INDIANAPOLIS - NASCAR wouldn't allow the new Dale Earnhardt Inc. to "partner" with another team to transfer the No. 13 team's points with that of an existing team because that would have given Bobby Ginn ownership of five teams, DEI Vice President John Story said Thursday.
Teams are not allowed to just sell points, although most get around the requirement by remaining a minority owner after the "sale."
The problem for DEI after its merger with Ginn Racing was that neither Ginn nor DEI could have the rights to more than the NASCAR limit of four teams.
With both organizations having three teams and cutting back to four cars total - the existing Nos. 1, 8 and 15 from DEI and the No. 01 from Ginn - the Nos. 13 and 14 from Ginn had to be eliminated.
DEI used the No. 14's points to go to its No. 15 car of Paul Menard, which was outside the top 35.
But it wasn't allowed to do anything with the points from the No. 13, which was 34th in the owner standings and had one of the 35 positions locked into this weekend's Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"Even back in the beginning of the year when there were other talks with us doing business with other companies, [NASCAR] very politely let us know that it's a four-car cap," DEI Vice President John Story said Thursday. "They explained to us how points can and can't transfer. If we were to go buy a race team and the owner of that team went away, we don't get the points.
"When we did merge with Bobby, what we couldn't do then [was] sell points because Bobby would then be an owner in five teams."
With the No. 13 team not entered this weekend, the 36th-place team of Bill Elliott in the No. 21 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford will be automatically locked in the field.
"That's OK with us," Story said. "It gave somebody else an opportunity to move inside the top 35, and we're good with that. We're at our maximum. We know the rules, and we're happy with that."
Teams are not allowed to just sell points, although most get around the requirement by remaining a minority owner after the "sale."
The problem for DEI after its merger with Ginn Racing was that neither Ginn nor DEI could have the rights to more than the NASCAR limit of four teams.
With both organizations having three teams and cutting back to four cars total - the existing Nos. 1, 8 and 15 from DEI and the No. 01 from Ginn - the Nos. 13 and 14 from Ginn had to be eliminated.
DEI used the No. 14's points to go to its No. 15 car of Paul Menard, which was outside the top 35.
But it wasn't allowed to do anything with the points from the No. 13, which was 34th in the owner standings and had one of the 35 positions locked into this weekend's Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"Even back in the beginning of the year when there were other talks with us doing business with other companies, [NASCAR] very politely let us know that it's a four-car cap," DEI Vice President John Story said Thursday. "They explained to us how points can and can't transfer. If we were to go buy a race team and the owner of that team went away, we don't get the points.
"When we did merge with Bobby, what we couldn't do then [was] sell points because Bobby would then be an owner in five teams."
With the No. 13 team not entered this weekend, the 36th-place team of Bill Elliott in the No. 21 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford will be automatically locked in the field.
"That's OK with us," Story said. "It gave somebody else an opportunity to move inside the top 35, and we're good with that. We're at our maximum. We know the rules, and we're happy with that."