It took five years, but DEI is back on track

One would think that it would be no big deal that Martin Truex Jr. is driving the No. 1 Chevrolet full-time in 2006.

To DEI, it means everything. It's the return of what Dale Earnhardt started.

The car had been mostly dormant since 2003, with Truex making just a handful of starts in the No. 1 in 2004-05.

Richie Gilmore, director of motorsports at DEI, said the return of the company's inaugural Cup team is a shot in the arm for the organization.

"I think when we lost the 1, that hurt our momentum a little bit because that was the original team," Gilmore said. "Losing all that history at one time was tough on us, but rebuilding the 1 was one of our goals."

Gilmore admittedly has a difficult job after a lackluster 2005. For the first time this decade, DEI failed to win at least two races, and the team suffered though numerous distractions, including contract negotiations with Truex and longtime DEI employees Tony Eury Sr. and Tony Eury Jr.

By now, everyone has heard the story: DEI shook up the teams of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip before the 2005 season. The plan never worked, and Waltrip was allowed to walk into a sea of Toyota-backed waters.

That left Earnhardt Jr., 31, as the oldest and most experienced driver on the team.

For all the turmoil and disappointment the team endured in 2005, DEI now has its key personnel in place for the next few years.

"Our driver lineup is concrete for the next three years so that is a big plus, not having those questions," Gilmore said.

When Earnhardt died Feb. 18, 2001, the team was operating in the same 200,000 square-foot shop that had made DEI the finest shop on tour.

As recently as 2005, that shop hadn't changed much, even as the surrounding farmland began to morph into strip malls. Teams like Penske and Gibbs moved into shops that were considerably larger than the DEI standard.

The team currently is working on a major shop extension for the first time in years. Paul Menard is expected to drive a third DEI car full-time in 2007, bringing a welcome end to the two-car standard.

The change also will move the Nos. 8 and 1 shops into the same building.

"All that in mind, we needed some more space," Gilmore said.

DEI banking on friendship of Earnhardt Jr., Truex

The five-year relationship between Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip went from chummy to chilled during the years, and Earnhardt Jr. was at odds frequently with Eury Jr., who served as his car chief until 2005.

But a few months apart from Eury Jr., coupled with a new teammate in Truex, made Earnhardt Jr. look at this season in a new light.

"Me and Junior are good friends, just like we've been the past year, year and a half, two years or so," Truex said. "He's been a great friend and somebody I go to for advice, and I really look up to him as a person and as a racecar driver."

A pronounced gain during the offseason test at Las Vegas didn't hurt either. DEI suffered from a lack of horsepower at times in 2005, partly because Gilmore, the former head engine builder, was promoted into an executive role with the company.

The team went to work during the winter trying to find some extra horses under the hood, and at offseason test at Las Vegas, Earnhardt Jr. said they had improved.

"The engine department has found some speed and still working on even more, so that's good," Earnhardt Jr. said.