Silly Season, Anyone?

We're halfway through the Cup season, and the rumor mill is already running at a very high level. The second half of this season, as well as the off season, should bring more driver/crew chief/team/sponsor/rule changes than we've seen in a long, long time.

We already know that Ganassi Racing will be replacing Sterling Marlin with David Stremme. I guess they decided old laid back Sterling doesn't get pissed off enough when he gets wrecked, so they decided to promote a known hot head. (That's HOT head, this is Stremme we're talking about, not Hmiel.) It was also announced that the team offered Sterling a lucrative "personal services" contract. (And here I thought "personal services" were illegal everywhere but parts of Nevada.) What it means, basically, is that Sterling would get paid to do pretty much nothing. It should leave him well groomed to run for Vice-President of the U.S. at some point in the future.

The other Ganassi driver on the hot seat has been Casey Mears, but he was reportedly told, by Chip Ganassi, "Hey, I have a plan, and you're in it." What is not known is whether Chip was talking about the race team, or simply deciding who was going to make a Taco Bell run.

Lots of rumors are centered around DEI, and understandably so, given that organization's tendency this season to often look like NASCAR's version of the Beverly Hillbillies. About the only thing certain in the DEI camp is that Dale Jr will be back next season even if he doesn't want to be back next season. Depending on the time of day, Michael Waltrip is either a lock or a long shot to come back next season. Considering the fact that Michael's ahead of Jr in the standings and looks like a strong possibility to make the Chase for the Championship, it would seem foolish for DEI to let him go, but foolish has been the unofficial slogan for DEI ever since we lost its visionary and creator, Dale Earnhardt.

The other DEI driver hitting the rumor pages lately is Martin Truex Jr. Once considered a lock to take over the #1 car full time next year, Truex is now supposedly being courted by Penske South to take over the #2 car when Rusty Wallace retires at the end of the season. I'm sure many variables will come into play as Truex makes his decision, but he's a young guy, so which do you think sounds more fun to him - sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops or Miller Lite? Free bait or free beer? Good luck at Penske, Martin.

With Mark Martin retiring, the #6 car is another high profile ride soon to be vacated, and owner Jack Roush either doesn't have a solid plan in place yet for that car, or he's playing it very close to the vest. The big names mentioned so far as possibilities are Ryan Newman, Ricky Rudd and Sterling Marlin. Newman is a long shot at best, so that leaves (theoretically, anyway) Sterling or Ricky. With Viagra leaving as sponsor at the end of the 2005 season, who will step forward to sponsor a #6 car driven by Rudd or Marlin? Depends or the Hair Club for Men?

Georgia Pacific will not be back as sponsor of Kyle Petty's car next season. When you think about it, the most appropriate sponsor for the #45 car would be PreparationH, since both the car and the ointment can usually be found at the rear.

Rumors continue to circulate that Jason Leffler will soon be replaced in the #11 FedEx machine, and while sources at Joe Gibbs Racing continue to deny those rumors, I'm sure they took note of the fact that Terry Labonte, driving the #11 car in a one race deal last weekend at Sonoma, finished in 12th place. This was only the second time this season that the #11 had finished inside the top fifteen. Despite anything anyone at JGR has to say, this is a sponsor driven sport, and I'm sure FedEx would like to see a driver in their car who is capable of getting there ahead of everyone else on occasion. Leffler has done more to inspire people to use UPS than Dale Jarrett has, and Dale has done a lot.

What else? Well, it was rumored this week that, with the possibility that either Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr (or both) might miss the Chase by falling below the 400 point threshold, NASCAR might "adjust" the rules a little to make sure they make it in anyway, possibly with the addition of a driver voted into the Chase by the fans. When interviewed, NASCAR CEO Brian France said there was absolutely no way the sanctioning body would do that, but it is also rumored that France was crossing his fingers and his toes when making that statement, just in case.

I'll guarantee you that the "Silly Season" is just getting warmed up, and we'll see lots of changes between now and the 2006 Daytona 500. The only thing we can reliably count on will be Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch continuing their knock down, drag out fight to see who can be most hated by race fans. (My money's on JJ in this one.)