DEI announces Martin & Almirola in the No 8, Regan Smith
Quote selected text Published September 7th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Dale Earnhardt Inc. officials unveiled the team’s four-car 2008 Sprint Cup lineup Friday, announcing in a news release that Regan Smith will join Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Mark Martin/Aric Almirola.
DEI said Martin and Almirola would share the No. 8 Chevrolet, replacing Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sponsorship will come from the U.S. Army. Truex remains in the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, with Menard staying in the No. 15 Menards Chevy.
The team said the number and sponsor for Smith would be announced at a later date.
“Our lineup is a perfect blend of veteran leadership and youthful promise,” Max Siegel, president of global operations for DEI, said in a statement. “The addition of Mark Martin’s leadership and his desire to mentor our drivers is huge for us. Paul Menard and Martin Truex Jr. have been with our company for several years, and we have confidence and great expectations in both of them, which allows us to further develop our future with two rookie drivers in Regan and Aric.”
Martin joined DEI from Ginn, as did Almirola. Many Earnhardt Jr. fans have been vocal in their anger about anyone else driving the No. 8, but Martin brushed that aside.
“This has been a great opportunity for me and this team,” Martin said. “It’s a great honor to drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc., and it’s a great honor to drive the No. 8 car for this organization. I raced against Dale Earnhardt for a lot of years, and I know what kind of competitor he was on the track. We have a really big legacy to live up to, but I’m confident that we are putting together an organization that he would be proud of.”
Bookmark to:
- Mass exodus from DEI?? Regan Smith to be sidelined
- Regan Smith to drive the 01 for DEI in 2008
- Martin says he’s helping Regan Smith look for a ride
- Almirola will drive four Cup races in the #01
- Gibson to be #01 crew chief in 2008
i’m a notorious skimmer of articles and i saw the word “sprint”, and “martin” and then i thought, nooo, this makes no sense. DEI and martin have nothing do with sprints. dang that merger!
We shall see!
Well, Teresa keeps digging herself a bigger hole. Thats ok, she can crawl in it and hide when her guys dont do worth a crap because she isnt putting more money in the motors! Way to drive Dales life inspiration into the ground Teresa!!!
I thank this is good haveing Regan over there and Martin oever there.I thank there gonna do good
At DEI and i dont think Teresa is digging herself in a bigger hole. Shes doing what she has to
do to make a good team and i thank she WILL!
I can’t believe how childish jr nation is at times….Teresa is not putting money into the motors?
Please explain the PARTNERSHIP with Childress racing, how ONLY Teresa is responsible for funding the effort, and why ONLY Teresa is responsible for the outcome of the engine develoemnt co-op?
Mark Martin is such an upgrade in the #8…it really must hurt to know the #8 will do much beter next year. They don’t need JR or Bud.
That PARTNERSHIP crap doesnt mean a thing,teams lease engines from roush hendrick gibbs you dont honestly believe they give them the same engines they put in there own drivers cars get real an martin wont do any better than jr did next year if they cant keep engines from blowing up.
Leasing and a partnership are different……..JR hasn’t lived up to his potential and ya’ll are a searching for someone to blame.
Next year, will Jeff and JJ be getting better equipment too?
I like Mark Martin and I think he will be accepted driving the 8 more than anyon else would. Martin has a legacy but has not won any races in a couple years and I don’t see him winning in the eight either and we all know why!!! Same problem Jr. had!!!!
Mark hasnt won races in a few years? who gives a shit? his name has always been mr. consistency. he was leading the points until he skipped his first race, should have won the first three races this year, and he is still in the top 20 in points after missing almost 10 races.
First and formost THE PARTNERSHIP has not started yet. Richard said Saturday that he was not concerned with the problems DEI was having with engines because they were NOT running the same engine yet. So if you are going to make a point then make one that is true. Teesa is responsable for the engines Jr is getting and that is a fact.
