I worked for MB2/Ginn/DEI during this time. I remember the absolute heartbreak of losing the Daytona 500 with Martin. We had an incredible group of people in the shop, but I honestly believe Ginn was in way over his head in so many ways.
What do you think would have happened if Mark Martin would have won the Daytona 500? I know your in the spot bur Winning the Daytona 500 changes things huge. Do you think that would changed things? Also do you think if Bobby Ginn wouldn't have tried to get to big and rran 1 or 2 Cars. Also he picked a bad time to come into the sport having to have the Monte Carlo and the COT Impala that had to have cost much more then running one just model of a car. Plus I bet those cars Bobby Ginn had to buy from Hendrick must have been way expensive. When they were running Hendrick equipment they ran great but DEI equipment was not the same. In the future we saw Furniture Row Buy everything from Gibbs and win a Championship then next year folding. Furniture Row was losing money winning a championship.
I noticed something: MB2 became Ginn, which merged with DEI, which then merged with Ganassi, which has now recently been sold to Trackhouse... also, Ginn/DEI really fumbled the bag in terms of potentially making a super team with Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kyle Busch... although that would have required Dale Earnhardt Jr and his stepmother to repair a relationship that, in all honesty, no one in that building could fix, also I love the shot that Brock made with the "he won rookie of the year and yes, this race at Talladega"
That's correct. Marlin also attempted the night race at Bristol for Furniture Row in 2007, but failed to qualify. Furniture Row's own role in this whole story could almost be a video in and of itself.
I know that no one will see this, but here’s where all the drivers involved in this at some point ended up, and where there careers went: Regan Smith: As said in the video, he drove the 01 for 34 of the 36 races in 2008, was on the bad end of the Talladega controversy, and won ROTY honors. And once that team shut down, Smith moved to Furniture Row Racing. He stayed with them up until 2012, nabbing his emotional first Cup win at Darlington in 2011. After 2012, he shifted focus to the now Xfinity Series in the #7 for JR Motorsports, where he’d get a total of 5 wins from 2013-2015 with a best points finish of 2nd in 2014 behind my favorite driver of Chase Elliott, who locked up the title after Phoenix, a race where Smith finished 10th. Outside of a single full-time season in 2017 for Tommy Baldwin Racing in the 7 (except for Chicagoland), he spent his cup days more or less as a sub. In 2012 he ran two races subbing for Dale Jr, and qualified for Jimmie Johnson at Richmond in 2013 while Johnson was patiently waiting for the birth of his second child, along with Kyle Larson at Martinsville in 2015 due to Larson fainting the day before. His most recent Cup stint was in 2018, finishing out the season for Kasey Kahne in the 95 for Leavine Family Racing when Kahne suffered from dehydration problems. His last NASCAR sanctioned start was in 2019, when he ran 2 races in the 8 for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio and Road America, finishing 21st and 13th respectively. Aric Almirola: Also as mentioned, Aric Almirola ran races in the 8 for 2008 alongside Mark Martin, but that team was also effectively killed off in the CGR merger in 2009. He ran Part-Time in 2010 for Phoenix Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing, and Richard Petty Motorsports (Ironic). Across all 3 teams, he got 4 DNQ’s and a best finish of 4th in the season finale at Homestead for RPM. He didn’t return to Cup competition until 2012, running full-time for RPM with sponsorship from Smithfield. He stayed with them until the end of 2017, getting his first career cup win with them in a rain shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in 2014. His career outside of that wasn’t much really. He made the headlines again in 2017, when he was sidelined for 7 races after suffering a fractured vertebrae in a violent crash at Kansas. He left Richard Petty Motorsports after 2017 along with his primary sponsor Smithfield, and went over to the #10 at Stewart-Haas Racing to replace the now retired Danica Patrick. He’s been with them ever since, and got his second career cup win with them at Talladega; all-be-it a controversial finish. Out of all the drivers affected by this, he remains the only one full-time, and one of two involved overall alongside Kyle Busch. Thus far in 2020, he has 5 Top 5’s and 12 Top 10’s with a best finish of 3rd three times at Talladega, Pocono, and Indianapolis. Mark Martin: Mark would drive for the #8 DEI entry in 2008, running 24 races with a best finish of 3rd at Richmond. But as previously mentioned, that team shut down in the CGR merger. However, Mark still had some sunny days