Jarrett’s sticking around through the end, but he’ll be taking his talent and his sponsor, UPS, to Michael Waltrip Racing next season.

Gilliland is set to return in the No. 38. The No. 88 is still up in the air, with no driver and no sponsorship for next season. And at this late date, there are few options.

There’s been no definitive statements on the organization’s future, but it’s as bleak as any team out there. Robby Gordon, running his own operation, supposedly made a bid for the entire Yates franchise, but that didn’t work out. Yates has also been linked to selling to Dale Earnhardt Inc., though few believe Ford will be willing to let yet another team switch to their GM rivals, Chevrolet. (Gordon runs Chevys now, but will move to Ford next season.)

According to SceneDaily.com, Yates will reveal the fate of the No. 88 to team members before this weekend’s race at Homestead.

Just as we talked about yesterday, one team’s gain is another’s loss. There are limited sponsorship opportunities and a limited number of Cup-ready drivers; with Toyota joining the Cup circuit next year, the pie appeared to be cut too thin. We just didn’t know who would be the odd man out.

Yates, it seems, is that man. And that’s a sad thing for a championship organization, one that fielded cars for top-level drivers like Davey Allison and Ernie Irvan. Jarrett won the organization’s only title in 1999.

If Yates goes away completely, it hurts the rest of the Ford’s Cup operation too. Yates’ two cars and Jack Roush’s five cars got their engines from a Roush-Yates partnership; Yates and his son, Doug, both have reputations for being master engine-builders.

If he does come back, he could run with one team, but we all know that single-car teams are at a significant disadvantage. And as it stands, Gilliland — who some believe is over his head — is still learning the ropes. After winning the pole at Talladega last month, Gilliland came home 15th, his best finish of the season. Last week at Phoenix, he led his first lap of the season, and his finishes have improved from a rocky beginning. Jarrett has just three top-10 finishes this season, the last one on Oct. 1 at Kansas.

We can hope that Yates comes back, because it would be sad to wave goodbye to someone who’s spent a lifetime in the sport. But realistically, he’s going to have to work some magic to field a competitive team in 2007.

Jeff Burton broke a five-year winless streak and made the Chase too. He was the favorite at the mid-point of the Chase, but a string of bad luck has relegated him to a spectator at Homestead. Clint Bowyer, third in the Busch standings, is 17th in Cup points with 10 top-10s and four top-fives.
The last time a Childress driver finished a season in the top 10 was in 2003 — the year before the Chase was introduced — when Harvick was fifth. In the two years since, he finished 14th both times.
But these things tend to be cyclical. Last year, Roush Racing was the toast of NASCAR, getting all five of its teams into the Chase. This year, only two made it, and one — Mark Martin — was never much of a factor for a title.
“I don’t know what the heck is going on at Roush Racing,” Matt Kenseth said, according to the Associated Press. “Right now, it seems in somewhat of a mess. We’ll see what happens. As a group, Roush Racing hasn’t been nearly as strong as it was last year.”
Jenna Fryer’s story points to the fact that Roush made few changes last offseason, feeling its setup was where it needed to be. That, of course, hasn’t been the case, and several Roush teams already have new crew chiefs or will next season. As the adage goes, if you’re only staying even, you’re falling behind.
Perhaps this will serve as a cautionary tale for Childress. In the recent past, Roush is one of NASCAR’s top organizations, with Hendrick Motorsports its only true peer. If they can suffer a dramatic fall from grace, then it can definitely happen to anyone.
Given Childress’ performance this season, expectations will be raised by the time the teams roll into Daytona. Can Harvick and Burton improve? Will Bowyer become more of a force?
It’s impossible to say for certain, just as impossible to say that Roush’s loss is Childress’ gain. But Childress and all his employees will have to guard against overconfidence; a successful 2006 buys nothing in 2007. But this isn’t anything the veteran owner doesn’t know.
“It’s kinda hard to keep coming back and repeating,” Childress said on Tuesday when asked about Roush’s misfortunes. “Back when we were winning championships, we’d have two good years, one bad. Two good years, one bad. It’s hard to stay on top year after year. People hire your personnel or there’s a driver change.”

RCR driver Kevin Harvick won at Phoenix on Sunday. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR)