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From the Marbles - NASCAR

From the Marbles

Tue Sep 30, 2008 1:12 pm EDT

Paul Menard bails on the DEI ship, leaps in Yates lifeboat

By Jay Busbee

DEI driver / Wolverine lookalike Paul Menard is packing up his adamantium claws and heading to Yates Racing at the end of this season, according to a new report from the AP. This is huge for any number of reasons, not the least of which is because it could spell the end of DEI as a viable racing team. Dale Earnhardt Inc. now has three drivers with just one major sponsor, assuming Menard's daddy pulls his hardware-store sponsorship, a pretty safe bet. Martin Truex Jr. is the last vet standing at DEI, with Aric Almirola and Regan Smith still seeking some kind of major sponsorship.

Yates has had its own sponsorship difficulties this year, juggling sponsors for David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil. But, again, the Menards sponsorship will reshape the landscape for Yates, as well. (Oh, and say what you will about Menard racing on daddy's money; he's 22nd 28th in points, and his daddy wasn't driving the car.)

Teams are suffering all over the place this season, with folks closing up shop and sponsors playing teams off one another. But Menard's shift could end up derailing one of the most significant names in the sport, even if the glory days are long past. It's going to be a fascinating and tumultuous next few months until Daytona 2009, isn't it?

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47 Comments

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  1. miss priss
    1. Posted by miss priss Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:06 pm EDT

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    funny pic jay.
  2. Buffer
    2. Posted by Buffer Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:50 pm EDT

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    That is big news! Poor Teresa. Maybe she should attend a race or two, just to see what's going on and who's leaving DEI. Personally, I couldn't be happier!
  3. hugsx5
    3. Posted by hugsx5 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:31 pm EDT

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    OKay..the Wolverine is cool..until you hear Hugh Jackman's real voice...something doesn't mesh there...
  4. kinggeorge
    4. Posted by kinggeorge Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    Jay's of fire today. Helps to have silly season in full swing I'm sure.
    If you hadn't told me Menard was in 22nd. place I never would have guessed he was anywhere near that far up in the standings. He gets no coverage what so ever on the race telecasts or in the media. He needs to put one of the chase drivers in the wall (gently) to get his name out in the open like Mickey does. Paul is driving circles around Mickey yet who are we always referring to?
    DEI has just been relegated to third tier status with the loss of standout Mark Martin, and now Menard. Can DEI keep trumpeting "all is well" after this bunker buster bombshell?
  5. Carol
    5. Posted by Carol Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:19 pm EDT

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    He has a nice build, though, dontcha think?
    I see DEI on the block soon. If I were thinking sponsorship, I wouldn't be thinking about DEI; the albatross is around their necks now for sure.
  6. Sarge
    6. Posted by Sarge Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:37 pm EDT

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    Na na na na
    Na na na na
    Hey Hey Hey
    Goodbye
    Teresa, we hardly knew ye........and that's a good thing. How much is Max willing to pay for the team now? Or Junior?
    Speaking of Junior, who's the clown at Yahoo! who power ranks Junior 11th and d00d (how did he get that name?) 8th? Pee Wee is not only dead last, he may fall out of the top 12 even after they bump all the chasers up to 5,000 in the 5th annual revision of the Chase (well, it may not be possible, but it could get close). Can we give this loser and JGR negative points? Must be the bad karma and missing magnets, er, HP. Hey, Junior deserves his low ranking, but after Kyle Busch?
  7. Kim
    7. Posted by Kim Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:53 pm EDT

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    Teresa probably knows that she cannot do anything right since she refused to sell to Jr. I guess what surprised me was that the Menard's sponsorship is going, too. Read somewhere that Teresa and John Menard were an "item". The hard part to believe is that someone else would hire Menard since he seems to wreck in nearly every race. Of course, guaranteed sponsorship in this day and age could be a good enough reason, I guess.
  8. kinggeorge
    8. Posted by kinggeorge Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    Carol---I thought the ladies just looked at the face. :) Those lamb chops are rocking.
  9. Buffer
    9. Posted by Buffer Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:50 pm EDT

