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Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
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Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is a NASCAR team based in Concord, North Carolina. Originally formed in 1980, the team was owned by seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, before his death in a crash on the closing lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Despite his ownership of the racing team, he never raced for it in the Winston Cup; instead preferring to race for his long-time mentor and backer Richard Childress at RCR. The team in its current iteration was formed in late 2008 with a joint venture of DEI's teams with the NASCAR operation of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (Ganassi's other operations, including its IndyCar Series teams, still exist as a separate entity).
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing is currently owned by widow Teresa Houston, Chip Ganassi, and Felix Sabates.
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Encyclopedia
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is a NASCAR team based in Concord, North Carolina. Originally formed in 1980, the team was owned by seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, before his death in a crash on the closing lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Despite his ownership of the racing team, he never raced for it in the Winston Cup; instead preferring to race for his long-time mentor and backer Richard Childress at RCR. The team in its current iteration was formed in late 2008 with a joint venture of DEI's teams with the NASCAR operation of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (Ganassi's other operations, including its IndyCar Series teams, still exist as a separate entity).
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing is currently owned by widow Teresa Houston, Chip Ganassi, and Felix Sabates. The organization currently fields four full-time Sprint Cup teams- the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for Martin Truex, Jr.; the #42 Target Chevrolet for Juan Pablo Montoya, the #8 Cub Cadet Chevrolet for Aric Almirola, and the #34 WindowWorld.com Chevrolet for John Andretti as part of a partnership with Front Row Motorsports.
Sprint Cup
Car #01 History
The #01 car started out as the MB2 Motorsports #36 Pontiac in 1997 with Skittles sponsorship. Derrike Cope was the driver and he finished 27th in the final point standings.
Veteran driver Ernie Irvan took over from Cope in 1998. The season was highlighted by Irvan's pole win at the Brickyard 400.
M&M's replaced Skittles as the team's sponsor in 1999. Irvan retired from racing in September following a crash at Michigan International Speedway. Dick Trickle temporarily replaced Irvan before the driving chores were permanently turned over to journeyman Jerry Nadeau.
Nadeau left MB2 due to a prior commitment to drive for Hendrick Motorsports, and MB2 signed four-time winner Ken Schrader to fill the seat. Schrader drove the #36 for three seasons before leaving for BAM Racing.
In 2003, the United States Army replaced M&M's as the team's sponsor. The car number switched from #36 to #01 to support the Army's slogan, "An Army of One." Nadeau agreed to return to MB2 as the driver of the #01 car. In May, Nadeau was seriously injured in a practice accident at Richmond International Raceway. Nadeau has not yet returned to motorsports and is not expected to do so.
The team used several temporary substitutes before signing Joe Nemechek to permanently drive the #01 car. Nemechek won the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Kansas Speedway in 2004 and signed a multi-year agreement to remain with MB2 in July 2005. Mark Martin drove the car for 23 races (21 points races plus the Budweiser Shootout and Nextel All-Star Challenge) in 2007, with Regan Smith & Aric Almirola (after the DEI-Ginn merger) filling the rest of the seat time.
The #01 was added to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as part of the July 25, 2007 merger with Ginn Racing. Smith drove the #01 full-time in 2008. No full-time primary sponsor was named, with Principal Financial Group sponsoring at the Daytona 500, followed by Coors Light for two races. Principal Financial became an associate sponsor following those races. Smith became the first rookie in history to finish every race he entered during the 2008 season. As a result of the merger with Ganassi, the 01 team will disband after the 2008 season.
Car #1 History
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. debuted in Winston Cup in 1996 as the #14 Racing for Kids Chevrolet, driven by Robby Gordon at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jeff Green drove the car in two more races that year. The next year, Busch Series standout Steve Park drove the car in five races with the Burger King sponsorship. In 1998, the team switched numbers with car owner Richard Jackson with the car changing from #14 to #1, and receiving sponsorship from Pennzoil and Park making a bid for NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. The team got off to a bumpy start after Park failed to qualify at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in just the third race of the year. The next week, Park broke his leg at a testing accident at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Two weeks later, the team hired three-time champion Darrell Waltrip to pilot the car while Park recovered from his injuries. Waltrip posted two top ten finishes in the car until Park made his return at the Brickyard 400, where he finished 35th following a crash. He posted two eleventh-place finishes and finished 42nd in points that year.
