Global Racing And Driving 2006 Nextel Cup Team Chart

Car #	Driver	Sponsors	Manu.	Team
	Notes
1	Martin Truex Jr. (R)	Bass Pro Shops	Chevy	DEI
	#1 Team to go back full-time in 2006 and be the third DEI team. Truex's sponsor from the Busch Series, Bass Pro Shops, moves up to Cup. With Waltrip and NAPA leaving, Truex and Bass Pro Shops could use #15 instead of #1.
2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite, Mobil 1	Dodge	Penske
	Rusty Wallace retires at the end of 2005. Lots of rumours swirling around drivers. 2004 Nextel Cup Champion Kurt Busch will take over the #2 car in 2007. Kurt was released form his Roush contract for 2006 two weeks before the end of the season and will drive the #2.
4	Mike Wallace, John Andretti	Lucas Oil	Chevy	Morgan-McClure
	Wallace may be out of the car before the end of 2005. He was replaced at Michigan and California by John Andretti. Lucas Oil is supposedly secure for the next couple of seasons.
5	Kyle Busch	Kelloggs, Delphi	Chevy	Hendrick
	Kelloggs is up after 2005. Expected to renew deal.
6	Mark Martin	AAA	Ford	Roush Racing
	Martin was supposed to retire after 2005 but is coming back for one more year. McMurray is supposed to be coming in 2007 but is taking over the #97. Todd Kluever will take over for Martin in 2007. AAA moves over from the #99 team to take a full sponsorship in 2006.
7	Robby Gordon	Harrah's, Menards, Jim Beam, Fruit Of The Loom	Chevy	Robby Gordon Inc.
	All mentions of Fruit Of The Loom have been removed from Robby Gordon's website and the races he was scheduled to have it as a sponsor have been changed to Menards. Looks like Fruit Of The Loom is done with RGR. Other sponsors are expected to re-sign. May be using DEI engines in 2006.
8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Budweiser	Chevy	DEI
	No changes confirmed yet. Without a confirmed #15 team, Junior could get pick of the best cars. Tony Eury Jr. comes over from the #15 as full-time crew chief.
9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge, Mountain Dew	Dodge	Evernham
	Gets a new teammate but nothing else new.
00	Kenny Wallace	Aaron's	Dodge	Michael Waltrip
	Aaron's is with MWR until 2008. Waltrip's team will likely continue running to fulfill sponsorship obligations with Aaron's. Now that Waltrip has signed with Bill Davis Racing, this team will likely go to Dodges. Kenny Wallace is expected to continue driving unless Davis wants Waltrip to run his drivers in there.
01	Joe Nemechek	US Army, Centrix Financial	Chevy	MB2
	MB2 looking to start three-car team and move into new building. May not happen due to situation with #10 team. The #01 team is stable for 2006.
07	Clint Bowyer (R)	Jack Daniel's, SKF	Chevy	RCR
	Blaney is out and Bowyer will run a rookie campaign for the RCR team. Earlier in the year, Childress wanted to keep his teams the same. The plans didn't work out so Bowyer will move up and hopefully last longer than half a season.
09	Johnny Sauter	Miccosukee	Dodge Chevy	James Finch
	May switch to Chevy for 2006. Depends on what happens with the Busch Series team.
10	Scott Riggs	Valvoline	Dodge	Evernham
	Valvoline goes to Evernham. The #91 team will become the #10 team in order to bring over owner's points. The #91 will go back to being an R&D team with no owner's points and this whole thing with Evernham and MB2 is becoming a headache. But this is nothing compared to the headache seen if you click here. Riggs drove for Valvoline when it was with MB2.
11	Denny Hamlin (R)	FedEx	Chevy	Joe Gibbs
	Leffler has been on the hotseat all season. This car was originally intended for Yeley. Leffler was removed in August and replaced by the team of Terry Labonte, Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley. Hamlin has impressed in his starts in the #11 and will run for Rookie of the Year next season.
12	Ryan Newman	Alltel, Sony, Mobil 1	Dodge	Penske
	No changes known or rumoured for now.
14	Sterling Marlin	Waste Management, Allstate, Checkers/Rally's,	Chevy	MB2
	Valvoline and the #10 go to Evernham. Centrix Financial may move to the old #10 team from the #36. Sterling Marlin has confirmed that he will drive for MB2 in 2006 and 2007. Not really sure who will sponsor but Allstate and Checkers/Rally's are the two names thrown around most often. The car will be #14, the number Coo Coo Marlin drove for a large portion of his career. Waste Management will sponsor the car for 12 races.
