Petty surprised by Marlin & Nemechek firing, has choice words for Bobby Ginn
Quote selected text Published July 21st, 2007 in NASCAR News
Leading a parade of more than 200 motorcycles for a week can put a person out of touch with racing, and that was the case for NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Kyle Petty on Friday.
Understandably oblivious to the news emanating from the stock car world, Petty reacted with surprise when told fellow veterans Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek had been released from their rides with Ginn Racing.
“I can’t believe that because they’re both really good race car drivers,” Petty said during a fuel stop for the Kyle Petty Charity ride on Friday.
“I think the rumor had been coming that they were going to shut down the 13 car (Nemechek’s ride).”
Marlin, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, is being replaced in the No. 14 Ginn Chevy by young gun Regan Smith. Smith had shared the No. 01 Ginn Chevy with veteran Mark Martin while youngster Aric Almirola, released by Joe Gibbs Racing, will share the No. 01 with Martin. Nemechek’s car is being parked due to a lack of sponsorship.
“Sometimes that’s what happens when you get somebody that invests in a sport that doesn’t really know anything about the sport,” said Petty.
“I’m not slamming Bobby Ginn, but that team’s been pretty much a fiasco ever since he’s invested in it. He should probably listen to the people that run the team and were in charge of the team. To let someone like Sterling go is a crying shame, I’ll say that right now. I only wish he had let him go five or six races ago and I would have let him drive my car while I was doing the Turner stuff, that’s how much I think about Sterling.”
More at USA Today
Bookmark to:
- Marlin settles legal dispute with Ginn
- All 4 court cases against Ginn dismissed
- Marlin replaced by Regan Smith for the Brickyard, Nemechek could be out too
- Marlin & Nemechek Will Stay at MB2, Team to Expand
- Ginn looking for sponsorship
Wow… Drivers sticking up for drivers. Who woulda thought?
It’s great that Kyle likes Sterling, but seriously, could he do that much better than Kyle? No. Sterling is waaay past his prime. So what if Ginn is trying to appeal to a younger demographic and maybe get some real sponsors on the car? That’s business!
Right now Sterling has an average finish of 26.5 with no top 10’s and only 4 top-20 finishes out of 19 races. Looks like he’s currently 29th in points. It’s not like he’s just killing everyone and Ginn is replacing him for the heck of it! Seems to me like it makes perfect sense to get Smith in that ride ASAP and get him as much experience as they can if they want to stay afloat and be around in a year or two.
Like a rookie is going to fix the problems at Ginn just look at his past Bobby Ginn has a history of bad decisions and this is just another example.
Yeah I agree with George, the drivers he has may not be doing their
greatest, but Smith and Almirola? I would of just waited til next
year, let the likable veterans keep their rides til then, and then
tried to find guys worth having for next year.
And Kyle Petty further proves why he’s so likable; not many drivers
that’ll openly stand up for another.
I agree with younger drivers having a better chance to get some sponsorship but those guys deserve better than that. Putting a rookie in there isnt going to improve the teams results until those guys get some experience.
Wasnt Nemechek’s contract up at the end of the year anyways? Just let him finish it out.
you need to give marlin credit, he has never really been in the best equipment.
I guess all of you have forgotten that he was running away with the championship in 2002 before he injured his neck and JMac had to step in…Stewart ended up with it but definitely was the deserving driver in my eyes, Sterling should have been the 2002 Winston Cup Champion!
Never trust a real estate developer Joe and Sterlin found that out the hard way.
Does this mean Kyle wasn’t happy with the job John Andretti did driving his car? I know it was a nice compliment toward Sterling, but how does that make Andretti feel?
Kyle as much good as you are doing and I like the guy but you haven’t been competitive in the cup series in years!
Nick B i hear ya bout 02 with marlin but hey thats racing, considering he was injured but that is still racing.
Ever since Sterling screwed his neck up at Kansas in 2002 he never has been the same.
Breanna - Find guys worth having next year? Who in their right mind is going to drive for Ginn if they’re still in this much trouble next year? No veteran (that has any options) is going to drive for a team that has problems securing sponsorship and might not be able to keep their doors open! They pretty much have to go with young guys trying to make a name for themselves or older guys looking for what may be one last ride before they call it quits. Either way, their chances of winning are going to be slim right now, so why not put the young guys in there, which makes more sense looking down the road a year or two?
These guys may be “likable veterans” but they certainly aren’t impressing anyone on the track week in and week out, so I say make the move and start preparing for the future, which is what is going to keep the doors open at Ginn!
and to to think a lot of people thought jr was going to drive for ginn,haha i knew it was a fly by night operation….
WAY TO GO KYLE IM ON YOUR SIDE..
It is just disrespectful to Sterling and Joe to be “released” before the end of the season. They could have figured out something that wouldn’t have made these guys feel bad… and you know that they do. I gues everyone knows how Ginn treats his drivers… I hope Mark Martin wins a race soon… he could be next!
I think the GINN team wont be nothing but a 1 car team next year thats if army doesnt pull out and put the army on another car wich I hope happens GINN should sell the team and get back to something hes good at like resorts
word to Kyle, Sterling and Joe…..retire.
If it werent For Sterlin all of Ginns cars would be running dead last since he was the one who went to Bobby Hamilton to get the setups to go fast so Ginn should take a dive in an empty pool
I don’t think team owners can survive living in the past, Sterling has lost it.