ESPN is reporting that DEI picked up Martin Truex Jr.’s option for 2009 and the team hopes to sign him to a longer term deal in the future. While some of the details have been worked out, DEI and Truex are still hammering out the salary. Bass Pro Shops is signed with the team thru 2009.

Franchitti May Miss A Month

London’s Evening Standard is reporting that Dario Frachitti will miss a month of NASCAR competition after suffering a crash in the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega on Sunday. He is being treated for a concussion and a broken ankle.

Gibbs Can Afford To Let Stewart Go, AP Says

The AP reports that “maybe Joe Gibbs can afford to let Tony Stewart go” because he “seems to have NASCAR’s next star on his roster,” Kyle Busch. Busch has two Sprint Cup wins and 7 total wins in all three of NASCAR’s top series. Right now, there appears “to be nothing this 22-year-old phenom can’t do – even it means filling the shoes of his teammate Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.” The AP quotes Gibbs as saying:

The thing about Tony is we have been together for 10 years. … It’s been a great ride, and that’s why we don’t want it to stop. We would love to have it work out pretty much the way it did the last time.

If Stewart leaves to pursue other options, though, “Busch would be a worthy successor. Heck, he already looks like the team’s No. 1 driver.”