Earnhardt Ganassi Racing

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing

owner	Teresa Earnhardt Chip Ganassi Felix Sabates
Racing series	Sprint Cup , Nationwide Series
Championships	2 Nationwide Series 2 Craftsman Truck Series
Start number (s)	# 1, # 8, # 42 (Sprint Cup) # 8 (Nationwide Series)
driver	Jamie McMurray (# 1 sprint) Juan Pablo Montoya (# 42 sprint) Jeffrey Earnhardt (young driver)
Manufacturer	Chevrolet
Place of the workshop	Mooresville , North Carolina
Homepage	www.daleearnhardtinc.com

Former logo of the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. team

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing , or EGR for short, is an American NASCAR team headquartered in Mooresville , North Carolina . The team was formed for the 2009 season through the merger of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing . Originally Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 1980 by the racing legend Dale Earnhardt , founded in 2001 at the Daytona 500 on the Daytona International Speedway came in the last lap of the race in an accident. Even if he owned these teams, he never drove for them himself. Instead, he stayed with the Richard Childress Racing team, his long-time mentor Richard Childress .

In 2001 Ganassi bought 80% of the NASCAR team founded by Felix Sabates in 1989 and named it Chip Ganassi Racing. In 2002, Sterling Marlin led the championship for a long time, but was incapacitated by an accident. In 2003, Ganassi Racing became the first team to produce three Rookies of the Year with Jamie McMurray in the Nextel Cup , with David Stremme in the Busch Grand National Series and with Reed Sorenson in the ASA Series . A small sensation was the signing of former Formula 1 driver and Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of 2006, who justified the trust placed in him with a victory at the 2007 Daytona 24-hour race . Since Dario Franchitti injured his ankle in a Nationwide race in the 2008 season, he was replaced first in Talladega by David Stremme and later in Richmond by Sterling Marlin.

Sprint Cup teams

Racing car # 01 story

Car # 01 US Army

Car # 01 started as Pontiac with the number # 36 in 1997 with the financial support of the confectionery manufacturer Skittles . The racing car was driven by Derrike Cope , who finished 27th in the 1997 season.

After its minor success, veteran racing driver Ernie Irvan should put things right again in the coming season. The highlight of the season was the pole at the Brickyard 400 . The car ultimately found its way to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. on July 25, 2007 through its merger with Ginn Racing. It was first driven by Mark Martin at the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. racing team at the Brickyard 400 in 2007 .

Racing car # 1 story

Dale Earnhardt, Inc. debuted in the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup ) in 1996 with the # 14 Racing for Kids Chevrolet. This was driven by Robby Gordon for the first time on the Charlotte Motor Speedway . Jeff Green drove the car for two more races of the season. The next year, Steve Park drove # 1 in five races of the season with Burger King as a sponsor. In 1998, the team swapped numbers with Richard Jackson's car , making car # 14 # 1. Martin Truex junior , who has been driving half-year since 2005 and year-round since 2006, clinched his first Nextel Cup victory in Car # 1 at Dover International Speedway in a race with the Car of Tomorrow on June 4, 2007 .

Race car # 8 story

Car # 8 Budweiser

The # 8 drove for the first time in 1998 in the NASCAR Busch (Grand National) Series as the # 3 ACDelco Chevrolet , driven by Dale Earnhardt Junior Junior, won the 1998 and 1999 seasons in this car. In 1999, Earnhardt Jr. drove five races in the Winston Cup with the # 8 Budweiser Chevrolet , one with a top 10 result, one with a leading lap and one as DNF . In 2000 he was promoted to the Winston Cup as a year-round driver . His first race won was at Texas Motor Speedway in 2000 . Shortly afterwards his father passed away. In 2004 he won the Daytona 500 , six years after his father won it. This season he collected five more wins.

In the 2008 season of the Sprint Cup, Junior will no longer drive for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., instead he will switch to Hendrick Motorsports , HMS for short, and will not keep the number # 8 because his stepmother forbids it.

Race car # 15 story

The number # 15 was originally the # 16 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado , driven by Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Craftsman Truck Series . Between 1995 and 1999 the team won 23 races and two championships. In 2000 the team switched to the Busch (Grand National) Series and was # 3 there. Hornaday won twice and ended the season eighth overall, but finished second in Rookie of the Year after Kevin Harvick . In 2001 the team finally changed the series again, but without the previous driver, but kept the sponsor NAPA. DEI found the successor to Ron Hornaday in Michael Waltrip , who now drove # 15. The first race win at the Daytona 500, however, was overshadowed by the death of Dale Earnhardt .

However, Michael Waltrip has been driving for his own team, Michael Waltrip Racing , since 2005 , where he took the sponsor NAPA with him.

In 2006 the # 15 took on halftime status, with DEI Busch Series rider Paul Menard driving for the team now sponsored by Menard's Home Improvement Stores . Menard then delivered his first top 10 result when he finished fifth at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez .

Nationwide Series Teams

Race car # 11 story

This DEI car raced in the Nationwide Series only for half of the 2007 season and the full 2005 and 2006 seasons. The driver was Paul Menard . This left the team when he rose to the Nextel Cup in 2007. Therefore, the car was only driven for a very limited period of time by Menard or Martin Truex Jr. during the 2007 season.

Racing car # 81 story

The # 81 only appeared briefly in the 2003 Winston Cup season, where it was mostly driven by Jason Keller and John Andretti . A return of the # 81 is unlikely, as NFL legend Tim Brown has secured the rights to the number # 81 for his announced Sprint Cup team.

Partnership in Richard Childress Racing

Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies was created in May 2007 in a cooperation between Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and Richard Childress Racing for the joint production of engines.