Joey Logano will stop driving Sprint Cup Series races this season for Hall of Fame Racing. The 18-year-old phenom is set to replace Tony Stewart in Joe Gibbs Racing’s flagship Number 20 next season. JGR scheduled him for a handful of starts in a fourth entry this year, and loaned him to Hall of Fame for another five races.

Rusty Wallace reportedly is considering ending his three-year retirement to drive again, possibly for former rival Dale Earnhardt’s race team. Wallace’s younger brother, Kenny, wrote in his SpeedTV.com blog that the 52-year-old former Cup champion is pondering a return to NASCAR’s top series. Rusty Wallace retired after the 2005 season.

AJ Allmendinger will not finish out the season with Red Bull Racing. It had already been announced Allmendinger wouldn’t be returning to the Number 84 Toyota for the 2009 season and the team is letting him go early to pursue another job. Mike Skinner and Scott Speed will share the seat for the final seven races of the year.

Paul Menard will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the season to drive for Yates Racing, The Associated Press has learned. Menard is expected to announce Tuesday that both he and his sponsorship will move to Yates, a person familiar with Menard’s decision told The AP. The person requested anonymity because Menard had yet to make his announcement.

Jimmie Johnson barely held off a strong challenge from Carl Edwards on Sunday at Kansas Speedway, winning the race and vaulting into first place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

So what have we learned the first few days of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup championship playoffs?