TALLADEGA, Ala. -- If you haven't heard, Tony Stewart can become a free agent at the end of 2009 and he's interested in perhaps becoming a car owner in addition to continuing his career as a driver.

But while the news of Stewart's impending free agency and possible future plans has dominated the Sprint Cup Series garage this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, four drivers who are set to become free agents a full year earlier than Stewart continued to fly mostly under the radar.

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I have had offers of ownership from more than one team in the garage, and it's definitely an intriguing offer.

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GREG BIFFLE

They are pretty big names, too: Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing; Ryan Newman of Penske Racing; and Martin Truex Jr. of Dale Earnhardt Inc. Of the four, only Truex technically is under contract through 2009 -- but sources say there are loopholes in the language of the deal that could permit him to get out of it early. The other three all are working on the final year of their contracts.

Newman, winner of this year's season-opening Daytona 500, was asked if he had an agent.

"I'm my agent," he said with a smile. "I went to college for four years; it's got to pay for something."

Despite the joking, Newman admitted that the news that Stewart would be willing to leave Joe Gibbs Racing for the right deal has opened his eyes to future possibilities.

"I haven't signed my contract yet. We haven't really even talked about it yet," Newman said. "There are some options out there. Obviously, people have gone public about wanting to start a fourth team and other teams are changing drivers and crew chiefs and things like that. It seems to be starting earlier than it ever has -- at least in the last couple of years.

"I'm sitting happy in my seat right now, but that doesn't mean that I can't be happy someplace else. Whatever happens with Tony, he's a friend of mine, and I haven't talked to him about it. ... I haven't even gotten a phone call. Being at the top of the free-agent list hasn't gotten me anywhere yet."

Biffle and Edwards both said that they expect to get new deals done that would keep them with Roush Fenway.

"We're sort of in a holding pattern," Biffle said. "We're not in a big hurry to get it done. We're in that negotiation period, and like I've said, I'm pretty confident that we're going to be able to get to common ground on what I want and what they want."

Edwards added: "I'm working really hard to get my stuff done, just because I think it's fair to get it done early. And once I get it done, I'll let everyone know. But we're working on it."

Biffle and Edwards also said they prefer to keep such contract negotiations as private as possible.

"I don't want to say anything," Edwards said. "For me, personally, just out of respect to everyone and sponsors, and the teams and the way we do business, for me it's always my mission to get that stuff out of the way and get it done as early as I can. That's how I've always tried to do it."

Biffle added that the offers of partial or complete ownership of Sprint Cup teams can be very enticing to drivers. And he should know. It's happened to him, just as it is happening to Stewart now.

"I have had offers of ownership from more than one team in the garage, and it's definitely an intriguing offer. There are a lot of things to consider when you're an athlete in the position we're in. Both Tony and I are, let's say, we're at the 60-percent point in our careers. We're not Kyle Busch -- you know, 21 or 22 years old," said Biffle, at 38 slightly older than Stewart, who will turn 37 next month.

"So at some point we need to start thinking about how long we want to be involved in this sport and what we want to do in the future. So those ideas to stay involved in the sport are very intriguing to us."

Jack Roush, founder and co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing, said that he expects to sign Biffle and Edwards to contract extensions in due time.

"Everything's going along as we hoped, and I have every expectation there will be a successful conclusion to those negotiations," Roush said.

Roush added that when someone of Stewart's stature reveals he may be interested in exploring new scenery, it's only natural for other organizations to step up and talk with Stewart about it. Roush, whose drivers are in Fords, even nominated his favored manufacturer to do what it could to lure Stewart, a longtime Chevrolet driver now behind the wheel in a Toyota for JGR, to its fold.

"I know that Ford had an interest in Tony and I would line up behind Ford in saying that if Ford and Tony wanted to get together on some arrangement that would make them happy together, I'm a Ford man and I'd do what I could to support that," Roush said.

Roush said that with what salaries are these days, top-level wheelmen such as Stewart literally are in the driver's seat when it comes to contract negotiations.

"He could actually own Roush Fenway if he just collected his thoughts and his revenue," Roush joked. "It seems to be the way business is going to be done in the garage. I don't think there are good people and bad people; I think there are business-minded people on all sides.

"It's a bazaar, as well as being bizarre."