ahead of him. He signed with Hendrick in 2009 to drive the #5 full-time, and stayed with them through to 2011. He scored his final 5 cup series wins with them in 2009, and finished 2nd in points that year behind- of course- teammate, Jimmie Johnson. After that, he had a best points finish of 13th the next year. He parted with them after the season, and ran part time in 2012 and 2013 with Michael Waltrip Racing, a tenor most known for his odd and scary looking accident at Michigan in 2012. His final starts were in 2013, where he ran 15 races in the 55 with a best finish of 3rd at the Daytona 500 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. and- again- Jimmie Johnson. He also subbed for Denny Hamlin at Martinsville while he was recovering from the back injury he sustained after his hard crash at Auto Club, and finished 10th. He ran 11 of the final 12 races of that season, and the final 11 of his career, in the 14 for Stewart-Haas Racing, subbing in for Tony Stewart while he was dealing with a leg injury suffered in a sprint car race. In those 11 races, he had a best finish of 9th at Richmond. Although various rumors have sparked over the years, Mark has said it himself; he doesn’t plan on returning. Dale Earnhardt Jr (2007 rumors of him going to Ginn in ‘08): In July of 2007, it had been officially confirmed that Dale Jr would be leaving DEI after the season concluded. The team he ended up going to was Hendrick Motorsports in a new 88 entry, and from 2009-2011 was actually a teammate with Martin, which is neat considering how cool Mark said it was when they were briefly teammates at DEI. Dale endured a long winless drought with Hendrick from 2008-2012, a streak with 7 runner-up finishes and more heartbreaks that both started and ended at my hometown track of MIS. In 2014 he had an amazing season, similar to that of his DEI days, getting 4 wins (including a Pocono Sweep) but finished 8th in final standings. He got his final 2 career wins the next year at Talladega and a rain-shortened race at Phoenix. In 2016, he only ended up running the first 18 races of the season due to the long-lasting effects of his concussion. Subbing for him were Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman. He announced in April of 2017 that he’d retire at season’s end. He missed the playoffs and finished 21st in final series standings, with a best finish of 5th at Texas. Since then, his schedule has reduced to one-off Xfinity Series races in the 8 for his own team of JR Motorsports, and also became a co-commentator for NBC and NBCSN alongside Rick Allen, Steve Leatarte, and Jeff Burton. Kyle Busch (rumors of him going to Ginn in 08): As said in the video, he moved to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008, and has remained there ever since. From 2008-2014, Kyle got an impressive 25 wins, with a best points finish of 4th in 2013. But then his life took a dramatic turn in 2015, when he suffered a serious leg injury. He sat out the next 10 races, with drivers such as Matt Crafton and Erik Jones subbing for him, but was still granted a playoff waiver by NASCAR, meaning he was still able to make the playoffs. Once he came back- although it took a minute- he took off. 5 wins (including 3 in a row from Kentucky to Indianapolis), 12 Top 5’s, 16 Top 10’s, and his first ever Cup Series title. It will go down in NASCAR history as one of the most incredible comebacks in a single season, up there with the likes of Alan Kulwicki’s comeback in 1992. In 2016, he’d get 4 more wins and made the Final 4 for a second straight season, but this time finished 3rd in the standings. In 2017, he suffered the longest winless single-season drought in his time with JGR of 20 races, and his second longest overall (longest was 24 races in 2004). Kyle streak was ended at Pocono, and went on to get 4 more wins, including back-to-back wins at New Hampshire and Dover. He made the Final 4 once again, and finished runner-up behind alliance-based teammate Martin Truex Jr. In 2018, he was apart of the “Big Three” narrative alongside Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. He got 7 wins before the round of 8 that year, including 3 straight from Texas to Richmond. He then won the first race on the updated Phoenix track to lock himself into the Final 4, where he finished 4th in final standings. In 2019, he was champion once more, getting 5 wins, 17 Top 5’s, and 27 Top 10’s. Thus far in 2020, he’s tied his record for his longest winless drought with JGR, currently with 8 Top 5’s and 10 Top 10’s. Along with Aric Almirola, as previously mentioned, he’s one of the only 2 people involved in the whole ordeal that’s still running full-time For those who did read, thank you. And Brock, if you see this, once I get some great equipment, in the future, I’d love to collab with you on something. I’ve had an idea to look at Hendrick Motorsports’ success outside of the Cup Series.
