No crew chief changes at the new DEI

There will be no immediate crew chief changes as a result of the Dale Earnhardt Inc.-Ginn Racing merger, but not all the crew chiefs will work out of the same shop. Paul Menard's #15 team will move immediately into the Ginn Racing building, where the former Ginn #01 team also will be housed, DEI Vice President John Story said Thursday. The DEI teams of #1-Martin Truex Jr. and #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. will remain at the current DEI shop until the end of the season. As far as drivers, Mark Martin and Aric Almirola will complete the season co-driving the #01 car. That leaves Regan Smith, who was named last week to drive the now-defunct #14 Ginn car, without a Cup ride. Having started the year as Martin's co-driver, Smith will compete in the Craftsman Truck Series race Friday night in Indianapolis. The rest of the schedule for Smith is still being evaluated. As far as crew chiefs, Dave Charpentier, who became Menard's crew chief in June, will remain as his crew chief, and Ryan Pemberton remains with Mark Martin. Former Ginn crew chiefs Richard "Slugger" Labbe and Peter Sospenzo (who worked with the now-defunct #14 and #13 Ginn teams) are in the pool of employees who are waiting to see what happens. Scenedaily.com