HAMPTON, Ga. — Steve Hmiel was introduced Friday as manager of competition for Chip Ganassi Racing — and made no bones about why he made the move from Dale Earnhardt Inc.
A 30-year veteran in the sport who has been a part of multiple championship teams, Hmiel said he grew tired of NASCAR’s new-school mentality where multi-car operations prevail and corporate bigwigs make decisions from corner offices in major metropolitan cities instead of tracks. Today, Hmiel said, it’s difficult to “locate the guy who actually owns the place.”
“At Chip Ganassi, you can make a phone call to Chip and say, ‘Hey ...’ It’s the comfort of being able to contact the owner at any time,” Hmiel said.
“Some people walked away, some people dropped out, some people lost faith and I had an opportunity to do some other things where it was a little bit smaller, a little bit more personal.”
Hmiel will oversee the day-to-day operations — building the cars — whereas director John Fernandez will focus on long-term strategic planning. Both Hmiel and Fernandez will report directly to Chip Ganassi.
http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/10/26/hmiel.dei.ganassi/index.html
Oh My Goodness! Have y’all seen the Q points we did not score in the league. I guess I’m not the only one using up my drivers and having to use the motor home drivers.
I off to work until early afternoon...