It’s almost October and all of the big names (Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards) have already made their plans for 2009 and beyond. While many of the second tier of drivers (Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson, Joey Logano) have also settled in for 2009, there are still some unanswered questions for many teams. Just because all the cute girls (no, Mr Stewart, it was a metaphor, of course you’re not a girl) have already found dates for the ‘09 ball doesn’t mean that the pending announcements won’t affect next year.

Unpainted Cars

Several teams are waiting on sponsorship to decide whether they can field a fulltime team next year. Given the rough economic waters, some teams will not land the required sponsor money. That means teams will either fold, run part time or pay out of pocket. This also means that the Cup tour is faced with the prospect of less than 43 teams on the 2009 full time plan. Cars with unknown futures include the MWR’s #00, #01 at DEI, the Wood Brothers’ #21, the #22 of Bill Davis Racing, both Yates Racing cars (#28, #38) and the #45 from Petty Enterprises. With only two new cars entering the sport (RCR’s #33 and JTG Daugherty’s #47), that could be a rough trade off.

Open Seats

#21 When Wood Brothers and JTG Racing split earlier this year, JTG wound up with the two most valuable assets: Little Debbie and driver Marcos Ambrose. That leaves the #21 with Jon Wood who has all of three Cup starts and veteran Bill Elliott. Neither offers a lot of hope for 2009 and beyond.

#41 What will Ganassi Racing do? For a team that began the year with three full time teams and drivers, only Juan Pablo Montoya is set for 2009. Reed Sorenson is leaving for GEM and Dario Franchitti will return to the IRL. A lack of sponsors and slow cars is a bad package for attracting top drivers .

#84 Red Bull Racing has a decision to make. AJ Allmendinger has shown progress in year two and overcame a disastrous 2007 that was beyond his control. He deserves a third season, but RBR also has former Forumula 1 driver Scott Speed enjoying success in the Truck and ARCA series’. It’s hard to imagine RBR expanding to three cars, so someone will be squeezed out.

Unemployed Drivers

As a result of teams contracting their operations, there is a glut of drivers with no plans for 2009. Scott Riggs, Patrick Carpentier, Michael McDowell, Allmendinger, Regan Smith, JJ Yeley and Johnny Sauter have all spent the majority of 2008 in a Cup car. Maybe one or two will land fringe Cup rides, but most will have to settle for freelance work subbing for Cup teams or running Nationwide and Truck schedules.

The Dangling Domino

While most of the above changes aren’t very newsworthy, there is one large piece of business that still needs to be addressed. Jack Roush is hoping everyone will forget, but he still must reduce his teams from 5 to 4. The simple and obvious answer is to send Jamie McMurray packing, but after a summer rumor news has died down. If McMurray becomes a free agent, would he be a big enough driver to a team to change their 2009 plans? Would he consider returning to Ganassi? And let me say right now that if the #26 team is magically shuttled to Yates Racing, then I think NASCAR’s 4-car limit is a complete farce.

Share your thoughts on the Silly Season residue. Who is the best driver available? What teams will shut down a car? Are Ford Racing and Roush-Fenway Racing the same thing?“