Mattias Ekström will pilot the car at the Toyota Save/Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. No decision has been made as to who will fill the seat for the remainder of the season.

Update: Red Bull Racing accnounced that Reed Sorenson will drive the No. 83, beginning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

RBR General Manager Jay Frye said:

Our unique situation has afforded us the opportunity to try some different things, and we’re continuing to do that with Reed. We appreciate Casey’s work and everything he’s done the past five weeks.

Mears is rumored to be taking over Tommy Baldwin Racing’s No. 36.

Mears took over for Brian Vickers earlier this season when Vickers was sidelined for the entire season by blood clots. Mears has had lackluster results, posting a best finish of 22nd, with a 27.5 average finish.

Last weekend, he had a run-in with RBR teammate Scott Speed that resulted in Speed having harsh words for Mears.

At the time, Speed said:

Both of us were struggling but [Mears] wrecking us like that — I mean is ridiculous. Whenever you’re at Hendrick [Motorsports] and Richard Childress Racing and then you still don’t have a ride and haven’t done anything there’s no real excuses after that, but whatever.

Mears has always been considered by many as an underachiever because of his results in relatively competitive rides. He posted only one win in seven seasons, despite being at powerhouse teams such as Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Richard Childress Racing.

In his defense, however, Mears never had stability at crew chief. He rarely worked with a crew chief for more than one season. Still, after his stint with his fourth competitive team, one has to wonder how many more chances he will get.

Red Bull Racing also recently announced that it is parting ways with its competition director, Elton Sawyer.

And while I don’t know the reasons for some of the business decisions being made by Teresa Earnhardt, I suspect that pride and stubborness are leading to the mismanagement of the company that Dale Earnhardt Sr built.

Since Sr’s death, Teresa hasn’t had much interest in the sport, often skipping appearances at the track. She’s been called an absentee owner on several occasions.

She let pride get in the way when Dale Earnhardt Jr made his highly publicized bid for ownership in the company. Jr frequently complained that DEI was doing nothing to keep up with the competition. He contended that the team was not purchasing new technology that would help performance, and that the team was not expanding, despite being too big for its shop in N.C.

Teresa was so stubborn and arrogant that she let NASCAR’s most popular driver walk away, and expected the team to survive.

She wouldn’t even let Jr take with him the number he put back on the map. I can understand that the No. 8 has sentimental value to DEI, but it’s not like Jr and Rick Hendrick made an unreasonable offer. I think they also would have agreed to return the number, when Jr was finished with it. But, Teresa went out of her way to ensure that they would not get the number by seeking a percentage of licensing revenue.

Since Jr jumped ship, DEI has been a sinking ship. The team merged with Bobby Ginn Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. It lost three sponsors in Budweiser, US Army, and Menards. It lost drivers Mark Martin and Paul Menard. And is rumored to be in danger of losing Martin Truex Jr and Bass Pro Shops.

Sadly, things will not improve until Teresa gives up control of the company, or she stops letting foolish pride and personal reason influence business decisions.

The announcement led to questions about the future of Dale Earnhardt Inc. In addition, questions surrounded Martin Truex Jr.’s ability to become the face of the legendary team.

While DEI has never won a Sprint Cup championship, the team bears the name of a NASCAR icon. And for that reason, expectations are huge.

Jr.’s highly publicized departure seemingly looked to be the end of DEI. The team struggled in 2008.

Truex was hit with a 150 point penalty. Teresa Earnhardt was rumored to be considering selling the team. There were conflicting reports over Truex Jr’s option for 2009, which led to a fight with DEI’s president Max Siegel. Siegel eventually left the team. Mark Martin, like Jr., left the team for Hendrick. Paul Menard left the team for Yates Racing, taking his father’s Menard sponsorship with him. The team also lost its US Army sponsorship to Stewart Haas Racing and Ryan Newman. DEI was left with four cars, three drivers (Truex Jr, Aric Almirola, and Regan Smith), and one sponsor.

Enter Chip Ganassi Racing. CGR and DEI merged to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, virtually saving both companies. CGR brought Juan Pablo Montoya, and Target. He also had Wrigley’s signed for a half-year worth of sponsorship.

Things were looking up for the team, as EGR was said to be courting past champion, Bobby Labonte. But then, a deal feel through and Labonte was announced as the driver of Hall of Fame Racing’s No. 96, which has an alliance with Yates Racing.

When the dust settled from the offseason, and teams returned to Daytona International Speedway for practice for the 500, Truex unloaded with a fast car. He was in the top 5 in both practices. And when qualifying came around, he posted the fastest time, taking the pole.

This is exactly what EGR needed to do out of the gate. Taking the pole of the season’s biggest race will help this team put one of its toughest offseasons behind it.

