Wisconsin is not regarded by many people as a mecca for auto racing. However, it does have a fair history in the sport. Tracks like Road America (Elkhart Lake) and Madison International Speedway have been around for over 40 years, while the Milwaukee Mile has been around for over 100 years.
The historic racetrack on the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds in West Allis is in trouble. After its most recent run of major events, the Milwaukee Mile may be about to shut its doors for good.
What began on pit road at Dover as a war of bumpers between two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart and rookie Paul Menard has turned into a war of words on the road from Charlotte to Martinsville.
Stewart says money can't buy talent. On his radio show this week, he had some harsh words for the son of his 1997 IRL Championship team owner:
"You can have your father buy your ride and write DEI a big check, but you can't buy talent. And that's what John Menard's been good at his whole life, is just buying success. He's bought his son a Nextel Cup ride and he's just got enough talent to just be in the way most of the time."
Was Tony Stewart's contact with two cars on pit road caused by lack of observation, communication or consideration? Or all of the above?
Stewart's crew chief Greg Zipadelli:
"The No. 15 car was a minor thing. I think everybody got to hollering on the radio and we never even saw the No. 9 car. That is what did the damage. The No. 15 just scraped the paint off. It didn't really do anything else. But with us rolling out, it would have been real easy for him to give us the go ahead, not that he has to, but it is about give-and-take. If you have respect for people and they are racing for something you are not, you kind of usually do that. If you don't, the roles will usually be reversed."
Fair enough. Zippy thinks Paul Menard should have given consideration to Stewart and he takes responsibility for the chaotic communication that caused the contact with Kasey Kahne.
One can argue that the non-Chaser should have yielded to the Chaser. Another can argue that the stopped cars on pit road should yield to the already-moving incoming cars. We can all agree that it's every man for himself or argue that it should be a give and take. No one is wrong, no one is right--at least not per NASCAR's rules.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. may have lost what was his best remaining chance at a Nextel Cup race victory Sunday after blowing his engine with 52 laps to go in the UAW-Ford 500.
But his teammate Martin Truex Jr. and engine program partner Jeff Burton might have lost so much more.
The Dale Earnhardt Inc.-Richard Childress Racing engine partnership had seven cars on track Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway and only two of them finished under full power. Three of them actually finished.
Burton lost his motor off of turn four on lap 92 and 21 laps later Truex blew his coming into the tri-oval.
"Obviously, this about wraps it up for us for the championship. We will keep fighting," Burton said. "We will go next week and strap our boots on and go fight and see what we can make out of it."
Truex now finds himself 300 points out of first in tenth while Burton sits further back -- in 12th with a 331 point deficit.
Kevin Harvick also started engine trouble late in the event. With 44 laps to go, Harvick was sitting on pit road with the hood up, but his crew could do nothing to fixed what ailed his Chevrolet engine. He would finish on seven cylinders in 20th place, some 202 points behind race-winner and point leader Jeff Gordon.
New DEI'er Aric Almirola also finished with a DNF because of his engine.
Only Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard would finish without a hitch in the engine.
When Tony Stewart announced on his radio show in February that without Dale Earnhardt Jr. DEI will become a museum, many race fans agreed.
Others thought he was putting the nail in Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s coffin prematurely.
None--that I'm aware of--thought that DEI headquarters, aka The Garage Mahal, would literally become a museum overnight, but alas that is exactly what is happening.
That's the word coming from inside DEI this afternoon.
Tim Packman, former website editor of www.daleearnhardtinc.com, was a guest on Dave Moody's show this afternoon and said that DEI has finalized its merger with Ginn Racing. Under the deal, the #13 team's owner points will be transferred Paul Menard to lock him into the field.
Mark Martin will drive the #01 in Indy as planned and will presumably finish the season splitting with Aric Almirola, who just signed with Ginn.
The #14 team's owner points will reportedly be sold to Furniture Row Racing to lock Kenny Wallace in.
A merger between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing would require an immediate reduction from a total of six cars to four in the Nextel Sprint Cup Series. Eliminating Ginn's cash-strapped #13 and #14 teams seems the obvious answer to some, but it's probably not quite that simple.
The current layout/forecast:
Ginn #01 - Regan Smith/Mark Martin - current plan is for Smith to run Cup full-time in 2008 and Martin to split season again with driver TBD #13 - Joe Nemechek - car in top 35, driver expendable (sad but true, not attracting enough sponsor $$) #14 - Sterling Marlin - ditto
DEI #1 - Martin Truex Jr. - signed through 2008 #8 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. - leaving, open driver seat for 2008, currently rumored to be going to Kyle Busch #15 - As long as Menards is on the hood, Paul Menard is probably behind the wheel
I'm sure both teams recognize the value of the owner points so it's obvious that Menard would take over one of the Ginn cars in the top 35, and they could probably still sell the other to another team.
