July 27, 2007
By Rebecca Gladden

Rebecca Gladden

Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is race number 20 on the NASCAR Nextel Cup 36-race schedule.

But to paraphrase a local radio host, trying to follow the recent developments in NASCAR is a little like dropping a bucket full of ping-pong balls on a tile floor and watching where all the balls go at the same time.

Along with the usual silly season rumors that start to swirl about this time every year, there are mergers, talks of mergers, sponsor concerns, and more questions than answers on a number of fronts.

Here are just a few of the drivers involved in unsettled issues as we go to press:

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: With Earnhardt Junior's surprising move to Hendrick Motorsports a done deal, the greatest source of speculation now is who will sponsor the sport's four-time Most Popular Driver next season. We know that Budweiser won't be back, making the hood of Earnhardt's ride at HMS the most valuable piece of real estate per square inch in NASCAR. While multiple companies have been mentioned as potential sponsors, nothing is confirmed yet. Latest rumor: Junior will drive the No. 5 car at HMS with Mountain Dew and AMP Energy Drink as his sponsors. The No. 5 car's current sponsor Kellogg's will move to Casey Mears and share primary sponsorship of that ride with the National Guard.

Kyle Busch: The current driver of the aforementioned No. 5 car, Busch is leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this year, if not sooner. HMS execs were none too pleased with Busch's brash criticism of the organization and his teammates over the last few weeks. But at this point, Hendrick has not announced any definite plans to release him early. Earlier speculation had Busch going to DEI, but with the DEI/Ginn Racing merger now a done deal, there doesn't appear to be room for him in the DEI stable. Latest rumor: Busch will hold out on a decision for as long as possible to up his market share and will eventually sign with Evernham Motorsports.

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has been in a slump of sorts for several weeks, at least by the 48 team's usual performance standards. He is currently seventh in points, having been as high as second earlier in the season. Although Johnson won four of the year's first ten races, he has just one top-5 finish in the past eight races and five finishes of 15th or worse. While there's no risk of Johnson missing the Chase, he is concerned about the current slump. Latest rumor: A mid-summer slump is not uncharacteristic for the 48 team, but they will rebound and will be back in fighting form by Richmond.

Ryan Newman and J.J. Yeley: These are two of the better-known drivers most often rumored to be at risk of losing their rides after this season. Newman, 13th in points, still has a statistical chance to make the Chase, but he hasn't won a race in almost two years -- his last win came at Loudon in September of 2005. Meanwhile, Yeley, 19th in points, surely won't make the Chase and hasn't won a single Cup race in 61 attempts. Latest rumor: Newman will probably be back at Penske next season, but if not, could move to a fourth team at Richard Childress racing. Yeley's status at Joe Gibbs Racing is doubtful for 2008 and he may end up back in the Busch series next year.

Sterling Marlin and Regan Smith: Only in NASCAR could Marlin, a 50-year-old veteran driver with 730 Cup starts, and Smith, a 23-year-old rookie with five Cup starts, find themselves in the exact same position as victims of the DEI/Ginn merger. Marlin's No. 14 team was eliminated at Ginn just days before the merger was announced, while the fate of Smith, who had been sharing the No. 01 with Mark Martin, hangs in the balance as a result of Ginn's signing of Busch driver Aric Almirola. Latest rumor: Neither driver has a very good chance of landing a full-time Cup ride with sponsorship in 2008. Marlin may be involved in a ride share at a less prominent Cup team, while Smith could find himself competing full-time in either the Busch or Craftsman Truck series.

The bottom line is, if you've made sense of all the rumors, mergers, and changes so far this season, congratulations! But don't get too excited, because it could all change tomorrow.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.