While the work is not done yet, the team can pat itself on the back for a good showing in the first step of the Daytona 500. Next up, winning one of the Gatorade Duels.

Following Sunday’s showing, I for one will not be counting out EGR.

Activision will be primary sponsor on Aric Almirola’s No. 8 car for the Daytona 500. The paint scheme will feature the World Tour logo and the graphics from the game’s packaging. In later races, the cars will feature upcoming Guitar Hero titles.

Activision is familiar with Chip Ganassi and Chip Ganassi Racing as last season, Activision’s Guitar Hero brand was featured on CGR’s No. 40, driven by Dario Franchitti, before that team was closed in the middle of the season.

Even before Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s highly publicized departure from DEI before last season, the team was struggling to remain competitive. While Martin Truex Jr. made the Chase in 2007, Jr. lost six engines and crashed out of races twice.

As if losing Jr. wasn’t enough, the team had a mediocre, at best, 2008 season with Truex Jr. receiving a 150-point penalty and conflicting reports as to whether Truex had re-signed with the team.

At the end of the season, Mark Martin left the team for Hendrick Motorsports, like Jr. Paul Menard left, taking his sponsor with him to Yates Racing. The US Army left the team for Stewart Haas Racing. Everyone was abandoning ship.

At Chip Ganassi Racing, things weren’t much better. The team shut the doors to its No. 40 team and driver Dario Franchitti due to a lack of sponsorship money.

The team also fired Jimmy Elledge, which seemed to upset Juan Pablo Montoya. And, Montoya, at one point, was rumored to be leaving the team, while Reed Sorenson left the team for Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

When DEI and CGR merged to form EGR, they had Montoya, Truex Jr. and Aric Almirola under contract. They were missing a driver with a lot of NASCAR experience. They were missing a multiple race-winner. They were missing a veteran leader. In Labonte, they may have found all of that.

Labonte needs good equipment to be competitive, and EGR should be able to provide that. I know that the team has struggled, but some of that you have to put on its absentee owner, Teresa, who some say is not committed to winning.

Ganassi will be a presence at the track, and is committed to winning. He should be able to help keep the focus on on-track performance.

That, combined with Labonte’s leadership, should make any partnership a perfect match.

The move reunited McMurray and Wingo, as Wingo served as McMurray’s crew chief at Chip Ganassi Racing for three seasons before McMurray left to join RFR.

Wingo said:

Jamie and I had some good runs together at Ganassi and we were pretty successful on the track. I’ve seen how well Jamie has performed in the past and I hope with coming over to Roush Fenway Racing we can build on that success. Not only do I get to work with Jamie, but I get to work with four other really good crew chiefs here at Roush Fenway Racing. With the support of them and everyone at Ford Racing, I’m really looking forward to next season. 

DEI drivers Martin Truex Jr and Aric Almirola will drive the Nos. 1 and 8 respectively, while Juan Pablo Montoya and a driver to be named later will drive the Nos. 42 and 41 respectively.

The team currently has sponsorship for the No 1 (Bass Pro Shops) and 41 (Target), and half of a season for the No. 42 (Wrigley’s).

More details will be announced later.

CGR is also said to be considering a merger with Petty Enterprises.

Currently, CGR has one full time sponsor for next season (Target), and one part time sponsor (Wrigley’s). DEI only has one full time sponsor (Bass Pro Shops) and part time sponsorship for the team’s other two cars.

Paul Menard is leaving DEI at the end of the season to join Yates Racing, and he is taking his Menards sponsorship with him.

Petty Enterprises is also seeking sponsorship for its cars.

CGR fields Dodges, while DEI fields Chevys, which could be a potential stumbling block for any merger with DEI.

But, given Dodge’s performance in the sport and the current economic climate, a move from Dodge to Chevy may be possible.

Some teams the sport that biggest names, Petty, Earnhardt, and Waltrip could enter the 2009 season with unsponsored cars. Chip Ganassi racing’s No. 40 team lost its Coors sponsorship last season, and managed to stay afloat using a patchwork of one-race deals. The team was shut down earlier this season. Chevron is pulling its Texaco sponsorship of Ganassi’s other team, the No 42 next season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Nationwide team, JR Motorsports lost its primary sponsor when the U.S. Navy announced it would not return to the No. 88. The team has won two races this season, and sits third in points, and it lost its primary sponsor. That’s an indication of how bad things are.

Earnhardt Jr. said:

The economy is the way it is, there isn’t much you can do about it. A lot of these guys are going to walk around empty-handed next year. …  We’ll race the races we can afford to race. A lot of the people that work there are family and so that place has to be open.