Ganassi parks one car

Lack of sponsors sidelines Franchitti

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates pulled the plug Tuesday on its unsponsored No. 40 Dodge, driven by 2007 Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, and scaled back operations from three NASCAR Sprint Cup teams to two.

The decision to shut down the No. 40 team resulted in about 70 people losing their jobs with the Ganassi team, a team representative said.

"If I keep going, I run the risk of dragging the other two teams down," Ganassi told The Associated Press. "I don't want to do that. There's no money. It makes no sense to be running this out of my pocket. I had to put a stop to it."

The team said in a statement that it remains committed to Franchitti's development as a stock car driver. One option, it said, is running the 35-year-old driver born in Scotland in the remainder of the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series in the No. 40 Dodge. The team will continue to field the No. 41 Dodge for Reed Sorenson and the No. 42 Dodge for Juan Pablo Montoya.

ALMIROLA WILL DRIVE FULL-TIME FOR DEI: Dale Earnhardt Inc. confirmed that Aric Almirola will take over its No. 8 Chevrolet full-time in 2009.

Almirola is splitting this season in that ride with veteran Mark Martin, who appears to be headed back to full-time competition in the No. 5 Chevrolet owned by Hendrick Motorsports.

Hendrick Motorsports has scheduled an announcement on the future of the No. 5 team for 12:30 p.m. Friday at Daytona International Speedway, the site of this week's Coke Zero 400.

Martin, 49, scaled back from full-time competition after the 2006 season. He ran 24 races in 2007 and is scheduled to run 24 again this year for DEI, which said in its release regarding Almirola that Martin will move to a new team next season.

Almirola, a 24-year-old from Tampa, Fla., has made 11 career Cup starts, including five this season with DEI after joining the team along with Martin when DEI and Ginn Racing merged last year. Almirola's best finish is eighth at Bristol earlier this season.

"When you get into racing, you always dream of competing at the highest level, and I've had the chance to do that on a limited basis for the past two seasons," Almirola said. "Now I will have the opportunity to race the car full time and I could not be more excited."

Martin said he believes Almirola is "destined for great things."

"There is no doubt Aric is ready to go full time," Martin said. "Aric is an incredible talent and a true student of the sport. Having him run a full-time program in the No. 8 was always part of the plan, but his development has allowed us to accelerate things."

(David Poole, the Charlotte Observer)

KERRY EARNHARDT TO DRIVE NO. 8 IN NATIONWIDE RACE: For the first time, Kerry Earnhardt, the son of seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, will drive a Dale Earnhardt Inc. entry in a NASCAR race.

Earnhardt will drive the No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet in the July 4 Daytona 250 Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt, who works at DEI as a team liaison, will be making his 70th career start in the series but only his fifth Nationwide start since 2003. He most recently competed regularly in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2006.

"I've won several races with DEI in an ARCA car, but I'm really looking forward to driving a fast car at Daytona under the DEI umbrella," Earnhardt said. "I appreciate DEI giving me the opportunity to get back in a car, especially one that I know will be fast and competitive. I love running the speedways (Daytona and Talladega) and can't wait for the weekend to get here."

(From Team News Release)