Other than the initial reaction of "aw poor guy -- he'll have to spend more time with Ashley Judd now and I sure hope they can live off her salary," the mothballing of the #40 team and with it Dario Franchitti's position as a Cup driver is much more a sign of how much Chip Ganassi's NASCAR operation is the yin to his open wheel yang.

While Reed Sorenson hasn't shown much in Cup, when you have a driver like Juan Pablo Montoya who no matter how much he irritates his fellow competitors has his name constantly inserted in sentences like "if he was in a real car he'd be a lock for the Chase" plus Franchitti whose driving ability has never been questioned, it's time to look at the organization behind them.  The last stock car connected to Ganassi that had legitimate title hopes was Sterling Marlin in 2002.  Since then?  Nothing.  As in nothing.  One win (Montoya last year at Infineon) in the past six years.  And that's it.  A constant change of personnel -- Montoya's had more crew chiefs than Carl Edwards has done backflips over the past few years -- is a clear sign of directionless mud where clarity and sticking to a clean course of action is vital to success.

Even in these miserable economic times, to be unable to assemble a sponsorship package for Franchitti is mind-boggling.  It's far more an indictment that outside of Target, which is in NASCAR more because it feels an obligation to be there even though its heart is in open wheel and its corresponding fan base, and Texaco not having anyplace better to go plus Montoya fitting nicely into Wrigley's marketing plans there is nothing Ganassi has to offer in NASCAR that will entice people to start signing the big checks.  Now whose fault is that?  Hint: it's not Ashley Judd's husband.  As Pogo said lo those many years ago, when it comes to Chip Ganassi and NASCAR we have met the enemy and he is us.