Ganassi and Petty now?

Latest Ganassi merger rumor? Petty? UPDATE Labonte?:Trying to pin down the state of Petty Enterprises, under its new Boston Ventures' management, and the future of the Chip Ganassi operation has been tough enough the last few weeks, but now the speculation of a GM-Chrysler corporate merger has thrown things into a real tizzy. Insiders at both the Petty and Ganassi Dodge camps say there is speculation that the two struggling teams may somehow merge, and that that speculation is fueled by the sense that fellow Dodge owner George Gillett, who has majority interest in Gillett-Evernham-Motorsports, is "99 percent" certain to jump to Toyota. Ray Evernham was Dodge's mainstay in NASCAR racing, making such a move highly unusual. Dodge officials a few weeks ago denied such a change might be coming. One major complication for Dodge teams like Petty's and Ganassi's is that Gillett-Evernham has been a major Dodge engine operation. If Gillett moves to Toyota, then Dodge loses a very big player.(Winston-Salem Journal)(10-12-2008)
UPDATE: hearing that a Ganassi-Petty Enterprises merger is still possible with Target being the sponsor for Bobby Labonte in the #43. With #42-Juan Pablo Montoya and #44-Chad McCumbee as teammates and a possible 4th team with Kyle Petty running part time in the #45.(10-21-2008) Comment here

Some points here. First this makes more sense than DEI. Ganassi is with Dodge and has a building he owns, which would be an upgrade for the Petty's who currently lease from Yates.They could also move the #41's points to the new #44 (formerly #45) and put them in the top 35 in points. Target would finally get a marketable and able driver in Bobby Labonte. However, everything is absolutely crazy with all the mergers. This comes from the Winston Salem Journal which is usually about 90% crap and 10% truth. Take all of this with a grain of salt. If this does go through, can anyone imagine a Target car with Petty blue on it? Crazy.

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Permalink Reply by WJM on October 21, 2008 at 1:17pm

On the surface this does make more sense than a DEI-Petty merge. A DEI-Petty deal would unite two of the greatest names in racing and probably would have some marketing leverage but that's about it since neither brings much to the table in terms of full time sponsorship funding to field a four-car, or even a three-car team.

With a Ganassi-Petty merge they could retain Ganassi's engine supplier, Ernie Elliott, not have to re-skin the Petty fleet and consolidate a lot of in-house and admin functions. Also, a Target-Labonte with Montoya branding campaign could work. Kyle and McCumbee could share a third car. Kyle has Wells Fargo sponsorship (12 races?) which would leave Ganassi-Petty to only secure sponsorship for the remaining races (easier said than done nowadays).

This also makes more sense than the previously rumored Ganassi-MWR with JTG-Daugherty deal. Seriously, could you see Chip Ganassi, Felix Sabates, Michael Waltrip, Rob Kauffman, Tad & Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty working together? They wouldn't be able to agree on lunch.

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Permalink Reply by JoCo on October 21, 2008 at 6:50pm

And frankly DEI-Petty would hold no real marketing weight without an Earnhardt or Petty driving one of the cars. If those teams merged they'd have Regan Smith, Martin Truex, Aric Almirola, Bobby Labonte, and Chad McCumbee and would obviously need to cut one or make two of them share a car but aside from Bobby Labonte, none of those drivers are going to attract any new sponsorship the way Montoya would.

And if we assume they can't find any new major sponsorship then that definitely makes the Ganassi-Petty deal much more enticing strictly because of the fact that Ganassi has 2 full-time sponsors already pledged in Target and Wrigley and DEI has one and it's already decided which car the Bass Pro Shops/Tracker stickers are going on

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Permalink Reply by WJM on October 21, 2008 at 7:15pm

Regan Smith and Aric Almirola came over when DEI bought Ginn. Smith only had a one year deal; he's good as gone IMO. Almirola is signed through '09 but no primary sponsor(s) as yet for next year.

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Permalink Reply by Keith on October 21, 2008 at 7:36pm

Dave Moody made a great point this afternoon... there is so much of this "merging" stuff out there that it's almost impossible to decipher what is really going on. Every small team is looking fo additional dance partners.

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Permalink Reply by Lance on October 21, 2008 at 8:50pm

It's almost like they just draw names out of a hat and start a rumor about those two teams merging.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on October 23, 2008 at 9:22pm

Basically. Throw one set against the wall, see if it sticks. If not, try again with a new pair....

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE HENDRICK ROUSCH RUMORS!

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Permalink Reply by JoCo on October 22, 2008 at 1:19am

I think you may be right Lance. And while we're on the subject, does anyone know what is going on with Bill Davis Racing for next year? Not that I really care all that much, but they've always just been around but now that Cat left for RCR I wonder where the money is coming from.

And on another side note: I'm sure you've all seen that J.J. Yeley's sponsorship is for sale on ebay right now, for the downright bargain-basement pricve of $12,000,000 for the season. The only thing is, who is he driving for next year? Himself?

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Permalink Reply by JoCo on October 22, 2008 at 11:24pm

Oh my God is that true? That's ridiculous, and probably unsurmountable unfortunately :-/

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Permalink Reply by Ms Gibby on October 23, 2008 at 12:24am

Quite frankly, I think EVERYBODY should merge with Hendrick Motorsports so the entire field will consist of a bunch of HMS cars chasing each other around a cookie cutter track. Then we can all go home, change the channel and watch something else.