Carmichael moving to DEI

When Mark Martin, offered to mentor Supercross star Ricky Carmichael in stock-car racing, that became Carmichael's next career move. Martin has been driving for Ginn Racing, owned by zillionaire resort magnate Bobby Ginn, and Carmichael signed with Ginn as a development driver, with an eye toward running local races this year, some regional NASCAR races in 2008, and probably a Busch Series schedule in 2009. But last month, a monkey wrench was tossed into those plans: Ginn merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc., which is also facing an uncertain future with the departure of Dale Earnhardt Jr. As part of the restructuring, Ginn fired Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek, and Martin moved under the DEI umbrella. And apparently, Carmichael is moving with him. "I had some good talks this past week with Mark," Carmichael said. "I haven't heard anything from Ginn, but I'm excited about the DEI connection." Orlando Sentinel