THE BEGINNING OF THE END (featuring S1apSh0es)

Comments · 533

• AN

  @andypage9 · 6 years ago

  I worked for MB2/Ginn/DEI during this time. I remember the absolute heartbreak of losing the Daytona 500 with Martin. We had an incredible group of people in the shop, but I honestly believe Ginn was in way over his head in so many ways.

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• PA

  @patrickracer43 · 5 years ago

  Moral of the story: never trust a 57 year old man who willingly calls himself "Bobby"

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• AN

  @anthonybizelli7693 · 6 years ago

  Mark was so right about the future of small teams in the cup series

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• JU

  @junebouvier333 · 6 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKdJonSoDaM&amp;t=91">1:31</a> &quot;hey John Hunter&quot;

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• TH

  @thestarlightalchemist7333 · 5 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKdJonSoDaM&amp;t=1850">30:50</a> notice how Mark Martin&apos;s interview is being done in front of Hendrick&apos;s #5 CarQuest car. A bizzare coincidence, as he&apos;d move to that car in 2009.

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• PA

  @patrickracer43 · 4 years ago (edited)

  I noticed something: MB2 became Ginn, which merged with DEI, which then merged with Ganassi, which has now recently been sold to Trackhouse... also, Ginn/DEI really fumbled the bag in terms of potentially making a super team with Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kyle Busch... although that would have required Dale Earnhardt Jr and his stepmother to repair a relationship that, in all honesty, no one in that building could fix, also I love the shot that Brock made with the &quot;he won rookie of the year and yes, this race at Talladega&quot;

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• NA

  @NASCARFAN93100 · 6 years ago (edited)

  Actually Sterling Marlin ended the 2007 season driving for James Finch in the 09 Car at Phoenix and Homestead

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• AL

  @alexandercarabitses8081 · 5 years ago

  Honestly, the quest to replace Mark Martin at Roush deserves its own separate video. I&apos;ve read that both Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray were candidates to replace him at one point. Chip Ganassi Racing was also impacted by these events.

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• SI

  @SiVlog1989 · 5 years ago

  &quot;if we don&apos;t get a full time sponsor, it&apos;ll be the company,&quot; foreshadowing by Bobby Ginn himself

