It's been quite an eventful week or so for Dale Earnhardt Jr. First he announced he'd be leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. Then he was the subject of speculation about his next team. Then his car failed an inspection at Darlington. He then had a strong race in Sunday's Dodge Avenger 500, but on Tuesday, NASCAR announced heavy penalties in the wake of the inspection failure.

But the way he drove under those circumstances at Darlington was quite impressive. He finished the race eighth and showed how good he can be. That's why he's also eighth in this week's Power Rankings.

What do you think? Does a driver now ranked 14th in the standings deserve to be No. 8 in the Power Rankings? Will the suspension of his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. have an affect on where he is in the standings?

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Now that we know Dale Jr. won't be racing for the company his dad founded, the question is simple: What's next?

There's talk of Hendrick, Childress and even Gibbs ... or maybe just expanding his own JR Motorsports and starting his own team.

Needless to say, with his talent and name and the sponsorship of Budweiser behind him, he can pretty much do what he wants.

Let's hear what you think of the latest developments and where Jr. will wind up.

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Has Tony Stewart driven well enough this season to make the Chase? Should he be in danger of missing out?

This certainly hasn't been Stewart's best season. Why do you think he's struggled?

Do you agree with our Power Rankings this week? What would you do differently?

Lets us know what you think.

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The Nextel Cup points standings shows Jeff Burton at No. 2.

Our Power Rankings this week have Burton at No. 10.

Quite a discrepency.

Where do you think Burton should rank after Talladega? Do you agree with the Power Rankings or do the standings show where he truly belongs?

Let us know what you think about this, or anything else in the Power Rankings.

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As Dale Earnhardt Jr. and DEI continue to negotiate one of the biggest contracts in NASCAR, there's another deal in the works that could have a dramatic effect upon the future of both.

Robert Yates confirmed on Saturday that talks have resumed between Robert Yates Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. The topic of discussion: The possible sale of RYR to DEI.

What does this deal mean for NASCAR? Share your thoughts on the DEI-RYR talks.

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