Park fared better the next year, posting 5 top 10 finishes and finishing 14th in points. In 2000, Park won his first two Bud Pole awards, and won his first race at his home track at Watkins Glen International Raceway. He finished 11th year in points. The race after Earnhardt's death in 2001, Park beat Bobby Labonte in a photo finish at North Carolina Speedway. But his career stalled when competing in a Busch Series race at Darlington Speedway, his steering wheel became disconnected from the steering column during a caution flag period and his car veered immediately left and was slammed into by the quicker-moving vehicle of Larry Foyt. He gradually recovered and returned, ironically, at the spring Darlington race in 2002. He has since struggled to maintain his career. Midway through 2003, he was released from the ride and was replaced by Jeff Green. (Park took over Green's old ride at Richard Childress Racing, who used to be Earnhardt's owner.) Both Green and Pennzoil left following the season, and the team moved to part-time status, occasionally popping up to field cars for two-time winner John Andretti.
The team ran a part-time schedule in 2005 with Martin Truex Jr. driving a Bass Pro Shops-sponsored car, and moved to full time status in 2006. On June 4, 2007, Truex scored his first career NEXTEL Cup victory in the #1 car at Dover International Speedway, in a COT race. Truex also made the Chase For the Nextel Cup that year, DEI's only representative and (to date) the last DEI car to qualify for the Chase.
Car #8 History
The #8 car started out in the NASCAR Busch Series as the #3 ACDelco Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1998. Junior won championships in both 1998 and 1999 in the Busch Series in this car. In 1999, Earnhardt drove in 5 Winston Cup races in the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet, finishing in the top 10 once, leading one lap, and one DNF. (The number 8 had been previously used by Stavola Brothers Racing, who had ceased operation two years prior.)
In 2000, Junior made a full time jump to Winston Cup. Despite winning two poles and three races (including The Winston), Junior finished runner-up to Matt Kenseth for NASCAR Rookie of the Year. On July 7th 2001, he won his first race at Daytona International Speedway following his father's death. On February 15, 2004, Dale won the Daytona 500, 6 years after his father won the 500. He went on to collect 5 more wins for the season. Though he failed to qualify for the Chase for the Cup in 2005, he rebounded in 2006 and qualified for the 2006 Chase for the Cup, where he finished 5th. Earnhardt, Jr announced on May 10, 2007, that he would not be returning to DEI for the 2008 season. On June 13, 2007, it was officially announced that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be moving to Hendrick Motorsports for the 2008 season. On August 16, 2007 it was announced that during the transition to HMS, Dale Earnhardt would not retain the #8 car number. On September 12th it was announced that the 8 car would be shared by Mark Martin and Aric Almirola for the 2008 season, with U.S. Army sponsoring. Martin left DEI following the season to drive the #5 car for Hendrick Motorsports.
DEI had announced prior to the merger with Ganassi that Almirola was to drive the car for 2009, but on 11 January 2009 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing announced that they were in negotiations with free agent Bobby Labonte to drive the car with Almirola moving to the #42 and another part time schedule for 2009. However, with Labonte's signing with Hall of Fame Racing for 2009 that will not happen, and Armirola will drive the #8 car.