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• SE

  @se90_media · 6 years ago

  I know that no one will see this, but here’s where all the drivers involved in this at some point ended up, and where there careers went:<br><br><br>Regan Smith: As said in the video, he drove the 01 for 34 of the 36 races in 2008, was on the bad end of the Talladega controversy, and won ROTY honors. And once that team shut down, Smith moved to Furniture Row Racing. &nbsp;He stayed with them up until 2012, nabbing his emotional first Cup win at Darlington in 2011. &nbsp;After 2012, he shifted focus to the now Xfinity Series in the #7 for JR Motorsports, where he’d get a total of 5 wins from 2013-2015 with a best points finish of 2nd in 2014 behind my favorite driver of Chase Elliott, who locked up the title after Phoenix, a race where Smith finished 10th. &nbsp;Outside of a single full-time season in 2017 for Tommy Baldwin Racing in the 7 (except for Chicagoland), he spent his cup days more or less as a sub. &nbsp;In 2012 he ran two races subbing for Dale Jr, and qualified for Jimmie Johnson at Richmond in 2013 while Johnson was patiently waiting for the birth of his second child, along with Kyle Larson at Martinsville in 2015 due to Larson fainting the day before. &nbsp;His most recent Cup stint was in 2018, finishing out the season for Kasey Kahne in the 95 for Leavine Family Racing when Kahne suffered from dehydration problems. &nbsp;His last NASCAR sanctioned start was in 2019, when he ran 2 races in the 8 for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio and Road America, finishing 21st and 13th respectively.<br><br>Aric Almirola: Also as mentioned, Aric Almirola ran races in the 8 for 2008 alongside Mark Martin, but that team was also effectively killed off in the CGR merger in 2009. &nbsp;He ran Part-Time in 2010 for Phoenix Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing, and Richard Petty Motorsports (Ironic). &nbsp;Across all 3 teams, he got 4 DNQ’s and a best finish of 4th in the season finale at Homestead for RPM. &nbsp;He didn’t return to Cup competition until 2012, running full-time for RPM with sponsorship from Smithfield. &nbsp;He stayed with them until the end of 2017, getting his first career cup win with them in a rain shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in 2014. &nbsp;His career outside of that wasn’t much really. &nbsp;He made the headlines again in 2017, when he was sidelined for 7 races after suffering a fractured vertebrae in a violent crash at Kansas. &nbsp;He left Richard Petty Motorsports after 2017 along with his primary sponsor Smithfield, and went over to the #10 at Stewart-Haas Racing to replace the now retired Danica Patrick. &nbsp;He’s been with them ever since, and got his second career cup win with them at Talladega; all-be-it a controversial finish. &nbsp;Out of all the drivers affected by this, he remains the only one full-time, and one of two involved overall alongside Kyle Busch. &nbsp;Thus far in 2020, he has 5 Top 5’s and 12 Top 10’s with a best finish of 3rd three times at Talladega, Pocono, and Indianapolis.<br><br>Mark Martin: &nbsp;Mark would drive for the #8 DEI entry in 2008, running 24 races with a best finish of 3rd at Richmond. &nbsp;But as previously mentioned, that team shut down in the CGR merger. &nbsp;However, Mark still had some sunny days ahead of him. &nbsp;He signed with Hendrick in 2009 to drive the #5 full-time, and stayed with them through to 2011. &nbsp;He scored his final 5 cup series wins with them in 2009, and finished 2nd in points that year behind- of course- teammate, Jimmie Johnson. &nbsp;After that, he had a best points finish of 13th the next year. &nbsp;He parted with them after the season, and ran part time in 2012 and 2013 with Michael Waltrip Racing, a tenor most known for his odd and scary looking accident at Michigan in 2012. &nbsp;His final starts were in 2013, where he ran 15 races in the 55 with a best finish of 3rd at the Daytona 500 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. and- again- Jimmie Johnson. &nbsp;He also subbed for Denny Hamlin at Martinsville while he was recovering from the back injury he sustained after his hard crash at Auto Club, and finished 10th. &nbsp;He ran 11 of the final 12 races of that season, and the final 11 of his career, in the 14 for Stewart-Haas Racing, subbing in for Tony Stewart while he was dealing with a leg injury suffered in a sprint car race. &nbsp;In those 11 races, he had a best finish of 9th at Richmond. &nbsp;Although various rumors have sparked over the years, Mark has said it himself; he doesn’t plan on returning. <br><br>Dale Earnhardt Jr (2007 rumors of him going to Ginn in ‘08): In July of 2007, it had been officially confirmed that Dale Jr would be leaving DEI after the season concluded. &nbsp;The team he ended up going to was Hendrick Motorsports in a new 88 entry, and from 2009-2011 was actually a teammate with Martin, which is neat considering how cool Mark said it was when they were briefly teammates at DEI. &nbsp;Dale endured a long winless drought with Hendrick from 2008-2012, a streak with 7 runner-up finishes and more heartbreaks that both started and ended at my hometown track of MIS. &nbsp;In 2014 he had an amazing season, similar to that of his DEI days, getting 4 wins (including a Pocono Sweep) but finished 8th in final standings. &nbsp;He got his final 2 career wins the next year at Talladega and a rain-shortened race at Phoenix. &nbsp;In 2016, he only ended up running the first 18 races of the season due to the long-lasting effects of his concussion. &nbsp;Subbing for him were Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman. &nbsp;He announced in April of 2017 that he’d retire at season’s end. He missed the playoffs and finished 21st in final series standings, with a best finish of 5th at Texas. &nbsp;Since then, his schedule has reduced to one-off Xfinity Series races in the 8 for his own team of JR Motorsports, and also became a co-commentator for NBC and NBCSN alongside Rick Allen, Steve Leatarte, and Jeff Burton.<br><br>Kyle Busch (rumors of him going to Ginn in 08): As said in the video, he moved to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008, and has remained there ever since. &nbsp;From 2008-2014, Kyle got an impressive 25 wins, with a best points finish of 4th in 2013. &nbsp;But then his life took a dramatic turn in 2015, when he suffered a serious leg injury. &nbsp;He sat out the next 10 races, with drivers such as Matt Crafton and Erik Jones subbing for him, but was still granted a playoff waiver by NASCAR, meaning he was still able to make the playoffs. &nbsp;Once he came back- although it took a minute- he took off. &nbsp;5 wins (including 3 in a row from Kentucky to Indianapolis), 12 Top 5’s, 16 Top 10’s, and his first ever Cup Series title. &nbsp;It will go down in NASCAR history as one of the most incredible comebacks in a single season, up there with the likes of Alan Kulwicki’s comeback in 1992. &nbsp;In 2016, he’d get 4 more wins and made the Final 4 for a second straight season, but this time finished 3rd in the standings. &nbsp;In 2017, he suffered the longest winless single-season drought in his time with JGR of 20 races, and his second longest overall (longest was 24 races in 2004). Kyle streak was ended at Pocono, and went on to get 4 more wins, including back-to-back wins at New Hampshire and Dover. &nbsp;He made the Final 4 once again, and finished runner-up behind alliance-based teammate Martin Truex Jr. &nbsp;In 2018, he was apart of the “Big Three” narrative alongside Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. He got 7 wins before the round of 8 that year, including 3 straight from Texas to Richmond. &nbsp;He then won the first race on the updated Phoenix track to lock himself into the Final 4, where he finished 4th in final standings. &nbsp;In 2019, he was champion once more, getting 5 wins, 17 Top 5’s, and 27 Top 10’s. &nbsp;Thus far in 2020, he’s tied his record for his &nbsp;longest winless drought with JGR, currently with 8 Top 5’s and 10 Top 10’s. &nbsp;Along with Aric Almirola, as previously mentioned, he’s one of the only 2 people involved in the whole ordeal that’s still running full-time<br><br><br>For those who did read, thank you. &nbsp;And Brock, if you see this, once I get some great equipment, in the future, I’d love to collab with you on something. &nbsp;I’ve had an idea to look at Hendrick Motorsports’ success outside of the Cup Series.

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• RA

  @Razz415 · 6 years ago

  Such a domino effect. &nbsp;So strange watching Mark drive the 8 at DEI. Just nose bleeds allover the place.

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• PA

  @patrickracer43 · 4 years ago

  Btw, that one picture is a bit jumbled because the 1 which came from DEI is now apart of Trackhouse and the 42 is with the 43 after GMS Racing moved to Cup and acquired Richard Petty Motorsports to form Petty-GMS and the 34 of Front Row is the only one still alive on its own

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