Paul Menard will announce today that he is moving to Yates Racing beginning with the ‘09 season. The move will also take the Menard’s sponsorship to Yates. That infusion of a solid sponsorship will be certainly welcome at Yates.
Meanwhile, at DEI things are not looking so hot. Bass Pro Shops will continue to sponsor the #1 car and driver, Martin Truex, jr. who signed an extension to stay with DEI through the ‘09 season. The #8 entry is slated to be driven full time by Aric Amirola. The Army sponsorship may be departing at the end of the ‘08 season. Most think Army will be on the #39 Stewart-Haas car and driver, Ryan Newman. That leaves the #8 team with a driver and no sponsor. The #15 team is now open for a driver as well as a sponsor. Things are not looking any better for the 4th DEI car, the #01. That team has struggled to find full funding with driver, Regan Smith this year. It is expected that DEI will mothball the team if no sponsor is found.
Paul Menard sits 33rd in driver points following the race at Kansas Speedway. Not exactly a prize recruit for Yates Racing. On the other hand, Menard brings the all important sponsor to the table. Grumpy wonders if Paul Menard would even be in the cup series if he did not have sponsorship from his family owned company.
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Meanwhile, over at Team Red Bull, it was confirmed that Mike Skinner will drive the entry formerly occupied by AJ Almendinger at Talladega and Charlotte. Scott Speed will then take the wheel for the rest of the ‘08 season to get a jump on the ‘09 season. He will be eligible to run for ROTY.
2 Comments
Grumpy, I think your right about Paul Menard and his Daddy’s sponsorship is the only reason he’s in a cup car. Sure doesn’t look good for DEI next year. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Yep! In the future, you might see more of this kind of driver/team swap. It used to be the team had a car and a sponsor, they interviewed potential drivers.
Now, it seems if the driver has a sponsor connection like Menard, he (the driver) interviews the teams he might wish to drive for.
The recent news about Kyle Petty looks the same way. Wells Fargo is willing to follow Petty if he is out of Petty Enterprises.
Strange goings on. Certainly worth watching.
Thanks for stopping by, Nana. I hope you will chip in more often.
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