Army To Newman, SHR?

It is being reported that sources are saying that U.S. Army has informed Dale Earnhardt Inc that it would not be renewing its sponsorship next season.

Instead, the sponsor will move to Tony Stewart’s Stewart Haas Racing’s No. 39, to be driven by Ryan Newman.

A formal announcement is expected at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The news is not good for DEI, who also lost Paul Menard and its Menards sponsorship this week.

It’s Official: Menard To Leave DEI

As expected, Yates Racing has announced that the team has reached an agreement with Paul Menard for next season in the Sprint Cup season.

Menard will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc at the end of the season. Along with him comes his sponsorship (his father’s Menards store), and his associate sponsors with come as well.

Menard said:

This is a great opportunity and I’m glad to be joining the Yates Racing organization next season. I think a lot of what Doug Yates and Max Jones are doing over there building for continued success. I’m excited to be a part of their future and excited to work with Travis [Kvapil] and David [Gilliland]. You look at what Doug and the Ford Motor Company have done in this sport, they’ve created a lot of horsepower and hoisted quite a few trophies over the years. I’d like to help continue that for both of them.

Allmendinger Out Of No. 84 This Week

AJ Allmendinger will be replaced in Red Bull Racing’s No. 84 starting at Tallaedga Superspeedway this week. It was announced earlier that Allmendinger would be leaving at the end of the season. Allmendinger expected to be released early.

Mike Skinner will assume driving duties at this week’s Amp Energy 500. He will also pilot the No. 84 at the Bank of America 500 from Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Scott Speed will drive the No. 82 for RBR at the Bank of America 500. After that, he will finish out the season in the No. 84, starting at the TUMS QuikPak 500 from Martinsville Speedway. He’s the likely candidate to be in the car next season, though, I’m not sure it has been announced.

Menard To Leave DEI

Paul Menard is expected to announce that he and his sponsorship will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s No 15 Chevy at the end of the season, moving over to Yates Racing.

An announcement could come this week.

The loss of Menard leaves DEI with one full time sponsor for next season, Bass Pro Shops, which will sponsor the No. 1 driven by Martin Truex Jr. The U.S. Army is expected to leave the No. 8 at the end of the season, and Mark Martin will also leave that ride.

That will leave the team with Aric Almirola and no sponsorship for that car; Regan Smith and no sponsorship for his car; and Truex with Bass Pro Shops. As of right now, things don’t look so good for DEI.

The team, however, could form a partnership with Robby Gordon Motorsports.

Race 3: Camping World RV 400 from Kansas Speedway

Jimmie Johnson started the day on the pole and he led early. He used a fast pit stop to take the lead on lap 220. By lap 255, he opened up a one-second lead over Carl Edwards. But, over the next 12 laps, Edwards cut Johnson’s lead down. On the final lap, Edwards passed Johnson on the inside, and attempted the slide job. But he couldn’t make it stick. Edwards slid into the wall and Johnson passed him on the inside to take the lead coming out of turn 4 to the checkered flag.

Carl Edwards had a pretty eventful day. He started 34th. On his first pit stop, he and Brian Vickers made contact. On his second stop, he got together with Dave Blaney after Blaney made contact with Jeff Burton. He had to come down pit road for a second stop to get sheet metal repaired. But, by lap 167, he took the lead for the first time. On the final lap, he attempted to use a slide job on Johnson. Edwards said he knew he was going to hit the wall, but he didn’t think it would slow his car down as much as it did. When he hit the wall during the slide job, Johnson drove under him and passed him for the win. Edwards finished second.

While he never led, Greg Biffle had a solid day, running near the front for most of the race. On lap 251, Biffle began struggling with his racecar. On the final lap, Biffle and Jeff Gordon drag raced off turn four, with Biffle winning the battle to finish third.

Jeff Burton started the day at the rear of the field, following an equipment change. He made some contact on pit road with Dave Blaney early in the race, but managed to recover. By lap 112, Burton was up the second place. He ran near the front for most of the day. He wound up finishing seventh.

Kevin Harvick had a quiet day, running around the top 10 all day. He avoided major incidents and finished sixth. Harvick’s finish was his ninth consecutive top 10.

Jeff Gordon was battling illness this weekend and had Brad Keselowski waiting in the wings, if Gordon needed relief. Despite his illness, Gordon ran up front all day, managing to stay out of trouble. On the final lap, Gordon battled Biffle for third spot. Biffle won the drag race and finished third, with Gordon finishing fourth.

Clint Bowyer passed cars before taking the green flag, and as a result was black flagged. After serving his pass-through penatly, he remained on the lead lap, just barely in front of Johnson who was leading. By lap 121, Bowyer rebounded from his earlier penalty and was up to second position. But, on lap 221, Bowyer was penalized for too fast on pit road. He recovered from the penalty to finish 12th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a quiet day managing to run up near the front and in the teens. He managed to finish 13th.

Matt Kenseth led a couple of times early, but suffered from a mistake on pit road on lap 76. He had a loose lugnut and had to come back down pit road. On lap 122, Kenseth made contact with Casey Mears and got sideways. He didn’t make contact with anything. He managed to recover to finish fifth.

Denny Hamlin had a quiet day, despite his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates having major issues, Hamlin managed to stay out of trouble. He ran up near the front and in the teens. He managed to finish 12th.

Tony Stewart started in 41st position and in nine laps was up to 27th position. On lap 118, Stewart’s trouble began. He was penalized for speeding on pit road. On lap 129, Stewart made contact with Vickers, and spun through turn 4. On lap 190, Stewart went a lap down and pitted to fix his splitter, which was missing multiple braces. He lost five laps. He finished 40th seven laps down.

Kyle Busch had trouble for the third week in a row. On lap 24, Busch reported problems with the car and he dropped to 27th position and was loosing spots. Ten laps later, he was off the pace. He faded to 36th. Busch led at lap 52, as a result of staying out. The team planned to ride out the problems. If they got a caution, they hoped to change the carburator. On lap 72, Busch was in 34th, but the team thought they fixed the problem. On lap 94, the team got back on the lead lap. On lap 118, the team was on pit road, trying to diagnose the problem. Despite all of his problems, the team finished in 28th position one lap down.