News digest: Nov. 19

By NASCAR Scene Staff

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

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McMurray-Manion pairing likely at EGR

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing has agreed to terms with a driver to replace Martin Truex Jr., and Kevin Manion will remain as the crew chief for the No. 1 car, EGR President Steve Lauletta said Nov. 15.

Lauletta wouldn’t name the driver, but sources indicated it would be Jamie McMurray, whose Roush Fenway Racing team is being phased out so the organization can cut back from five to four teams to adhere to NASCAR’s team-cap rule. McMurray started his Cup career driving for team co-owner Chip Ganassi.

McMurray has been considered the frontrunner for the ride for the last three months. Bobby Labonte emerged as a possible candidate last month but has announced he will drive for TRG Motorsports in 2010.

“We’ve got a full agreement,” Lauletta said. “I really hope it will be [announced] this week.”

Lauletta said Manion would remain as crew chief of the No. 1 team. Manion was Truex’s crew chief for his two titles in what is now the Nationwide Series and then went to Cup with Truex in 2006. Truex is leaving the team after the season for Michael Waltrip Racing.

“Hopefully his team will remain intact and we’ll be ready for next year,” Lauletta said. “[Manion] brings a lot of good leadership qualities. Him and [Juan Pablo Montoya crew chief] Brian [Pattie] get along really well. Obviously, it’s been a difficult year bringing the two organizations together, and he’s really been a big part of
bringing the two groups together and having them work together.

“We think with the new driver we’re going to bring in, he’ll have a great relationship with him and we’ll win some races.”

Robby Gordon needs sponsorship

Team owner/driver Robby Gordon said he will run the first eight races of 2010 and hope that he can find sponsorship for the rest of the season or he will have to sit some races out.

Gordon is losing primary sponsor Jim Beam after this season. He ran 11 races this season without a sponsor even though sponsor logos were on the car.

“I’ve got a good marketing staff,” Gordon said Nov. 13. “We’ve got a good team put in place. We’ve got the cars. We’ve got the equipment. We’re set through March. … We’re working hard. We just found out about Beam not too long ago and are trying to recover from that. If we have any luck, we will.”

Gordon has driven for himself the last five years in the Cup series. He is 34th in the driver standings.

“Our results are not the best,” Gordon said. “It’s easy to go out there and blame the economy for everything, but if we ran better – you see teams get sponsorship that win races. What we’ve got to do is figure out how to win races. What comes first? Do you have enough money to win the races or do you have the team to win races?

“I think it takes both. Right now, I know where our weaknesses are. It’s just purely a dollars-and-cents issue, an operational budget issue.”

Newman, Martin announce sponsorships

Ryan Newman and Mark Martin will be associated with some familiar sponsors next year.

The U.S. Army announced it would sponsor 15 races next year for Stewart-Haas Racing’s Newman. While the Army remains for seven fewer races, the team has replaced five of those with Tornados, a frozen food company.

Martin, meanwhile, will have Carquest on his car for eight races next year to go along with the previously announced sponsors GoDaddy.com (20 races) and Delphi (two races).

David Reutimann will have a one-race sponsorship from Best Western, which has opted to increase its commitment to Michael Waltrip Racing (it was on the Nationwide car) but will no longer be the official hotel chain of NASCAR.