The over 40s
It's only a matter of time before Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek hang up their steering wheels, and it looks like that time is real soon. ESPN.com and NASCAR.com both are reporting that Ginn Racing will bump Marlin out of the No. 14 for Indy (Regan Smith will take over). If Ginn doesn't find a primary sponsor for the No. 13 (Ginn Resorts don't count), Nemechek will be watching the Indy race on TV.
That Ginn Racing has struggled isn't that surprising: It's an undersponsored team with the oldest stable of drivers in the business. Marlin turned 50 in June, Nemecheck turns 44 in September and Mark Martin is 89. (He's actually only 48.)
One of the odd and maybe endearing things about NASCAR is the number of old guys involved. The ageless Mark Martin has six wins since turning 40 back in 1999. Dale Earnhardt had 28 wins and three of his championships after he turned 40 in 1991. Terry Labonte turned 40 six days after he won his second championship.
But the old timers don't win much any more. The oldest guy to win this year, Jeff Burton, turned 40 in June. (I'm 12 days older). The other gray beards, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, were both born in the 1970s. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and and Martin Truex Jr. each have a win this season, and all three were born in the '80s.
The last 40-something to win a Cup race was Dale Jarrett (Talladega, 2005) at age 48 and Mark Martin a week later at Kansas (at age 46).
I'm not sure why I'm getting wistful about the Cup veterans, but I'm fascinated by the prospect that Ginn might go from the oldest Cup team to the youngest. If Ginn and DEI join forces and DEI adds Kyle Busch to go with Truex and Paul Menard, you have a pretty young team with a lot of potential - a lot more than a Martin/Marlin/Nemechek lineup at Ginn, at any rate.
The Diecast Dude, meanwhile, isn't shedding tears about the impending turnout. It's just business, baby!
Wednesday update: Ginn lays out it future plans right here. The short version: Regan Smith takes over for Sterling Marlin, Aric Almirola because Mark Martin's sub, and the No. 13 (and Joe Nemechek) are done.
Comments (1)
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I haven't seen a team drop this far, this fast since the days of the old J.D. Stacy organization back in the early 80's.
I'm truly sad to see that Sterling may have driven his last race, unless the 2nd car at Morgan McClure I'm reading about really materializes. Between Marlin and Jarrett your post references 5 Daytona 500 wins, now they can't get out of their own way.
I feel bad for Nemechek too. He gave up his seat as a team player in order to allow the Martin/Smith combo to take place. It looks like Ginn grew too big too soon.
Posted on July 18, 2007 2:39 PM