Such a move could also start a huge chain of additional silly season moves as a result.

Menards has a long history of sponsoring cars at the XFINITY level, and have recently sponsored one of the four RCR cars in that division because of their Cup ties with the team. Why wouldn’t a similar arrangement make sense with the Penske XFINITY team if Menard were to make the move to their Cup squad.

That sponsorship could also pave the way for a Ford development driver — like Camping World Truck Series veterans Tyler Reddick or Daniel Hemric — to be promoted from within the manufacturer chain.

If one of those two drivers advances to the XFINITY chair, that would open up a full-time ride in the Brad Keselowski Racing truck stable for someone like former BKR driver Austin Theriault or even Austin Cindric, the son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric who will compete for the team in three races this fall. Cindric has already scored two NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victories this year and turns 18 next month, which would make him eligible for the full series schedule next season, and would seem to fall in line with BKR’s recent philosophy of building the next generation of racing stars through their team.

Going back to the Cup side, one might also wonder what the scenario would be for Penske in starting a third team, one which wouldn’t be guaranteed a charter like his two current teams have.

There’s a potential solution for that, as well.

Team Penske could take a shot at purchasing the charter from the No. 32 Fas Lane Racing entry, another Ford team that doesn’t have much support from the manufacturer and would benefit from the financial gain of selling their charter and potentially forming a technical alliance with Penske if one was put on the table for offer. If this were to happen, it would take the uncertainty of qualifying out of the picture and guarantee that Menard makes the field for every Cup race in 2017.

So if Menard does leave RCR at the end of the year? It would open up a spot (the No. 27, which would likely be renumbered to No. 33) for Ty Dillon to run full-time in the Cup Series and chase Rookie of the Year honors in 2017.

You would think that Dillon going full-time in Cup would then leave at least a partial-season hole at Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing, which has a technical alliance with RCR already. Providing that partnership remains, it would be easy to imagine a driver like RCR’s current young rising star, Brandon Jones, jumping up to make a few Cup starts next year. That team already has a part-time veteran driver in Michael McDowell, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think about some sort of partnership there coming to pass.

Sports history tends to tell the tale of blockbuster deals that only involve “superstar” players. Dale Earnhardt Jr. going to Hendrick Motorsports comes to mind. So does Alex Rodriguez signing with the Yankees or Peyton Manning leaving his beloved Colts for the Broncos.

Paul Menard might not be one of those “superstar” characters. He may not have a fanbase that cheers louder than the cars when the green flag falls, and he may not set the world on fire with his statistical results, but he does buckle in for 36 races a year and give it his all in America’s premier national auto racing series.

And sometimes, just being around the top of the conversation leads to greater things.

Paul Menard may end up staying at Richard Childress Racing next year and render all of this discussion a completely moot point. To be fair, he did say when asked at Watkins Glen that he was “pretty close” to announcing his plans for next year.

But one thing is for certain in this sport: never believe everything you hear.

And at least, the way I look at it, right now Menard would seem to have some pretty interesting options to choose from.

The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Race Chaser Online, the Performance Motorsports Network, their sponsors or other contributors.

About the Writer

Rence Brown is Race Chaser Online’s West Coast-based correspondent, who currently resides in California and carries a deep passion for NASCAR, but is a follower of multiple forms of auto racing across multiple disciplines.

Brown, 23, is going back to school to pursue a journalism degree at Pierce College.

Email Rence at: [email protected]

Follow on Twitter: @RenceTheFence

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