A merger between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing would require an immediate reduction from a total of six cars to four in the 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.
In the short run, Smith would probably be able to get some much needed seat time in a DEI Busch Series car, especially if he's still going to get a full-time Cup ride for 2008. Assuming that still happens after a merger, where does that leave Martin? The teams aren't crazy enough to let the veteran get away, are they? Who knows. They're probably not crazy enough to move Smith up to the #8 and give Martin another half a season with a driver TBD, either.
That's just one scenario. They might have more options. I imagine not many of them are high on Budweiser's list, though, except the ones involving Busch.
I'm thinking last week's scenario of DEI acquiring one Ginn team is much more likely than a full-blown merger.
What would be the name of a newly merged company, anyway? DEI/Ginn? TEI/Ginn? Teresa and Bobby's House of
Update: Aric Almirola the #01 driver TBD for 2008
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