Chip-ping Away: Ganassi, DEI In Talks About Possible Partnership

Chip Ganassi Racing Would Align With Chevy, Instead Of Dodge, Under Merger With DEI

An alliance "is in the works that would combine" DEI's No. 1 and No. 8 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy entries with Chip Ganassi Racing's (CGR) No. 41 and No. 42 Dodge cars, according to sources cited by Lee Spencer of FOXSPORTS.com. The combined outfit would boast a driver lineup including Martin Truex Jr., with Bass Pro Shops sponsorship; Juan Pablo Montoya, with Wrigley's sponsorship; and Aric Almirola. CGR "still has a deal in place with sponsor Target, but it is unknown right now whether that will be for Almirola or for a yet-to-be-determined fourth driver." Spencer noted CGR's deal with Dodge extends through the 2010 season, but "given the economic climate and uncertainty of the Dodge program beyond 2009, the move would align" CGR with Chevy for the '09 season and beyond (FOXSPORTS.com, 11/4). In Winston-Salem, Mike Mulhern writes putting Montoya in a Chevy "would seem a big-game move" by GM, but GM is "in the midst of potential merger talks of its own with Chrysler, and that has everything about Dodge up in the air" (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 11/5). In Denver, Mike Chambers writes of the merger talks, "Let's hope they get it worked out." Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Roush Fenway Racing "have become too dominant." NASCAR could "use some fresh faces smiling under that checkered flag" (DENVER POST, 11/5).