GINN SAYS GOOD NIGHT, YATES GETS HELP.(Competitions of car racing)

Byline: Al Pearce

It didn't take long for real estate developer Bobby Ginn to see that NASCAR wasn't a game he wanted to play with his own money. Fourteen months after buying the majority ownership of MB2 Motorsports, the South Carolina native sold what remains of Ginn Racing to Dale Earnhardt Inc. The sale moved Chevy-based DEI from a three- to a four-car team and added Mark Martin to a driver lineup that for now features Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and rookie Paul Menard.

Ginn opened his first full Nextel Cup season with newcomer Martin and returning veterans Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin. He had a Busch Series program and heralded development drivers Ricky Carmichael, Regan Smith and Jesus Hernandez. At first, things went well: Martin almost won the Daytona 500, Nemechek stayed top-35 in points, and Ginn talked about a "five-year plan'' to become a NASCAR powerhouse. He added personnel and bought an expensive and coveted "seven-post shaker'' rig for his 180,000 square-foot shop in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Other than U.S. Army backing for Martin's No. 01 car, Ginn never found adequate financial backing. He occasionally used Waste Management, Panasonic and Certain Teed, but just as often used his own clubs and resorts. Rumors began surfacing in June that Ginn was tired of using his own money and about to ...