Stewart heats up free agency talk in NASCAR garage
Car owner Joe Gibbs reminded everyone at the Talladega Superspeedway last Sunday that his top driver, Tony Stewart, is not a free agent.
Stewart said he was exploring a variety of options for his racing future, but those options won't materialize until the 2010 season. Until then, he still has a lot of work - 63 regular-season and three all-star races - to do.
That's not the case for Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Reed Sorenson and Ryan Newman. Their contracts are up at the end of this season.
All are taking different paths in negotiations. But like Stewart, they seemed intrigued by their prospects.
"You always want to weigh everything," Edwards said. "It doesn't cost anything to listen. I think it's wise to always wise to listen and look at your options and things. And, that's that."
Biffle said he's not in a hurry to re-sign with Roush Fenway Racing, but he believes he will return. But like his teammate Edwards, he's listening to other offers.
Martin Truex Jr. was supposed to be a free agent at the end of this year, but Dale Earnhardt Inc. picked up an option that will keep him in the No. 1 Chevrolet for another year.
"We have an option that we've picked up for 2009, so that's always reported in a confusing way," said team president Max Siegel. "We love Martin and we're having discussions about extending it for a long-term deal, but we're good through 2009. He's important to our organization."
Like Edwards, Newman is representing himself during negotiations. And like everyone else, he's going to mull through other offers before he re-signs with Penske Racing.
"I'm my agent. I went to college for four years; it's got to pay for something," Newman said. "I'm sitting happy in my seat right now, but that doesn't mean that I can't be happy some place else. I haven't even gotten a phone call. Being the top of the free-agent list hasn't gotten me anywhere yet. I know that there are other options out there besides me retaining my position at Penske Racing."
Danica and NASCAR
Now that Danica Patrick is a winner in the IndyCar series, there is a renewed interest in having her race in NASCAR.
Car owner Jack Roush said people from his organization talked with Patrick two weeks ago at Phoenix - days before she won the IRL race at Japan. They apparently talked about creating a stock car program for her.
Some, however, aren't sure her success, and the worldwide interest that comes with it, will translate into success in NASCAR.
"I think it's a harder transition to go from an open wheel type car to this than people think," Jeff Burton said. "I don't know if she could do it or not. Ask (Juan) Montoya how hard this is. I'm not saying that we're the best drivers, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is it takes different stuff, a different driving style to run well in these cars than it does in a high down-force, high-grip type of race car. I don't know if she could do it. I don't have a clue."
Kevin Harvick agreed.
"I am excited for IndyCar racing to get back to where they need to be with everyone together," he said. "I don't know, it would be interesting to see how she would do here (Talladega). I think this is a much more competitive garage than what they have over there. It would be a little bit tougher road to hoe than what she has got right now."
Pit stops
Dennis Setzer is the leading candidate to replace Dario Franchitti at Chip Ganassi Racing this Saturday at the Richmond International Raceway. Franchitti broke his left ankle last week at Talladega, Ala., and is recovering. If he's not able to race next week at Darlington, S.C., former Ganassi driver Sterling Marlin could get the call ... Television ratings for last Sunday's race at Talladega drew a 5.2 rating, a 2 percent increase over last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. Overall, ratings have either matched or exceeded numbers from last year in eight of nine regular-season races.
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