Several Cup drivers looking for 2010 rides
Among the drivers who were in Cup cars at Homestead-Miami Speedway who haven’t announced what they’ll be doing in 2010 are Richard Childress Racing’s Casey Mears, Joe Gibbs Racing’s David Gilliland, Richard Petty Motorsports’ Reed Sorenson, Phoenix Racing’s David Stremme and Front Row Motorsports’ Travis Kvapil.
Mears could return to RCR if sponsorship is found for the No. 07 car, which Jack Daniel’s is leaving as a sponsor. No sponsor has been announced.
Gilliland could possibly return in a fourth JGR car if it runs select races next year, team President J.D. Gibbs said. Gilliland also has driven for Phoenix Racing this year and is a candidate for that ride, one of the few open rides with sponsorship for next season.
Stremme, who drove most of 2009 for Penske Racing, wrecked during qualifying Friday, which could have hurt his chances to get in the Phoenix Racing car full time.
“Stremme has got lots of people who are talking to us about him," said Stremme’s agent, Jeff Dickerson. “What’s really cool about David is it seems like people go out of their way to help him. So that’s encouraging, because I don’t feel like David is going to be left with nothing.
“We’re obviously late in the game. The next few weeks are important for him. We’ve got to see if people’s goodwill generates an actual offer somewhere."
Sorenson won’t be part of the new RPM driving stable following the planned RPM-Yates Racing merger. He has driven for Braun Racing in the Nationwide Series, but no deal for next year has been announced.
“Reed has a formal offer from a team now that would be a mixture of Cup and Nationwide," said Dickerson, who is also the agent for Sorenson. “I feel really good about Reed and what he can do."
Kvapil could drive for Front Row next year when that organization plans to expand to two full-time teams.
“Nothing yet," Kvapil said. “I talked to the guys here at Front Row, and it sounds like they’re definitely interested in putting something together, but really we haven’t had any negotiation. We haven’t done anything to put any sort of agreement together. I’ve been talking to a lot of teams.
“There’s not a lot of opportunities out there. These guys, I really like the direction they’re going. They’ve got some things in the works to make them a better team manufacturer-wise, technical-wise."
Other drivers who started 2009 with rides but found themselves out of them because of team decisions or sponsorship issues included Scott Riggs and Aric Almirola.
There could be a possibility that one of the drivers could end up with Hall of Fame Racing, if it can find a sponsor and form an alliance with an existing Cup team. Hall of Fame’s alliance with Yates Racing was only for 2009.
BAM Racing also has indicated that it plans to run a car in 2010 and has talked to several drivers about the opening. SceneDaily.com