DEI to buy MB2?

UPDATE #2 Jay Frye, the general manager and part-owner of the MB2 team, said that much of the speculation about a DEI-MB2 merger is just that, speculation. "Everyone's got this four-team program idea, but we're like two and they're like two…. so how do we both do things more efficiently together," Frye said. "That's how this all got started. Our buildings are four minutes apart. So we're trying to work together on this car of tomorrow. It's not about engines; it's about car-building. Everything beyond that is purely speculation." Winston Salem Journal

06/04/06 According to sources in the NASCAR garage MB2 Motorsports could merge with, or be sold to Dale Earnhardt Inc. MB2 still has unsold sponsorship inventory available for Sterling Marlin's #14 car, and the team's other driver, #01-Joe Nemechek, is said to be on Toyota's short list for 2007. Ford Racing

06/03/06 There's speculation that Teresa Earnhardt is planning to buy MB2 Motorsports, with drivers #01-Joe Nemechek and #14-Sterling Marlin, in addition to the ongoing speculation that she may be planning to sell DEI to John Menard, a home-improvements czar who has long been involved in racing. Marlin, who drives for the Jay Frye-run MB2 Chevy operation, said he has heard the sale talk, but that he doesn't know what's going on. Ryan Pemberton, the crew chief for Nemechek, said he has talked with Frye about it, but he's not sure, either, what might be going on behind the scenes. Earnhardt doesn't grant interviews, and Frye isn't due here until today. So yesterday it was up to Richie Gilmore, the general manager at DEI, to try to explain the situation. "We're not selling out," Gilmore said. "Our plans right now are to go to a three-car operation next year with Paul Menard (John's son). John is a great sponsor for us, and we do a lot with Menard's, engines, and he's at our company a lot, and I guess people speculate when they see him around." Winston Salem Journal