DEI wants replace sponsor Menard; Army as well in '09

DEI wants replace sponsor Menard; Army as well in '09


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By Bob Pockrass / SceneDaily.com
It wasn’t a good day for Dale Earnhardt Inc. Tuesday as it was announced that Paul Menard would leave for Yates Racing and take his family’s sponsorship with him.

Menard’s departure leaves DEI with only one driver-sponsor combination locked in for 2009 with Martin Truex Jr. and Bass Pro Shops. It has signed Aric Almirola to drive the No. 8 car next year, but that car also needs a sponsor as U.S. Army appears to going elsewhere, DEI Vice President of Motorsports John Story said Tuesday afternoon. The team also needs to obtain sponsorship for its fourth car, currently driven by Regan Smith.

“We don’t anticipate the Army will be here next year,” Story said. “We haven’t for quite some time. … It would be great to have both Army and Menards here, but we’ll work hard in spite of that.”

With all four cars having points in the top 35, Story said that makes them valuable.

“Rather than try to prioritize what the next steps would be, certainly we have to shore things up and make it work for all of our teams and our drivers,” Story said. “We have [top-35] points on all four cars. We’re going to finish the season that way. That’s something we’re all proud of, and that’s a testament to the work the people here have done.

“There are a lot of teams in the industry that would love to be in that position. While we may not have as much sponsorship as some other programs, we have some very valuable assets in terms of points and positions in the top 35 that very few teams do have. There’s a ton of value in that, and we’re certainly going to use that to our fullest advantage. We’re not going to let that evaporate.”

Could one of those scenarios include a merger?

“Through the last 12 months, there’s been a number of people that have contacted us about different scenarios, and none of them have made perfect sense to us,” Story said. “We’re always willing and ready to listen, but to discuss what the future holds would be premature.”

Story said he wasn’t surprised by Menard’s decision.

“Certainly we’ve been in long, long talks,” he said. “We had hoped the decision would be different, for sure. … Certainly today is a bad day, but it just makes us more determined and makes us want to work harder to see things through.”


Posted September 30, 2008 , 9:54 pm EST
Last Updated October 01, 2008 , 12:14 am EST
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Re: Re: DEI wants replace sponsor Menard; Army as well in '09

The handwriting was on the wall last year, but some just didn't want to read it.

Re: Re: DEI wants replace sponsor Menard; Army as well in '09

Lol calm down look at petty, no sponsors for them right now same with bill Davis

Yeah but they are not DEI.

Lee