“I’m definitely not exploring other options.  I have another year with Richard Petty Motorsports.  The Gillett’s have been good to me since I came here.  I made a commitment to them to race thru 2010, so I’ll do that for sure.  I’ve told them from the start that if we can get our cars to where they’re right and we’re competitive with the best teams out here, then I don’t know why I’d ever want to move from that company.  I like the people (at RPM).  From the guys building the race cars in the shop, the engine guys to the guys painting the cars, I have a good relationship with everybody.  For me to leave, I wouldn’t want to, but at the same time, I want to get a chance in some really good equipment too.  I think that we’re working on that.  If we get there, I’ll stay with RPM for a long time.”

 

WOULD YOU SAY THAT WOULD BE THE DECIDING FACTOR?

“Yeah, that’s my only factor.  At the end of the day, I grew up racing Sprint cars and driving for my dad.  When I had a chance to drive for Steve Lewis, it was a no-brainer.  He had the best equipment that there was and I took it and we won a ton of races and basically nobody’s done that since in USAC as far as the Midget series goes or before.  I just feel like that at some point, I want that opportunity and hopefully it can be right where we are at.”

 

My take: That's what any driver wants ... to be in equipment that can win. Kahne will have to ask himself if he can win at RPM and if not, if there's some other place he can go to and win -- remember Hendrick looks to be full for next year if Martin returns for another fulltime season and Roush has to downsize from five to four teams after this year to meet NASCAR rules, and if Joe Gibbs Racing wasn't able to find a sponsor for a fourth car in good economic times, what are the chances the team can do it in this recession? Still, there could be places for someone like Kahne. The key is what is a team doing not only to be the best today but tomorrow. It's easy to fall behind others and so hard to climb back to their level. Kahne has two wins in points races since the start of the 2007 season with RPM. Is that enough?

 

Since 2007, Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs and Childress drivers have won 71 of the 80 races run since the start of the 2007 season. So, who has won the other 9 races? ... Kurt Busch (Penske) has four wins, Kasey Kahne has two wins, Juan Pablo Montoya has one win, Martin Truex Jr. has one win, Ryan Newman (Penske) has one win.

 

# With Roush having to move from five teams to four to meet NASCAR's guidline of four cars  per team (remember Roush's five-car operation was grandfathered in because the team had contracts with sponsors and such through 2009). So, who is going to be? The likely candidate is Jamie McMurray. I've said so and even others have (check out the end of the chat). That said, car owner Jack Roush was asked at Phoenix about McMurray's situation. This is what he told the Charlotte Observer:

"That is premature,'' Roush said and talked more about it.

 

My take: The general thought in the garage has been that Roush will move one of his teams over to Yates Racing, which has a relationship with Roush (much like Stewart Haas does with Hendrick in terms of getting equipment and such). That would make sense to move one team over, keep it in the Ford camp and Yates has the room with only being a two-car team. While David Ragan is 30th in the points, that might take some heat off McMurray but it likely will grow unless McMurray runs a string of strong finishes together (he placed 11th at Phoenix, third best among Roush cars behind fifth-place Greg Biffle and 10th-place Carl Edwards). Certainly, Roush had the opportunity in talking to the Charlotte Observer to say Jamie McMurray is my man and he's safe. Roush didn't say that. Take that for what you want.

 

Add: Here's what McMurray told Rebecca Gladden of Insider Racing News.com this past weekend about his future: "I don't know the facts of exactly how it's going to be decided. My contract is up this year, but Crown Royal is here for two more years and I think Irwin is in the process of resigning. So, we'll just have to wait and see.'' McMurray also says he thinks sponsor relations will be as important as performance in determining how Roush turns five teams into four teams. Read more of the interview here.

 

# Richard Petty Motorsports has picked up AJ Allmendinger's contract through the 2010 season. As this NASCAR.com story states, the signing "raises more questions than answers.'' Read the story for more.

 

My take: For a team that scrambled to put together sponsorship for Allmendinger, the question is does this give the team enough time to find something more solid (and more lucrative) for Allmendinger? If not, then what happens with the organization? There have been some questions raised about Kahne. Of course, Elliott Sadler nearly lost his job there in the offseason. He's 29th in points now (and last among the four RPM drivers in the standings), which could easily lead some to believe that he might not be with the team after this season. Just how strong a team is this? While Kahne is 10th in points, the other three drivers are no better than 23rd (which is Allmendinger).