McLaughlin starts domino effect

February 7, 2001
4:54 PM EST (2154 GMT)

Mike McLaughlin's hiring at Joe Gibbs Racing could trigger a mass shakeup in the Busch Series. McLaughlin will now pilot Gibbs' No. 4 Pontiac, formerly driven by Jeff Purvis, who recently took over the No. 18 Pontiac after Jason Leffler's departure to Chip Ganassi's camp.

That leaves McLaughlin's former ride, the No. 48 Chevy owned by George deBidart, wide open for the taking. Rumor has it Ward Burton will drive that car in 12 races. Hermie Sadler is among those being courted for the ride in the remaining 20 races. Sadler drove 16 races for deBidart in 2000, posting two top-5s and three top-10s. The 48 car should be his for the taking.

Hurting Hermie

Sadler is also in the news on another front. According to Sadler, he was all set to partner with WWF superstar Dwayne Johnson, A.K.A. "The Rock," in late December on a full time Winston Cup operation known as Rock Racing.

But WWF owner/president Vince McMahon told Johnson that he wouldn't allow use of the name or likeness of The Rock character. Thus, the deal was nixed, and Sadler was forced to renege on prior plans to purchase equipment, cars, tools and even personnel from Joe Bessey Motorsports.

Sponsorless for Busch, too

Kenny Wallace can't get a break these days. His current Winston Cup ride, the No. 27 Pontiac of Eel River Racing remains unsponsored, and his Busch Series future is quite bleak.

Team Rensi, which was running four half-sponsored teams including Wallace's, shut down the No. 52 Busch Series team. The entire 52 team was fired including Tony Lambert, Mark Martin's Busch crew chief at Roush Racing. He is still unemployed, as is Wallace in the Busch ranks.