DEI still DEI -- even with merger
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by J Cunningham
On the surface, Dale Earnhardt, Inc’s merger with Ginn Racing appears to be a move poised to help both organizations – Ginn with its financial troubles and giving DEI a direction to move in once its flagship driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., leaves at the end of the season.
But will it really make that big a difference? I’m not so sure.
Okay, so Mark Martin is competitive – sometimes stellar – when he runs in the Ginn-owned No. 01 Chevrolet, right? Sure, but what of Regan Smith, the rookie with whom Martin’s been splitting time? Or Aric Amirola, who Ginn signed away from Joe Gibbs Racing before the merger?
And since the company had to let go of Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek – two competitive if not underwhelming guys on the wrong side of 40 – in lieu of Paul Menard … suffice it to say, the situation barely looks any better than it did before.
Granted, Ginn is now in a better financial situation; DEI has three teams that are fully funded and sponsored. But competitively? DEI merged with Ginn partly to give Menard the owner points standing necessary to make the Nextel Cup field every week. NASCAR locks the top 35 in owner points in the field, leaving the remaining seven slots to be qualified for. Menard, in the DEI No. 15, struggled to make and finish races, and I’m not convinced that was all crew and equipment. So while he now makes the show every week – by virtue of him now occupying Nemechek’s owner points spot – I don’t see him performing any better.
Performance-wise, look for Earnhardt and Martin Truex, Jr. to be about where they are now. Earnhardt is 12 th in Nextel Cup standings, just in the Chase field. He needs to be consistent and competitive from here on out, which he has been, but he needs to shake the bad luck that’s befallen him since crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. returned from a six-race suspension.
Truex has come into his own this season, picking up his first Cup win at Dover and running consistently well ever since. Which is good, since he’ll probably be DEI’s flagship boy next season once Earnhardt moves to Hendrick Motorsports. But Truex isn’t experienced enough to run up front week in and week out among the more talented and dominant teams in the garage, and I’m not sure how he’ll handle being top dog.
We’re talking about a guy who’s been playing second-fiddle to Earnhardt since his Busch Series days.
Then there’s the whole issue of who drives the No. 8 – or whatever the number is – next season. We know it won’t be Earnhardt, but who will it be? Kyle Busch, who is unceremoniously being left in the cold by Hendrick – a guy who’s only purpose now is to keep the seat warm for Junior? Kasey Kahne, who’s shown flashes of being a premiere Nextel Cup talent but is mired in bad luck and horrible finishes this year? Greg Biffle, who’s almost as synonymous with Roush-Fenway Racing as Matt Kenseth?
Whoever it is, I still think DEI’s behind the proverbial eight ball, simply because competition-wise, the team is behind the big boys. While Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs and Richard Childress all work feverishly to run up front and acclimate themselves to the Car of Tomorrow, DEI is competitive at best. Even with Truex’s Dover win, DEI is a top-10 organization at best, and anyone thinking either Truex or Earnhardt has a legitimate shot at a championship this year is the definition of blind.
Unless and until DEI puts in the same money and resources the Hendricks and Gibbs of the world do – and unless owner Teresa Earnhardt starts acting like an actual owner, that’s not going to happen – that team is always going to be second-tier. And I don’t see this merger turning things around, because all this is … is a B-level team buying out a C-level team. Last I checked, averaging a B with a C doesn’t get you an A.
And I was in college for seven years, so I should know when it comes to grades.
As for Kasey? I haven't heard him or his Evernham Motorsports team say anything about it; I think that rumor is simply a matter of him having struggles mightily this season. Any time a high-profile driver struggles, there are always whispers about whether he'll leave his team. An interesting note to add here is that Kahne is one of the drivers Budweiser's looking to sponsor next year, so ... who knows.
I personally think the No. 8 is Kyle's ride. Despite his immaturity, a lot of people are all ga-ga over his ability to drive a race car. The kid's a hot commodity, no doubt about it.