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As of right now, 21 drivers are eligible to race in the Sprint All-Star Race on May 17th, with one race left for a driver to win and become eligible for the star-studded field. Three drivers will transfer from the Sprint Showdown, consisting of two 20 lap segments for a total of 40 laps or 60 miles, into the big show, the top two finishers and then a driver selected by fan vote.

At least 24 cars will be in the All-Star race itself, and they will race for 20 more laps than they did in 2007, totaling 100 for 150 miles, consisting of four 25 lap segments. Yellow flag laps will be counted in each of the first three sessions, but the final session will only count green flag laps. Restarts will again be double file with the free-pass available throughout the event. A record purse of $3,308,251, with the winner guaranteed at least $1,012,975 for winning the Saturday night showdown.

Rumors are spreading that Martin Truex Jr. may be departing Dale Earnhardt Inc. to join Penske racing in a fourth car, with a possible sponsor being UPS, according to Jayski.com.

There are also rumors spreading about where Tony Stewart will be driving next year, with the increasing implication that he will be departing Joe Gibbs Racing. There has been no official word from either side, but rumor says that Stewart will indeed start his own racing team, under the Hendrick umbrella, similar to what Ginn Racing did using Hendrick supplied chassis and engines. A possible sponsor for Stewart: Bass Pro Shops, the current sponsor of Truex Jr. Should Stewart depart JGR, it will leave Gibbs looking for a replacement, which could be the highly talented Joey Logano, who dominated Sunday's ARCA race from the pole in his first start.

Finally, the last thing Nascar needs is another name change. In the course of five years, the Cup series has changed from the Winston, Nextel, and this year Sprint Cup Series, with The Grand National Series also changing from Busch Beer to Nationwide Insurance.

However, the Cup series may have another name change in it's future, as Deutsche Telekom, one of the nation's largest banking firms and owner of T-Mobile, may consider acquiring Overland Park-based Sprint to avoid a price war in the mobile phone industry. As Sprint continues to struggle in the US, the likelihood of Sprint lowering prices even further to attract customers is increasing. T-Mobile makes it's business as being the cheaper alternative to the top-5 cellular companies, and if Sprint lowers it's prices it could take sales away from T-Mobile, according to analysts for Merrill Lynch. And recent media reports indicate that a bid for Sprint will be coming, but it could be several weeks or months away.

However, the reality is that Nascar's top series will likely face another name change, the T-Mobile Cup Series. And I was just getting used to calling it the Sprint Cup Series....