Only two more weeks before Kasey Kahne moves over to the Bud car.

Rebuilding is the name of the off-season game in NASCAR. Several teams are already taking steps in that direction. Whether they were prompted by mergers, poor performance or all of the above, NASCAR will be a different sport next year.

One such team is Gillett Evernham Motorsports. While an immediate influx of capital didn’t provide on-track results, it has created change in the office. Many key members of the team have left or been let go, and Ray Evernham is using his newfound freedom to whittle the Dodge flagship team down to the best, brightest and most committed.

The No. 9 of Kasey Kahne remains largely unchanged. Kenny Francis, team director for Kahne, has proven that he can work well with NASCAR’s pretty-boy. While the reasons for Kahne’s slump are unclear, it is most likely due to the engineering mishaps that befell the company earlier this year. With a new sponsor on board in Budweiser, Kahne will be strong out of the gate at Daytona next year. This year’s slightly less than stellar results not withstanding, expect great things out of this section of GEM next year.

The No. 19 of Elliott Sadler has recently experienced some major upheavals. Sadler is on his third team director this year. Readers of this column know that I am a faithful Elliott fan and I often listen in to his scanner during the race. I think the steady stream of team directors is due to several factors. Sadler is known for letting his emotions get the better of him, and he freely admits that this moodiness has been his downfall more than once. He also relentlessly searches for that “perfect” car, the perfect setup. When it doesn’t feel just right, Sadler lets his team know in a hurry.

Josh Browne, who began this year as No. 19 team director, returned to a spot in the engineering department before half the season was over, only to be later released. GEM then appointed Scott McDougal to take over the pit box, but with one big exception. McDougal was rarely heard on the radio, and if he was even performing any crew chief duties is unclear. Why? Because the big boss got on the radio. Ray Evernham began crew chiefing, coaching, and cheerleading “Ricky Bobby” Sadler each week until last week’s race at Texas.

GEM moved No. 10 team director Rodney Childers to the 19 team last week, with decent results. Communication seemed clearer and Sadler was more upbeat than in recent times. Evernham didn’t make an appearance on the radio. Perhaps GEM has found the right combination of authority and knowledge to satisfy Sadler’s needs.

With the departure of Scott Riggs from the No. 10 team, the internal poaching has begun, as evidenced by Childers’ move to the No. 19. Patrick Carpentier will be driving the No. 10 in 2008, and he will attempt to make the last two races of the season in the Valvoline car. That team faces an uphill battle if they cannot get into the top 35 before the end of the season. A rookie, coupled with no guaranteed starts in 2008, makes for tough days ahead. Carpentier, though, is a rookie in the same way that Juan Montoya is a rookie, which is to say that he really isn’t a rookie at all. Despite the tell-tale yellow stripe that will decorate his car, I think we will see Carpentier have a solid season in 2008.

Moving from the GEM teams we go across manufacturer lines to Chevrolet and Haas/CNC Racing. On Wednesday it was reported that owner Carl Haas will be serving two years in jail on charges of fraud. While team sources say that Haas’ imprisonment won’t affect the 2008 season, perhaps they mean only financially. It cannot be good for morale at Haas/CNC Racing or Haas Automation, the machine tool business that is the parent company of the Haas empire.

Haas released drivers Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter this year and will replace them with Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs in 2008. This team, an offshoot affiliate of Hendrick Motorsports, looks to build its reputation and skill. The team has a boon in the form of veteran crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker. Barker, a salty talker and favorite of NASCAR fans, has been on the brink so many times with his teams. I think many people would like to see this team succeed.

The equipment Haas receives is far from subpar, so one has to wonder where the lack of performance comes from. Perhaps it is the drivers; perhaps it is the management of the team itself. If the team can pull together this year and mesh its drivers, crew chiefs and equipment, we may see solid top 20 cars out of the Haas/CNC Racing stable.

These are just two examples of teams that will see some extensive rebuilding and changes for the 2008 season. In the coming weeks I will preview other teams and their outlook for next year.

Until next week, remember that rubbin’ is racin’, and most of the racin’ is happening from third place on back!