Car #15 History
The #15 team originated from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as the #16 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ron Hornaday. The team won two championships and 23 races during this time (1995-1999). In 2000, the team moved to the Busch Series as car #3. Hornaday won twice, finished 8th in points, but finished second to Kevin Harvick (who ironically took over Earnhardt's car after Dale was killed) for Rookie of the Year. In 2001, the team once agained moved to a different series, but this time, without Hornaday. The team was now #15 (a possible reference to the #15 Ford Thunderbird that Dale Earnhardt drove in the early and mid-1980s) and sponsored still by NAPA. Michael Waltrip now handled the driving chores, and won his first race at the Daytona 500, but it was overshadowed by the death of Dale Earnhardt. Waltrip won four times over the next five years. In 2005, Waltrip announced he would no longer drive for DEI, taking NAPA to his own team, Michael Waltrip Racing.
The #15 team moved to a part-time status for 2006 with DEI's Busch Series driver Paul Menard and sponsorship provided by Menards Home Improvement stores. Menard posted his first top-10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway by finishing seventh. Menard moved to full-time in the 2007 season. After the merger between Ginn Racing and DEI, the #15 team absorbed the owner points from the #14 car, formerly driven by Sterling Marlin, so they would be guaranteed a spot in each race for the remainder of the 2007 season. After the 2008 season, Menard left along with his sponsorship to Yates Racing, and the team was disbanded following the Ganassi merger.
Car #34 History
What is now the #34 car debuted in 1989 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as the #42 Peak Antifreeze Pontiac for Team SABCO, Felix Sabates' race team. The car was driven by Kyle Petty, who finished 4th. The car ran on and off for the rest of the year before moving to full-time status in 1990. Petty won one race and finished 11th in points that year. Petty was running strong in 1991 with new sponsorship from Mello Yello, before he broke his leg in an accident at Talladega Superspeedway. He was replaced by Bobby Hillin, Jr., Tommy Kendall, and Kenny Wallace while he recovered. After returning, he won five races finished 5th in points in both 1992 and 1993.
After that, his career began to run out of steam, as he began to be less consistent in finishing races.. He won his final race in 1995 at Dover, the first year the car had Coors Light as a sponsor. In 1996, Petty was temporarily replaced by Jim Sauter to recover from more injuries. After that year, Petty and Sabates split and Coors moved to the #40 car. The team switched from Pontiac to Chevy. Joe Nemechek and BellSouth came onboard. The year got off to a rocky start when Nemechek did not qualify for the Daytona 500, but was able to get in on a car bought from Phil Barkdoll. After losing his brother John in an accident at Homestead-Miami Speedway (and missing Darlington to attend his funeral, during which he was replaced by Phil Parsons), Nemechek won two pole positions and finished 28th in points, followed up by a then-career best 26th in 1998. Weeks after announcing that they would not race together after the 1999 season had ended, Nemechek won his first Winston Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway, and won two more pole positions.
In 2000, Kenny Irwin Jr. took over. He was just adjusting to his new team when he was killed in a practice accident at New Hampshire, the first race since the team won there the previous year. The team took one week off and returned as #01 driven by Ted Musgrave. For 2001, Chip Ganassi purchased a majority stake in SABCO, the BellSouth brand Cingular became the sponsor and rookie driver Jason Leffler was hired to drive the car, which was now a Dodge. Leffler struggled despite winning a pole at the inaugural race at Kansas Speedway, and he was released at the end of the season. When Cingular moved to Richard Childress Racing to sponsor the #31 car, Target became the sponsor, the number was changed to #41, and Jimmy Spencer was tabbed to replace Leffler. Spencer did not qualify for the Daytona 500, and was replaced by Scott Pruett at Watkins Glen, then was released. Casey Mears, a Busch Series driver was hired to drive the car. After three seasons, Reed Sorenson was hired to drive the #41 car full time, and Mears switched to the #42 car. Sorenson had five top-tens and ended the 2006 season 24th in the standings.
