Media Tour: On eve of rule changes, Gilliland takes Front Row

CONCORD, N.C. –- So far it hasn't been an earth-shattering news week on the 28th annual NASCAR Sprint Media Tour. Thursday's visit to the sanctioning body's R&D center will be the headline event with answers finally coming on a variety of rule changes expected to be implemented in 2010.

That's not to say there hasn't been some interesting information emanating from the tour, including the addition of several Cup efforts as well as personnel changes within NASCAR's Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series divisions:

David Gililand will join Front Row Motorsports as its third entry. (US Presswire)

• One of those expected rule changes announced Thursday will be the replacement of the Sprint Cup rear wing with a spoiler, which got its first on-track test Tuesday during a Goodyear tire session at Texas Motor Speedway. Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle took part in the test and the early reviews were all positive. "I liked the way the car drove," Biffle said. "It drove a little bit different on corner exit than the wing did. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it may have had a little feel like the old car in some scenarios. You can tell it has some more drag because they made it a little bit bigger and wider. I'm anxious to get side-by-side with some guys and around other cars and see how it drives."

The hope is the change will step up the competition, and Busch says after Tuesday's time on track that it will.

"With the spoiler on, the car had a looser feel to it," Busch said. "The car was turning better and it felt like the car was sliding a bit more. When you 'A-B' the sets of tires –- like last year's tires that we won on with the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge –- and the tire that Goodyear wants to head in the general direction of, it tightened the car back up for a nice comfortable feel. And that's what we have to do ultimately, put together a better package for drivers to drive on the track that would create more side-by-side excitement for our fans to enjoy."

• Front Row Motorsports has added a third entry to its effort that will now see David Gilliland join the fold. He'll start the year in a BAM Racing entry at the Daytona 500 but will slide into a Front Row Ford and join Travis Kvapil and rookie contender Kevin Conway. The team has a technical alliance with Richard Petty Motorsports and appears to be fully sponsored to keep all three cars on track for the entire 36-race campaign.

• Speaking of Richard Petty Motorsports, the team's merger with Yates Racing has been finalized and the four-car Ford effort is in place with Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, A.J. Allmendinger and Paul Menard rounding out the stable. However, Kahne's contract status beyond this season is still up in the air, but the driver of the No. 9 entry said he isn't in any kind of a hurry to make a decision beyond the coming season. "I definitely want to give my situation I am in now a really good opportunity, a really legit shot at showing me that RPM is a spot where I need to be," said Kahne. "A lot of this merger and things, they have done it to give our team an opportunity. I'm definitely going to give them a shot here. How long that takes? I don't know. You can look at it in a lot of different ways. I don't see a decision anytime soon."

• There apparently won't be a decision made in the near term regarding the soon-to-be vacant position of Sprint Cup Series director. John Darby, who has held the post since 2002, will be reassigned to a management position within NASCAR but will stay on the job until a replacement is found. Sources continue to report NASCAR is considering someone from outside the stock car racing world as a candidate.

• There will be an addition to the Camping World Truck Series schedule this season when Darlington Raceway returns to the calendar. A Saturday night, Aug. 14 date will replace the race lost when a promoter at The Milwaukee Mile could not be found in time for this season. Darlington, which has hosted the Truck Series before, will have the trucks as a one-day show under the lights this summer.

• A new weekly television program will debut on Showtime in time for the Daytona 500 when Inside NASCAR comes to the air. Modeled after the successful Inside the NFL program, the new show will feature Chris Myers, Kyle Petty, Brad Daugherty and Randy Pemberton in an hour-long discussion and review of the sport complete with detailed highlights of the previous weekend's races. The show will also be available online as well as streaming content to mobile devices.