For the past five years, the No. 1 and No. 42 Sprint Cup Series teams ran under the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebastes banner. However, that all changes in 2014 as the company reverts back to it’s original name – Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebastes.
“It’s been an honor to have the Earnhardt name affiliated with our team,” Chip Ganassi Racing President Steve Lauletta told Sporting News. “Dale and Teresa have done a tremendous amount for the sport. She was visionary enough with us to do this partnership in the first place. We felt like it was a benefit. … The goal of becoming a better race team partnered together, we think we did that.
“That’s a tribute to her wanting to do the right thing for her partners, her company and her employees. We have nothing but good things to say about the partnership.”
Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing was formed in December 2008 when Chip Ganassi Racing entered into a partnership with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. The decision was then made for Ganassi to switch from Dodge to Chevrolet, to therefore use Earnhardt Childress Racing engines and have access to the Earnhardt Technologies Group. In exchange, the No. 1 team was moved from the DEI shop to the Ganassi shop at the time.
Whether it is due to changes to a the financial structure of the organization, Ganassi officials would not confirm to Sporting News. Though as noted, Ganassi switched from ECR engines last year to Hendrick Motorsports engines.
Also, per Bob Pockrass’ article on Sporting News, EGR was listed as a seperate company from Chip Ganassi Racing in the 2013 annual report that CGR filed with the state of North Carolina. The operations of the Sprint Cup team will now fall under Chip Ganassi company this year.
“We’ll continue to do business with those (DEI) companies,” Lauletta said. “The relationship with Teresa and DEI was a benefit to the organization and we certainly want to continue to be affiliated with them. But for our partners and for the way we operate the organization, we’re changing the brand to Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.”
The change comes as no surprise to most people in the sport. Teresa Earnhardt, widow of Dale Earnhardt and owner of Dale Earnhardt Inc., has not been involved with the team’s day-to-day operations from day one. Earnhardt has stayed focused on the DEI museum and continuing to honor Dale Earnhardt’s legacy.
“There is not a daily role (for her) of the management in the two-car Sprint Cup organization,” Lauletta said. “We’ve been operating this way pretty much since Day 1 of the partnership. We still operate the same way we have for the last five years.”
Chip Ganassi Racing enters the 2014 Sprint Cup season with two cars – Past Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray behind the wheel of the No. 1 McDonalds Chevrolet, and Kyle Larson entering his rookie season behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet.