After finishing 22nd in the standings with three top 5s and 6 top 10s in 2007, the #41 team dropped to 32nd in the final standings in 2008. Sorenson failed to qualify for a race for the first time in his career, and the team only managed one top five and two top tens. Sorenson left the team to drive for Gillett Evernham Motorsports, and as of December 16, 2008 EGR has not named a replacement. On January 11, 2009, ESPN.com reported that Juan Pablo Montoya, the driver of the #42 EGR entry, was considered for the seat due to its full-time sponsorship, which is one of only two that EGR has. However, EGR decided to move the Target sponsorship to Montoya's #42, leaving the #41 without a driver or a sponsor. The number was then assigned to Jeremy Mayfield's new NASCAR Sprint Cup team and taken out of the EGR stable. As part of the aforementioned cooperative agreement with Front Row Motorsports the points from the #15 team were transferred to the #34.
Car #42 History
What is now the #42 car began as the #87 NEMCO Motorsports car owned and driven by Joe Nemechek. After he signed with SABCO in 1996, Sabates bought the majority ownership of the team, which debuted at the 1997 Daytona 500 as the #46 First Union Chevy driven by Wally Dallenbach Jr.. After skipping several races, the team moved to full-time racing. Dallenbach competed in 22 races and finished 41st in points. He only raced in four races in 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series1998 before he was replaced by a rotation of drivers including Jeff Green, Morgan Shepherd, and Tommy Kendall. After First Union stopped their backing at the end of the season, the team was scheduled to close down, but instead it changed its number to #01 and served as the team's research and development car. Green, Steve Grissom, and Ron Hornaday drove the car on a limited schedule in 1999. The team reappeared at Sears Point in 2001 as car #04 when Jason Leffler drove the car while Dorsey Schroeder piloted his regular ride; Leffler did not qualify for the race. The car came back as #42 in 2002 at Watkins Glen when Jimmy Spencer did not qualify while Scott Pruett drove his normal car. The car was scheduled to run seven races with Jamie McMurray driving, but when McMurray filled in for Sterling Marlin, the team didn't run until 2003. When it raced full-time for the first time in 2003, McMurray drove the car with Texaco/Havoline as the sponsor. Despite winning Rookie of the Year honors, McMurray left after the 2005 season to replace Kurt Busch at Roush Racing. Casey Mears moved up to take his place during the 2006 season, but Mears also decided to leave Ganassi, replacing Brian Vickers at Hendrick Motorsports. In July 2006, it was announced that racer Juan Pablo Montoya would replace Mears in the #42. Montoya won his first career Nextel Cup race at Infineon Raceway in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, ending a near five year victory drought the Chip Ganassi Racing organization had in the NEXTEL Cup Series (since the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500, which was won by Jamie McMurray).
With the team's limited sponsorship for 2009, EGR was considering running the team part-time for the season with Aric Almirola, who was originally scheduled to drive the #8 for 2009, behind the wheel. Since those plans centered around the possible signing of Bobby Labonte to drive the #8, however, those plans were changed. Instead, EGR will move the Target sponsorship from the #41 to the #42 so Montoya can run a full season.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Sprint Cup Series Statistics
| | Starts | Wins | Poles | Top 5 | Top 10 |
|---|
| Totals | 955 | 24 | 14 | 127 | 246 |
Chip Ganassi Racing Sprint Cup Series Statistics
| | Starts | Wins | Poles | Top 5 | Top 10 |
|---|
| Totals | 724 | 6 | 7 | 64 | 165 |
Nationwide Series
Car #11 History
This Dale Earnhardt Inc. car has only been run in the Busch Series. In a portion of 2004 and all of the 2005-2006 NASCAR seasons, Paul Menard has been the driver of this car taking the car to victory once in that span in 2006 at Milwaukee. In 2007 Paul Menard left the Busch Series and climbed the ranks into the Nextel Cup Series leaving the #11 car open. The car ran a partial schedule with Truex and Menard sharing the ride. It is likely that the car may come back to field development drivers Jeffrey Earnhardt and Trevor Bayne, along with Truex and Menard.
