It seemed pretty clear the other day that NASCAR driver Sterling Marlin was going to retire after this weekend's season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway (which he won't be taking part in). After all, the 52-year-old asked Racin' Today at the time, "Will I miss it? Yeah, in some ways. But in some ways I'll kinda be glad when it's over. The sport has changed. It's not much fun any more." Sounds like a guy who is done, right?

Well, now the guy who won back-to-back Daytona 500s back in 1994 and 1995 is telling folks that he isn't retiring, according to Race 2 Win Radio. He apparently will think about it this winter but there is nothing certain just yet.

Source: Racin' TodayRace 2 Win Radio

Earnhardt Ganassi signing driver Jamie McMurray for 2010
The word is that Jamie McMurray will drive for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in 2010 and the announcement should come sometime today, according to Autosport.com.

The No. 1 Chevy will reportedly have current Roush Family Racing driver McMurray behind the wheel and feature its main sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops. The 33-year-old McMurray replaces Martin Truex Jr., who has a new deal with Michael Waltrip Racing.

McMurray got his Sprint Cup start back in 2002, winning in only his second race, under Chip Ganassi so the whole thing kind of makes sense.

Source: Autosport.com

The word is that Sterling Marlin is going to be entering the season finale in his No. 70 Chevy this weekend at Homestead Miami Speedway and then call it quits, according to Racin' Today.

The 52-year-old Marlin has been behind the wheel for three decades and is saying he'll "probably" put his keys away once the race is over. "Will I miss it? Yeah, in some ways," Marlin said. "But in some ways I'll kinda be glad when it's over. The sport has changed. It's not much fun any more."

He's most famous for winning 9back-to-back Daytona 500 victories in 1994 and 1995.

Source: Racin' Today

It's been assumed recently that there's a deal in place to bring IndyCar driver Danica Patrick to NASCAR next season for a limited number of races, but team owner Rick Hendrick reportedly told the Associated Press yesterday that no such deal is in place.

Hendrick isn't sure she'll be in NASCAR at all next year, either: "I just think that they are not even close to making a decision on whether to even do it this year or next year," he said of Patrick and her IMG reps. "You never know until it's done. You never know until it's signed. And anybody can change their mind. When you get down to the nitty gritty of any deal, it's always complicated. There can always be someone who comes back and says `I can't do it because of this.'"

The rumor is that Patrick would actually be driving for JR Motorsports, which is owned by Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick wasn't saying a deal won't get done but that nobody should be assuming anything: "I think everything is an option, and it's just too early to really comment on it," he said.

Source: Associated Press

Car No. 9 from Phoenix Racing apparently has four drivers who might take is wheel in 2010.

A few days ago, FOXSports reported that Casey Mears, who is in the No. 7 car sponsored by Jack Daniel's for Richard Childress, and Reed Sorenson, who is currently driving No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports, are both possible drivers of No. 9 in 2010.

But that's not all! There are other candidates. ESPN Insider is saying now that there are two other possibilities. David Gilliland will take a turn at the wheel this weekend at Phoenix and David Stremme will then drive No. 9 in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

If neither one of those guys can handle it, then Mears and Sorenson will get a closer look, according to the team's general manager, Mark Reno, who extremely understatedly said, "A lot of good candidates."

Source: FOXSportsESPN Insider

The tough economy continues to hit NASCAR and today could be the last day of work for a bunch of folks association with Richard Petty Motorsports.

The team's engine shop is expected to close its doors today, according to FOXSports. RPM is keeping around enough folks to get it through the final two races of the year. After that, Roush Yates engines will be taking over the duties.

Obviously this is a result of the merger of Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing. The Petty crew chiefs were apparently each told that they could keep 17 crew members for their teams. Two hundred of 250 employees are expected to lose their jobs.

Source: FOXSports

IndyCar Racing League driver Danica Patrick is finally going to get a dose of NASCAR. She's apparently very close to signing a two-year deal with the team run by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: JR Motorsports, according to ESPN.

The negotiations are supposedly "in the final phase" and it will mean that Patrick takes a NASCAR wheel for the first time when next February's Daytona 500 rolls around.

So she'll race full-time for Andretti Green Racing in IndyCar and part-time for JR in NASCAR. Both Earnhardt and Patrick have some sponsorship dollars from GoDaddy.com.

Sports Illustrated was reporting that Patrick was looking to snag $300,000 per race in NASCAR, no mater if it's Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series races. But it's not likely that she's getting that kind of dough.

Source: ESPNSports Illustrated

Once the 2009 season ends at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22, it is apparently expected that many teams will be laying off more employees than they did after last season, according to FOXSports.

Roush Fenway Racing is losing a car's worth of workers and Yates Racing does as well. Yates is actually rumored to be merging with Richard Petty Motorsports. So any way you slice it, two teams will not exist next season.

Also, the #96 Hall of Fame Racing team has been working with the use of services of Yates, which it apparently won't need next season, meaning more jobs could be lost.

It's not going to be pretty. But, then again, it's not pretty economically anywhere right now.

Source: FOXSports

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing is apparently waffling right about now between sticking with Chevy or moving to Toyota, according to FOXSports.

Chevy apparently can't offer EGR any kind of new deal, considering the financial predicament of the company. One theory on what's holding up the deal are that Teresa Earnhardt is leery of not going with an American company.

Richard Childress Racing currently supplies the engines for EGR and RCR apparently was expecting a call on Friday from EGR about what the plan is for next season. That call was never made.

Folks from EGR are expected to meet with Toyota reps today to further the conversation. But it remains to be seen if Toyota could even handle supplying engines for EGR along with Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing. EGR has supposedly also had conversations with Joe Gibbs Racing about getting engines from them.

Source: FOXSports

Bobby Labonte has apparently made a visit to Robby Gordon Motorsports to talk to Gordon about driving for him in 2010, according to Jayski.com.

Gordon, who owns and drives the No. 7 Toyota, is apparently considering starting up another team in 2010 and Labonte would be easier to get sponsorship for than many other potential drivers.

Meanwhile, Labonte's brother Terry, who is a semi-retired driver, is still trying to team up with former team owner Bill Savola to make a new racing team in NASCAR that will start its engines in 2010. The team will be called StavolaLabonte Racing, naturally, and appear in the Sprint Cup Series, which the 52-year-old Labonte won way back in 1984 and 1996.

Source: Jayski.com