[oncea3fan]

WOW!, I wonder if thier wanting both teams 38 & 88, or just the 88.
the report on windtunnel said they really want the shop and the owner points of the 88 for paul manard. supposeitly paul's father is a BILLIONAIR, and can/will finanaince the whole thing.

I wonder why menard wouldn't simply buy his own team, rather than finanance someone else and then sponsor the team ????

[Nevadastars]

I saw the same thing on Wind Tunnel. Its really strange since DEI run Chevys, and Yates run Fords. Could this is be the first sign of the rumored Ford/Chevy merger?

[LSC9901]

DEI interested in buying Yates' No. 88 for space

Technical director said move would be for land, not owner points

By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
November 12, 2006
03:31 PM EST (20:31 GMT)


AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s interest in purchasing the No. 88 team of Robert Yates Racing is about real estate, not owner points.
Technical director Steve Hmiel on Sunday denied reports that DEI was interested in purchasing the No. 88 team so their new third Nextel Cup team with Paul Menard would be guaranteed a spot in the first five races next season based on owner points.

He said the motivation is to purchase the building currently housing RYR's No. 88 and No. 38 Cup teams and some adjacent land with plans to eventually expand to four Cup teams and move the entire DEI organization there.
He said the owner points would be a bonus.
"We don't care anything about the number,'' Hmiel said before Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway. "We won't buy the 88. We are interested in buying a piece of property to expand our facility.
"If the 88 comes along with that, that's OK. Now [Toyota's Team] Red Bull, they're offering a ton of money just for the number. We never even considered buying just the number. The focus is on the facility.''
Hmiel added that it's unlikely a deal will be reached unless Yates, who fields Fords, would move completely out of the building.

Yates, who lost Elliott Sadler to Evernham Motorsports earlier this season and will lose Dale Jarrett to Michael Waltrip Racing after the season, is committed to running the No. 38 next year with rookie David Gilliland.
"We could probably do that,'' Hmiel said of simply purchasing the No. 88. "But how can you have a Chevrolet team in one side and a Ford team in the other? It's a nice piece of property and we'd like to do that, but when you really get into the gist of it, it's kind of seemingly impossible.
"Either Robert will have to move away and run the 38 team as he's committed to doing, or we wouldn't buy it. That's the deal-breaker in the whole thing.''
Hmiel said DEI has outgrown the 108,000 square-foot facility called the "Garage Mahal'' that sits adjacent to the Mooresville, N.C., home of owner Teresa Earnhardt.

He said discussions are centered on moving to a new location that could field four Cup teams and one or two Busch Series teams. He said only the engine shop would remain at the current location.
A source close to DEI said the current facility would be turned into a museum.
"We're not very comfortable about building anymore buildings in Teresa's front yard,'' Hmiel said.
Yates reportedly would like to make a decision on the No. 88 before next weekend's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hmiel doesn't see how that's possible from DEI's standpoint.
"Robert told his guys it was a done deal,'' Hmiel said. "He told them that Wednesday. We just started talking. We are not even close.''

[Nevadastars]

Wasnt Robby Gordon trying to buy into Yates a few weeks ago?

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

Wasnt Robby Gordon trying to buy into Yates a few weeks ago?

Everyone is wantin a peace of the action.

[nascarfan24]

poor robert!

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

Wasnt Robby Gordon trying to buy into Yates a few weeks ago?

He was but it was probably more for the teams versus DEI wanting property.

[lilsexy08]

I didn't know about any of this, is it true? They are going to merge?

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by lilsexy08

I didn't know about any of this, is it true? They are going to merge?

Nothing offical yet. I'm sure it'll be a story this weekend. Keep in mind DEI only wants the land. It'll be a story to watch.

[lilsexy08]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Nothing offical yet. I'm sure it'll be a story this weekend. Keep in mind DEI only wants the land. It'll be a story to watch.

Thanks for the info LSC!

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Nothing offical yet. I'm sure it'll be a story this weekend. Keep in mind DEI only wants the land. It'll be a story to watch.

According to the last thing I heard, no.

I believe that DEI was trying to buy RYR for two reasons. Reason one was to buy the #88 team so that Paul menard could have a guaranteed starting spot in next season's first six races.

IRThe second reason is the close proximity of the RYR shops to DEI (between 4-5 miles, I believe). DEI could move their increasing Cup Lite program to RYR current layout.

Another thing I recently heard was that there is a possibility that Theresa may entertain an offer from John Menard to buy DEI lock, stock and barrel. John is a multi-gazillionaire whose wealth size lies somewhere between Brian France's and Queen Elizabeth's. He personally owns the country's third largest home improvement chain (Menard's) and has a long history in auto racing (a former successful Indy race driver and car owner).

I would say such a buyout could be NASCAR's next GIGANTIC business deal , and IF such a thing did come to pass, look for Junior to immediately jump to RCR and drive the number 3.

[oncea3fan]

and IF such a thing did come to pass, look for Junior to immediately jump to RCR and drive the number 3.

I think if menaeds was to buy DEI (which I believe very possible) it would only make good business sense to include a contract(long term) to keep the sports most popular driver.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by oncea3fan

and IF such a thing did come to pass, look for Junior to immediately jump to RCR and drive the number 3.

I think if menaeds was to buy DEI (which I believe very possible) it would only make good business sense to include a contract(long term) to keep the sports most popular driver.

Of course I don't know but I have a gut feeling that Junior's contract would allow him to NOT be part of any sale of DEI. He's probably a contract worker for Theresa, d.b.a. DEI, and if she loses control of DEI she probably would lose control of Junior also.

But I've been very, very wrong before.

[Deltonega]

I'm new here so excuse me if the DEI to buy RYR answer has already been posted but, thats another silly season rumor like the one posted saying"Jr was bolting to RCR to drive the #3 Richard Childress said long ago that the #3 would never be entered in a race and he hopes that everyone in NASCAR will respect his wishes being Teresa's also.Jr may drive for Richard toward the end of his run in Nextel Cup but I seriously doubt he or any other driver or team will run the #3 But then again we as fans will never know..........................

[Quality88]

Childress said he would not let the number go, and while he would not enter it he would hold it. He said he could not deny Jr the ride if he approached Childress or even Dale's grandson. Teresa doesn't want the number back on the track. I remeber reading the article somewhere. I think it was Nascar.com.