So Ginn Racing didn't close both the #13 and #14 Nextel Cup teams this week, just their Busch team, which amounted to roughly 30 people losing their jobs, save the spotter who was promoted to Cup. But, even though they haven't closed the books, Bobby Ginn seems to have made both team's numbers available on the open owner market, with the likelihood of selling the #13 to the highest bidder.
And what owner might be willing to buy its way into the top 35? Teresa Earnhardt is the leading runner. Paul Menard isn't going to be able to climb his way into the top 35 himself if he can't qualify for a race. DEI's got the cash to compensate. You put it together.
Speaking of DEI's cash ... Budweiser is ready move on next year, but not with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser is reportedly setting their sites on Kasey Kahne now. Score Ray Evernham!
That leaves Junior wide open to Do the Dew, which I think means he would also give up his personal appearances contract with Bud, which is good considering he'll need time for Sony and Adidas now. Wow. Junior really scored on the upgrade of free goods, huh? Also ... look for Junior to give the #14 team's displaced spotter, his buddy T.J. Majors, a shot on the #? Mountain Dew Chevrolet next season. Reminder: Free the #8!
What that means for Kellogg's I have no idea, but about the Kellogg's driver ...
A source tells me that Kyle Busch has already decided on Richard Childress Racing and is expected to take a lot of his crew with him. By a lot, I take it to mean his crew chief, Alan Gustafson (making room for Tony Eury Jr.), and whoever else wants to come along. Maybe the sponsor will follow, too.
Jamie McMurray starts on the pole today. That's only happened twice before in his five-year Nextel Cup career, the last time at the 2005 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway on July 24, 2005. He finished 11th. His first Bud Pole Award came at Homestead in 2004 where he finished 9th.
Robby Gordon will start 2nd in the Toyota/SaveMart 350. Last time he started that high in the field was here in 2003. He won. He owes TGOM a thank you. Because he was excluded from the power rankings, he has a shot at repeating.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts 3rd. Previously, his best start at Infineon Raceway came in 2005, which didn't work out too well for him. He started 10th, finished 42nd.
We knew the honeymoon was over. Now it appears that the divorce of Menards and Dale Earnhardt Inc. is imminent.
The Winston-Salem Journal is reporting that John Menard has found himself a new wife in Penske Racing:
John Menard, the wealthy home-improvements businessman, has been debating a change in his NASCAR game plan for next season, and he is reported to be considering moving his sponsorship from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Roger Penske's Dodge team, with Penske expanding to a three-car operation. Menard, according to sources, has chopped his list to two owners, and it appears that Robby Gordon is no longer in the running. Menard, who is supporting son Paul on the Cup tour at DEI, has been reported interested in purchasing DEI from Teresa Earnhardt.
So, is DEI going to lose Paul Menard, too? Does anyone care? Um ... probably not.
More importantly, since when is Menard's longtime partner Robby Gordon no longer in the running for his sponsorship? Oh ... right ... since he doesn't need Menards 'cause he's gonna steal NAPA from Michael Waltrip. For real? I dunno, but a source tells me there have been talks!
What began on pit road at Dover as a war of bumpers between two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart and rookie Paul Menard has turned into a war of words on the road from Charlotte to Martinsville.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. may have lost what was his best remaining chance at a Nextel Cup race victory Sunday after blowing his engine with 52 laps to go in the UAW-Ford 500.
When Tony Stewart announced on his radio show in February that without Dale Earnhardt Jr. DEI will become a museum, many race fans agreed. 
That's the word coming from inside DEI this afternoon. 
A merger between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing would require an immediate reduction from a total of six cars to four in the 
So Ginn Racing didn't close both the #13 and #14 Nextel Cup teams this week, just their Busch team, which amounted to roughly 30 people losing their jobs, save the spotter who was promoted to Cup. But, even though they haven't closed the books, Bobby Ginn seems to have made both team's numbers available on the open owner market, with the likelihood of selling the #13 to the highest bidder.
Jamie McMurray starts on the pole today. That's only happened twice before in his five-year Nextel Cup career, the last time at the 2005 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway on July 24, 2005. He finished 11th. His first Bud Pole Award came at Homestead in 2004 where he finished 9th.
We knew the honeymoon was over. Now it appears that the divorce of Menards and Dale Earnhardt Inc. is imminent. 
