Such is driver movement; it never happens in a vacuum.
When the series returns to Daytona in February, at least something will be different on eight current Cup teams. Most will have driver changes completely, some will stay within the same team but drive a different car (Joe Nemechek), and some will drive in the same car but share the ride with someone else (Ken Schrader). And that doesn’t include the influx of Toyota teams, but more on them tomorrow.
When the series came to Daytona this past February, there were 15 drivers that weren’t in quite the same place as they were in 2005 — and that only includes Cup’s bigger-name teams.
Driver changes are nothing new, of course. What is a new phenomenon is drivers changing teams — or announcing their intention to change teams — in mid-season. Like Elliott Sadler moving to Evernham from Yates in August, or the memorable three-team swap to replace the retiring Rusty Wallace in late 2005. You’ll recall Kurt Busch was hired from Roush, who in turn hired Jamie McMurray from Ganassi, who in turn put Mears in the No. 42 and Reed Sorenson in the No. 41.
According to Jayski’s 2007 team chart, six drivers will see their contract expire at the end of next season, so driver movement could be a bit more muted than the past two seasons.
Let me amend that and make “could” in all capital letters. There’s a huge if in the equation: One of the six drivers whose contract expires is Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Jayski suggests, and I concur, that if Little E and DEI don’t re-up before August, there will be endless speculation about Junior’s future until something is resolved. Junior and DEI have had some minor squabbles here and there, but that’s probably no different than anyone else.
While it’s something that’s off the radar for now, the issue will slowly resurface as the 2007 sea-son unfolds — unless something definitive happens in the meantime.
It’s a situation that bears watching. DEI has a gold mine with Junior; he’s far and away the most popular driver out there, and one would assume that Anheuser-Busch shells out a LOT of money to make sure that they’re associated with the most popular driver out there. DEI is going to have to give Junior a contract that’s fair; and even a fair contract is going to cost a hefty chunk of change.
Jeff Burton’s contract is up next year too; if nothing’s resolved with him, there’s an easy storyline: Junior returning to the place where his dad became famous? But given Burton’s performance this season, it seems like Childress Racing won’t be so easy to give him up.
There’s lots of speculation for you, but a lot can happen between now and August. By then, it may all be a moot point, but we’ll have to wait to find out.