15	Paul Menard	Menard's, NAPA	Chevy	DEI
	Menard should stay in the Busch Series until 2007 when a DEI car will be waiting for him. He is expected to run 7 races in 2006. NAPA will only stay if a certain unlikely-to-be-signed driver comes on board the team. It is believed that is Matt Kenseth. Tony Eury Jr. confirmed that this will be a part-time effort in 2006. DEI developmental driver Paul Menard will take a few race in the #15 car with a yet unnamed sponsor. Developmental driver, Ryan Moore, was released from his contract over an incident with Busch North Series officials.
16	Greg Biffle	National Guard, Post-It	Ford	Roush Racing
	No changes expected for 2006.
17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt, Carhartt, USG	Ford	Roush Racing
	Crew chief Robbie Reiser is rumoured to be heading to the #8 team in '06. Matt is rumoured to go to the #15 team but he is under contract for 2006.
18	J.J. Yeley (R)	Interstate Batteries, FedEx	Chevy	Joe Gibbs
	Yeley will take over the #18 car for 2006 as Labonte moves to the #43 Petty Dodge. Interstate will remain on the car. The paint scheme changes to one similar to Stewart's #20, however the colour will remain green.
19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge Dealers	Dodge	Evernham
	No changes announced yet.
20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot	Chevy	Joe Gibbs
	Stewart, Home Depot, and crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, are all signed to long-term deals.
21	Ken Schrader	Little Debbie, Air Force, Motorcraft	Ford	Wood Brothers
	Rudd has confirmed that he will take a break from racing next year. Schrader is confirmed to drive the #21 next year. Little Debbie will be the primary sponsor of the car and will share the hood with the Air Force.
22	Dave Blaney	Caterpillar	Dodge	Bill Davis Racing
	Scott Wimmer is a free agent at the end of '05 and wasn't resigned by BDR. Dave Blaney returns to the team that he started in Cup with, this time in the #22.
24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont, Pepsi	Chevy	Hendrick
	Crew chief Robbie Loomis leaves the #24 team for an administrative role at Petty Enterprises. Loomis wanted to have more time to be at home. Steve Letarte takes over for the last 10 races of '05 and all of 2006.
25	Brian Vickers	GMAC, Garnier Fructis	Chevy	Hendrick
	No changes known or rumoured yet.
97	Kurt Busch, Ricky Rudd, Todd Kluever (R)	Sharpie, Crown Royal, Irwin	Ford	Roush Racing
	Sponsors are signed through 2006 as is Busch. Busch will move to the #2 Miller Lite car in 2007. Busch is looking to get into the #2 for 2006. In this case, Ricky Rudd and truck series driver Todd Kluever are leading candidates for the ride. Roush will decide Busch's fate for next season by mid to late September.
29	Kevin Harvick	GM Goodwrench	Chevy	RCR
	Richard Childress says his teams will remain the same in 2006.
31	Jeff Burton	Cingular	Chevy	RCR
	Childress says his teams will remain the same in '06.
32	Bobby Hamilton Jr.	Tide	Chevy	PPI Motorsports
	The team's status not season depends on whether Tide stays or not.
33	Kerry Earnhardt, Paul Tracy	Bass Pro Shops, Sylvania	Chevy	RCR
	Assuming the team will again run a part-time schedule. May eventually become a full-time team eventually. Champ Car World Series champ Paul Tracy has been linked to an RCR ride for several years.
34	P.J. Jones, Hermie Sadler	??	Chevy	MACH 1
	Not sure if they are running in 2006.
36	Boris Said	Centrix Financial	Chevy	MB2
	Centrix can move to the old #10 team. Said wants to run full-time if a sponsor can be found. MB2 wants to run a three-car team and move into a shop in Mooresville if the money can be found.
37	??	BoSPoker, Patròn	Dodge	R&J Racing
	No changes or plans confirmed for 2006. Kevin Lepage was released from his driving duties in mid-August after getting the ride in late 2004.
38	Elliott Sadler	M&M's, Pedigree	Ford	Robert Yates
	Sadler and M&M's signed through 2008.
40	David Stremme (R)	Coor's Light, Lonestar	Dodge	Chip Ganassi
	Stremme moves up from the Busch Series in 2006. He replaces Sterling Marlin whose future has yet to be confirmed. Sponsorship to be split between Coor's Light and Lonestar Restaurants.
41	Reed Sorenson (R)	Target, Nicorette	Dodge	Chip Ganassi
	Mears moves from the #41 to #39. Busch Series sensation Reed Sorenson moves upto the Cup series in the Target #41.
