The new face of DEI

Like it or not, Mark Martin is the face of Dale Earnhardt Inc., now that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has moved on to Hednrick Motorsports.
Even though Martin Truex Jr. was the only driver from DEI to make the Chase last year, Martin, a part-time driver on the team, is the biggerst star at the newly formed four-car operation.
DEI will actually have five drivers for its four cars, with Aric Almirola sharing driving duties with Martin in the No. 8 Chevrolet for the team, the car Earnhardt Jr. used to drive.
Martin came within inches of winning his first Daytona 500 last year and was the early leader in the Cup standings for the first few weeks of the season, but was adamant about only running a partial schedule.
During NASCAR's Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway, Martin talked with the media about life at DEI now that Earnhardt Jr. is gone and working with the young drivers on the team.
“It’s more than just status quo. I think there is tremendous potential at DEI for the growth to be very productive," Martin said. "The merger last year was something that was hard to get your arms around. They had two cars shooting for the Chase and then they had one car in the Chase and it was a very delicate situation."
The three-car DEI operation merged with Ginn Racing, the team Martin started the season with, midway through the 2007 season. Truex, Earnhardt Jr. and Paul Menard were with DEI and Martin shared the No. 01 car with Regan Smith in Cup races.
Truex qualified for the Chase. Earnhardt Jr. narrowly missed the Chase and did not win a race last year.
"We didn’t want to do anything that would hamper Dale Junior’s shot at making the Chase. And once it started, you didn’t want to do anything but give Martin their best shot at winning the championship," Martin said. "So they weren’t able to really completely merge the thing until afterwards. Some of the work was being done, but a lot of it had to wait until the end of the season. Now that everyone is in one building, it’s really going to bear fruit."
Martin said he was encouraged by how cooperative the teams have been since merging. It's at a level he did not see previously at DEI.
"And I will say that everyone is going to work together like never before at DEI," Martin said. "Not even the No. 1 and the No. 8 have worked as closely together as they’re going to be able to do moving forward. Now having four great cars with really good people, they’ve always had a good staff there, but now they have a really good staff under the same roof, working together for one common goal. And that is to be a powerhouse in NASCAR. And I don’t think that happens overnight. But I certainly think that it is coming and that they’re on track to do that."
One thing Martin is looking forward to is working with the young drivers on the team.
"Everything is full speed ahead. The attitude is fantastic," Martin said. "I can’t tell you what it’s like to go to the race track and be around such enthusiastic people. To be a small part of DEI and work with Martin, who is an incredible talent, and to work with Paul Menard, who has yet to show everyone what he really can do. And everybody knows how I felt about Regan (Smith) and Aric. So it’s just a terrific opportunity for me to work with some of the best up-and-coming talent in NASCAR."
And one thing Martin finds hard to believe is that he is racing for the team the late Dale Earnhardt started.
"It touches my heart. It goes all the way back to 1981 when I started racing with Dale Earnhardt," Martin said. "I raced against that No. 8 Busch car that Dale and Teresa owned back in the mid-80s and I had some spirited battles. It’s hard for me to believe that all that through the eighties and nineties; and now for me to work there and to be a part of that is incredibly important to me because I’m old enough to recognize what history really means. I don’t think you can really understand that when you’re a kid. So, for me, it’s incredibly special.”