New blood brings whole new approach to racing

Once upon a time, NASCAR's Silly Season was confined to late-season driver movement and the occasional defection of a high-profile crew chief.

Today, entire teams are engaging in midseason silliness.

"Silly," however, is far from the right word for the machinations and negotiations that have been dominating the headlines in the Nextel Cup garage. In fact, with millions of dollars at stake, the business of racing has become extremely serious business, conducted increasingly by owners who are businessmen first and racers second.

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Accordingly, the entire business model of Nextel Cup racing is undergoing a paradigm shift in which the final distillation may be a limited universe of vested franchises.

NASCAR racing has welcomed the likes of Boston Red Sox owner John Henry, who partnered with Jack Roush, and developer Bobby Ginn, who bought 80 percent interest in the former MB2 Motorsports. It's no secret that George N. Gillett, the Colorado ski mogul who owns both the Montreal Canadiens and the Liverpool soccer club of the English Premier League, has been involved in protracted negotiations with Evernham Motorsports.

Granted, these new owner/partners are sports enthusiasts, but they're not cut from the same cloth as the owner/racers of old, such as Junior Johnson, Hoss Ellington and Bud Moore, or owner/racers who are still in the garage, such as Richard Childress and Robert Yates.

Confronted with business problems, the new breed will make difficult business decisions. For Ginn, when a steady flow of sponsorship money failed to materialize for the Nos. 13 and 14 Chevys, that meant laying off employees, relieving veterans Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek of their driving duties, putting Ginn Racing's Busch Series team in the deep freeze and investing in the future with a pair of 23-year-old drivers, Regan Smith and Aric Almirola.

Smith will take over the No. 14 for Marlin, and Almirola will team with Mark Martin to fill the No. 01 seat. Nemechek's No. 13 seat remains open as Ginn decides how to move forward.

The increased sophistication of the business side of the sport has injected a corporate mentality into the mix -- one of mergers and acquisitions, streamlining, downsizing and partnership. Max Siegel, a former entertainment executive with Sony who is now president of global operations for Dale Earnhardt Inc., certainly understands the value of strategic alliances. DEI already has an engine development deal in place with Richard Childress Racing.

According to Sporting News sources and published reports, DEI also has been negotiating with Ginn with an eye toward partnership or merger. In theory, a consolidated effort between the two organizations would strengthen both. And Ginn has an asset DEI covets -- the 13 car, which is 34th in owner points. The No. 15 of DEI driver Paul Menard is 39th in owner points, outside the top 35 and therefore forced to qualify for each race on time. (Continued)