Posted: January-21-2010 at 8:42am | IP Logged

NASCAR looking for a Sprint Cup Series director: UPDATE: NASCAR is interviewing candidates for a new Sprint Cup Series director, and current garage boss John Darby will train his replacement before moving into a managerial role. Several people familiar with NASCAR's restructuring plan said that Darby will move into an oversight role at the research and development center. The people all spoke on condition of anonymity because NASCAR will not announce its planned changes for 2010 until Thursday. There is no timetable for hiring a new director of NASCAR's premiere series, and Darby will fill the role as long as it takes to hire and prepare a replacement. Then he will transition into a new position that oversees the officials in all three of NASCAR's national series, as well as focus on the technical aspects of the sport.(Associated Press)(1-19-2010)
UPDATE: With Sprint Cup garage boss John Darby set to move up to a new administrative position sometime later this year, the speculation has begun about possible successors. One who appears to be an obvious candidate is Joe Balash, the director of the second-tier Nationwide Series. Asked about his intentions in that area on Wednesday, Balash did a nice job of side-stepping the question. "We've got a lot of things going on with the Nationwide Series right now and I've got a lot of work,'' he said. "The transition of John Darby from his current position to the new position is kind of a long-term thing and we'll just let things play out as they do.'' Asked if he has interviewed or will interview for the Cup job, Balance said, "There hasn't been a process that has started yet with anything like that.''(Racin' Today)
AND: Team owner Jack Roush would like to see an insider take over the position. Roush admits the man who takes over for Darby had better be able to master multitasking. One name he mentioned was Billy Berkheimer, a Darby disciple and NASCAR's top template official. One owner who spoke under anonymity because he was uncertain of the reasons behind Darby's reassignment suggested Brett Bodine, NASCAR's director of cost research, as the new car czar. One candidate's name that was buzzing around the teams Tuesday night was Larry Carter, the former Roush/Yates crew chief that was dismissed at the end of the 2009 season following the merger with Richard Petty Motorsports.(Fox Sports)
BUT: Sources continue to report NASCAR is considering someone from outside the stock car racing world as a candidate.(CBS Sports)(1-21-2010)