@@Miatacrosser I find it both amazing AND disgusting how vindictive losers like you try to project your own misery onto someone else who is obviously a much better person than yourself.
30:50 notice how Mark Martin's interview is being done in front of Hendrick's #5 CarQuest car. A bizzare coincidence, as he'd move to that car in 2009.
I give Ginn credit. He took a chance and gambled in a new investment... And was actually able to get results. However, I believe he was far too ambitious and was trying to do too much to quickly. I believe had he stayed grounded in a 2 car team for a bit longer and just garnished some stability and a good platform, that growth would've followed much more naturally, and he wouldn't have folded.. at least as a nascar team
Brock Beard, Nascarman history and Slapshoes - three awesome RU-vid channels for motorsports history fans. Brock's narrating voice is super easy to listen to. He doesn't use humour or opinions; instead he describes what is on the screen slowly and clearly. On the flip side, I enjoy Slapshoes' Southern dry humour. It doesn't feel like he's trying to be funny - he says his thoughts and with his slight Southern accent I bust out laughing constantly. Thanks to both of you for a great collaboration of two of RU-vid's best.
His dry humor reminds me of Wally Dallenbach, Jr. Burney Lamar was involved in 3 cautions at Richmond one time and Wally goes "There's Burney Lamar, he didn't want to miss out."
Btw, that one picture is a bit jumbled because the 1 which came from DEI is now apart of Trackhouse and the 42 is with the 43 after GMS Racing moved to Cup and acquired Richard Petty Motorsports to form Petty-GMS and the 34 of Front Row is the only one still alive on its own
John Hunter Nemechek a disgrace to racing imo. The last time I saw him win a race, I think it was a Truck race, was because he tapped and pinned his opponent who easily had the win, he pinned him against the wall as Nemechek wins the race. I cannot believe they let him keep that win. Im pretty sure it was a road course. I supoose John Hunter figured that if he was not faster, then he would just get physical with the car that was and win the race that way.
@@aholegunner That's just being aggressive. He was driving for his dad's low budget team and they start-and-parked in the Cup series to finance the single-truck team, while Cole was driving a much-faster, Hendrick-prepared truck. He's won other truck and Xfinity races since. Now if that were a teammate, or an earlier lap, like what Noah Gragson does on a regular basis, that would be different. There is a lot worse out there today than John Hunter Nemechek.
Ginn's Reunion Resort, south of DisneyWorld, shafted a lot of people. I, as Agent for Capmark, had to come in representing eight banks and get then out of their $400 million investment in the Ginn scam.
Every time I watch that 2007 Daytona 500 finish I just see a tile bush that is committed to Mark Martin trying to get him that that trophy it unfortunately he just just couldn't get it done they just couldn't get it done
Nascar SHOULD have thrown the caution flag when the big crash started! Them not throwing it cost Mark Martin a Daytona 500 trophy & made the crash much worse than it should have been 👎
Yeah especially since they cant make up their mind if they want to keep racing or not. One year we are hearing they are shutting down, then they show up at random races the next. Cover them while they are still around
Honestly, the quest to replace Mark Martin at Roush deserves its own separate video. I've read that both Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray were candidates to replace him at one point. Chip Ganassi Racing was also impacted by these events.
Right! Hard to believe a Man standing 5' 3" & weighing a buck twenty five could carry so much weight! 😏 While Mark wasn't "my guy" I have more respect for him as "A Man" than anyone this side of The King & Bud Moore 💪🤠👍
It would have been McMurray taking over in 2006 had the issues with Kurt Busch not happened. Also, Kasey Kahne could have been the driver had the lawsuit that allowed him to get out of his Ford development driver contract gone the other way.
my cousin and uncle went to the Chicagoland race in 2007, Sterling Marlin was one of the drivers I rooted for and they got me a 1/64 Waste Management car he drove. Little did any of us know that was the last race he ran in that car.
