Despite having lost Joe Gibbs Racing to Toyota, Chevrolet will look to DEI and Richard Childress Racing to support Hendrick in what the GM brand hopes will be another dominant year. Likewise DEI will be looking to Martin Truex Jr to pick up the baton left by the departing Earnhardt Jr and to veteran Mark Martin who will take the reigns of the much-loved #8 entry, albeit only for a partial season and no longer with Budweiser backing.
RCR remains three-pronged despite team boss Richard Childress' long held desire to expand to four teams. Clint Bowyer was THE breakout driver of 2007, a fact that will ensure that teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton do all in their power to prevent Bowyer from becoming the RCR standard bearer. In the nicest possible way of course.
For several seasons now, Roush-Fenway Racing have been the only non-Chevrolet operation to consistently threaten Chevy's dominance and last year was much the same. However 2008 could turn into a year of transition for Ford's ‘Cat in the Hat' as Matt Kenseth, arguably the teams best bet for glory, tries to acclimatise himself to life without Robbie Reiser atop the crew chief box. NASCAR's dictum that the team should shrink from five to four teams in 2009 could also provide unwanted distractions as Roush tries to juggle the contracts of drivers Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan and those of his sponsors.
Sadly for the blue oval brigade pickings are slim elsewhere with Yates Racing and the Wood Brothers looking increasingly shaky in terms of both finance and competitiveness and Robby Gordon's defection to Dodge. Gordon's shift in allegiance speaks volumes for although his single car outfit was not a regular top ten contender, few have been as loyal to the brand, and vice versa, as Gordon over the course of his multi-disciplined career.
