Hearing Kodak has given up on the high-dollar teams at Bill Davis and DEI, and is working a deal to bring BAM Racing into the picture. The main reason is BAM can give them a solid race team at a much lower price than the other two. That way, they can ease out of the #4 Morgan-McClure situation and pay him more to buy their way out but still have a somewhat solid team. They like Ken Schrader as driver and the fact the Morgenthau’s have enough money to make a lower-price sponsorship work for Kodak. Still too early to call but the good price for the sponsorship and the fact Kodak is impressed with the team might make this one work.(source)(10-18-2003) UPDATE: Kodak officials may be on the verge of announcing a buyout of the final two years of the company’s sponsorship contract with car owner [#4 Pontiac] Larry McClure. Those negotiations have been sharp, according to sources. But Kodak appears ready to make a move to another Winston Cup team. The top option is the third DEI team — however, Kodak, after doing an exhaustive review of the costs of fielding a Cup team, may not be willing to pay the price DEI wants, and rival car owners are moving in quickly with lower bids, among them Beth Ann Morgenthau, Bill Davis, and Jim Smith. And then there is unexpected a new third Joe Gibbs team in the making, looking for a sponsor.( Winston Salem Journal ) HOWEVER: Owner Larry McClure says Kodak is staying put through 2005 as sponsor for the #4 Pontiac and that Kevin Lepage will drive it the rest of the season. McClure hasn’t made a decision on a driver for 2004 but says Lepage is a candidate.( FoxSports/Sporting News )(10-20-2003)
