CONCORD, N.C. - Sterling Marlin negotiated a week of 40-somethings retirement announcements still in the driver's seat of the No. 40 Dodge.
There is an expiration date to the 47-year-old's term in the Nextel Cup entry, team owner Chip Ganassi said, but no one has figured out what it is yet.
"I think Sterling will have a seat on this team as long as he wants, but I think at the same time (team co-owner) Felix ( Sabates) and I won't hesitate to tell him if we think he should stop driving," Ganassi said. "It's a matter of the three of us sitting down and talking about what we think and going forward."
Ganassi said the talk likely would occur "sooner than later." He hopes to add to his three-car team in the future and currently has David Stremme farmed to a Busch series team, where he is 11th in the standings.
WARM LAPS: Feel free to draft behind the tall guy with the ponytail at the Florida Gulf Beaches Half Marathon on Dec. 12. Kyle Petty will run the event in preparation for the Las Vegas Marathon on Jan. 30 with fellow Cup driver Michael Waltrip. The Las Vegas run is part of a charitable effort to benefit the Victory Junction Camp for children with chronic or life-threatening diseases.
"In my training schedule I needed to run a half marathon somewhere, and that half marathon falls perfectly in there," Petty said of the Clearwater event. "I was pretty excited about it because I looked hard to find one and it was the perfect one. When I called they did a good job selling it to me, so that's why I went."
LONG TERM: Ganassi Racing announced Friday an extension of its deal with Texaco/Havoline for the No. 42 Dodge. Terms were not disclosed, though Sabates said the deal is longer than any he has had for one of his cars. The company has sponsored a Cup car the past 17 years.
Jamie McMurray, the 2003 rookie of the year, missed qualifying for the Chase for the Championship in the No. 42 by 15 points.
BACK AGAIN: Two-time Truck series champion Ron Hornaday was announced on Friday as the driver for Kevin Harvick's No. 6 Chevrolet entry in the series for 2005.
Hornaday, 46, holds the Truck series record for wins (26) and has 65 top fives, 93 top 10s and 13 poles in 125 starts. He was released last week from his Busch series contract with Richard Childress Racing, which fields Harvick's Cup car.
BUTT OUT: NASCAR has been heavy-handed in preventing hard-liquor sponsorships on cars, denying Roush Racing a contract with international liquor distributor Diageo brands. NASCAR president Mike Helton has hinted tobacco sponsorships eventually could be banned after Winston left as title sponsor of its top series last year, but allowed ppc Racing to secure VB Brands for John Andretti's full-time Cup entry next season.
"Tobacco has been involved in a part of all motorsports. I think it works," Andretti said. "There were no issues brought up with that all."
PIT STOPS: The Wood Brothers will make their 1,200th start tonight in NASCAR's top series when Ricky Rudd starts 41st in the UAW-GM Quality 500. ... Dave Blaney drove the No. 99 Ford in Cup practice because regular driver Carl Edwards was preparing for his Truck series race at Texas.
