Penske buying out Wallace, hmm….

UPDATE #3 This rumor is now 'fact' with today's announcement. See Hot News page. 04/23/05 Wallace, driving his final full season in Nextel Cup, said Penske has offered to buy out his share of the team, as well as his longtime friend Miller's share. But Wallace said the ongoing fuss with Newman will not play a part in that decision, when he makes it. "Again, I want to stress I haven't made that decision,'' Wallace said. "I've got an offer to do that. I lay awake at nights wondering if that's what I should do.'' ESPN.com/AP 04/23/05 It's no secret that teammates #2-Rusty Wallace and #12-Ryan Newman have not been best of friends since their cars collided last fall during a race at Martinsville Speedway. Because Wallace is a co-owner of the team, along with Roger Penske and Don Miller, there was considerable speculation Wallace would make an effort to patch up their differences during the off-season. Instead, the relationship has grown, if anything, colder. At least part of the problem is their differing racing philosophies. The 48-year-old Wallace is an old-style, seat-of-the-pants racer, while 27-year-old Newman is a graduate engineer who likes to depend on technology and information from his engineers to set up his cars. "It's really two separate teams, totally,'' Travis Kvapil, the third member of the Penske team, races the #77 Dodge. "The 77 and 2 share, every tire pressure, every shock, every piece,'' Wallace said. "The 12 car is totally off limits. It's totally a separate team. They're at one end of the shop, and it's unfortunate. I'm resigned to the fact. I'm tired of wearing myself out trying to fix it. I'm just going to do my deal and drive my guts out and give it everything I've got. … I've beat this 12 thing to death forever, and they've got a whole different train of thought and that's fine.'' ESPN.com/AP 04/16/05 Rumor has it that Roger Penske is buying out the 48% share of Penske South that is owned by Rusty Wallace and his long-time business manager Don Miller. Could the rumors be true that the IRL's Sam Hornish Jr. may be moved to NASCAR? Rumors say that Wallace will take the money and start his own team. Might we see Wallace run a Dodge team and Penske South become a Toyota team when Toyota enters Nextel Cup in 2007? It's expected that Toyota will try to steal a couple of existing Nextel Cup teams as well as possibly starting a new team, or bringing one up from the Busch or Truck series. Some people are speculating that when Honda enters NASCAR they will take the Andretti Green IRL team with them. The team relies on significant support from Honda and the rumormongers say they will follow the Japanese money right to NASCAR. Interesting times…..