#7-Robby Gordon now seems to be looking at a new partnership elsewhere in the Sprint Cup garage. And the word-on-the-street is that Gordon may now be headed back to General Motors and Chevrolet in a still murky deal with Dale Earnhardt Inc. that would make him a teammate with DEI’s #1-Martin Truex Jr. and the others at that company. Gordon had no comment on the report, and neither did anyone at DEI. But sources close to the situation said it did indeed look like a deal was in the works, and said something might be announced as soon as Monday. Where Gordon stands in the Dodge camp is unclear, because Dodge executives have been unavailable for any comment. And just what Gordon’s legal status is at the moment, after Friday’s surprise announcement that Gillett-Evernham would be dropping its lawsuit against Gordon over what Gillett-Evernham said was breach of contract, is also unclear. Just how any possible Gordon-DEI merger might work is not clear. Truex is the team’s anchor. Mark Martin is leaving DEI and moving to Rick Hendrick’s team at the end of the season, and rookie #8-Aric Almirola is to take Martin’s spot full-time next year. #01-Ragan Smith, meanwhile, is also a promising rookie but currently without new sponsorship. And then there’s #15-Paul Menard, a long-time DEI driver who is renegotiating his contract; Menard is also under consideration for a Ford ride with the Doug Yates. That means DEI has four drivers at the table right now, and unless one of them were to leave there would be no room for Gordon. The Menard angle is the most curious – because Gordon is a long-time friend with Menard’s father John, who has helped sponsor Gordon over many years and who has his name on the side of Gordon’s hauler here. Gordon has been trying to put together a two-car operation with Paul and John for some time, but nothing has ever come of it.

IMO this deal does make sense as RG does have GM support for his off road ventures, Menards is already on board, and DEI has an engine program with RCR, with whom Rob already has a good relationship with. I guess time will tell...

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In 2003 Menard bought Tom Walkinshaw's TWR operation in the Leafield Tech Center in the UK (http://www.mctuk.com/) which supplies engines, a 4.2 litre V-12, for the new SuperLeague Formula (http://www.superleagueformula.com).

The Menard experiment in '05 when RG went solo was a disaster. The motors made horsepower but there were two things that worked against them; NASCAR did not have the gear rule until the following year and the program was rushed to the track without much development. With no gear rule, the Menard motors were also free to turn some ungodly and unnatural rpm's for a large pushrod V8. I remember POS commenting at Pocono when Robby passed him the engine sounded like it was turning "about 12,000 rpm."

John Menard didn't become a billionaire by accepting failure. I think he wants another shot as a NASCAR engine builder.
Some genius here predicted this a couple days ago, and was soundly poo pooed. I accept your apologies. Smith's out, Menard stays, 2 Menard cars and partial sponsorship for the other 2 DEI cars. Done and done.
Don't think Paul doesn't influence where the money goes to. He's downplaying his role.
Paul is gone from DEI.
none of this makes sense to me.
Makes plenty of sense. Robby sells his team and get in high qualty stuff. DEI and RCR have 4 cars in the top 35 for next year. DEI gets a huge upgrade over either Paul or Regan Smith at driver.
Oh I agree with you there. At least Paul has won a race that wasn't decided by fuel mileage....something Regan and Casey can't claim. BOTH of Casey's wins in Nascar have been fuel runs. Casey should go back to open wheel. Regan Smith has never done anything that I've been impressed by.
Milwaukee *BUSCH* race, '06.
Thats three posts from TOG saying Paul is gone from DEI, but no response to any of the DEI comments or anything else. Something is up!
Because I know nothing about DEI and RGM being together for 2009,and that I saw/heard NOTHING from the garage area yesterday to imply that there was something in the works. However, all the Yates guys I talked with already know Paul is coming to them in 2009.
OK I have a really dumb question? Who is TOG? I know he is the master of this site, but I don't know his connection to RG. I have been a Robby fan since he drove for AJ through thick and thin and will remain so, but I hope this all works out for him to be able to compete again, cause most of this year has been no fun.
I have no idea who TOG is either. No connection to RG,other than a racing realist who sees things as they are and doesn't try to make excuses or blame others for lack of performance,etc. You might ask Robby for his autograph, whereas I ask him why he sucks at qualifying, nah mean ?

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