Nascar and Racing Ginn Racing

Now that we've got NASCAR, Sprint, and AT&T to settle their legal differences, it's only appropriate to get another going, right?

A few former employees of Ginn Racing think so. And good for them, too.

Former drivers Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin in addition to former Ginn crew chiefs Peter Sospenzo and Richard "Slugger" Labbe have filed suit claiming breach of contract because Ginn apparently hasn't paid what's due to them.

Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek have sued Ginn Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. for alleged breaches of their contracts, which included a base salary of $1.2 million apiece.

The separate suits, filed Sept. 7 in Cabarrus County, N.C., do not specify how much they have been paid or what they exactly are owed.

Ginn Racing and DEI joined forces prior to the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in July. Some folks in the garage area estimated anywhere from 70 to over 120 employees at Ginn were terminated in the merger that lacked in the merge department.

It was essentially a DEI takeover of all things Ginn.

Hopefully the rest of the employees who worked the nine to fivers out of the spotlight are taking action against Ginn as well.

They deserve so much better than an outside real estate mogul buying into NASCAR and failing to realize the massive responsibility of the sport.

There must have been a sale on mergers in the month of July.

Ginn Racing led off with their merge with DEI, Robert Yates Racing hooked up with Newman-Haas and like 15 other people, and today, both Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing added some depth to their Busch Series programs.

That depth for Hendrick Motorsports came in the form of a pact with JR Motorsports. The hard and fast facts are that Hendrick will ultimately ship its program to the JR Motorsports shop with about 30 employees and also supply engines, chassis, setup, and some sweet talent.

For Richard Childress Racing, Kevin Harvick Inc. will "take a more active role in increased technical alliance with regard to testing, aerodynamics, suspension and chassis" on the Busch side according to a statement from RCR.

This weekend in Indianapolis, ousted Ginn Racing driver Joe Nemechek is wearing his emotions on his sleeve:

"It's just a deal where you're a little disappointed only because of the promises that were made to you at the beginning of the year ... We accomplished a lot.

"Being locked in is a big, big deal. That's tough. And all of a sudden to see all the points just disappear is pretty tough. That is something I worked hard at. I had a lot of pride in it and all of a sudden it's gone. In this business, we're finding out you never know what's going to happen."

Nemechek agrees with most that the team's failures were sponsorship-related:

"I own my own Busch team. I've owned a Cup team. I know what makes these teams go ... The one area they failed was locking down enough sponsorship dollars to do it. If any one person has to keep forking out millions of dollars, it gets old pretty quick."

I'll bet it does.

Regan Smith is disappointed that he won't be starting his full-time Nextel Cup career this weekend at Indy, but the young'n is being smart about what he says out loud and that's wise, because all hope is not lost. Yet.

"I'm not worried, I'm not upset, I'm not frustrated. For me, I was extremely disappointed. On Monday, I was planning on going to the Brickyard and starting my full-time Cup career and getting to start it at one of the biggest venues that you could possibly start it at. I was extremely excited about that and looking forward to that. Then on Tuesday, things changed and [I] found out I wouldn't be racing [there]. I was disappointed from a personal standpoint."

I'd be a little more than disappointed--I'd be pissed after getting dissed like that. He's handling things a lot better than some drivers would and way better than I would. DEI hasn't even had the courtesy to sit down with him and discuss his future yet.

When Tony Stewart announced on his radio show in February that without Dale Earnhardt Jr. DEI will become a museum, many race fans agreed.

Others thought he was putting the nail in Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s coffin prematurely.

None--that I'm aware of--thought that DEI headquarters, aka The Garage Mahal, would literally become a museum overnight, but alas that is exactly what is happening.

With the acquisition of Ginn Racing, DEI will move it's Nextel Cup operations down the road to Ginn's shop, leaving the DEI shop to serve as a museum and souvenir shop.

When Bobby Ginn bought MB2 Motorsports last season, the move was heralded as a way for the small team to compete with NASCAR Nextel Cup's big teams.

After all, Ginn was known as a real estate mogul with some deep pockets, and the guy promised to do everything possible to get into victory lane .

The season started incredibly for the new owner. He had already landed Ford-forever driver Mark Martin to pilot his No. 01 Chevy and he was inches from having a Daytona 500 victory.

