NASCAR Silly Season

[kingfloopy]

Well the season is winding down and its time for silly season to enter full swing. Here's a breakdown of some of the changes so far.
Scott Wimmer- released from the #22 Bill Davis Racing entry
Mike Bliss- out of the #0 Gene Haas entry
Jeff Green- leaving the #43 at Petty Enterprises possibly to go to the #0 Haas
Dave Blaney- replaced with Clint Bowyer at the #07 RCR team
Rusty Wallace- will retire from the #2 Penske team for sure
Mark Martin- will return to the #6 with AAA as sponsor
Scott Riggs- will move with Valvoline and the #10 to Evernham Motorsports 3rd team
Sterling Marlin- will replace Riggs in the "new" #14 team at MB2 with currently unknown sponsor
Martin Truex- will drive the #1 DEI full time next year with Bass Pro Shops as sponsor
Michael Waltrip- will drive for Bill Davis with sponsor NAPA replaced at DEI with Paul Menard on limited schedule
David Stremme- will replace Sterling Marlin in the #40 Ganassi entry
Reed Sorenson- will take over the #41 from Casey Mears
Casey Mears- will move to new #30 team at Ganassi with Home 123 as sponsor

These are the major changes that have happened so far. A few things are still up in the air. If Ricky Rudd retires or moves to a different team someone will need to replace him in the #21 Wood Brothers. One scenario has Rudd going to the #42 at Ganassi freeing Jaime McMurray for the #97 Roush entry which in turn frees Kurt Busch to go to the #2 Penske entry to replace Rusty Wallace. It has also been rumoured that Kenny Wallace and Schwans may move over to the #21 to replace Rudd. Don't know if any of this will happen or not.

It has also been rumoured that Mike Wallace is looking for a different Cup ride and that Bobby Labonte may leave to go to the #42 or even the #43.

Hope this run down helps, I'll try to keep it updated as changes occur.

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

Just saw on Jayski's site that Kurt Busch and Jaime McMurray were both released from their 2006 contract obligations and will be leaving their respective teams at the end of the season. Rumours have Bobby Labonte or Ricky Rudd taking over the #42 in place of McMurray.

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

Terry Labonte may be runnin up to 17 races next season as he will drive the #96 Hall of Fame Racing entry in the first 5 races (for champions provisional) and at the road courses. Tony Raines will drive the other 29 races. Texas Instruments is the sponsor.

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

Denny Hamlin will be a rookie in the #11 JGR entry next year. J.J. Yeley will probably replace Bobby Labonte in the #18 and also be a rookie next season. Labonte will probably end up at Petty Enterprises in the #43. Looks like Ricky Rudd will probably retire from Nextel Cup. Kenny Schrader and Schwans Home Service will move to the #21 with Brent Sherman (mainly because he is bringing sponsor Serta with him) replacing him at BAM racing. Jaime McMurray will be in the #97 Roush entry next season and Jaime McMurray will be in the #2. Casey Mears will drive the #42 as Home123 parted ways with Ganassi racing and the fourth team won't happen.

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

Ricky Rudd will be taking a break from driving next season. The full story is at:
http://www.rickyrudd.com/

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

It has been confirmed that J.J. Yeley will drive the #18 for Joe Gibbs and that Bobby Labonte will drive the #43 for Petty Enterprises next season. It also looks like Dave Blaney may return to Bill Davis Racing to drive the #22 next season.

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

A lot of rumours that the #77 Penske/Jasper team is shut down as sponsor Kodak has left. It has not been confirmed yet, but this wouldn't surprise me as the team has not run real well. It looks like Dave Blaney will return to Bill Davis Racing and drive the #22 next season. Michael Waltrip will drive the #55 NAPA entry for Bill Davis. The #97 Roush team will change to the #26 team next season. Roush has previously used this number in the late 90's with Johnny Benson as the driver. Finally Kenny Schrader will replace Ricky Rudd next season in the #21.

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

Looks like the U.S. tv package will change in 2007. More info here:
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/nascar/21121/

J.D.

[rustyfan]

Perhaps time to end this one-man show?

Scott Wimmer has been confirmed with the Morgan-McLure #4 Chevrolet team for next year. The team has also managed to secure a new primary sponsor for 2006, Aero Exhaust.

[rustyfan]

Travis Kvapil replaces Bobby Hamilton Jr. in the PPI #32 Tide Chevrolet.

[Bump Buddy]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Travis Kvapil replaces Bobby Hamilton Jr. in the PPI #32 Tide Chevrolet.

Hamilton jr. really was a dissapointment this season...hope Kvapil will do better than him...

[macdaddy]

Welcome to 10T's, Bump Buddy!

[Bump Buddy]

Originally Posted by macdaddy

Welcome to 10T's, Bump Buddy!

Thanks!

[Snapper Baz]

Bump Buddy-your right, Jnr never seemed to get his foot hard down at all last season-Tide must be glad they have washed thier hands of him!

[kingfloopy]

I don't know if it was Hamilton Jr. or the teams problem. The #32 didn't do real well in 2004 with Craven driving and seemed to get progressively worse. I don't know if Kvapil will do much better, but I don't see Tide staying around after this season if they don't make a dramatic improvement (I'm amazed they haven't left already). But as poorly as the team ran last year it shouldn't take much to make an improvement.

On to the depressing news. It looks like Ultra Motorsports will shut down their truck team next season after losing Dodge support and failing to secure a deal with Ford. Ted Musgrave is now looking for work after winning the championship last year. Too bad that one of the original truck series teams had to shut down, I think they might have been the only left.

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

Looks like Musgrave will be driving for Germain Racing as a team mate to Todd Bodine next season. Judging from Bodines performance the last couple seasons it looks like this may be a pretty tough team to beat this season.

J.D.