Car #40 History
The 40 car (a former Chip Ganassi Racing team) debuted in 2006 as the #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge. Casey Mears drove nine races and won his first career race at Chicagoland Speedway. Juan Pablo Montoya drove the last four races of the year, posting an eleventh place finish in his series debut at Memphis. He drove seventeen races the next season, and won his first race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and had three top-tens. Kevin Hamlin also made seven starts, including two consecutive top-tens. After Michael Valiante drove at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and David Stremme at Bristol, it was announced the 42 team would shut down effective immediately, but that decision and was rescinded and A. J. Allmendinger was named driver for the next five races, but he failed to finish higher than 14th. Dario Franchitti finished out the year with Target sponsorship, qualifying in the top-ten twice.
For 2008, rookies Franchitti and Bryan Clauson were hired to split the driving duties of the newly-renumbered #40 car, with sponsorship coming from Fastenal. Late in the season, Clauson took over the car permanently.
In December 2008, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing announced that they had closed the #40 team down, due to a lack of sponsorship. The remnants of this team were purchased by businessman Eddie Smith and professional boxer Evander Holyfield in February 2009 and will run under the name Smith-Ganassi Racing with Kenny Hendrick.
Car #81 History
The 81 car made occasional attempts at a Winston Cup race in 2003 with mostly Jason Keller and John Andretti driving. The team hasn't been seen since, and is unlikely to return since NFL legend Tim Brown has acquired the number for his announced NEXTEL Cup team, backed by Roush Fenway Racing. The 81 ran in limited action in 2005 by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., at the Daytona, Talladega (restrictor place races), and Charlotte races in the Busch Series.
Chance 2 Motorsports
Chance 2 Motorsports was a jointly owned subsidiary of DEI and Dale Earnhardt Jr.. Run by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt, the team won two Busch Series championships with Martin Truex, Jr. in 2004 and 2005. After 2005, however, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. left the partnership with his stepmother to focus on his own race team, JR Motorsports.
Mergers
Ginn Racing
Dale Earnhardt Incorporated announced it had merged with Ginn Racing on July 25th, 2007, adding the #01 team to join the #1, #8, #15. The merger did not affect the Dale Earnhardt Incorporated team name.
- The #01 (Mark Martin/Aric Almirola) was added to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teams.
- The #15 (Paul Menard) inherited owner points from the former #14 (Sterling Marlin), which guaranteed a starting spot for him at Indianapolis.
- The #13 (Joe Nemechek) team of Ginn Racing was eliminated.
- Bobby Ginn was listed as the owner of the #01 and #15 for the remainder of 2007.
- The shops of Ginn Racing housed the #15 and #01.
- Fabrication work will be done out of the Ginn Racing shops.
Chip Ganassi Racing
- Further information: Chip Ganassi Racing
On November 12, 2008, DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates announced the two teams would merge their NASCAR operations into one organization for 2009. The team, to be known as Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, will remain a Chevy team, as Ganassi's Dodge teams will make the switch.
As a result of the merger, in addition to the aforementioned:
- Ganassi's #41 and #42 will become part of the team, with DEI retaining the #1 and #8. Martin Truex, Jr., Aric Almirola, and Juan Pablo Montoya have already been signed and will retain their rides.
- The #01, #15, and #40 cars will not be run.
- Bass Pro Shops and Target will remain the teams' full time sponsors (of the #1 and #42 cars, respectively). The #41 and the #8 do not have full season sponsorship for 2009.
- The #1 and #8 teams will move into the former Chip Ganassi Racing shop.
Championships
- 1996 Craftsman Truck Series
- 1998 Craftsman Truck Series
- 1998 Busch Series
- 1999 Busch Series
- 2004 Busch Series (Chance 2)
- 2005 Busch Series (Chance 2)
Partnerships
Richard Childress Racing
Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies was formed in May 2007 as a cooperation between Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and Richard Childress Racing to develop and build common engines for the Chevrolet NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series teams campaigned by the two companies. The plan includes construction of a stand-alone facility located just north of Salisbury off exit 85 of I-85, with completion expected in mid-2008.
Morgan-Dollar Motorsports
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. formerly had a driver development contract with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports to provide trucks for development drivers in 2007. This was inherited from Ginn Racing.
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