April 20, 2007
- Teresa already has agreed to 51% of DEI for Dale Jr.? UPDATE: The Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. / DEI contract negotiations continue and the influence of ace negotiator Max Siegel may be bearing success. One contact told me [MaxChevy’s Glen Grissom] on the down-low that the 51% (or majority ownership) that Dale Jr. requires to stay with DEI has essentially been negotiated – agreed to by Teresa Earnhardt. But that she, in turn, is requesting that an independent, impartial review board be set up within DEI that would take into consideration and review any major operational changes that Dale Jr. would want to take place – acting like a board of directors it seems to me [MaxChevy’s Glen Grissom], with Dale Jr. basically reporting to it. So far, this has been balked at – but stranger management structures have survived in the business world. All parties say they want to have the contract resolved by May, so with April half-over, it’s crunch time.(MaxChevy.com)(4-19-2007)
UPDATE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. said an online report that he has been offered ownership in DEI is “news to me.” After qualifying, he was asked about the story that he has been offered 51% ownership of the company started by his late father. “I don’t know anything about that,” Junior said, raising his eyebrows. “As far as I know, there’s been nothing new in the last week or more.” Earnhardt, in the final year of his current contract with DEI, said he isn’t worried about the negotiations. “I just want to get some wins and some good finishes and concentrate of what we’re doing on the track,” he said. A story on ESPN.com Thursday said Max Siegel, president of global operations at DEI and the team’s chief negotiator, said Earnhardt has been offered ownership in the company but would not say what percentage. Siegel could not be reached Thursday for comment.(Associated Press)(4-20-2007) - Lester might get to run four Cup races: Craftsman Truck Series team owner Billy Ballew said that he purchased two Nextel Cup cars from Dale Earnhardt Inc. and plans to enter four races with Mableton’s Bill Lester as the driver. Ballew, who fields a truck for Lester, said he would like to run at Indianapolis, Atlanta, Charlotte and Homestead, if he can secure funding. “I’ve got the cars and the promise of support from DEI, but it all depends on sponsorship,” Ballew said. Ballew also is fielding a second truck in several races this season. Kelly Sutton will drive four events, beginning at Kansas City next week, and Kyle Busch plans to run 10 truck events.(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)(4-20-2007)
- Morgan-McClure Shows Support for Virginia Tech at Phoenix UPDATE images: The #4 State Water Heaters Chevy Impala SS will undergo a slight transformation this weekend in Phoenix. Morgan-McClure Motorsports and Ward Burton will be sporting a large Virginia Tech logo on the hood and smaller decals on each side of their entry in this weekend’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Virginia Tech, located in Blacksburg, VA is only a little more than an hour’s drive from the Morgan-McClure Motorsports facility in Abingdon, VA. Morgan-McClure President, Larry McClure said today, “The tragic loss of life at Virginia Tech this week is heavy on all our hearts. We decided immediately to utilize our #4 State Water Heaters Chevy Impala to recognize and honor the students, faculty and families of Virginia Tech this weekend at Phoenix. Virginia Tech is near and dear to our hearts. My family follows their athletic programs and we feel a closeness to the campus which is practically in our back yard. We currently have a VT student, Blake Ray, who is working as an Engineering Intern for Morgan-McClure. Even though he was away on a project in Florida when this tragedy happened, he still is affected by the loss of fellow students and faculty members. Being the only Virginia based Nextel Cup team and having Ward Burton, a Virginia native driver, we felt it important to show our support for VT as they try to recover from this horrible tragedy.”
Ward Burton expressed his sadness over the events at Virginia Tech, “I have lived in Virginia all my life and Virginia Tech has always been a big part of this state. I am surrounded by people who are either graduates of Virginia Tech, or they have kids who attend. This is not just a community or state tragedy, it’s a national one. I am saddened by this negative publicity for Virginia Tech, but Virginia Tech, its students, their colleagues and employees and the whole state of Virginia is going to rally around this institution.” Burton continues, “Personally, my Wildlife Foundation [WBWF] has a partnership with Virginia Tech and we value that partnership very dearly. We are working together very hard to do a lot of positive conservation outreach projects with the state of Virginia. We’ve been talking with our friends at VT all week trying to offer them support. I’m really proud that Larry [McClure] and Tim [Morgan] have allowed this race team to show their support by putting them [VT] on the race car. Virginia Tech will rise above this and this is our way, for the time being, to help them and show our support.”(Morgan-McClure Motorsports PR)(4-18-2007)
Images: see some images of the car on the Paint Schemes page.(4-20-2007) - DEI Announces the Earnhardt Entertainment Division: Max Siegel, President of Global Operations for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., announced the formation of the Earnhardt Entertainment Division, a new entertainment division within DEI that will merge the various aspects of the entertainment industry with NASCAR. The Earnhardt Entertainment Division will develop, produce and distribute music, film and television, visual imaging and digital content, as well as special event projects. The company will announce its plans to collaborate with major entertainment partners on several exciting projects in the upcoming months.(DEI PR)(4-20-2007)
- Sad News – Jack Combs: “Jack” Combs, age 80, of Speedway Road, North Wilkesboro died Wednesday, April 18, 2007. Mr. Combs was born in Wilkes County, July 15, 1926. Mr. Combs owned East Side Used Cars and was one of the owners of the North Wilkesboro Speedway along with his brother, Charlie Combs, brother-in-law, Lawson Curry and friend, Enoch Staley. He was a charter member of the Speedway Road Ruritan Club, where he served as president and vice-president.
