Running out the course

CONCORD, N.C. --- Reed Sorenson wasn't supposed to race this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- or any of the races during the final three months of the Sprint Cup Series season.

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When Richard Petty Motorsports told him they were shutting down the No. 43 Dodge because they lacked sponsorship, Sorenson struck a deal to keep the car on the track. But when the season's done, Sorenson -- and a lot of his crew members -- will be out of work.

"They wanted to shut us down," Sorenson said. "We made some sacrifices to keep it going for the rest of the year. After that, nobody knows. There's not a lot of jobs out there."

Sorenson is one of many who are playing out the year with a team that doesn't want them for the future. It's an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved, and each team seems to handle it differently.

At Penske Racing, crew chief Pat Tryson has been locked out of the shop. He announced he was moving to Michael Waltrip Racing and a new team being formed for Martin Truex Jr. He's still working as Kurt Busch's crew chief in the Chase for the Championship, but he's only allowed to be around the team at the track.

"It's only awkward for me from the standpoint I'm not in the shop," Tryson said. "It really hasn't been a big deal. It's hard for me to say what they're working on back in the shop now. They're treating this like a business, I guess. I'm doing the same thing.

Truex, Jamie McMurray and David Stremme also are in lame duck situations. All three have already been handed their pink slips, but they're required to show up for work each week.

"You need to run well," McMurray told Scene Daily . "I'm obviously looking for a job and to run well now is important, but our cars as a group, Roush Fenway, haven't been as good the last three or four months. It makes it hard when you have to go run well or you need to run well and you just can't."

Sorenson, McMurray and Stremme know there aren't a lot of open seats for next year. In fact, the only team that's looking for a driver is Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, in the same car Truex is leaving. But that team doesn't have sponsorship.

The merger between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing already resulted in the closure of four teams before the 2009 season.

"I don't have anything solid," Stremme said. "Our sport is going through a lot of changes. If I have to run Nationwide or trucks, then that's what I'm willing to do.

"There are so many teams that are going away because they don't have sponsorship. It's going to be a big change in our sport."

Reach Don Coble at don.coble@morris.com.