The Buzz: Hendrick planning changes

Some important steps in Silly Season should be made next week when Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing make announcements on their driver lineups for 2005.

Kyle Busch

Hendrick has a press conference scheduled with Terry Labonte for Tuesday morning (breakfast with Kellogg's -- get it?), when Labonte supposedly will announce he is cutting back to a limited schedule for 2005 and 2006.

Kyle Busch is slated to be Labonte's full-time replacement, moving up from the Busch Series. Supposedly, Labonte will drive the No. 44, his first number in NASCAR, while Busch will get the No. 5.

Hendrick Motorsports was slick in its handling of Busch's situation, not formally telling the driver about the impending move. But Busch has done plenty of photos shoots wearing a Kellogg's uniform. So if asked, Busch can honestly say no one has told him about the change.

Another announcement is scheduled for Wednesday at Charlotte Douglass International Airport -- at the FedEx facility, specifically. Joe Gibbs Racing has secured FedEx sponsorship for its No. 11 Chevrolet in 2005 but hasn't announced its driver.

That will happen Wednesday, and it should be Jason Leffler. This will be Leffler's second tour of duty with Gibbs, for he ran the 2000 Busch season with the team before bolting to Chip Ganassi's Cup car.

Leffler had been driving Haas CNC Racing's Busch car this year but was taken out of the No. 00 this weekend in favor of a Hendrick development driver, Blake Feese. Leffler filed an injunction to stay in the car, but a Kansas judge denied it.