Auto racing: Ginn says merger was key for team

Bobby Ginn had grand plans to build a contender when he bought a NASCAR team last summer.

But he learned rather quickly that winning takes a lot of money, and without solid sponsorships, it’s almost impossible to do.

Faced with scaling back his program to a noncompetitive level, Ginn instead merged his organization with Dale Earnhardt Inc. on Wednesday to form a four-car team that will debut this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“We absolutely would have survived without merging, but what we would have wound up doing is taking on lesser sponsors,” Ginn told The Associated Press. “We would have had to continue to cut costs, and that is disgraceful to me. I am proud of the merger. I would not have been proud of putting a car out there that couldn’t compete.”

The new deal makes Ginn a partner at DEI, which had been owned outright by the late Dale Earnhardt’s widow, Teresa. She remains the majority owner under the merger.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will continue to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet for DEI for the remainder of the season, and Martin Truex Jr. remains in the No. 1 Chevy.

McLaren faces hearing

Formula One leader McLaren-Mercedes will answer charges today that its designer acquired confidential data from rival Ferrari.

If found guilty, the team could have points deducted, be temporarily banned from races or be thrown out of the F1 championship.

The hearing at FIA’s world motor sport council in Paris will examine how confidential data belonging to Ferrari ended up with suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan, and if team officials were aware of the contents.

ESPN races back

The promotions started weeks ago. Just in case there were any regular viewers who weren’t aware ESPN is going NASCAR racing, the network made it impossible to ignore.

ESPN kicks off its return to Nextel Cup coverage with Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and is leading into it with its usual hyped-up blitz. In addition to reminders, scrolls and commercials, ESPN is airing 66 hours of NASCAR-related programs this week to market its upcoming coverage of the final 17 races of the season.