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maybe he is tired of being a P/C poster child like hid Daddy Jeff Gordon.
DEI withdraws fifth Watkins Glen entry to be driven by Smith
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Regan Smith
Drew Hallowell
Getty Images
Dale Earnhardt Inc. has withdrawn the entry of its No. 81 Sprint Cup car for Regan Smith for Watkins Glen this weekend after NASCAR informed the team that it couldn’t put Smith in that car because of the four-team limit.
Teams are permitted to enter a fifth car for a maximum of seven races for a rookie to get the driver familiar with Sprint Cup competition. Smith, an upstate New York native, has 20 starts this year, and NASCAR determined he did not fit the criteria for the fifth-car exception, NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Wednesday.
DEI would have been allowed to put Aric Almirola in that car because Almirola has five starts this year, Tharp said. Almirola, who will take over driving the No. 8 car next season, already was entered in the No. 8 car for The Glen in place of veteran Mark Martin, who is driving the majority of the Cup races this year while Almirola fills in the rest.
“We brought it to their attention that [Smith] would not be permitted to run in the fifth car,” Tharp said. “We told them they could move Aric Almirola into that fifth entry. They went back to discuss it and decided not to enter the fifth car.”
Mentioned Drivers: Aric Almirola
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Comments
11 responses to "DEI withdraws fifth Watkins Glen entry to be driven by Smith". Post a Comment.
emily bagwell said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 1:43 PMSounds like a jumbled up mess to me if things are so fine at DEI.
emily bagwell said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 1:44 PMSounds like a jumbled up mess to me if things are so fine at DEI.
Michael Lemansky said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 3:28 PMSounds like NASCAR being NASCAR. What is the difference what care Almirola is in. As long as he can qualify under the 5th car rule let him. In a couple of years NASCAR will be changing the 4 car per team rule anyway. Look how the number of cars trying to qualify is dropping. They will be begging for teams like DEI to put in more cars just to get a 43 car field.
Amy Erwin said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 4:54 PMThat makes no sense. "DEI would have been allowed to put Aric Almirola in that car because Almirola has five starts this year" so does Regan. He has run all season. Bottom line, the 01 is Regan's ride. He should not be pulled from his ride so that Ron Fellows can run. Regan is in contention for Rookie of the Year and DEI is taking opportunities away from Regan to run.
Amy Erwin said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 4:58 PMI'm sorry but DEI should not be pulling Regan out of his ride so that Ron Fellows can race. Regan is in contention for Rookie of the Year and this is the second time that DEI has pulled him out of the car. As for the story stating that Almirola would have been eligible to run because he has already run 5 races - Regan has run all season.
Amy Erwin said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 5:00 PMsorry for the duplicate - computer froze - didn't think it went through
John Lockhart said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 8:45 PMDon't be sorry Amy,it's doing it to me to.Regan is a great driver why would DEI pull him.The more that comes out of DEI the more puzzeled I am about what is really going on over there.
emily bagwell said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 9:16 PMAs you noticed John and Amy, I had duplicates also---not your computer, but the site.
Jay said:
Aug 7, 2008 at 12:23 AMThey are trying to protect the #01 in the Top 35 battle. MWR #00, the #66, and AJ in the #84 are getting screwed, they aren't bringing in the road racing aces like the #01, #70 and #96. That's where Nascar should be focusing it's attention with guys trying to get around the rules, swapping points/drivers.
Susan Coley said:
Aug 7, 2008 at 9:32 AMJust sounds like a mess all in all to me at DEI!! And why Doesn't Teresa ever come to the races, or is she there and she just isn't seen?? Stange.........
anonymous said:
Aug 8, 2008 at 8:39 AMPreviou explanations of TE's absence is she is "media shy". She wasn't shy all those years hanging on to Dale Sr at the races and she sure wasn't shy when she fired the first shot at Dale Jr to the Wall STreet Journal. She lets Max handle everything at the track and she reaps the rewards. She's just an absentee owner and that is an insult to her drivers