NASCAR Merger will oust Blaney as driver

The Penske-Jasper deal will eliminate Dave Blaney from car No. 77.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
NEW YORK -- The Penske-Jasper Motorsports deal to share ownership of the No. 77 team and bring it under the Penske and Dodge umbrella is all but completed, sources confirmed. An announcement of the merger should be made within two weeks, with NASCAR Truck series driver Brendan Gaughan joining the team as its new driver, sources said.
According to sources, the remaining work includes signing contracts with the sponsor and driver, and the fate of current No. 77 driver Dave Blaney of Hartford, Ohio. He would not remain with the team.
New points system?
NASCAR officials will huddle after tonight's ceremony celebrating Matt Kenseth's Winston Cup title, to look at whether the 2004 Nextel Cup champion will be determined by the same system.
"We think our current points system works well, but like anything that works well, we're going to study it and see if we can make it even better," Brian France, NASCAR's CEO, said Thursday.
Before he handed over the CEO position this year to his son, Bill France Jr. indicated changes to the system used since 1975 were likely, and many expected such changes might be announced Thursday at NASCAR's annual news conference.
Brian France said no decision has been made and it could come as late as January.
Sauter replaces Park
Rookie Johnny Sauter will replace Steve Park in the No. 30 car for Richard Childress Racing in 2004.
Childress said the 25-year-old Sauter will be teamed with veteran crew chief Kevin Hamlin, who has previously guided RCR drivers Mike Skinner and Kevin Harvick to rookie of the year titles.
Sauter joins Harvick and Robby Gordon on the Childress team.
Burton stays
Despite failing to come up with a primary sponsor for 2004, Jeff Burton will remain in the No. 99 Roush Racing Ford and will drive the full 36-race schedule.
Burton signed a multi-year contract with Roush in September, but his future with the team was put in jeopardy when the team failed to find a replacement for sponsor CITGO, which left at the end of the season.
Wilburn out
Rusty Wallace and his Penske Racing South team are looking for a new crew chief after Bill Wilburn stepped down following two seasons on the job.
Wallace, a former NASCAR champion, will start 2004 riding a 98-race winless string, dating to April 2001 at California Speedway. He finished 14th in the 2003 season points, the first time since 1992 Wallace has finished outside the top 10.
DEI changes
Dale Earnhardt Inc. will run Martin Truex Jr. for the full season in the Busch Series and five to seven Nextel Cup races in the team's No. 1 Chevrolet in 2004.
Truex will represent Chance 2 Motorsports, co-owned by Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
DEI will continue to run Earnhardt and Michael Waltrip full time in the Nextel Cup in 2004.
Elliott to race limited schedule
Former NASCAR champion Bill Elliott will drive a limited schedule in 2004 for Evernham Motorsports.
The 48-year-old driver said he would like to drive 15 of the 36 Nextel Cup races in 2004 if sponsorship can be found. He and team owner Ray Evernham would like the arrangement to be for more than one year but that is not set.