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." (Continued)