Not quite…
It’s not quite Silly Season, but already teams are making moves and rumors are flying.
Richard Petty Motorsports has locked A.J. Allmendinger in thru 2010. This follows Hunt Brothers Pizza picking up the sponsorship of the #44 car thru September. The bonehead move of last year has to have been Team Red Bull’s decision not to keep this talented [and marketable!] young driver. Instead they chose to go with rookie Scott Speed, former F1 driver, who was fired from Team Scuderia Toro Rosso [an offshoot of Team Red Bull] in July of 2007.
Another bonehead move that is still producing repercussions is Earnhardt Ganassi’s [formerly DEI] decision to let Dale Jr. go. Sponsorship dollars have dried up and the company now has only two full time drivers after closing down the #8 [yet another petty gesture by Teresa, keeping this number only to shut it down], and the rumor mill is churning about where Martin Truex Jr. will go after this season. No surprises here, that a driver with the talent of Truex Jr., would be seeking a more stable, competitive team. The early front runner seems to be Michael Waltrip Racing. According to Lee Spencer [of FoxSports] Truex’s father was seen in the MWR pits during the Texas race. There are several ties between Truex and MWR, his younger brother is under contract and racing late models for them. More importantly, MWR’s general manager, Ty Norris, came over from DEI and signed Martin Truex Jr. for them as a development driver. This would seem to be a good fit, as MWR, and partner JTG Daughtry, are having a great year to date.
Jamie McMurray is another driver on the bubble. Roush Fenway has to trim down to four teams next year. Obviously #99 Carl Edwards, #17 Matt Kenseth and #16 Greg Biffle aren’t going anywhere. That leaves #6 David Ragan and #26 Jamie McMurray fighting for the final spot. The #6 car has a multi year contract with sponsor UPS and continues to improve. McMurray is sponsored by Crown Royal [27 races] and Irwin Tools [11 races] this year. Their stats are not very different, but Ragan is perceived to be the younger, up and coming driver.
With the real Silly Season several months away, there’s sure to be more wacky rumors and hookups to come.
xox, mb
