Penske to close #77 team.

Roger Penske's eponymous Nextel Cup organisation have announced that they will not run the #77 Dodge run in conjunction with Jasper Motorsport in the 2006 season.

Penske will instead focus on the #2 Miller Lite Dodge driven by Kurt Busch and the #12 Alltel Dodge piloted by Ryan Newman. Travis Kvapil, the most recent driver of the #77 Dodge is out of a drive while Kodak, primary sponsor on the #77, will become an associate backer on the teams two remaining cars.

Success has been hard to find in the two years since former Jasper owner Doug Bawel aligned himself with Penske, with original driver, rookie Brendan Gaughan finishing 28th in the points in 2004 and Kvapil, another rookie, 33rd this year. Although Penske has also stated his intention to start another ABC programme (ARCA, Busch, Cup) with an as yet unnamed driver, it is not clear whether the #77 plate or Kodak will be involved in that plan.

The news that the #77 team will not contest the 2006 season brings the number of teams in the top 35 in owner points who are not scheduled to compete full-time next year to two. The #15 DEI team will also not compete full-time, although the car is expected to make sporadic appearances throughout the year.

What NASCAR will elect to do with the #77 and the #15's grid slots for the first five races of next season remains to be seen, although the #4 Morgan McClure team (36th in points) and Cal Wells' #32 PPI Motorsports team (37th in points) are the logical choices to fill any gaps.

The #77 team first came under Bawel's ownership in 1996 and continued with a medium of success until the merger with Penske at the conclusion of the 2003 season. Despite the influence of 'The Captain' neither Gaughan nor Kvapil could match the teams' season-high number of top ten finishes, five apiece by Robert Pressley and Dave Blaney in 2001 and 2002 respectively.