So many uncertain futures make for a crazy summer

I miss Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It was all so much simpler then, back in the good 'ol days of 2007. He may have been NASCAR's most popular driver, but he was only one man. You stalked him, you tried to anticipate his next move, and you waited for the big announcement. Sure, it was an overly protracted process -- the separation from Dale Earnhardt Inc., the courting by all those other teams, the signing with Hendrick Motorsports, the haggling over one car number and eventual unveiling of a new one -- but it was manageable. One discovery led to another, like a trail of breadcrumbs terminating at the front fender of a green and white No. 88 car.

Oh, for a return to that otherwise carefree summer. Because what we have now is enough to make a reporter or a race fan tear their hair out. What we have now is upheaval. What we have now is chaos. Just take half the drivers in the Sprint Cup garage area, toss them up into the air like so many pick-up sticks, and see where they land. Every week, it seems, brings another guy with another contract situation and another uncertain future. Every week brings another option or another rumor. Every week further hardens the belief that next season's driver lineup will look drastically different from this one.

There have been enough drivers in play this season to fill a college basketball roster, including the walk-ons at the end who never get on the court. Car owners are sweating, agents are working overtime, and the garage area is a cauldron of speculation and myth. Anyone who bought a die-cast car or a team jacket this season might as well have chucked that money into a lake.

By unofficial count, there are 14 drivers whose futures were in doubt at some point in this season. Some of them stayed put -- Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards signed contract extensions at Roush Fenway Racing, while Bobby Labonte did the same at Petty Enterprises, netting himself an ownership share in the process. Another has already found a new home, with Mark Martin announcing Friday that he will race the No. 5 car next season at Hendrick (read more). But for the majority of these guys, the doubts and options are still out there, even as the sport heads into the second half of the season and the Chase now looms just nine races away.

Uncertainty looms over the garage area like the smell of tire rubber after a wreck. Martin Truex Jr. says he's still working on a contract extension with DEI, but nothing has been signed. Casey Mears is looking for another ride, having announced that he'll leave Hendrick at the end of this year. The respective current contracts of Reed Sorenson, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, David Ragan, Dave Blaney and David Reutimann all expire after this season, and thus far none of those drivers has publicly announced 2009 plans. Blaney and Ragan both also need sponsors for their current cars for next year. Where Dario Franchitti will race next season is unclear now that his No. 40 team at Chip Ganassi Racing has been shut down for lack of sponsorship.

Some of these guys will move of their own volition, others will be shoved out. Then there's the orange-suited fulcrum on which so much of this turns: two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, looking at options for next season and beyond. His contract with Joe Gibbs Racing doesn't expire until after the 2009 season, but if he can get out of it early, a flurry of moves will follow like a line of dominoes being knocked down.

Let's follow what seems to be the conventional wisdom, that Stewart leaves early, buys majority ownership of the Hendrick-powered Haas CNC team, and becomes its lead driver. Well, that would leave Scott Riggs and Johnny Sauter, the team's current two drivers, without jobs. Of course, Stewart wants an A-list teammate he can get along with, so he taps Newman, in the last year of his deal with Penske and upset with that operation's performance. Suddenly Roger Penske needs a new driver. And whatever team the Captain lures somebody away from will need a new driver. And the Gibbs outfit will need someone -- Nationwide Series phenom Joey Logano, maybe -- to put in its No. 20 car.

That's seven drivers being shuffled because one guy made a move. And that scenario doesn't include any potential moves made by Truex or Sorenson or Blaney or Reutimann, who would each leave their own wakes behind. Nothing happens without ramifications. Even Earnhardt's move last year, as relatively straightforward as it was, ultimately impacted six people: Kyle Busch, J.J. Yeley, Tony Raines, Martin, Aric Almirola and Junior himself. Don't be surprised if two or three of those conga lines play themselves out between now and Thanksgiving.

It's sheer craziness, and it shows no signs of letting up. Don't look for any relief next season, when the contracts of Brian Vickers, A.J. Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick and David Gilliland all end. Clint Bowyer says he's signed an extension at Richard Childress Racing, but the fact that there's been no formal announcement of anything has left many in the garage area scratching their heads. Nothing makes sense anymore. Nobody knows what to think. It's enough to make you wish for those halcyon days of a year ago, when all anybody had to do was keep track of Little E.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.