There were rumors circulating that Budweiser would not make its final payment to RPM because the 2010 contract called for Kasey Kahne to drive the Budweiser Ford, and when he left the team early to join Red Bull Racing, that contract became voided.

But, an Anheuser-Busch spokesman said:

The Budweiser car is a fixture in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and we look forward to finishing out the season.

Robbie Loomis, RPM’s competition director, said that things would remain status quo until the end of the season, despite the rumor. He added that the team will continue to field four Fords for the rest of the season.

Following the release of Kahne, there were rumors swirling that RPM was in financial trouble and was in danger of going under. Rumor had it that Roush Fenway Racing and Roush Yates engines, which supply chassis and engines to RPM respectively, stopped delivering equipment to RPM.

Shortly thereafter, Jack Roush, owner of RFR, insisted that RPM had been up-to-date on their payments and that cars and engines were being delivered. RPM was able to continue fielding RFR Fords.

Meanwhile, Richard Petty was working to line up investors to take majority interest away from George Gillett Jr, minority owner of RPM, Ray Evernham confirmed.  Gillett’s legal dispute over the recent sale of the Liverpool Football Club to New England Sport Ventures is said to have jeopardized the finances of RPM to the point that there was concern that the team would cease operations.

According to SPEEDtv.com, lenders have taken majority interest away from Gillett, and approved a plan for Petty to manage the daily operations of the team. But, that report hasn’t been confirmed or denied.

Almirola was slated to drive Red Bull Racing’s No. 83 Toyota at Martinsville, but it appears Kahne will move over to that ride for the final five races of the season, giving him an early start to work with his 2011 team.

The move is believed to be the result of Kahne’s recent frustration with the team’s inability to finish races — particularly suffering brake failures in two of the last three events — and the comments he made afterwards.

In last weekend’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kahne wrecked because, he said, his brakes failed. After the car was repaired Kahne, who was feeling ill, said he wasn’t well enough to get back in the car. JJ Yeley finished the race.

He called the break issues ”a mess” and a “joke.” An RPM team member told him he needed to do his part. Kahne said:

I was told that I need to start doing my part. I can’t control the issues I’ve had this year. I don’t know how many parts I’ve broke, how many shifter handles, control arms, blowers, brakes. If I really thought about it, I could come up with all kinds of stuff. You can’t control that as a driver. I’m doing my part. I just need the car. I work as hard as anybody out there.

Kahne’s decision not to get in the car and his comments led some to speculate that he was quitting on his team, and wasn’t willing to fight through adversity. Apparently, RPM officials agreed.

RPM Vice President Robbie Loomis said:

When you know that [you’re leaving] is in the back of your mind, it gets harder and harder when you’re having adversity to fight through it. When he gets over there [at Hendrick] with being around Jeff [Gordon] and Jimmie [Johnson], he’ll get to learn a lot through them and how they deal and fight with adversity, too. It was disheartening for all of us. We felt so good going into the race.

As a result, Kahne was released early.

Kahne is slated to drive RBR’s No. 83 Sprint Cup Toyota next season, while he waits for Mark Martin to finish his final season in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevy,  Kahne’s 2012 ride. The move will put him in that car five races early.

The driver lineup for RPM’s No. 9 beyond Martinsville is not set. Marcos Ambrose is signed to drive that car next season. He could ask to be released from JTG Daughtery Racing to get a head start, which would open the No. 47 Toyota up for Bobby Labonte, who is slated to replace Ambrose in that car next season. That would leave James Finch, owner of Phoenix Racing’s No. 09 Chevy that Labonte drives, looking for a driver.

Update: Jenna Fryer, who wrote the AP story breaking the news of Kahne’s release, tweeted that Kahne will run the No. 83 RBR Toyota for the remaining five races this year. He will move over to the No. 82 next season, which will become the No. 4.

RBR will be a two-car team, meaning Kahne will team up with Brian Vickers, who is returning to the series, next season, leaving Scott Speed without a ride.

Update 2: Nate Ryan of USA Today tweeted that Tad Geschickter, of JTG Daugherty Racing, said that the plan is to keep Marcos Ambrose in the No. 47 for the remainder of this season. The Sporting News added that Geschickter confirmed that Ambrose asked for an early release. But, current sponsor and promotional obligations prevented that request from being granted.

Update 3: Two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Kasey Kahne will replace Scott Speed in the No. 82 Toyota next season. With Kenny Francis coming with him, it looks like Jimmy Elledge is likely the odd crew chief out at RBR. Robin Pemberton, current crew chief for Speed, will likely move back to Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Toyota.

Reiser, who is currently general manager of RFR, served as Kenseth’s crew chief from the time he ran in what is now the Nationwide Series in 1997 until late 2007 when Reiser was promoted to GM.

During their time together, Kenseth and Reiser teamed up for 15 wins and a Sprint Cup championship.

When Reiser moved up, Chip Bolin, who already had one win with Kenseth during Reiser’s suspension at the start of the 2007 season,  took over as crew chief of the No. 17. The two would not find Victory Lane at all during the 2008 season. Bolin was replaced by Drew Blickensderfer before the start of the 2009 season.

In 2009, Kenseth and Blickensderfer started the season of strong, winning the first two races. But the two would not get another win that season, and they would miss the Chase.

After the 2010 Daytona 500, Blickensderfer was replaced by Todd Parrott as crew chief for Kenseth. And while they never won a race together, they did post four top 10s in their first four races together, three of which were top 5s. Over the next 10 races, they posted three top 10s. Kenseth was seventh in points when Parrott was replaced by Jimmy Fennig.

At that time, Roush said of the Kenseth-Fennig pairing:

I am very pleased that we have been able to place these two together on the No. 17. These guys were both instrumental in our back-to-back Sprint Cup Championships in 2003 and 2004, with Matt driving us to our first Cup Championship and Jimmy of course being instrumental in the 2004 championship as the team’s crew chief. We would expect this pairing to yield strong results as both of these guys are extremely talented and among the best in the business at what they do. 

In the media center before the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Roush and Kenseth both indicated that Reiser had been approached to return to his role as crew chief. Kenseth said that he wanted to remain in the front office, and he couldn’t be on the pit box and in the front office.

But now, according to an anonymous source, Reiser wants to go back to being a crew chief.

The source said:

Robbie wants to come back but he’s doing such a good job as GM that Jack can’t justify making a move right now. Next season, expect to see Reiser back on the pit box, with Robbie Loomis succeeding him as General Manager.

Loomis is currently serving as an executive of racing operations with Richard Petty Motorsports.