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JOLIET, Ill. -- NASCAR's merry-go-round of drivers, teams and sponsors will move forward with greater urgency now that Tony Stewart has picked his place for next season.

Ryan Newman says he's a candidate for any open seat and has been offered a piece of ownership in a team, although he wouldn't say which team made the offer. Joe Gibbs Racing seems set on having 18-year-old Joey Logano replace Stewart next year although some issues remain. Max Siegel, president of Dale Earnhardt Inc., says he's confident Martin Truex Jr. will return.

Reports state Newman is the leading candidate to be Stewart's teammate at Stewart Haas Racing next season. Newman says he has an offer to remain at Penske Racing along with three offers to drive elsewhere next season.

"If it works out to move on, then I will move on,'' Newman said before Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway. "I don't know the answer yet.''

Going to Stewart's team would allow Newman to work with his friend.

"Tony's a great competitor in many ways,'' Newman said. "He's tough but respectful. He's been a good friend on and off the race track, specifically off. He's done a lot to help me, guide me. He's an Indiana boy. I have a different respect for him because of that. In general, he's just a hard-nosed racer and I've always appreciated him for that.''

One opening that soon could be filled is Stewart's ride at Joe Gibbs Racing. Car owner Joe Gibbs said of Logano: "I think Joey is a candidate for anything.''

Gibbs said Logano has done more than 30 tests for the team along with racing in the Camping World East and now Nationwide series.

"I don't think there's one instance ever where he hadn't really stood out,'' Gibbs said. "He couldn't have done anything that would have impressed us more. He is 18 but I think he's very mature as a racer and we've tried to give him every bit of experience since he's been with us.

"He's a huge part of our future. Right now, I think we have to make sure we work through all these things that we're going through. We've had numerous conversations with him and his dad and we kind of know what they feel.''

Gibbs said Logano is scheduled to compete in all the remaining Nationwide races. Gibbs wouldn't say when Logano will compete in Cup races this season but added "we're going to be getting to it pretty quick.''

Gibbs also said Home Depot has one year left in its contract with the team and what they want will be key.

While Logano's future seems set, questions remain about Truex. DEI officials said earlier this year they've picked up the option on his contract for next year but reports state Truex has to agree to that and he hasn't yet.

Siegel stated he thinks Truex will be back next year. Siegel also reiterated that DEI is not for sale as reports earlier this week indicated.

NO DEAL: BAM Racing issued a statement Saturday after the Barack Obama campaign stated late Friday night that it would not sponsor the car at Pocono.

As part of the statement, owner Beth Ann Morgenthau said: "BAM Racing has decided to heed the advice of the overwhelming response by fans to keep politics out of racing and continue to focus on several other exciting sponsorships soon to be announced.''

TESTING: NASCAR has passed a draft of the new testing policy to teams in search of additional feedback. The draft would allow teams 24 test dates at tracks that host Cup events. The draft also would limit organizations to two cars per test. Thus, Hendrick Motorsports could only have two of its teams testing at a Cup track on the same day as opposed to having all four teams.

PIT STOPS: Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s appeal of the 150-point penalty to Martin Truex Jr. is set for July 21. &ellipses; To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Richard Petty's first start in NASCAR, drivers took part in a group picture with Petty before the race with everybody wearing cowboy hats like Petty. &ellipses; Saturday was the final broadcast of the season for TNT. ESPN takes over beginning at Indianapolis in two weeks.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com