Guess where drivers will be next year...

[DownNDirty]

Thought this might be kind of fun. We can come back in October or November when everything is pretty much hammered out and see how off we really are. I'll just give drivers supposedly on the move to keep this from being ultra cluttered:

First off I'm sticking to my guns and saying DEI will be no more - gone, splitski, kaput. The owners points for the cars will transfer over to Stewart-Haas and the 3 cars they have.

We already know Smoke will be in one of the cars. I say Stewart will be #14 (his idol AJ Foyt's number) and his sponsors will be Office Depot and Old Spice as rumored.

His first new teammate will be Rocketman Ryan Newman in the #4 car with Burger King as the sponsor of that car. Hey, makes sense for Burger King to sponsor two of the bigger guys in the sport, literally.

His second new teammate at Stewart-Haas will be Truex Jr in, oh, lets say the #64 car and he'll bring Bass Pro Shops with him.

Casey Mears will land the #12 Alltel ride with Penske. Penske has a storied history with the Mears family and I think The Captain will give Casey his chance in the 12 car.

Paul Menard will move from the defunct DEI stable to Yates Racing in a 3rd car - #58 with Menards of course as the sponsor.

Sliced Bread Joey Lagono will shoot straight into the 20 Cup ride next year replacing Stewart. I can't see anything else but this happening for this car.

Jon Wood will be in the Wood Brothers car. This could be another team that folds by the end of this year though or very early next year unless something significant changes.

Michael Annett will be a ROTY candidate driving a second car for Bill Davis Racing if they have a sponsor is my guess. They said the Army was looking at going to a Toyota team - maybe it would be to sponsor Blaney or this second car. Annett would make more sense though since he's a younger driver and we've heard rumors that the Army wanted a yonger look than what Mark Martin was giving them.

David Reutimann will bolt from MWR and take the 45 ride for Petty. With his age working against him he will have to do marginally well. I don't think people expect him to light it up if he takes the 45 ride but the team should improve at least somewhat. Many people don't realize Reut's in his late 30s.

Reed Sorenson will leave Ganassi to take over the 33 ride at Childress Racing. He's still very young and has alot to prove in the sport. I think if given the right equipment he can be a contender for a Championship in a year or two - especially if he's in RCR equipment.

Dario Franchitti will get one more chance and run the Target car for Ganassi next year - if they come back. I will even go as far as to say as big of a bonehead as Ganassi is as it pertains to his Cup stuff he might put Dario in the car soon and go ahead and release Reed.

Michael McDowell won't leave MWR but will move to the 44. I say after this year the 00 team shuts down. Mikey Waltrip better be praying to the sponsor God's that he finds a couple of good replacements for next year.

Red Bull will expand to 3 cars and accelerate Scott Speed to Cup next year. I don't forsee this being a full time team and just getting him groomed for a full time run in 2010. Speed will probably land in a decent Nationwide ride next year in preparation for his move to Cup Racing.

Brad Coleman will replace JJ Yeley in the 96 DLP car for Hall of Fame Racing. I really like JJ but I can't see them keeping him around when they have Coleman signed to that developmental deal - and I certainly can't see them expanding to two cars next year now that the 96 has no chance of getting back into the top 35 this season.

Marcos Ambrose will move to Cup full time with JTG Racing next year. Instead of going with the Wood Brothers Ambrose will stay with his Nationwide team and try to transition to Cup.

Now remember everything above is mostly speculation. These are just guesses at where guys will land.

[TennesseeFan07]

I posted this in another thread, I guess it's appropriate for this thread also.

