DEI and Ginn Racing merge

Mooresville, NC (Sports Network) - Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing merged Wednesday to create a new four-car team.
Effective immediately the new team will feature the Chevrolets of Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Aric Almirola.
Martin and Almirola will combine to drive Ginn's No. 1 Army Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2007 season and into 2008. Menard drives the Menards Chevy, Truex handles the Bass Pro Shops car and Earnhardt is at the controls of the Budweiser Chevrolet -- all originally part of the DEI team.
All four cars are inside the top 35 in Nextel Cup points.
"This merger is great for both our companies," said DEI global operations president Max Siegel. "Our stated goals included an expansion to four cars as quickly as possible and, in order to do that, we had to acquire more shop space. This relationship with Bobby Ginn and his company allows us to accomplish both which makes this a perfect transaction."
The partnership will force Ginn to give up the points on his No. 13 car, which was 34th in the owner standings.
"NASCAR's cap of four teams per company meant we had to give something up," said Ginn. "We felt so strongly about this merger that we surrendered the intangible value of the 13 car. We all were completely comfortable that the benefits of working together far outweighed the value of the points."
DEI's current management team will be responsible for all day-to-day activities.