iNSIDE SCOOP: Round and Round It Goes

Silly Season has hit the throttle and shows no signs of slowing down.

A key domino has (well, might have) fallen, and that might bring the whole picture into focus for the rest of us, at least when all the little tiles finish falling all over the place.

The latest revelation (and I use that term loosely, because it hasn’t been announced by the team in question) is that Austin Dillon will go to NASCAR Sprint Cup racing full-time next season.

Roush Fenway Racing made the announcement that AdvoCare, Dillon’s primary sponsor in the Nationwide Series, would join Trevor Bayne on the No. 6 Ford next season. The reason given was that AdvoCare had to find a new home since Dillon was on the way to Cup.

Heh. That’s classic.

Bet it caused a bit of flusteration in Welcome, N.C., too.

Everybody wants to manage their own news. The time and place for the announcement that Dillon was headed to Cup was under the control of RCR, and whether or not the RFR release was intentional is open to debate. I would bet it wasn’t, because you don’t tick another team off for no reason.

At least you don’t if you don’t want to pay your fabrication department triple overtime.

Anyway, assuming that Dillon is indeed headed to Cup next season, that calls a couple of things into sharp focus. First, does he run the 29 or the 3, and second, will it be a new team or the existing 29 team with Gil Martin and the boys?

Ryan Newman is likely very interested in the answer. So is Kurt Busch, I would imagine, though Rowdy’s bigger brother has other options.

The legion of Earnhardt Nation fans likely want to know too. There’s a lot of emotion tied to that number, run as it was by Dale Earnhardt before his death. Though Dale Jr. has already given his blessing, there’s a bit more to it than that, namely his stepmother and the Dale Earnhardt licensing rights she controls.

Senior never controlled the No. 3, though. That was Childress’ number, and numbers are assigned to car owners, not drivers.

Is he ready? I would bet he is. He’s run well, had lots of success in Trucks and Nationwide, so he’s familiar. Plus he has Childress in his corner, and his father, Mike Dillon, plus the legion of helpers at RCR who have been there and done that at the top level.

That’s why, I imagine, that Dillon was chosen to run the No. 14 for Tony Stewart at Michigan. Well, that and the Bass Pro Shops ties Dillon has. Johnny Morris can’t say no to sponsorship, great guy that he is, and he had a relationship with Childress and Earnhardt long before it switched to Stewart.

Can the Realtree Camo sponsorship be far behind? I hope not…that’s some cool stuff right there, and the die-cast is usually spectacular. Remember the gold Bass Pro Shops car Dale Sr. ran in The Winston one year? I do. Still have to close my eyes to cut the glare off that paint.

I digress.

All we have to do now is find out who is in the No. 42 next year (Newman, Busch, McMurray are rumored to be in line, with McMurray giving over the No. 1 to either Newman, Busch or Kyle Larson).