Post by dalejrfan on Jul 7, 2005 5:04:52 GMT -5
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - With reigning NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. finally re-signed by Dale Earnhardt Inc. to run in Nextel Cup next season, DEI has turned its attention to its No. 15 Chevrolet team.
Richie Gilmore, vice president of motorsports for DEI, said Saturday the organization is now working on re-signing sponsor NAPA and driver Michael Waltrip.
"Michael’s been a great driver for us and a great cheerleader for us this year and a great teammate. I think in the next couple of weeks, we’ll have it all worked out," he said.
"The Martin (Truex) deal just took up a lot more time than we thought, but everybody’s happy with how it worked out. Now we’ve just got to get the third deal done, because it’s really important to have three teams.
"We never want to be second best. We feel he have the resources to compete with Roush and Hendrick."
Gilmore said a lot was accomplished Saturday in regards to the No. 15 team.
"We feel like we can definitely get it done," he said.
Waltrip is currently 15th in points, but just 23 points out of the 400-point cutoff to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Since joining DEI for the 2001 season, Waltrip has four Cup wins, including two Daytona 500 victories.