As for Mark Martin being an upgrade you have not done your research. Mark did not win a race for the first seven years of his career. 1989 was his first win. All of his wins through 2006 have been with roush. No championships, that means none, not bush, not ARCA, NONE. JR brings in millions of dollars to DEI and that will hurt them. Do you really believe that the US Army will pay as much as BUD? Do you really believe that Mark will sell as much merchandise?
I like Mark Martin but he is at the end of his career, and unless he goes back fulltime, he will never win a championship.
Mark has been racing for twenty six years with 35 wins. http://www.markmartin.com
‘ martin wont do any better than jr did next year if they cant keep engines from blowing up.’
The partnership…dude.
Mark Martin at the end of his career…no sh&t, he is still more talented then the fader.
That’s what i love about JR nation, they are so objective.
Did you see the car owners he had during those first, mostly part-time seven years…JD Ulrich?
JR drives for a top GM team and the nation says it’s the equipment, why aren’t you saying that about Marks frist 7 years?
No Championships? Anyone who was around in 1990 knows why that is. Marks team was penalized 50 points for a intake spacer not being welded on but being bolted on. He lost the championship by 26 points to Earnhardt.
The team that complained was Earnhardt’s team, Childress. Even Dale himself said it made NO difference in performance, but, rules are rules.
Mark beat him on the track, Earnhardt beat him in the Nascar trailer. I think beating Dale Earnhardt Sr in his prime is an accomplishment worthy of mentioning.
You guys have been complaining about JR’s penalty of 100 pointsthis year. But, If he fails to be within 100 points at the end of the next race, it wouldn’t have mattered. That’s just basic math.
The facts of each drivers career stand and cannot be changed. I remember 1990 very well and it was a great year. You complain about JR nation blameing the equipment and now you are doing the same thing. Which is it? Can you blame the equipment or not? You can honestly say that four blown motors should not have an affect on his chance to make the chase? Take one away and say three? You will try because you are so jealous of him. Another fact remains, if he gets good equipment and does not win then it will reveal his lack of talent. If he wins it will show what I and most race fans think and that is he is a very good driver. Only time and racing will tell.
You failded to mention the partnership again!
What about the lost income?
Martin’s equipment did not let him down, someone didn’t weld a spacer. The crew let him down, I said he outperformed the champion and the champion admitted it. Had the crew done their job, SR would be at 6 championships and Martin 1 but, it didn’t happen…that’s racing
The partnership proves DEI is spending money and doing what is needed to fix what might be a motor problem. Brake downs happen in racing. It’s not a matter of when, it’s how often. 4 motor problems in 38 races is not bad, that doesn’t count the daytona 125 and non-points races.
To say Mark went 7 years before his first win in not right, many of those years he had only 1 or 2 starts, not excatly a year. Better to count the number of starts it took to acheive victory, it is a better measure of how long it really took.
What part of the “THE PARTNERSHIP HAS NOT STARTED YET DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND” ?
The point about failed engines was that it is hard to win chamionship when that happens!
Fact are facts and that is how long it took mark to win a race. I like Mark and I think he is a great driver but in fact even racing for Roush he had bad years.
Chill out Sam…someone said if they don’t do anything about improving the motors Martin will do no better next year(Lee). I responded the partnership IS what they have done to improve things. If it starts next year, that ties directly into the statement about next years engine reliabity.
The facts are many of the first 7 years, he only ran one or two races. That is not a years worth of racing.
I guess you would say Dale Sr raced a full year the year he died. He did enter a race….didn’t he?
During an consecutive 11 year period at Roush, Martin finished in the top 6 in the Championship every year during that run. He only finished 6th once, most were 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Most drivers would love bad years like that.
Where’s Sam?
Let me see if i get this right.
The death of a man { which means he can not longer race} is equal to a man who cannot get a full time ride?
YOU ARE AN IDIOT!
Let s compare the first seven years mark was with roush and full time.
Jrs first seven years.
Uncle Clem wrote:
I have already said that mark martin is a great driver. I am merely comparing Jrs first years to his. No one can predict what Jr will do for the next twenty years.
Compare positions in the championship and deal with it.
Compare each drivers first seven years and stop making excuses!