Roush Fenway Racing Extends Matt Kenseth, Appears to Leave Out Jamie McMurray

Matt Kenseth's contract at Roush Fenway Racing got extended Thursday afternoon and that was seemingly bad news for his teammate Jamie McMurray.

Kenseth got a new "multi-year dear" from RFR to keep him as the driver of the No. 17 Ford for well past 2010, when his current contract was set to expire. Terms weren't disclosed by the team, but I'd imagine the contract puts Kenseth in a position to make RFR his final place of stock car employment with either a heavily extended contract from his current one or one loaded with options.

Kenseth, a native of Cambridge, Wisc., turns 37 in March.

For teammate McMurray -- who's been nothing short of a disappointment during his time at RFR but showed some flashes of brilliance towards the end of the 2008 -- Kenseth's re-signing might be a nail in the coffin for his future at RFR.

NASCAR has mandated that by 2010, all Sprint Cup teams must have no more than four drivers in a stable. RFR currently has five.

The RFR other drivers, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan, all seem to have the cards stacked in their favor for 2009 and beyond.

Biffle, who had some questions during the early part of 2008 after several part failures and other team problems kept him from winning races, re-signed with RFR in July to a contract throught 2011. Edwards obviously isn't going anywhere with his near-championship run in 2008 and has a contract through 2011 and Ragan hasn't officially inked a contract to the best of my knowledge for 2009 but he has a "multi-year" deal with sponsor UPS starting next season.

So, Biffle plus Edwards plus Kenseth plus Ragan equals four drivers locked in at RFR for well past the 2010 NASCAR cutoff deadline, and seems to leave McMurray without a RFR-associated ride in 2010 once his current contract runs out.

An option appears to be at Jack Roush's disposal, however, if he decides to keep McMurray around after 2009 -- especially if the Jopin, Mo., driver can pile together a season-full of finishes like he had to close out the 2008 season. Roush has a significant alliance with Yates Racing, and if needbe, I can certainly see McMurray's services getting transferred to the satellite operation.