Major NASCAR Cup team to fold

Will Jack Roush retire and fold his Cup team?

This was a tough week for this reporter because I heard a whopper of a rumor about a major NASCAR team planning to shut down their operation for next season. While this information came from a usually reliable source I have known inside NASCAR for many years, I refuse to make huge waves based on one single rumor.

While I didn’t want to contact the team mentioned in the rumor yet, I did make a few other calls with my reliable sources within NASCAR and tap-danced around the issue without hearing anything close to a second source for the rumor. But if a Charter-owning team that runs up toward the front of the pack in NASCAR’s Cup Series is thinking about leaving at the end of the year, this move would be a major “Canary in the Coal Mine" for NASCAR.

In recent weeks, we have heard lots of rumors about possible additional manufacturers thinking about NASCAR, and maybe this will save TEAM X. But if a major team is looking to leave the sport with uncertainties over money paid to teams via the series sponsorship or lack thereof, that has to be a huge concern for everyone going forward. Dennis Michelsen/Frontstretch