EM Motorsports plans to run some NASCAR ’08 races

E&M Motorsports team owner John Carter is no quitter. "Whatever I go out to do, I go out to win," Carter said. "There's no negative thoughts on anything I do. I don't care if it's the scrap business, trash or whatever I'm trying to conquer. I go in with a positive outlook, no matter what it costs." A partnership that would have provided stability and sponsorship fell apart after a handful of races. His team made just one race — at Michigan — and Joe Nemechek wound up crashing the team's best car after 92 laps. A driver from Europe who promised to bring money to the team instead turned out to be a fraud. He can't sell any of his remaining rolling stock because of the change to the Car of Tomorrow chassis. And plans for a shop to replace his little two-car garage have stalled for lack of working capital. "The last three years I've run it's all come out of my pocket," Carter said. "I'd rather not say how much. I don't want to make myself sick thinking about it. I've had to take out a loan because I still don't have a sponsor. But I do have one trying to come on with me and help me. We have the same shop, but we can make it happen out of there." Carter has purchased one COT and has another on order. He plans on being at Daytona in February, with either Burney Lamar or Carl Long behind the wheel of the #08 Dodge, whether that's out of his pocket or with partial sponsorship. "We've got new cars being built right now, one for Daytona and one for the races after that," he said. "You can use the same cars because of the same suspension pieces. One car's built now and the other's being built and I'm in the process of buying it." Engine builder Ernie Elliott — the man behind Bill Elliott's superspeedway domination in the '80s — is responsible for the horsepower. "He's building us a special engine to run Daytona with," Carter said. "We believe we've got a good package to run at a superspeedway with the Car of Tomorrow." "With the two drivers I've got, I still think we can go out there and win," Carter said. "A lot of people think this is off the wall, but with these new cars and all, I still think we can compete and still win a race. If we can get in a race and run with Ernie's engines and these cars are so equal to each other, I think we've got a better shot than ever, as far as going there and running in the top five or 10." NASCAR.com