Funnily, Jayksi's site showed a Waste Management scheme that Marlin was set to drive in August on Michigan as a Chevrolet tribute, it ended up being never driven at all.
Kind of crazy how Mark Martin and Dale Jr. were teammates twice in three years on completely different teams in completely different situations (From Ginn to Hendrick)
Everybody was! 😠 I have zero affection for Denny Hamlin, but credit to him as he obviously did not want to do it 💪 Total Chicken 💩 move by the Toyota TRD people, of course that was just one of many of those kinds of 💩 decisions by TRD 👎🤮
Nice! After Sterling qualified for the first five races pretty easily in '07, I actually thought he would have a decent season but it seems like the #14 team couldn't complete a race without having issues when they had a good car. He ran great in the 2007 UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 at Las Vegas but his engine expired with a few laps to go. He also deserved a good result at Talladega but his car's nose got damaged. There are several other examples... I also watched the 2007 Checker Auto Parts 500 and he was surprisingly fast in the #09. Unfortunately, he cut a tire down early in the race and had to pit under green and the cautions never fell when he needed despite being the first car a lap down for a while, he managed to follow the #24, #12 and some other Top5 cars from lap 155 to 200 and he didn't even have the freshest tires. Probably the last time he ran competitive lap times in a cup race.
You're very correct. When writing the script, I had to streamline it a bit with all the different angles to the story. There were also some interesting one-off sponsors Joe Nemechek ran in the #13, including a scheme at Daytona that honored fallen firefighters. The MBV deal probably should've made the cut as James Rocco of Valvoline was the listed owner for the #10 team, and likely had a hand in the group moving to Evernham.
Brock Beard thanks for the response! It’s a long story so you can only get so much with out making it confusing and long. I understand. Again great job as always!
What?? 😳! LOL, just kidding, but seriously, the Kinser klan aren't a braggadocious bunch 👍 Kraig's Daddy was a pretty fair Sprintcar driver his own Royal self 😉
Nice video about the history of MB2 Motorsports and Ginn Racing. I've been to the Ginn Racing shops a month before it closed. They gave me a Mark Martin autographed Army hat. So that was cool at least. Yeah, such a shame what happened behind the scenes that forced Ginn Racing to merge into DEI. Sometimes I often wonder what would have happened if Ginn Racing wasn't forced to merge with DEI and Bobby Ginn never had his financial troubles. Perhaps Ginn Racing could have been a powerhouse team today.
2008 collapse of the economy viciously affected resorts, Ginn’s bread and butter. I think Great Recession had the biggest impact on Ginn as well as all of the teams and sponsors
One problem was that Ginn just kept signing drivers: Regan Smith, Joe Nemecheck, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Ricky Carmichael, Aric Almarola, not to mention trying to hire both Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kyle Busch
Great video. I don't think Ginn was a fraud, but very much do think he got in over his head and without the experience and the people to overcome the chaos that has always been NASCAR Cup Series racing, was not able to navigate the waters successfully. That said, once things went south, Ginn didn't deal with the accompanying fallout well (see Marlin and Nemechek), which in turn severely tarnished what, if any, good reputation he may have had. Not to be lost in all this (which is worthy of its own video) is Dale Earnhardt Inc. DEI, more notably Theresa Earnhardt, seemed to really go out of their way to destroy themselves. In my opinion, had DEI consolidated early once Dale Jr left, and focused on one or two really good cars instead of Almirola, Smith and Menard... perhaps they would have stuck around a good deal longer. I think they should have focused on Truex Jr. Either way, the rise and fall of MB2/Ginn Racing is an interesting story that many teams faced... after the impact of the 2008 rescission but indeed was the start of a trend that continues to have repercussions 13 years later.
