FanHouse J.j.Yeley

Joe Gibbs Racing will not only have a new driver in 2008, but they'll get a new sponsor.

Kyle Busch will be taking over the reigns from a departing J.J. Yeley in the JGR No. 18, and it was initially expected that current sponsor Interstate Batteries would remain on board.

That might take a chocolate-y twist in a few weeks.

Mars U.S.-- more precisely their M&M's and Snickers brand -- is supposed to assume a primary sponsorship role on Busch's JGR Toyotas, according to the AP's Jenna Fryer.

M&M's would replace Interstate Batteries, which has sponsored Gibbs' flagship No. 18 since its 1992 inception.

J.D. Gibbs, president of the race team, didn't respond to a request for comment. But two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that Mars was working on a deal to sponsor Busch that will be officially announced next month at M&M's World in New York City. They requested anonymity because the deal was not yet complete.

M'm chocolate.

Now that we've got all of the -- um -- important details out the way, the focus of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s voyage to Hendrick Motorsports has reached a point that matters.

The competitive side. You know -- the side that Dale Earnhardt Jr. actually left Dale Earnhardt Inc. in favor of Hendrick for in the first place?

First off, Earnhardt's current and future crew chief at Hendrick Tony Eury Jr. will be released from his duties at DEI. following the Oct. 7 race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Eury, who has been Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car or crew chief for all but one season since the two broke into the Nextel Cup Series in 2000, will step down after the Oct. 7 race at Talladega Superspeedway.

He will be allowed to take four members of Earnhardt's No. 8 team with him under a deal made by DEI when it agreed to free him contractually to join Earnhardt at HMS in 2008.

According to the article, only one team member has told DEI that they will departing with Eury Jr.

The jump for Eury Jr. will work out nicely as he'll not only get a head start at Hendrick, but Earnhardt Jr. may be in a Hendrick ride following the last October race in Atlanta.

Brad Keselowski, the driver of the JR Motorsports No. 88, was removed gingerly from his battered race car Saturday night at California Speedway after one of the hardest NASCAR wrecks in recent memory.

Keselowski was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance with noticeable pain in his legs. He was later flown to a nearby hospital for X-rays on his legs.

Keselowski, 23, of Rochester Hills, Mich. was battling with A.J. Allmendinger for 18th spot on lap 67 when Allmendinger appeared to move into the path of J.J. Yeley entering turn one. Allmendinger spun down the track and clipped the rear end of Keselowski, shooting the No. 88 Chevrolet head-on into the outside wall. Yeley then clipped Eric McClure, resulting in a four car crash.

ESPN2 telemetry the No. 88 impacting the wall at over 140mph. The impact lifted Keselowski's car into the air enough to allow Allmendinger to briefly get under the spinning, flaming race car. Allmendinger's No. 42 suffered a broken A-post on the right side of the roll cage.

NASCAR red-flagged the race for repairs to the SAFER barrier.

A.J. Allmendinger talked to ESPN2 after getting released from the infield hospital.

"I thought i was clear, but then I got clipped in the right-rear," said Allmendinger.

"I felt so bad for Brad because that was a big hit. I think he's going to be OK. I talked to him in the infield hospital, and he didn't cuss at me, so I think we'll be OK."

Fanhouse Followup
Keselowski's X-Rays Negative After Crash

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.

That is, at least, the way SPEED channel's Frank Wilson, the VP of Production and Executive Producer for NASCAR programming, likes to see it.

"Our announce team is like the New York Yankees ... we have All-Stars at every position. But when an opportunity comes along to add another All-Star, like the Yankees, we jump at the chance. Having Tony Stewart, and another driver yet to be determined, calling the shots from pits will give our fans a unique perspective that represents what the All-Star race is all about."

Riiiiiiiight.

I just have a feeling that Stewart and Yankee owner George Steinbrenner wouldn't exactly get along. Red Sox fans would be plenty please to see Stewart starting at shortstop for the Yanks, though.

Stewart will be working on the announcing team from pit road during the Nextel Open, and drivers A.J. Allmendinger, Carl Edwards and J.J. Yeley have all confirmed they will work the All-Star race if they don't qualify.

I can imagine Tony will be up to his usual antics with the microphone in his hand -- clowning around with other drivers and taking jabs at Darrell Waltrip.

Tony will be part of SPEED's never-ending coverage this week in advance of the Nextel All-Star Challenge.

It should definitely be a nice week for NASCAR fans to call in sick.