Sprint Cup Headline News, Commentary and Race Coverage

Looking For Sprint Cup News?...... Visit our home page for the latest news and rumors in the Sprint Cup Series along with commentary, weekly columns and race coverage

StubHub.com





Click on button to go to
Home Page
Insider Racing News

Tickets Make Great Gifts

SoldOutEventTickets.com
F1 Tickets
MotoGP Tickets

Insider Racing News
Copyright © 2000-2009. All Rights Reserved.

Sprint Cup® and NASCAR® are registered trademarks of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. This web site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASCAR®. The official NASCAR® website is "NASCAR® Online" and is located at.. www.NASCAR.com


Time to Seize the No. 8?

An Opinion



April 14, 2009

By Allen Madding

Allen Madding

When Dale Earnhardt, Jr. departed Dale Earnhardt, Inc., he petitioned his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt for the No. 8 that had adorned all of the NASCAR Sprint Cup entries he had driven in his career.

Hendrick Motorsports was prepared to sign a check with a considerable amount of zeros on it to allow Junior and Junior Nation to retain the No. 8.

Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt’s widow and heiress to the Earnhardt dynasty, responded that Junior and Hendrick Motorsports could have the number only if they signed a huge percentage of the clothing and souvenir sales attached to the car number extending virtually forever to Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

Junior and Hendrick politely declined her greedy offer and Hendrick Motorsports selected the no. 88 for Junior. The number change for Junior sent the Junior Nation to the Hendrick souvenir trailers at the racetracks and to the internet to order the new No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard shirts, hats, jackets, etc. Yes, if it had only been a sponsor change, many fans would have elected to buy new gear, but couple that with a number change and the amount of fans choosing to purchase new clothing increased exponentially.

Since Junior’s departure, DEI has fallen from its former position of grandeur. DEI merged with Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates to try to stay afloat after struggling to secure sponsors and the finances needed to continue operations. Even after merging into Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, the team has struggled to secure sponsorship and finances. And, this week EGR announced that they would park the No. 8 and Aric Almirola due to lack of sponsorship. The team then began laying off 40-50 team members signaling that the team would not be returning to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition anytime in the near future.

Now bear in mind that technically NASCAR owns car numbers and a team can petition NASCAR for a car number that is not being used. Typically NASCAR issues a number to a team on an annual basis. If a team that is competing week in and week out were to request a car number that another team has used a handful of times and is not currently competing, NASCAR would more than likely be inclined to grant that car number to the team competing on a fulltime basis.

The folks in the front office at Hendrick Motorsports should be making plans to seize this opportunity. Give it three or four consecutive events where the EGR No. 8 does not show up at the racetrack and then submit a request to NASCAR for the No. 8. If NASCAR does not immediately grant the request, amend the request to be for use of the number for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and wait for year end.

Once NASCAR grants the number to the Hendrick operation, the team can pull one of the 8’s off of Junior’s cars. This very simple change will then spur a clamor at the souvenir trailers for Junior’s new No. 8 hats, t-shirts, jackets, bumper stickers, etc. and increase the revenue for the team. It will also give Teresa a nice hot steaming plate of crow with a tasty side dish of humble pie which she is obviously so deserving after her greed motivated grandstanding to keep the number.

You can contact Allen Madding at .. Insider Racing News
You Can Read Other Articles By Allen Madding

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Finding cures for children with catastrophic
illnesses
through research and treatment

return to top
Google
 
affiliate_link