Mr. Combs is survived by his wife of 61 years, Zell Williams Combs of the home; one son, Carl Dean Combs and wife Diane of North Wilkesboro; three daughters, Norma Hayes and husband, Bill of Mechaniscville, VA, Doris Sebastian and husband, Jeral of McGrady, and Vanessa Church and husband, Larry, Sr. of North Wilkesboro; one brother, Paul Edward (PeeWee) Combs of North Wilkesboro. The family will receive at Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home from 6:00 until 8:00 Friday, April 20, 2007. Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 21, 2:00 PM at Fishing Creek Arbor Baptist Church with the Rev. David Wellborn and the Rev. Sherrill Wellborn officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Fishing Creek Arbor Baptist Church Building Fund, C/O Mr. Rob Jones, 447 Carpath Road, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659.(Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home)(4-20-2007) - Subway Fresh Fit 500k Happy Hour: is over. The results:
#24-Gordon 129.562
#01-Martin 129.282
#31-Burton 129.037
#48-Johnson 129.014
#20-Stewart 128.530
slowest: #21-Schrader 124.870 and #99-Reutimann 125.641
most laps run: #31-Burton, 69 laps and #24-Jimmie Johnson, 64 laps
Notes: #29-Harvick tapped the wall midway through the session but suffered no damage. #21-Schrader’s team changed the engine on his car. He will drop to the back of the field for Saturday’s race.
Best average speed [all laps averaged]
(from NASCAR.com’s leaderboard service)
#24-Gordon 126.264 [fastest], 46 laps
#01-Martin 126.100 [2nd], 50 laps
#1-Truex, Jr. 126.056 [12nd]
See speeds on my Practice Speeds Page.(4-20-2007) - Friday’s First Practice for the Subway Fresh Fit 500k at Phoenix is over, the results:
#16-Biffle 128.411
#24-Gordon 128.406
#11-Hamlin 128.228
#01-Martin 128.178
#8-Earnhardt, Jr 128.164
slowest: #44-Dale Jarrett 122.166 and #4-W. Burton 124.983
most laps run: #7-Gordon, 39 laps
Notes: #5-Busch was the last car on the track. The team found a bad spark plug on the car. The session was red flagged just 10 minutes in because of oil, said to be from #21-Schrader’s car
Best average speed [all laps averaged]
(from NASCAR.com’s leaderboard service)
#07-Bowyer 125.755 [6th fastest], 34 laps run
#11-Hamlin 125.707 [3rd], 35 laps
#48-Johnson 125.659 [9th], 36 laps
See speeds on my Practice Speeds Page.(4-20-2007) - Stewart to hold press conference about weight loss: A press conference will be held at Phoenix International Raceway with Tony Stewart on Friday, April 20 at noon. Stewart will be discussing his impressive weight loss of 20 pounds and 15% body fat drop, all due to the healthy lifestyle change he embarked on. The renowned NASCAR driver will discuss how living a fit and active lifestyle is important to him and why he partnered with Subway Restaurants to help launch the new Subway Fresh Fit menu for adults and kids — which also helped to switch him into a smaller fire suit for this season. Their new Subway Fresh Fit menu initiative, launched in March 2007, is centered on trying to help Americans make healthier choices and giving them better on-the-go meal options like raisins, milk, apples and water. Stewart will be accompanied by famed Subway restaurant spokesman Jared Fogle, best known for losing 245 pounds by consumer Subway restaurant meals and walking to class while he attended Indiana University.(Subway PR)(4-20-2007)
- Jeff Burton Say COT Could Have Big Impact on Busch Series: Jeff Burton hasn’t been in a Busch Series car on a weekend when the car of tomorrow is being used in the Nextel Cup Series before today. But the Richard Childress Racing Cup driver admits that the impact of the car of tomorrow on teams that compete in both series could be felt. There’s already a limit on the technology that can be shared between the cars in the two series, but currently the Cup team owners can gain from racing in the Busch Series. That may change with the additional use of the car of tomorrow. Burton pointed out that while people seem to think it’s easy for a Cup team to add a Busch program, it’s a financial stretch to do so. He says that Cup owners are “pushed to the very limit with the amount of sponsorship dollars you can get for a Busch program, and the amount of money it costs to run it and run it effectively, it’s difficult to make money doing that. And the reason you want to make money is so you can buy more technology so you can do all this.” If a team isn’t making money, and the team can’t gain any useful technology, and the driver can’t gain any extra ideas on things that could help him drive his Cup car, then what is the point of crossing over? Burton says that if that access to information is lost, the Busch program runs the risk of becoming a distraction. If that happens, not only could drivers cease to compete in both series, but owner involvement could change as well.(SceneDaily.com)(4-20-2007)
- Lester might get to run four Cup races: Craftsman Truck Series team owner Billy Ballew said that he purchased two Nextel Cup cars from Dale Earnhardt Inc. and plans to enter four races with Mableton’s Bill Lester as the driver. Ballew, who fields a truck for Lester, said he would like to run at Indianapolis, Atlanta, Charlotte and Homestead, if he can secure funding. “I’ve got the cars and the promise of support from DEI, but it all depends on sponsorship,” Ballew said. Ballew also is fielding a second truck in several races this season. Kelly Sutton will drive four events, beginning at Kansas City next week, and Kyle Busch plans to run 10 truck events.(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)(4-20-2007)
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