00-McDowell(Josh Wise is knocking on the door; he'll either replace Michael or he'll be in the 3rd MWR team)
01-Smith
07-Bowyer
1-Sorenson
2-Ku. Busch
5-Martin
6-Ragan
7-R. Gordon
8-Almirola
9-Kahne
10-Carpentier(won't make it through next season)
11-Hamlin
12-Truex(swap he and Reed if DEI rededicates their Busch program next year with Earnhardt and Bayne jumping on board a revamped Busch program and better testing will be the only way he stays at DEI) Update:Within the next 2 weeks Truex may possibly be jumping to Stewart-Haas. I just don't know any details other than Bass Pro will be with him) I'll temporarily pencil Reid Sorenson for this ride
15-Menard(oh the advantages of having a wealthy dad who's close friends with the owner)UPDATE:It looks as if John and Theresa have had a falling out we could see either Bayne or J.Earnhardt in this car some next year
16-Biff
17-Kenseth
18-Busch
19-Sadler
20-Logano(there's an outside shot that Pablo Wrecko ends up in a JGR team; I think he may be the leading candidate for the 4th JGR car when it gets announced)
21-Ambrose(if they bring the 47 team to cup I'll say we'll see the same characters rotating through this ride again while Ambrose moves to the 47 machine)
22-Blaney
24-Gordon
26-Jamie Mac? Darnell? Braun?
28-Kvapil
29-Happy
31-Burton
33-Mears(brings sponsorship Wimmer doesn't)
38-Gilligan
41-MacMurray
42-Pablo Wrecko
43-Labonte
45-Reutimann
48-JJ
49-Petty(probably won't run full-time; his last year more than likely)
55-Mr. Advertisement
66-Stewart(#14?) Old Spice?
70-Newman(whatever number he'll be) Burger King?
77-Hornish
78-Joe Suchacheck(if this team runs more than part time I'll be surprised)
83-Vickers
84-Allmendinger(I'd be willing to bet quite a bit that they move Scott Speed to this ride at some point during the year)
88-Jr
96-Coleman(if he could have only been patient; moving to HOF was career suicide)
99-Edwards

10 names to keep in mind. These guys will be in a cup ride by the end of next season or for sure by 2010

1.Brad K(from KCR to a cup ride in under 3 years. what a bright young kid. He should thank Ted Musgrave every day for being an idiot and allowing Brad his big shot, boy did he take advantage. just think of where he was 1 year ago at this time)
2.Scott Speed(perhaps the most cup ready driver of the list. he's for sure the real deal)
3.Brad Coleman(Maybe if he'd been patient at JGR last year he wouldn't be in this position. He still has a lot of upside and if he can't get away from HOF then he may still yet make something of his career)
4.Josh Wise(Perhaps taking over for McDowell or the 3rd MWR team next year, it's his job to lose)
5.Landon Cassel(what do Kyle Krisiloff, Blake Feese, and Boston Reid have in common? They're completely 180 degrees different from Landon)
6.Ricky Stenhouse(I doubt he'll be with Roush much longer there's just no room; he'll be a good pickup by some team though)
7.James Buescher(Braun racing is going to cup by at least 2010 if not sooner. why not bring James along with them
8.Bobby Santos(someone will be lucky to pick him up. He's done great with the equipment he's been in.)
9.Marc Davis(the forgotten JGR driver; perhaps a contender to run full time in a JGR car by 2010)
10.Matt Hawkins(It'll be interesting to see how his career progresses by this time next year)

Stephen Leicht, Trevor Bayne, Jeffrey Earnhardt are also some great up and coming drivers.

Erik Darnell could also potentially be in a cup ride before 2010. Along with Brad K and Scott Speed he may be the most cup ready driver there is)

[doozer]

Reid Sorenson will not be driving the 12 next year.

[TennesseeFan07]

Who do you got?

[doozer]

Stremme, at least before Sorenson.

[TennesseeFan07]

If Chip goes back to 3 teams next year I bet he'll get David. I guess we'll see

[VolfanMike]

I agree with you on Stremme will get a shot before reed.

[rbroyles]

Originally Posted by VolfanMike

I agree with you on Stremme will get a shot before reed.

I wouldn't count out Mears in the #12. Sorensen is not a poor talent, Gannassi is just not a contender. I would take him over Stremme.

[doozer]

i'd L-O-V-E to see Casey in the 12, except a #12 IndyCar owned by Penske.

[rbroyles]

Originally Posted by doozer

i'd L-O-V-E to see Casey in the 12, except a #12 IndyCar owned by Penske.

That would certainly be nostalgic, the name Mears on a Penske Indy Car. Why not?

[doozer]

the IRL is one NASCAR driver away from great things for the series. not that the IRL isn't already on their way, but the addition of a guy like Mears brings a whole new set of people over with him to watch.

[rbroyles]

If that driver were Stewart the following coming with him would be tremendous. Which brings up the question, will Smoke run Indy now that he is part owner of the team? I didn't mean to hijack this thread DND, so I'll start a new thread.

[doozer]

i've always wanted to call his radio show and see if i could bait him into talking about running the 500.

[615 Vol]

Looks like Stremme is the next driver of the #12 car.

[doozer]

some good new regarding Yates:

NASCAR.COM - Hitachi Power Tools inks six-race deal with Yates - Jul 16, 2008