42	Casey Mears	Texaco/Havoline, Home 123	Dodge	Chip Ganassi
	McMurray is heading to the #6 car in 2006 as Ganassi released him from his contract. It was then announced that Mear would drive the Texaco car and not the Home 123 car. No word on what the current situation is with them.
43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios, Pop Secret	Dodge	Petty Enterprises
	Jeff Green gets his wish and leaves Petty Enterprises. Former Cup Champion, Bobby Labonte, takes over the car. No word on who the crew chief will be at this juncture.
44	Terry Labonte	Kellogg's, Pizza Hut	Chevy	Hendrick
	Labonte is expected to retire after his 10 races this season.
45	Kyle Petty	??	Dodge	Petty Enterprises
	Georgia Pacific and Brawny leave the #45 at the end of 2005. Petty is supposed to have a group of sponsors lined up for 2006 similar to what the #99 team did in 2005. Plans are to run 4 or 5 sponsors in conjunction with the Victory Junction Gang Camp.
48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's	Chevy	Hendrick
	No changes are expected in 2006.
49	Brent Sherman (R)	Schwan's	Dodge	BAM Racing
	Brent Sherman moves up from the Busch series ranks into the BAM Dodge for 2006. Sherman was 3rd in the Busch Series rookie points with Akins Motorsports and ppc Racing.
50	Jimmy Spencer	??	Dodge	Arnold Motorsports
	Don Arnold sold his interest in his truck teams to focus on Cup. The teams is expected to return at least part-time in '06.
51	Stuart Kirby	Marathon Oil	Chevy	Competitive Edge
	The team is expected to run full-time in 2006 after running a part-time schedule in 2005.
55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA, Domino's Pizza	Dodge	Bill Davis Racing
	Michael Waltrip and NAPA have joined up with Bill Davis Racing. This is a one year deal, likely to continue based on the opportunities that would come with Toyota factory backing in 2005. Not entirely sure which number Waltrip and NAPA will run. Have heard that it could be BDR's #23, Michael Waltrip Racing's #00, Waltrip's current #15, or #55.
59	Klaus Graf	SEM, Schwan's	Dodge	BAM Racing
	No word on what is happening with the #59. BAM was planning on using this a second team but it hasn't been on track in 2005.
66	Jeff Green	Best Buy, SanDisk	Chevy	Haas Automation
	Mike Bliss has shown moments of brilliance this season but they weren't enough to hold onto his ride. Jeff Green moves over from Petty Enterprises for 2006.
77	Travis Kvapil	Kodak, Mobil 1	Dodge	Penske/Jasper
	Not yet known the status of Kvapil in 2006. His predecessor, Brendan Gaughan, lasted only one year in the car.
81	??	??	Ford	Tim Brown/Roush
	Retired NFL great, Tim Brown, and Jack Roush are working together to start a Cup team in 2006 in the Drive For Diversity. No word on sponsors or drivers. Guessing the #81 as that is Tim's number. Although DEI used #81 for its 4th team once so it may still be a DEI number. Rumour is that team may run either Cup, Busch, or Trucks depending on sponsorship. Hearing plans have been delayed until 2007 to get clarification on NASCAR's car limit rule.
88	Dale Jarrett	UPS	Ford	Robert Yates
	No word on changes as Jarrett plans on racing for a few more years.
91	Bill Elliott	Stanley Tools, McDonald's	Dodge	Evernham
	With the 2005 #91 team's points going to the #10 Valvoline team the #91 will start off like a new team in 2006. Elliott will run the car in 5 to 10 races.
92	Stanton Barret	??	Chevy	Front Row Motorsports
	No plans known yet for 2006.
96	Terry Labonte, Tony Raines	Texas Instruments	Chevy	Hall Of Fame Racing
	Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach plan are starting a Cup team in partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing. In early August, technology giant Texas Instruments announced a sponsorship for the HOF Racing team. The car will run #96 and will be painted in black. Terry Labonte will drive in the first five races and the two road courses. Tony Raines will drive the car for the other 29 races. The team will chase a secure spot in the top-35 for a starting spot on the grid.
98	??	PartyPoker, Citi Financial	Ford	Robert Yates
	The part-time R&D team for RYR. Yates wants to add a third team likely in 2007. Not sure on status of this team in 2006. Currently, Yates is working hard on getting a sponsor for 2006. Hearing PartyPoker is interested in sponsoring a third Yates car if it runs in 2006.
99	Carl Edwards	Office Depot	Ford	Roush Racing
	Office Depot takes over as the primary sponsor for the #99.