2 guys who put out some great and very professional content. I've always liked these longer videos, has more of a documentary feel to it and the time and effort it takes to put it all together does not go unnoticed. It's funny during Dale Jrs podcast with Mark Martin they touched on the merger a bit but only that Mark drove the 8 and how he got thrown in the middle of that debacle, now I know the whole story on that deal.
Great job guys as always. Brock and Slapshoes are making truły astonishing videos and I love every minute off it. Slapshoes videos about 2003 Darlington and 2007 Daytona 500 finishes and Brock videos about Sears Point and Jerry Nadeau are such a blast to watch, one of my favorites things that I ever seen on RU-vid period! Greetings to both of you from Poland and thank you for your work guys.
I always wonder, if Mark won the 500, would he have gone full time in 2007? Winning the 500 would be a huge monetary boost for Ginn, and would attract more sponsors. Mark staying full time and battling for the points lead would possibly keep other sponsors from leaving. It probably wouldn’t save the team in the long run, but maybe Marlin would have had a more competitive ride
I liked mb2 motorsports, i always root for underdogs and they tried really hard and in todays climate they couldve stayed competitive and in the cup series.
Even after this silly season, all the cars shown at 38:05 are still in the Cup Series. The 34 is still Front Row, the 1 is now with Trackhouse, and the 42 and 43 are now Petty GMS.
Now so expensive to race that there are 0 small teams, they have merged or folded. Soon it will be too expensive to even keep doing NASCAR Cup and that will have to merge with whatever next down is pulling up the sportsman series in its spot. Want to fix NASCAR? DITCH THE STAGE RACING!
Super interesting video! I remember a lot of this, but I was in middle school during the ‘07-‘08 years so I didn’t understand everything that was going on. Cool to get it all sort of fleshed out and explained.
The whole Aric Armolia deal was still shady. The start of JGR shady/questionable handling of drivers. This is fantastic. I knew they merged just all the post cause and effects after Ginn sold off to DEI and beyond. Just wow. Hats off to you and Slap. This needs to be a highlight on what new fans should watch when it comes to how sponsors mean everything to a race team.
It was all on Rockwell tbh. Hamlin wanted Almirola in, Gibbs wanted Almirola in, Rockwell wanted Hamlin in. funny cause Rockwell left NASCAR as a whole after that season. Probably because that race was the single worst publicity stunt they could've pulled.
Being a diehard Kasey Kahne fan, this video reminding me of George Gillette buying into Evernham brought back some bad memories, he basically killed Evernham motorsports....maybe another video idea???
I honestly hope you continue to make long videos about all of the teams you can think of. Whether the teams were successful or unsuccessful and anywhere in between. Thank you for this.
My mom was an employee for Ginn during this time period. She work in an accounting department at one of his central Florida resorts. She too lost her job when it was said an done.
I'm sorry to hear that. It's surprising to me the Ginn story doesn't get more attention these days as it sounds like it affected so many people like your mother.
Great work . My honest opnion is that Bobby Ginn took a shot at Nascar . In those days the sport was $$$$. So he invested hoping to have winning results . Only he had to win to accomplish that / with winningg equipment. He ended up in too deep .
And now the 43 gets merged, too, so literally Front Row Motorpsorts, through hell and high water, are still alive without needing a merger, thus being the only one that way.
FUnny enough, I was just finishing up a Fight to the Top season in Nascar 07 this morning and got a contract offer from MB2 (Ginn) to replace Joe Nemechek in the 01 Army Chevy (I also got an offer from Hendrick to replace Jeff Gordon of all people in the 24) but I'm still thinking it over. I'm leaning towards taking the MB2 offer (but Hendrick is so freaking tempting), but in my head the merger with DEI has already happened since I'm headed into the 2008 season. Sterling Marlin and Dale Jarrett have retired.
Great in-depth coverage. Would have been fun for you to include some footage of the black Ginn Blimp Bobby commissioned to fly around Daytona when Sterling drove for him. Such a total waste of $$$ to feed his ego...
Now the remaining teams from the Ginn Era is the 1, 91, and 99 for TrackHouse, 42, 43, and 84 for Petty GMS (well now Legacy Motor Club), 34, 36, and 38 for Front Row Motorsports…sheesh
