Ginn's No. 14 Could Be Shuttered After DEI Merger

Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing are in talks to merge, and Ray Evernham’s partnership with George Gillett is expected to close next week, the latest examples of the lengths to which smaller NASCAR operations are going in order to compete with dominant teams. Additionally, Larry McClure, who operates a one-car shop, complains because of qualifying rules, “You’re going to wind up with five or six car owners controlling the whole field. I don’t think it’s good for the sport long term."

Don’t Talk About Playoffs?!?
Support for “Plus-1” bowl format -- not full-blown playoffs -- gains steam among conference, university, TV execs.

Judgment Call
George Mitchell tells N.Y. DAILY NEWS in lengthy Q&A he's entering final stages of MLB steroid probe.

Little, Yellow, Different
Sale of over 70 million Nike Livestrong bracelets raises $63M for Lance Armstrong Foundation; 100% of proceeds of new Nike line to be directed to cancer charity.

Talking ‘Bout Practice?
FoxSports.com plans to follow online All-Star feature with content around World Series, NFL and more.

Taking Stock
NASCAR scheduling conflict takes Michigan Int’l Speedway off IRL schedule in ’08.

A Little Draw On It
Sheila Johnson becomes first African-American woman to own championship golf course.

Filling Station
With new Texas A&M deal, adidas adds second former Nike school in less than a week.

Standards & Practices
NEWSWEEK chides ESPN for its “athlete-centric idol worship that seems more like the province of Us Weekly."