 season)
RCR: 4 teams
Earnhardt Ganassi: 4 teams

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