FanHouse Ford

With his sponsor gone and a pending NASCAR rule ready to dismantle his race team, there's not a bit of surprise in the NASCAR world that Jamie McMurray's time is likely ending with Roush Fenway Racing.

There's no shock, no outcry and nothing being written saying McMurray shouldn't have drawn the short stick in RFR's transition to the NASCAR-mandated four-team cap in 2010, and the reasoning is quite simple.

Why? It's as simple as looking at the incredibly unimpressive numbers Jamie McMurray has compiled since his Roush debut in 2006.

Jack Roush, co-owner of NASCAR's Roush Fenway Racing, can sleep a little better these days.

Toyota Racing Development -- long the rotten apple in the eye of Roush -- acknowledged this week in a conference call that it too expects budgetary cuts in the coming year thanks to an automobile market that's having a problem or two selling cars.

Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.

Driver: Jamie McMurray
Team: No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
'08 Final Standing: 16th (-2875)
Best Race: Texas, Phoenix & Homestead (3rd-place)
Worst Race: Bristol (43rd-place)

Season in a box: I don't know if there was a driver who had more of a roller coaster season than Jamie McMurray, but the way the ride ended surely was pleasing for the driver from Joplin, Missouri.

Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.

Driver: Travis Kvapil
Team: No. 28 Yates Racing Ford
'08 Final Standing: 23rd (-3300)
Best Race: Aaron's 499 at Talladega (6th-place)
Worst Race: Bank of America 500 at Charlotte (42nd-place)

Season in a box: Aside from a few Top-10s, Kvapil's (that's Kwah-pil) first season with Yates Racing showed signs of potential amid plenty of signs of driving for an underfunded team.

Matt Kenseth's contract at Roush Fenway Racing got extended Thursday afternoon and that was seemingly bad news for his teammate Jamie McMurray.

Kenseth got a new "multi-year dear" from RFR to keep him as the driver of the No. 17 Ford for well past 2010, when his current contract was set to expire. Terms weren't disclosed by the team, but I'd imagine the contract puts Kenseth in a position to make RFR his final place of stock car employment with either a heavily extended contract from his current one or one loaded with options.

Kenseth, a native of Cambridge, Wisc., turns 37 in March.

For teammate McMurray -- who's been nothing short of a disappointment during his time at RFR but showed some flashes of brilliance towards the end of the 2008 -- Kenseth's re-signing might be a nail in the coffin for his future at RFR.

Jamie McMurray is probably one of the happier guys in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this week. Here's why:

1) He finished third at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend and could have very easily won the event.

2) He proposed to his longtime girlfriend Christy Futrell. (FanHouse supposes she said yes)

3) He's getting to team up with his longtime friend and former crew chief from the Chip Ganassi Racing days, Donnie Wingo.

There's no official indication on which aspect he's the happiest about, however. Grin.

Regardless, it's been more than a good week for McMurray, who has had one of the most disappointing performances in his brief career at Roush Fenway Racing that a guy could in that situation. In the past few weeks, McMurray has notched finishes of 5th, 7th and 3rd with one exception of a 38th-place finish at Martinsville thanks to mechanical troubles.

He's been so good, in fact, that ABC's commentators have wondered plenty about why Jack Roush is wanting to move Larry Carter off of the pit box for the No. 26 when it seems that McMurray has finally started to see the light at the powerhouse Ford team.

McMurray, though, isn't questioning that decision and instead is very pleased to know that Wingo will be leading the No. 26 come Daytona in February.

Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards and team owner Jack Roush officially kicked off the whining about Jimmie Johnson's incredible Chase for the Sprint Cup dominance Sunday evening at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

And you can bet that said whining is going to be pouring on heavily over the last three weeks of the NASCAR season from all sides of the catchfence as Johnson looks to wrap up his third-straight title before the season finale in Homestead, Fla.

Edwards, who trails Johnson by an astounding 183 points after seven races, has suffered two bad races in the Chase -- a crash at Talladega and electrical problems at Lowe's Motor Speedway. And because of that, he and team owner Roush have started a lobby for a new Chase format.

"[...] that's what we want to go back and [remember] about 2008 – think about our championship run and what it meant," Roush said. "But, unfortunately, I think it will come down to thinking about the broken engine parts, the ignition and the other frustrations we've had, but it would be my suggestion as NASCAR looks at how to make this [Chase] more exciting, [that] every team had an opportunity to throw out one race and be able to just count nine of the 10.

"That means you could have a mulligan, and you could be able to come back from it."

What about that makes you a more legitmate NASCAR champion than the current format that shortchanges past Winston Cup champions?

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Jimmie Johnson started Sunday's first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the odds-on favorites to battle for the championship.

And then Greg Biffle showed up, took the spotlight, and won Sunday's Sylvania 300 by passing none other than Jimmie Johnson in the closing laps.

The NASCAR season truly kicks in Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. From now through Friday, FanHouse will preview each of the 12-drivers and evaluate their championship chances.

9th - Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford

Starting Deficit: 80 points

2008 Stats: 8 Top-5s, 11 Top-10s

The NASCAR season truly kicks in Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. From now through Friday, FanHouse will preview each of the 12-drivers and evaluate their championship chances.
12th - Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Roush Fenway Ford

Starting Deficit: 80 points

2008 Stats: 6 Top-5's, 15 Top-10's