Just when we thought the majority of the moves that were going to be made had been made, along came Monday, Sept. 29th. With the multi-car giants done pillaging sponsors and drivers, seemingly set and ready to go for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, the second-tier teams got into the act with only seven weeks left in the ’08 campaign.

The following is a look at what has transpired over the last four days (believe it or not) and an attempt to make some sense out of it all.

Max Siegel will define this as “piling on.” He always does.
Paul Menard’s defection from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. came as a surprise to no one, as it was a move that had been bantered about for months. The ramifications of the move, though, must have DEI’s normally staid management team shaking in their boots.

Menard’s loss, from a wheelman’s perspective, is nothing to fret over (one career top-10 finish which came in his seven-race 2006 season). However, the built-in sponsorship  he brought courtesy of his daddy’s big bucks is a paralyzing blow for an organization that has a history of suspect personnel and managerial decisions.

DEI let the sport’s biggest cash cow, Dale Earnhardt Jr., walk at the conclusion of the 2007 season. Whether you side with Junior or Teresa on that one, his drawing power from a financial standpoint was huge. Couple that with DEI telling the sport’s still-active driving legend, Mark Martin, that his services are no longer needed following this year, and you begin to realize just how inept the front office may actually be.

Yes, DEI was able to exercise its option for Martin Truex Jr. — the driver the organization trumpeted as its key to long-term health — but Truex signed for one year. One year! That doesn’t scream “long-term stability” to me.

Presently DEI looks to 2009 with but one full-time primary sponsor (Truex’s Bass Pro Shops) in place. The No. 15, No. 8, (Aric Almirola) and No. 01 (Regan Smith) survive today, but the 01’s owner points have to look awfully ripe for a Richard Childress taking, who needs some qualifying love for Clint Bowyer’s new outfit next season. And as for the other two, who really knows? It looks quite possible at the moment that DEI shows up to Speedweeks 2009 as a two-car operation at best.

And by the way …
Congratulations goes out to Doug Yates, who won the “John Menard’s Money Sweepstakes,” beating out the likes of Chip Ganassi, Robby Gordon and Michael Waltrip and Rob Kaufmann. Just cross your fingers that neither David Gilliland nor Travis Kvapil become victims in this decision-based-on-money-not-performance move.

Communication Breakdown
AJ Allmendinger got the shaft at Team Red Bull. More specifically, by Red Bull’s owner, Dietrich Mateschitz. While it appears the team itself wanted Allmendinger to stay, it was the owner’s continued fascination of former Formula-1 pilot Scott Speed that was AJA’s undoing. And that leaves Allmendinger in a very tight spot. Had he been informed of this decision in, say, July, he could have shopped his services to an upper-level organization. As it turns out, Allmendinger was told of his dismissal in late September, with precious few attractive options available. The No. 41 Ganassi car is the obvious location for the up-and-comer to land, but honestly, who would wish that upon anyone?

And make no mistake, Speed is going to be a good one. The boy has shown mucho promise in stocks of all types thus far, but the directive of Mateschitz points to a disconnect between the Austrian headquarters of the company and its Mooresville-based stock car home in the States.

He’d make you more money than the Adam Dunn trade did
Joey Logano’s stint aboard Hall of Fame Racing’s No. 96 Camry was short lived. HoF officials released a statement on Tuesday that, “for [Logano’s] development and for our team, this the best thing for all of us. The best thing for all of us is for them to focus on Joey's development, and us to focus on our team.” In other words, after finishes of 32nd and 39th for Joe Gibbs Racing’s satellite operation, “Sliced Bread” is now “Melba Toast.”

And here we all assumed that was a full-blown Gibbs Toyota disguised as J.J. Yeley’s old machine. Logano will saddle up once again in the No. 02 JGR Toyota for select races down the stretch and HoF will pay a ridiculous sum of money to allow Ken Schrader to milk it home anywhere from oh, maybe 32nd to 39th the rest of the way.

You know, HoF owners Tom Garfinkel and Jeff Moorad were getting more pub from having the 18-year old phenom in the car than at any point in their less-than-stellar history in the sport. If you’re going to be a back-marker, be a back-marker with a story behind the wheel, not a driver for hire that would rather be wheeling winged sprints somewhere in Missouri.

Only in America
Is the U.S. Army really serious about signing on with Tony Stewart as the primary sponsor for Ryan Newman’s No. 39 team? How can a government agency align itself with a co-owner in Gene Haas who is currently serving a two-year sentence in one of its federal pens for tax fraud?!

Wait, don’t answer that …

This one hurts me more than it hurts you …
Kyle Petty out at Petty Enterprises? As much as his father, the great Richard Petty, Kyle is the face of the organization. Of course, his on-track results over the past decade have been deplorable, with only one top-5 finish to his credit since 1997.

Look, no one enjoys seeing a popular driver who is an even better human being forced out of a ride, but the fact of the matter is that Petty Enterprises — newly aligned with Boston Ventures — needs a pilot that can get the job done. While I understand the equipment isn’t top-notch, it’s better than what Kyle has driven it to — or failed to drive it to.

“Maybe I’m the only one here willing to tell the truth,” Kyle’s wife, Patti, said in an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal. “They haven’t wanted Kyle in the car the last three years. They want a young driver — a 30-year-old, a 20-year-old.

“They told him at Watkins Glen — right when he was standing there in his driver’s suit — that they didn’t want him in the car.”

All due respect, as Kyle and Patti are two of the more well thought of persons in racing — and with good reason — but if I’m on a crew who’s driver is averaging a 34.5-place run on the season, I may not want that driver in the seat, either.

Kyle needs to decide what’s best for himself and Petty Enterprises. Whether that’s as a driver, in an ownership role, as a commentator (which he’s very good at) or simply as a philanthropist, he needs to pick one and go with it.

It’s been real, kid
Over at Michael Waltrip Racing, where stories are always aplenty, it appears that Michael McDowell is a goner. Replaced in the seat for this weekend’s race at Talladega, McDowell had the car 36th in the owner points standings, a mere 29-markers out of a top-35 spot.

McDowell failed to qualify for the Kansas race last week and a failure to do so again (wasn’t it Mikey himself that said a monkey could qualify a car at Talladega?) would be detrimental to the struggling team.

So Kenny Wallace, step right up! But don’t get too comfortable. And Bootie Barker, good luck with the new gig as crew chief of the No. 55. Barker inherits the role after Mikey’s BFF, Bobby Kennedy, was reassigned to “a crucial management position at MWR.” That’s rich.

Do you hear yourself speaking?
And finally, in what I found a very humorous sound bite from Kansas, Mike Delahanty, Dodge Motorsports’ Senior PR Manager, was asked what his assessment was of the new Dodge R6P8 engine after its maiden voyage aboard Kurt Busch’s No. 2 Penske Racing machine.

“We are pleased with the initial on-track performance of the new engine,” he said following the race. “This is another step in the development process toward full implementation during the 2009 season, well ahead of the 2010 mandate from NASCAR.”

Busch finished 30th, two laps down in the event. Sounds like Dodge is ready for that 2009 rebound!