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    I'll agree with you Carol, nice build! Of course, I've been a Widow since I was 40 so anything looks good to me!
  10. Buffer
    10. Posted by Buffer Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:50 pm EDT

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    I also heard that Teresa was dating John Menard. Maybe he woke up and dumped her!
  11. CMPG
    11. Posted by CMPG Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:46 pm EDT

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    With Paul's face like that, it almost makes me wish we could write a caption for this. Something like "What do you mean I am not suppose to be the next Jr?"
  12. Kim
    12. Posted by Kim Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:53 pm EDT

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    I swear one of my dogs has that exact same expression as Paul's!
  13. Carol
    13. Posted by Carol Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:19 pm EDT

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    Yeah, KG I meant, he has a nice face. Nicely built face?
    Naahh, actually I believe you can tell a lot about a man's "fitness" by the muscles of his back...hmmmm, those oh-so-tight white t-shirts...
    Back later, kids; gotta go see a man about a rifle.
  14. Buffer
    14. Posted by Buffer Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:50 pm EDT

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    I hope everyone has a nice rest of the day. Going to do my Dad's laundry. Until tomorrow, have a good one.
  15. Kim
    15. Posted by Kim Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:53 pm EDT

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    KG--just heard that Davis fired the coach. Who is stupped enough to sign on to coach the Raiders now?
  16. Hawkeye
    16. Posted by Hawkeye Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:40 pm EDT

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    Jay - BTW, Paulie boy is 28th in points.......
  17. Hawkeye
    17. Posted by Hawkeye Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:40 pm EDT

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    Wow - Yates is building a powerhouse team!! 24th, 26th and 28th in points....... no where to go but up. If Rousch helps them..........
  18. packerd_00
    18. Posted by packerd_00 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:48 pm EDT

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    Teresa the most reclusive owner in Sports History, how many of us have even seen her interviewed, why didnt she just sell out to Dale Jr. she isnt a Nascar person by any means.
  19. kinggeorge
    19. Posted by kinggeorge Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    Kim-- Bevis and or Butthead
  20. packerd_00
    20. Posted by packerd_00 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:48 pm EDT

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    rich-Its a start, Yates was in complete shambles when Doug got it last year.
  21. 209 California
    21. Posted by 209 California Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:52 pm EDT

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    "(Oh, and say what you will about Menard racing on daddy's money; he's 22nd in points, and his daddy wasn't driving the car.)"
    Yeah, about that. He is 28th in points has no career top five finishes and one career top ten finish. While I got the latter part of this information from an article, the point standings were readily available on your own Web site.
    So while daddy monney bags does not drive the car, his sponsorship dollars are the only reason that little Menard gets to turn left with the best every weekend.
  22. Reds24
    22. Posted by Reds24 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:35 pm EDT

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    http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/standings
    it actually says "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup Contenders"... sheesh - Helloooooo Yahoo! where ya been?
    and it does list Paul at being 28th. Still thats at least 15 guys that are worse than him!
  23. kinggeorge
    23. Posted by kinggeorge Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    She stays out of the limelight because she knows she is a hated woman and doesn't want to stir up any more bad publicity for the team. Her showing her face and being part of the weekly racing scene would just piss people off even more. IMHO
    In a way I feel sorry for her with loosing her husband and having to forge on. I don't think she handled things very well but under the circumstances who would. Loosing a spouse can be devastating and some never recover from that.
  24. RACEFAN
    24. Posted by RACEFAN Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:35 pm EDT

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    Who cares if it's daddy's money, he has a sponsor and he's a good driver not someone fighting to stay above 35. All dads would sponsor there kids if they had the means, if in fact you had a good father. So the daddys money crap is a bunch of BS, and the people how talk about it abviosly don't have a supportive wealthy daddy. Boo Hoo;[
    DEI gets most of it's money from selling Sr's stuff and soon that will fade, as will DEI unless they turn it over to Jr motorsports.
  25. Jay Busbee
    25. Posted by Jay Busbee Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:33 pm EDT

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    Thanks for the fact-check, 209 Calif. Edited.

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