Evernham-Petty Merger?
My interest was piqued this morning, being the Elliott Sadler fan I am, when I was watching Kyle Petty on the Speed Channel. He mentioned that it was pretty much a done deal with Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Enterprises for a sort of merger for the 2008 season. Both teams already run Dodges and share an engine program, so the next natural step will be a merger. Petty said that they will each continue to have their own shops and teams, but will consolidate information on the racing side and marketing efforts on the business front much like the new Yates-Rousch Fenway agreement.
SceneDaily quotes Petty Enterprises Vice President of Operations Robbie Loomis:
“It just makes sense from my side,” Loomis said. “For the crew chiefs, if we had the same chassis and the same engineering program, then when we’re at the track sharing and talking about trying to get the cars to drive better, it goes forward.
This seems to be the loophole in the new NASCAR rule about having only 4 cars maximum per team. It won’t be too long until it will be manufacturers’ teams instead of owners’ teams. What do you think about this type of agreement? Will it work? Will the teams improve, or is it just a way to complicate things even more? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
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