Earnhardt in a Ford? Next you'll have Roger Clemmons in a Yankee Uni.

Earnhardt wins in the #8 Budweiser Ford Fusion!



Are you feeling a little queasy there, buckwheat?  Do you expect thunderheads to form and lightning to crackle in the skies?  Is your bow-tie a little tight?

A merger, or maybe a buy out of one team by the other, is being bandied about, at least in the media, regarding Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Robert Yates Racing.  Five years ago, these were two of the top, probably, five teams in the sport.  DEI was winning everything on a plate track, including  a couple NASCAR Super Bowl 500s and Yates was the premiere engine building shop on the circuit.  Yates had two real good drivers, solid sponsorship, was Fords co-number one team and had a  history.  DEI had engines, a tradition with Chevrolet and Junior.

Things haven't been that good for a while, for either organization.

There is talk that the two might merge.

The talk says that, if it happens, the new team will be a Ford team.  And the talk makes sense.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a Ford.

Wayne Gretsky became a Los Angeles King.

Roger Clemmons pitched for the Yankees.

Joe Namath played for the LA Rams

I think, if this thing happens, and the emergent team is competitive and Junior can win, consistently, fans will come around.

After all, Richard Petty, the ultimate MOPAR guy, raced a Ford too.

Comments

[marc]

The Petty Ford has an interesting story behind it.

Chrysler went to the Road Runner for '69 but Richard wanted to run with a Charger. He was told in no uncertain terms to take a hike so Petty up and left to race the Torino for a single year.

[michael]

I can see Jr. in a Mustang GT commercial or an F-350 Super Duty.

marc... the '69 Torino also took the championship that year, but it wasn't "The King" it was David Pearson

[steve]

Nobody ever thought Bill Elliott, the comsumate Ford guy, would ever jump ship to Dodge, then Chevy, then test for Toyota. Mark Martin in a Chevy. That will never happen, many said. Sowhy not Junior in a Ford? If there is one thing I respect about Junior, it's that he has done everything in his power to be his own person and not simply try to ride on the coattails of his late father. Go for it Junior. I may have someone new to root for.

[Mike]

On the flipside, what happens if Yates moves their engine-building prowess to Chevy? They currently support all the Ford teams. Not only would it give DEI strong horses, Ford would be down to seven teams plus a huge hole in their engine package.

[charlie]

The only side to make a definitive statement through all of this has been the Yates group. Robert Yates has said, firmly, that they will remain a Ford team. The loss of Yates' expertise could be fatal to Ford's NASCAR effort. I would think that the suits in Daytona would do almost anything to prevent that from happening.