The shift signals the recently merged team, which had hoped to run four cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, may race only two cars for the full season and additional layoffs could be possible.
Chip Ganassi, who merged Chip Ganassi Racing with Dale Earnhardt Inc., laid off 71 employees, including driver Dario Franchitti, last June after shutting down his No. 40 Dodge entry. DEI laid off 110 employees just before the merger with Ganassi last November.
Ganassi intended to replace Reed Sorenson, who left the team at the end of last season, in the No. 41 car, but no driver has been named for that car.
DEI brought Martin Truex, whose car has full sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops, to the merged team, along with Aric Almirola, who only has enough sponsorship to run the season-opening Daytona 500.
"The moral of the story is we need a sponsor badly," Almirola explained last week during NASCAR's preseason tour at Daytona International Speedway. "We need sponsorship dollars to be able to take our No. 8 Earnhardt-Ganassi with Felix Sabates Chevrolet to every single race that we can. We need sponsorship dollars."
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BONUS MONEY: NASCAR's Nationwide Series drivers will get a shot at some extra money this season with the series sponsor's new four-race "Dash for Cash" program.
Eligible drivers include those who race full-time in the second-tier series, including Sprint Cup regulars, as well as drivers who run a partial Nationwide schedule but do not also race in Cup.
If any of the eligible drivers win the Nationwide races at Nashville, Kentucky, Iowa or Memphis, they will collect a $25,000 bonus. The eligible driver with the most points from those four events will receive another $50,000.
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TRUCK NEWS: Kevin Harvick Inc. will field trucks for three-time champion Ron Hornaday Jr. and rookie Ricky Carmichael.
Hornaday, who finished second to champion Johnny Benson in 2008, will drive the full 25-race schedule. Carmichael, a 15-time motocross and supercross champion making the transition to four wheels, will drive in 14 events, with the rest of the races shared by Cup star Harvick and drivers yet to be named.
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GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY: Lowe's Motor Speedway, which held its first race on June 19, 1960 when it was still Charlotte Motor Speedway, is celebrating its 50th anniversary season in 2009.
The anniversary will begin in May with the 25th all-star race at the track and the 50th Coca-Cola 600, where three-time 600 race winner Bobby Allison will be the grand marshall.
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