FanHouse GeneralMotors

Everyone had a feeling something had to give. And it has.

A week removed from Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, General Motors has pulled its factory support for teams in NASCAR's Nationwide and Camping World Truck series. And as the company evaluates its financial commitment to motorsports, there is concern that further cost-cutting may involve the Sprint Cup Series too. Several teams fielding Chevrolets in the Nationwide Series confirmed the news on Friday in statements.

"Obviously the automotive industry is dealing with unprecedented business challenges and we understand the need for restructuring to accommodate the need to reduce costs and maximize returns,'' said Kelley Earnhardt, general manager of JR Motorsports, a Nationwide team owned by her brother Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Finally, the NASCAR world is feeling a little bit of good news amidst a backdrop of nothing but bad for both the sport's and the rest of a world's business climate.

Earlier this week, Tommy Baldwin, Jr. -- the Daytona 500-winning crew chief from 2002 with Bill Davis Racing's Ward Burton -- announced he was putting plans in place to field a new race single-car race team for the 2008 season starting with next month's Daytona 500.

The team, Tommy Baldwin Racing, said in its PR that "With tough economic times upon us, the timing for starting this team is right. Our overhead is low and we have a great group of talented mechanics and specialists to choose from. We can offer sponsors the chance to get into Sprint Cup racing at a fraction of the costs [...]."

It sure seems odd that "tough economic times" and "timing [...] is right" go together, but there's a vast amount of resources available in the Sprint Cup market place in terms of mechanics and other crew members who have been laid off, in addition to teams that are probably selling off inventory to gain back some capital.

With the right amount of sponsors and a little bit of help from Toyota, this team could be an interesting low-budget venture. Jayski says the driver could be Dave Blaney from the unsponsored No. 22 BDR team.

Additionally, JR Motorsports, General Motors and Dodge all had a small bit of good news this week.

It's been a rumor on the Fanhouse for a quite a while now, but now it seems we're getting some validation.

Joe Gibbs Racing has an announcement scheduled for next week that is supposed to involve Toyota, according to ESPN.

Joe Gibbs Racing is expected to announce next week it will join Toyota beginning next season, sources told ESPN.com.

A news conference has been scheduled for Wednesday morning at JGR headquarters. Expected to be in attendance are team drivers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin.

JGR, which boasts a three-car lineup that will include Stewart, Hamlin and Kyle Busch next season, is leaving General Motors after 16 years. The team earned three series championships, including two with Stewart, under the GM banner.

All three of those championships, of course, have come within the last seven seasons as well, making one believe that there is quite a bit of cash being thrown around by Toyota.

For JGR fans, this move has to go down a little bit uneasy after all the problems we've seen in Toyota's Nextel Cup debut. From aerodynamics to a lack of engine performance, Toyota just hasn't solved a lot of the big issues this season.

Will JGR's experience and engineering department be a tremendous asset to Toyota? You betcha.

But I'll go out on a limb right now -- a pretty short limb, that is -- and guarantee that JGR won't run out to the same start that they got in 2007 during the 2008 campaign.