by SPEED Channel, Special to FOXSports.com

NASCAR on FOX: Pocono Sun., June 12: Nextel Cup Racing presented by Subway on FOX, 1 p.m. ET Photo Gallery... Biffle masters Monster Mile Also... | | Gilmore: Truex Cup contract ready Analysis... DW: Biffle's heart and soul SPENCER: BYRNES: Driver dedicated to troops BEHRENDT:

John Roberts: Richie Gilmore is director of motorsports for DEI Racing and last week, DEI was on just about everybody's mind after a run-in the track between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip. Let's bring in Richie right now, and Richie, we know after a week of people talking back and forth about this thing that Dale purposely got into Michael or whatever the subject was. You guys are saying right now that everything's OK among the team members.

Richie Gilmore: Yeah, it is. We've had a lot of discussion this week, and Dale apologized to both teams. We wanted him to talk to Michael first. That's what he did on Monday, and we had further discussions on Tuesday. But we wanted the two drivers to talk first, and that's what they did on Monday.

Jimmy Spencer: Richie, the situation the future holds for DEI. You have a lot of people saying, "Hey, we want Martin Truex to drive for us next year." Are you going to field a third team next year? Are you going to be able to keep Martin Truex?

Richie Gilmore: Yeah, we're real close. We're just finishing up some stuff now on the legal side of the contract, but we've come to an agreement on all the stuff that involves the racing side and the financial side. We've been working hard on it to make it a long-term deal. We just didn't want to do a few-year deal or a one-year deal. We wanted to make it a three-year deal with a three-year option for Martin to build it like we did with Jr.'s contract into a long-term deal. We feel like we're real close on it. Just got a few things that the lawyers are working on, and when it gets to the lawyers, it usually takes a little bit of time to work that out. But we're real close we've been working back and forth and trying to get it done.

Kenny Wallace: Hey, Richie. I admire you for showing up, buddy. You're going through some tough times. I was with DEI, and you guys revitalized my career at the 1 car so I really respect the DEI organization. But, that being said, don't you think after watching Ray Evernham announce the extension of Jeremy Mayfield's contract with Roush announcing Greg Biffle's contract... Don't you think it's important for DEI to put all these rumors to rest early about Michael Waltrip so you guys can go ahead and get racing?

Richie Gilmore: Yeah, we've been talking a lot the last... We hoped to have more conversations last week about that, and then what happened on the racetrack slowed that down a little bit last week. But Michael and I have had some conversations, and Teresa and I have. And we're going to sit down and talk about that next week and try to get that behind us and look what's best for us to focus on two or three teams. NAPA has been with DEI for nine years, and we want to keep it going with them. We feel right now Michael has done a great job with Tony Jr. and that crew, and we're trying to lay everything out. But I think next week will be a big decision-making and that's ultimately going to come down to what Teresa wants to do and we're limited a little bit on space on buildings. With Mooresville, we're struggling a little bit right there with sewer and water, but we're working through it. But ultimately you've got to have three teams to be competitive to have the resources to compete with the top teams so we're trying to work through all that. We're really happy right now with what Michael's done for us as an organization.

John Roberts: Now Richie when you have a driver the status of a Dale Earnhardt Jr., almost every decision you make is going to get magnified a little bit. You guys have been through some crew changes so far this season with that group. How is that group settling in now with Steve Hmiel as the chief of that side of the organization?

Richie Gilmore: Right now, we're really happy with Steve, and Steve's got a lot of experience. That's what we really need Dale Jr. He needs a seasoned veteran with a lot of experience and someone that runs the show. Dale Jr. needs to focus on just driving, not making the decisions on the racecar. He needs to have input, but he really wants to be just a driver and get back into that frame of mind. I think last week he was at ease with Steve Hmiel. He feels like this week at Dover he was the man he said in practice, and we're really looking forward to today because we feel like with Michael and Jr., we've got two good cars.

Jimmy Spencer: Richie, we heard you talk about the shop and the plumbing and all this, the sewer stuff. How much is involved in running a race team? How many people are in the front office to control these race teams?

Richie Gilmore: We've got quite a few. Upstairs, we've got about 15 people upstairs. We do have a lot of stuff in-house. We do all our sales and marketing. We do a lot of stuff with the diecasts, and pretty much all our business we can kind of control right through DEI. A lot of people do a lot of stuff outside, but we try to do everything internal. And that makes it... You need more people when you do that, but then you control a lot of your own destiny when you do it all in-house.