HAMPTON, Ga. -- Steve Hmiel was introduced Friday as manager of competition for Chip Ganassi Racing -- and made no bones about why he made the move from Dale Earnhardt Inc.

A 30-year veteran in the sport who has been a part of multiple championship teams, Hmiel said he grew tired of NASCAR's new-school mentality where multi-car operations prevail and corporate bigwigs make decisions from corner offices in major metropolitan cities instead of tracks. Today, Hmiel said, it's difficult to "locate the guy who actually owns the place."

"At Chip Ganassi, you can make a phone call to Chip and say, 'Hey ...' It's the comfort of being able to contact the owner at any time," Hmiel said.

Hmiel will oversee the day-to-day operations -- building the cars -- whereas director John Fernandez will focus on long-term strategic planning. Both Hmiel and Fernandez will report directly to Chip Ganassi.

"I'm happily terrified," Hmiel said. "I intend to race another 20 years and I'm anxious to meet new challenges. Chip Ganassi has a real nice operation over there."

Despite a handful of high-profile brass leaving DEI for perceived greener pastures and alliances, team officials say the other 450 employees are committed to and focused on the new direction in which the organization is headed.

"We certainly have had some people leave a month ago, but it is because they wanted to go work for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports or they didn't want to race in an organization that didn't have Junior in it," said John Story, vice president of motorsports at DEI.

Hmiel and DEI parted company last week on amicable terms (complete story). However, Hmiel said the mid-season merger with Ginn Racing and lack of one-on-one communication contributed to his departure.

In July, Ginn and DEI combined resources to become a four-car Nextel Cup organization. In addition to losing Earnhardt Jr., his long-time crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury Jr., announced his departure from DEI in September.

"Some people walked away, some people dropped out, some people lost faith and I had an opportunity to do some other things where it was a little bit smaller, a little bit more personal," said Hmiel, who was sporting a new black Ganassi Racing-emblazoned jacket around the Cup garage at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday, his first day on the job.

After Hmiel and DEI failed to agree on the direction of the company -- which is operated by Dale Earnhardt's widow Teresa -- both parties decided to go their separate ways, Story said. "It was an amicable split," he added. "Steve is very brilliant racer and did a lot of great things at DEI ... it was just time for a change."

Story said Teresa Earnhardt has established a stable and favorable management team post-merger, but it wasn't one Hmiel jelled with -- and he likened it to a scene from Wizard of Oz.

"Like pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," he said. "You want to feel like you can have a conversation and both sides are heard, and no ill feelings are had. [Ganassi Racing] it's not a five-headed monster; I can go see one person. He can tell me if I'm right or wrong, if he's mad or happy. It's a lot simpler scenario. You don't walk around worrying [about] who you made mad today."

Story admits it has been a tumultuous year in light of the DEI-Ginn merger and the parting of its franchise driver. Nevertheless, Story contends, morale is good.

"As matter of fact, here in the last month, we've seen quite an upswing in moral. We are beginning to do a better job as managers communicating and letting people know where we are headed," he said.

Furthermore, Story said positive staffing changes are coming. "We are a four-car team with four different paint jobs, but we are unified and will operate as one team," he said. "The crew chiefs will have the autonomy to tune their cars the way they see fit but will do it with an eye toward commonality."

Meanwhile, Hmiel is gearing up to help Ganassi garner a NASCAR championship, a feat Ganassi has yet to accomplish despite multiple championships in other series, including the Indy Racing League.

Ganassi fields cars for Juan Montoya, Reed Sorenson and David Stremme, whom IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti will replace next season.

After Cup practice on Friday, Ganassi said Hmiel brings a skill set that compliments the all facets of the organization.

"I have said many times, in reference to drivers, that when good ones become available you owe it to your organization to make a run at them," Ganassi said. "Well, the same is true for leaders. Steve became available and I got him. I couldn't be happier."

Hmiel's career in NASCAR began at Petty Enterprises where, as car chief, he helped Richard Petty win Cup championships in 1975 and '79 and the Daytona 500 in 1979 and '81. Hmiel also won the 1984 championship working for Terry Labonte with Billy Hagan Racing.

In 1987, Hmiel and current NASCAR executive Robin Pemberton helped Jack Roush move his Ford program from sports-car racing to NASCAR to form the foundation of Roush Racing as its first general manager.

Hmiel left in 1998 to join Dale Earnhardt Inc. and that same year brought home both the Truck and Busch series titles. He would go on to work closely with Earnhardt Jr. while helping him win 17 Cup races, including the 2004 Daytona 500.

"When you plug a guy in like that, I would hope I am moving closer to [a championship]," Ganassi said.