#60 – Sadler announcement and ‘The Rock’ – UPDATE 7 Fell Thru: Crew chief Jim Long has left Bessey Motorsports, leaving the NASCAR Winston Cup team without a crew chief as well as a sponsor. The group, owned by Joe Bessey, fielded the #60 Power Team Chevy in 2000. Power Team, however, has announced that it would not return as a sponsor for the upcoming season. Long, 43, served as crew chief for the team and driver Geoffrey Bodine in 1999-2000. He previously worked for owner/driver Ricky Rudd (97-98), Lake Speed (96) and Kyle Petty (94). He left the group shortly after the season-ending NAPA 500 at Atlanta(Kingsport Times News) UPDATE: hearing that Bessey Motorsports has been sold to BGN driver Hermie Sadler and WWF star “The Rock”. Supposedly Bessey is going to run at least Daytona in the BGN and then go from there as he has no sponsor(not srue if Bessey is the BGN owner or it is part of Sadler’s Cup team). No sponsor known for Sadler’s Cup team and supposedly Jim Long will be the crew chief(12-7-2000) UPDATE 2: World Wrestling Federation Superstar, “The Rock”, will make a major NASCAR Winston Cup announcement on Tuesday, December 19, 2000 at 11:00am/et. The press conference will also be open to a limited amount of general public attendees. Where: Jillian’s at Concord Mills Mall, 8111 Concord Mills Blvd., Concord, North Carolina 28027(Cox Marketing)(12-8-2000) UPDATE 3: Hermie Sadler is expected to purchase Bessey Motorsports and compete for 2001 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors. According to published reports, the car will be sponsored by the World Wrestling Federation. The WWF has scheduled a press conference for Dec. 19 in Concord, N.C., with “The Rock” to make a “major NASCAR Winston Cup announcement.” Bessey Motorsports spokesman Mike Twist had no comment on the reported sale.(Winston Cup Scene) UPDATE 3 – correction: Actually, The Rock has scheduled the press conference, not the WWF, who no involvement in the announcement UPDATE 4: Due to scheduling conflicts, “The Rock” NASCAR press conference for Tuesday, December 19 has been postponed until further notice. Once additional details for the re-scheduled press conference are available it will be posted(12-14-2000) UPDATE 5: not sure what happened yet, but am hearing the deal between Bessey Motorsports, Sadler and ‘The Rock’ fell thru(12-20-2000) UPDATE 6: World Wrestling Federation superstar “The Rock” apparently has put his plans to buy Bessey Motorsports on hold. The Rock planned to make a “major NASCAR Winston Cup announcement” on Dec. 19 at Concord, N.C., but he canceled those plans a day before he was expected to say he and NASCAR Busch Series driver Hermie Sadler were buying out Joe Bessey. Now that the sale has broken down, Bessey plans to compete at the season-opening Daytona 500, although insiders said the former Busch Series driver is close to closing the doors on his shop(Savannah Morning News)(12-23-2000) UPDATE 7 – Sadler, Johnson Dissolve NASCAR Partnership: The partnership between Sadler Motorsports and Dwayne Johnson (WWF Superstar, “The Rock”) has been dissolved according to Hermie Sadler. Sadler had planned to compete in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series during the 2001 season. “For reasons I am not fully aware, Dwayne has decided not to follow through with our plans of having a Winston Cup team,” stated Sadler. “It’s impossible for me to do it alone. This has been very discouraging for me but I plan to look at what options are available in NASCAR for 2001 and go from there.”(Cox Marketing PR)(1-2-2001)
