The Hot Pass: Rumors swirl at Chicagoland

Fans and pundits aren't the only ones assessing performance at the halfway point of the Sprint Cup season.

Owners, sponsors and drivers are looking at options for next season as well.

In a normal economy, sponsors would have had their 2010 campaigns submitted by July 1. But the market is anything but normal right now.

This will be a season where performance is the key to locking down support for drivers. Marketing managers have to prove to the bean counters that there is a strong return on investment to justify allocating dollars to racing.

And this year, the dominoes will tumble.

Here's the garage buzz: