DEI Needs Help now
Inside the building at DEI
Will the Last Person to Leave DEI Please Turn Off the Lights
Tony Stewart once predicted that DEI would be no more than a museum once Dale Earnhardt, Jr. left.
For a while I thought Smoke was wrong. Teresa Earnhardt bought out Bobby Ginn’s operation and collected Mark Martin as the driver for the No. 8 car in the process.
Then she signed Martin Truex Jr. to a one year contract extension – keeping Bass Pro Shops on board as the sponsor.
Suddenly things weren’t looking so bad. Now reality is starting to set in.
DEI has the same number of cars in the Chase as Michael Waltrip racing – zero.
Paul Menard is bolting from the No. 15 car and taking his sponsorship with him to Yates Racing.
Aric Almirola – set to drive the No. 8 car next year — has no sponsor.
Regan Smith – set to drive the No. 01 car next year — has no sponsor.
And I’ll be surprised if Martin Truex Jr. makes it past next year’s July race at Daytona before announcing that he has signed with another team.
4ever3 said he hoped not to see the for sale sign go up in front of DEI, and neither do I. But DEI had better get its house in order before it goes the way of AIG and Lehman Brothers.
What DEI needs is a big name driver to come on board with a big name sponsor – and soon.
Rusty Wallace said that he’s not interested, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Rusty Wallace would certainly change DEI’s fortunes.
Another option would be to merge DEI with another team. If only there were another Chevrolet team out there with a couple of hot shoes driving for them, maybe one of them was a 2 time champion, and the other one was a qualifying ace.
That team could merge with DEI, which already has the infrastructure and business processes in place, and become a powerhouse. Like I said, where there’s Smoke…
