Ganassi to merge with Gibbs/Toyota?

UPDATE #3 This rumor is downgraded to 'false' today. Statement from Chip Ganassi per the Speculation about Potential Merger with Other Race Teams: "There have been numerous incorrect reports in the media over the last few days about a possible merger of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and other race teams and I can tell you that we have never had any such conversation with any team, nor do we plan to. Furthermore, as I have said many times, we are currently a FIVE-car team, we just happen to compete over three different forms of racing. We fully expect to continue to be a two car NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team in 2010 and beyond and have no plans of merging or downsizing at all. We are a Chevrolet team and focused solely on making The Chase for the Sprint Cup." EGR PR

07/25/09 Don't believe the latest that has Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates partnering with Joe Gibbs Racing, making Juan Pablo Montoya JGR's fourth driver with Target as the sponsor. Not that there hasn't been some conversation looking at that as a possible marriage. There are conversations between almost every organization about almost everything these days. But this one hasn't been talked about enough to warrant it as a substantial rumor. It likely never will be. Ganassi is under the umbrella of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with its partnership with DEI, and he's happy with that relationship. "We have an affiliation now," he said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "We have an affiliation with Earnhardt with EGR and with Richard Childress Racing. I'm very happy with that. Knock on wood. We've had no issues. The idea of what we put together at the end of the season last year, it's been mission accomplished." ESPN Insider

07/23/09 The latest rumor is that Chip Ganassi somehow will merge his Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing team with Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota's possibly eliminating another owner. SPEEDtv/Jimmy Spencer

06/23/09 Once Martin Truex Jr. announces that he's driving for Michael Waltrip Racing next month, where does that leave Earnhardt Ganassi Racing? With Juan Pablo Montoya. But after GM dramatically reduced its assistance to EGR last week, is now the time that Chip Ganassi bolts to Toyota? One hot rumor swirling around the garage was a partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing to run Montoya in a fourth car similar to the situation that Marcos Ambrose has with MWR. On Sunday, JGR president J.D. Gibbs said, "No, no, no…," but the guess is his bottom line could say "yes". FoxSports