DownNDirty
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Thought this might be kind of fun. We can come back in October or November when everything is pretty much hammered out and see how off we really are. I'll just give drivers supposedly on the move to keep this from being ultra cluttered:
First off I'm sticking to my guns and saying DEI will be no more - gone, splitski, kaput. The owners points for the cars will transfer over to Stewart-Haas and the 3 cars they have.
We already know Smoke will be in one of the cars. I say Stewart will be #14 (his idol AJ Foyt's number) and his sponsors will be Office Depot and Old Spice as rumored.
His first new teammate will be Rocketman Ryan Newman in the #4 car with Burger King as the sponsor of that car. Hey, makes sense for Burger King to sponsor two of the bigger guys in the sport, literally.
His second new teammate at Stewart-Haas will be Truex Jr in, oh, lets say the #64 car and he'll bring Bass Pro Shops with him.
Casey Mears will land the #12 Alltel ride with Penske. Penske has a storied history with the Mears family and I think The Captain will give Casey his chance in the 12 car.
Paul Menard will move from the defunct DEI stable to Yates Racing in a 3rd car - #58 with Menards of course as the sponsor.
Sliced Bread Joey Lagono will shoot straight into the 20 Cup ride next year replacing Stewart. I can't see anything else but this happening for this car.
Jon Wood will be in the Wood Brothers car. This could be another team that folds by the end of this year though or very early next year unless something significant changes.
Michael Annett will be a ROTY candidate driving a second car for Bill Davis Racing if they have a sponsor is my guess. They said the Army was looking at going to a Toyota team - maybe it would be to sponsor Blaney or this second car. Annett would make more sense though since he's a younger driver and we've heard rumors that the Army wanted a yonger look than what Mark Martin was giving them.
David Reutimann will bolt from MWR and take the 45 ride for Petty. With his age working against him he will have to do marginally well. I don't think people expect him to light it up if he takes the 45 ride but the team should improve at least somewhat. Many people don't realize Reut's in his late 30s.
Reed Sorenson will leave Ganassi to take over the 33 ride at Childress Racing. He's still very young and has alot to prove in the sport. I think if given the right equipment he can be a contender for a Championship in a year or two - especially if he's in RCR equipment.
Dario Franchitti will get one more chance and run the Target car for Ganassi next year - if they come back. I will even go as far as to say as big of a bonehead as Ganassi is as it pertains to his Cup stuff he might put Dario in the car soon and go ahead and release Reed.
Michael McDowell won't leave MWR but will move to the 44. I say after this year the 00 team shuts down. Mikey Waltrip better be praying to the sponsor God's that he finds a couple of good replacements for next year.
Red Bull will expand to 3 cars and accelerate Scott Speed to Cup next year. I don't forsee this being a full time team and just getting him groomed for a full time run in 2010. Speed will probably land in a decent Nationwide ride next year in preparation for his move to Cup Racing.
Brad Coleman will replace JJ Yeley in the 96 DLP car for Hall of Fame Racing. I really like JJ but I can't see them keeping him around when they have Coleman signed to that developmental deal - and I certainly can't see them expanding to two cars next year now that the 96 has no chance of getting back into the top 35 this season.
Marcos Ambrose will move to Cup full time with JTG Racing next year. Instead of going with the Wood Brothers Ambrose will stay with his Nationwide team and try to transition to Cup.
Now remember everything above is mostly speculation. These are just guesses at where guys will land.
First off I'm sticking to my guns and saying DEI will be no more - gone, splitski, kaput. The owners points for the cars will transfer over to Stewart-Haas and the 3 cars they have.
We already know Smoke will be in one of the cars. I say Stewart will be #14 (his idol AJ Foyt's number) and his sponsors will be Office Depot and Old Spice as rumored.
His first new teammate will be Rocketman Ryan Newman in the #4 car with Burger King as the sponsor of that car. Hey, makes sense for Burger King to sponsor two of the bigger guys in the sport, literally.
His second new teammate at Stewart-Haas will be Truex Jr in, oh, lets say the #64 car and he'll bring Bass Pro Shops with him.
Casey Mears will land the #12 Alltel ride with Penske. Penske has a storied history with the Mears family and I think The Captain will give Casey his chance in the 12 car.
Paul Menard will move from the defunct DEI stable to Yates Racing in a 3rd car - #58 with Menards of course as the sponsor.
Sliced Bread Joey Lagono will shoot straight into the 20 Cup ride next year replacing Stewart. I can't see anything else but this happening for this car.
Jon Wood will be in the Wood Brothers car. This could be another team that folds by the end of this year though or very early next year unless something significant changes.
Michael Annett will be a ROTY candidate driving a second car for Bill Davis Racing if they have a sponsor is my guess. They said the Army was looking at going to a Toyota team - maybe it would be to sponsor Blaney or this second car. Annett would make more sense though since he's a younger driver and we've heard rumors that the Army wanted a yonger look than what Mark Martin was giving them.
David Reutimann will bolt from MWR and take the 45 ride for Petty. With his age working against him he will have to do marginally well. I don't think people expect him to light it up if he takes the 45 ride but the team should improve at least somewhat. Many people don't realize Reut's in his late 30s.
Reed Sorenson will leave Ganassi to take over the 33 ride at Childress Racing. He's still very young and has alot to prove in the sport. I think if given the right equipment he can be a contender for a Championship in a year or two - especially if he's in RCR equipment.
Dario Franchitti will get one more chance and run the Target car for Ganassi next year - if they come back. I will even go as far as to say as big of a bonehead as Ganassi is as it pertains to his Cup stuff he might put Dario in the car soon and go ahead and release Reed.
Michael McDowell won't leave MWR but will move to the 44. I say after this year the 00 team shuts down. Mikey Waltrip better be praying to the sponsor God's that he finds a couple of good replacements for next year.
Red Bull will expand to 3 cars and accelerate Scott Speed to Cup next year. I don't forsee this being a full time team and just getting him groomed for a full time run in 2010. Speed will probably land in a decent Nationwide ride next year in preparation for his move to Cup Racing.
Brad Coleman will replace JJ Yeley in the 96 DLP car for Hall of Fame Racing. I really like JJ but I can't see them keeping him around when they have Coleman signed to that developmental deal - and I certainly can't see them expanding to two cars next year now that the 96 has no chance of getting back into the top 35 this season.
Marcos Ambrose will move to Cup full time with JTG Racing next year. Instead of going with the Wood Brothers Ambrose will stay with his Nationwide team and try to transition to Cup.
Now remember everything above is mostly speculation. These are just guesses at where guys will land.