His way of handling his operation was different -- especially after booting Joe Nemechek from his stable ride that he had consistently performed in. He kept Nemechek around in a No. 13 ride, but it wasn't the same, and for Nemechek, it really was a raw deal.

Ginn did dive in head first with his pockets. Not only did he start Nemechek's team, he had to manage Sterling Marlin's No. 14 and Regan Smith would be driving full-time Busch in addition to splitting time with Martin in the No. 01.

But all of that big action has seemingly caught up with the (former?) owner who has his own blimp.

That's the word coming from inside DEI this afternoon.

Tim Packman, former website editor of www.daleearnhardtinc.com, was a guest on Dave Moody's show this afternoon and said that DEI has finalized its merger with Ginn Racing. Under the deal, the #13 team's owner points will be transferred Paul Menard to lock him into the field.

Mark Martin will drive the #01 in Indy as planned and will presumably finish the season splitting with Aric Almirola, who just signed with Ginn.

The #14 team's owner points will reportedly be sold to Furniture Row Racing to lock Kenny Wallace in.

And that leaves Regan Smith where exactly ... ?

Developing ...

Update: No name change for DEI, Ginn to be partner

Previously on Fanhouse
Rubbin' is Racin': Fans v. Ginn Racing
Almirola Bails on Gibbs, Headed to Ginn
DEI Ginn Merger 2007 and Beyond
Junior to Do the Dew and Other Silly Rumors
Ginn Racing Downsizing to One Cup Team?

Ginn Racing's decision to cut veterans Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin was "sponsor driven." I suspect that the majority of fans accept that. That doesn't mean we to have to like it. And we don't:

Both Marlin and Nemechek are among the most popular drivers in the Nextel Cup garage. When word of their firings became public yesterday, internet message boards lit up with comments critical of Ginn Racing. Ginn's own Fan Forum was shut down late Tuesday, after fans clogged it with scathing criticism of the team.

Where is the respect for our elders?
It's hard not to be critical of a team firing two veteran drivers maintaining position in the top 35 in owner points in the middle of the season. But the move is far from surprising--with change in ownership usually comes a change in key personnel.

Update: Official Release Almirola grateful to Gibbs, Nemechek released ...

A month ago, Aric Almirola denied wanting to leave Joe Gibbs Racing, despite being unhappy about the team giving his first win to his teammate, Denny Hamlin, at Infineon:

"I'm under contract at JGR. I have a long history with them. I've been there since I was 18 years old. I started racing late models with them, and they've become like family to me. I see our relationship growing."

I guess he meant growing apart.

No official announcement has been made, but according to Dave Moody, Aric Almirola has asked to be release from his contract with JGR and David Caraviello confirms the move to Ginn.

I understand that some fans, including the Fanhouse's own Geoffrey Miller, were quite passionate about Almirola getting robbed of his first win by his own team and called on him to leave the team immediately. But really? Almirola knew he was the fill-in driver for that race. Yeah Hamlin was late, but it was his car and his race to run. Everyone was on the same page going in.

As Almirola himself said, he has a long history with Gibbs. I certainly wish him the best whatever decision he should make for his future, but I sure hope he considered more than just one bad day at the office before making a career-move like this one.

Almirola's plan is to head to Ginn Racing to split the remainder of the 2007 season in the #01 with Mark Martin, with Regan Smith moving over to the #14 taking over driving duties for Sterling Marlin. The plan presumably eliminates the idea of a full-blown Ginn / DEI merger, but I imagine the #13 is still in play.

A merger between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing would require an immediate reduction from a total of six cars to four in the Nextel Sprint Cup Series. Eliminating Ginn's cash-strapped #13 and #14 teams seems the obvious answer to some, but it's probably not quite that simple.

The current layout/forecast:

Ginn
#01 - Regan Smith/Mark Martin - current plan is for Smith to run Cup full-time in 2008 and Martin to split season again with driver TBD
#13 - Joe Nemechek - car in top 35, driver expendable (sad but true, not attracting enough sponsor $$)
#14 - Sterling Marlin - ditto

DEI
#1 - Martin Truex Jr. - signed through 2008
#8 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. - leaving, open driver seat for 2008, currently rumored to be going to Kyle Busch
#15 - As long as Menards is on the hood, Paul Menard is probably behind the wheel

I'm sure both teams recognize the value of the owner points so it's obvious that Menard would take over one of the Ginn cars in the top 35, and they could probably still sell the other to another team.