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Entering its fifth season Red Bull Racing yet again finds itself with an uncertain future. Brian Vickers returned to the team this year after spending most of 2010 sidelined with health issues and Kasey Kahne joined the team on a one-year visa.

With a couple of promising runs so far this season, 2011 could shape up to be a good year for Red Bull Racing. But with only one driver in place for 2012, what happens at the end of the year is anybody’s guess.

The potential of Red Bull was abandoned last year in favor of Kahne. Scott Speed lost his job at the end of 2010 after months of speculation about his future. He joined AJ Allmendinger in the category of Red Bull drivers pushed too soon and abandoned too early.

Now when Kahne jumps ship for Hendrick next year, what are the odds Red Bull does it again? Consider the options for the team. They could sign up a driver already in the sport – not too many great free agents available though. Or, they could tap the existing talent they have. Does the name Cole Whitt ring a bell?

The young driver, a former USAC champion, has 16 NASCAR starts to his name (10 of which came in the K&N Pro Series East last season). He’s currently running the full Truck Series schedule for Turn One Racing. If this sounds familiar, you’re not going crazy.

Scott Speed, a former F1 driver, ran a full ARCA and Truck schedule before being thrust into AJ Allmendinger’s seat. And lest we forget, Allmendinger had three starts in a Truck before being pushed into a Cup car with the new Red Bull team. Both drivers had two full Cup seasons with the team before being booted.

To say Red Bull has a bad track record developing its talent would be an understatement. While I have yet to hear anything substantive about the future of Red Bull, a scenario where they plop Cole Whitt into a Cup car is not completely out of the realm of possibility.

With Whitt they have a talented young driver with a world of potential in front of him. Whether they allow that talent to grow and prosper remains to be seen. So you tell me, what does Red Bull do next year?

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In recent years, layoffs at the end of the NASCAR season have become the norm. And this season hasn’t been any different (though the extent of the layoffs has been less severe than in recent years). Joining the rank-and-file employees on the unemployment line in 2010 are two drivers from prominent programs. I doubt either of them though were surprised.

Enter Scott Speed and Colin Braun.

During his three seasons at the various levels of NASCAR, Scott Speed found some success and quite a bit of struggle.

2008 was a banner year for the flamboyant former F1 driver. He scored four ARCA Series wins, one Truck Series win, and he nearly won the ARCA championship. He was a promising prospect for Red Bull Racing that, at the time, had Brian Vickers and a struggling AJ Allmendinger.

And so began the trouble for Speed, who was thrown into the Cup Series in 2009 with little stock car experience under his belt. Like so many before, Speed wasn’t given much time to develop and was never able to do much in a Cup car. Add on top of his lack of development time, the fact that Red Bull is, at best, a mid-tier team, Scott never really had much of a chance.

Braun got his first full NASCAR season in 2008, running for a Roush Truck team that had a lot of success behind it. In two seasons in the Truck Series though Braun scored one win, and didn’t do much else. It’s of note that in those two seasons (a total of 50 races) Braun had 10 DNFs as a result of wrecks.

Despite a less than successful run in the Truck Series, Roush moved Braun to the Nationwide Series this season with plans to run the full schedule. Eight races into the season though Braun was yanked from the ride after five wreck related DNFs and a severe drop in the points. He was allowed to run 16 more races this season – his highest finish was seventh.

For these two guys, their individual releases were a long time coming. Neither lived up to expectations. For Speed the lack of development time is likely what hurt him the most. With Red Bull’s questionable performance however, more development time may or may not have made a difference.

With Braun, development time wasn’t an issue. In fact, he was given far more opportunity to showcase his skills and talent than most drivers in similar situations. After 82 NASCAR starts, and little to show for it, Jack Roush probably made the right decision cutting him loose.

What stinks for both of these guys at this point is the lack of time they now have to find another ride. Something tells me neither will find much opportunity in NASCAR for 2011.

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Here is our latest podcast which we have renamed into the “Wreckage Report”. Since we talk about the crashes in NASCAR it only seems fitting that we have that name change.

We talk about speed week and all the races down in Daytona leading up to the Daytona 500. The arrival of Danica Mania and all the rest of the news that is happening in NASCAR.

Our predictions are

Debbie : Dale Earnhardt JR

Vinny: Tony Stewart

Lets see who comes closest to the actual winner.

The Wreckage Report Daytona Speed Week : AwesomeWreckage.com ~ Nascar Fan Forum

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The season has all but arrived, and so has another edition of Ask The Insiders Wednesday.  If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here.  So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us.  On to the questions…

1. From Ric:

Does every tire have it’s own unique tracking number or is it only done in batches?

Yes, each tire has it’s own number and subsequent barcode.  Goodyear has handhelds they use to scan each tire into their system and they are tracked from mounting all the way back to dismounting. – T.C.

2. From Doug:

Last week you had a question about Kyle Busch’s salary.  My question goes a bit further.  What kinds of things are in a driver contract?  Does it govern races outside of the primary cup team, either mandating them or barring them?  Does it incorporate manufacturer conditions, such as Danica Patrick not being able to test a NASCAR ride because of a clause in her Honda contract?  Does it mandate a minimum/maximum number of sponsor appearances?  What other things – other than money – might be part of the negotiation process?

Honestly contracts can and do have any number of things in them. Certainly sponsor appearances (the amount of time they spend at an appearance and how many a sponsor gets, though these are more likely to be in the sponsor’s contract) and sponsor conflict clauses exist in many drivers’ contracts. Other things? Drivers usually get a car (if you work for a bigger, manufacturer supported team). I can’t really think of too many other things. The money part is of course the most important part. – Journo

3. From Teresa:

Who could I inquire to about collectors cards?  Dale Earnhardt Sr had a promotion in the 1980s with Sundrop where you collected all 3 cards which were enclosed in 12 packs of Sundrop and since he has passed I wonder who I could talk about these.  Thank you for any information you can provide.

The only thing I can suggest is to check out eBay.  There are always some great collectors items that can be found there, and prices are about as fair as it gets. – T.C.

4. From Jon:

I’ve been watching a little of the Toyota All-Star race and was wondering what the major differences are between Nationwide cars, NASCAR Elite regional cars and ARCA cars. Thanks.

ARCA Series cars are very similar to Nationwide Series cars.  The NNS requires cars to have a 105″ wheelbase, whereas ARCA allows cars that are either 105″ or 110″ (110″ wheelbase cars are what the old style Cup cars were).  The major difference is the engines.  I don’t know exactly what the engine rules are for ARCA, but I’m sure they have less horsepower then a NNS car.  The East and West Series cars are also 105″ and 110″ wheelbase cars, with less horsepower then a NNS car.  Many East/West and ARCA cars are old NNS and Cup cars purchased from teams.  The Elite Regional Series cars are a latemodel car with a composite body, smaller wheelbase, and usually run rack and pinion steering, versus a steering box for the bigger NNS cars.  They will also have less horsepower, along with some other mechanical differences. – T.C.

5. From Mike:

How is Jim Hunter doing? Any Updates? Can cards be sent?

As far as I know he’s still doing OK. I’m sure if you wanted to send a card to the NASCAR address (1801 W. International Speed Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL, 32114) they would pass it on to him. – Journo

And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close.  Thanks to everyone who sent in questions.  And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!