FanHouse Robert Yates Racing

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.

And Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought he was the most important negotiation that DEI had on its plate.

Lee Spencer would like to beg to differ:

Robert Yates confirmed on Saturday that talks have resumed between Robert Yates Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. The topic of discussion: The possible sale of RYR to DEI.

This is quite an interesting story on many fronts. Not only is the Dale Jr. contract such a hot-button issue in NASCAR right now, but you also have to look at it from a Ford and Chevrolet standpoint. Remember, the Yates organization currently works with Roush Fenway Racing in the engine department to produce Roush-Yates Ford engines. Robert Yates has long been a Ford guy, and Jack Roush will likely be buried in a Ford Mustang.

[Richie] Gilmore said Chevrolet has already submitted a new offer to DEI, and the company is willing to listen to offers. John Story, a DEI manager, said that three of the four manufacturers have made offers to the company.

Note: Richie Gilmore is the VP of Competition at DEI

Yesterday, I was all set to talk about how Chevy is kicking everybody's ass with the car of tomorrow. Ford driver Greg Biffle and the stats would even back me up.

Despite putting down the fastest COT test lap in Richmond on Tuesday, Biffle says Chevy is dominating:

"We were probably the best in 2005 as a manufacturer, and then in '06 and '07 Chevrolet is back up top where they've been most of the time. And it's not really a surprise to us to see that they're running as well as they are. They've got a bunch of great teams – Gibbs, Hendrick, Childress just off the top are very, very strong race teams. Technically, there's one of us, if you will. We have Roush and Yates over in the Ford camp. If you were to say we had three Roush conglomerates all running Fords, then the tables might be balanced a little different, but they've got three strong, strong teams and three strong teams with good drivers driving Chevys. That's something we know we have to battle. They've been a little bit better at it and, let's face it, you take Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and all those guys and feeding a little bit of information back to Chevrolet, it'll trickle around to those teams a little bit faster. But in our organization all we have is us – we have our five teams to gather that information and use it within ourselves. It's tough to beat the odds. The odds are there are more Chevrolet teams and better cars."

The race stats definitely speak to that:

The Impalas ran the show at Bristol, leading 487 of 504 laps and finishing with eight cars in the Top 10 positions. It was more of the same in Martinsville where the Chevys led 489 of 500 laps and took the top seven positions.

But testing headlines don't tell a story of dominance: