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October 9, 2003
9:24 PM EDT (0124 GMT)
Silly Season seems to be in full swing, but it may not be long before everything is settled. If you're keeping score at home, here goes:
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| Bill Elliott |
Bill Elliott can't shake rumors of an impending retirement, which could open up a seat in one of Ray Evernham's Dodges. The rumors have Elliott doing a partial schedule in 2004, with Kasey Kahne taking over Elliott's full-time seat. Of course, Kahne is under contract with Ford, but contracts are meant to be broken, right?
But what of Elliott's teammate, Jeremy Mayfield? Mayfield has run well recently, posting two second-place finishes and one third-place finish in the past five races. Mayfield, though, could be on the way out of the No. 19, mostly because Evernham could have sponsorship troubles.
Where will Mayfield go? Could it be to Richard Childress' No. 30? That seat was supposedly Ward Burton's, but sponsor AOL reportedly balked because Burton doesn't exactly meet AOL's target demographic.
Burton surprised some in the Winston Cup garage this weekend by signing with the Haas CNC Racing team, which fields No. 0 Pontiacs. Jason Leffler was supposed to be in that car for next year, but he's been bumped down to the Busch Series.
Whoever ends up in the No. 30 will have to get along with Kevin Harvick.
Then again, Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s No. 1 is still open, but that car doesn't have a sponsor signed yet, so drivers are apparently waiting on DEI to get a sponsor before committing to that ride.
Current driver John Andretti might be the leading candidate, with or without a sponsor.
Or maybe a potential sponsor would want a young driver, and DEI might look in-house to Chance 2 Motorsports driver Martin Truex Jr.
Another driver who has supposedly been quietly looking for a job is Johnny Benson, who is in the No. 10 Pontiac. Benson and MBV Motorsports could be splitting soon, with Benson replaced by ... Busch Series driver Scott Riggs?
Riggs has gotten a few Cup offers for 2004, but he apparently is headed to MBV to team with whoever is in the No. 01 -- which might be Jerry Nadeau, if he is healthy.
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