NASCAR Silly Season: Which Drivers Will End Up With Which Teams?

With the relationship between Clint Bowyer and Richard Childress Racing appearing to be a thing of the past, teams are looking to Bowyer as a possible addition to their organizations.

Among those teams with possible openings for Bowyer are Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing. Both team owner Jack Roush and JGR team president J.D. Gibbs expressed interest in bringing Bowyer on as a part of their team Saturday in Richmond.

Clint Bowyer has been answering questions about his possible departure from Richard Childress Racing for weeks, yet behind the scenes the No. 33 team has had to shrug off the rumors and focus on making the Chase.

That has not been the easiest thing to do for the crew guys as they speculate about Bowyer’s decision and their future within the organization.

Clint Bowyer has faced questions about his contract situation for weeks, but the picture got a bit clearer Thursday in Richmond.

After team owner Richard Childress told Sirius NASCAR Radio it was getting “tougher and tougher” to find an agreement and they could not “get everything worked out,” Bowyer said it was “fair” to assume an extension was unlikely.

Last week, Tony Stewart officially hired Danica Patrick to run a partial Sprint Cup Series schedule next year. Now he’d like to add another driver to the Stewart-Haas Racing roster: Mark Martin.

“I would love to have him,” Stewart said Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “The biggest thing is us getting the financial backing to run the remainder of those races. I would love nothing more than Mark in all the races that Danica doesn’t run next year. I’ve been a Mark Martin fan for a long time and, trust me, I would love nothing more than to have Mark in one of our cars.”

↵SBJ said the shipping company will only sponsor four to eight races at Roush Fenway Racing in 2012, and is “in talks to shift its sponsorship to Carl Edwards.”

↵That could mean the end of a job for Roush Fenway’s David Ragan, who is currently in the car sponsored by UPS. It’s unclear whether Roush Fenway would be able to come up with another sponsor before next season.

Roush Fenway Racing announced Thursday long-time partner Fastenal would become the primary sponsor on the No. 99 Ford for Carl Edwards in 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for the 2012 season, beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500.

The agreement will also include two additional Roush Fenway sponsored entries in another race yet to be determined, giving Fastenal a total of three Sprint Cup Series entries in one event.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finally come to terms with Hendrick Motorsports and signed a five-year contract extension to remain the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet through the end of the 2017 season.

Team owner Rick Hendrick said he and Earnhardt Jr. have had a “handshake agreement” in place for months, but left the details of the extension to others.

While Roush Fenway Racing celebrated the return of prodigal son Carl Edwards last week, Joe Gibbs Racing was left defending rumors as, well, just that.

What appeared to be a done deal for many dried up when Edwards announced he would not take control of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, instead remaining the flagship driver for Jack Roush’s organization.

The Carl Edwards contract saga that came to an end Thursday was just the latest illustration of how distracting contract negotiations and renewals can become over the course of a season. For weeks and months, rumors swirled and questions were asked about Edwards’ future, the consequences of a move to Joe Gibbs Racing and the domino effect it would have on other free agents and teams.

Despite 11 different winners in the last 11 races, it seems the majority of the conversations throughout the NASCAR garage and media center focused on Edwards’ contract situation and the possible fallout. The discussion not only dominated the headlines, but also served as a distraction for fans, drivers and team members – especially those directly linked to the rumors.

Carl Edwards is not taking his talents to Joe Gibbs Racing after all.

Edwards, the franchise driver for both Roush Fenway Racing and Ford’s NASCAR efforts, ended his lengthy decision-making process on Thursday morning when the team announced he signed a contract extension to remain at Roush.

Greg Biffle has been teammates with Carl Edwards ever since the latter driver came into NASCAR with Roush Fenway Racing.

But Biffle sounded frustrated on Friday when he was asked about Edwards’ still murky future. Edwards, a free agent after this season, has yet to decide whether he will stay at Roush Fenway Racing or leave for Joe Gibbs Racing.