NASCAR’s pulse has slowed a beat now that all of the year’s races are in the books, but there are still plenty of things to keep up with and look out for between now and the start of testing in January.

Word is that Jimmy Elledge has been hired as a crew chief for Chip Ganassi Racing, and some believe that means Bobby Hamilton isn’t far behind. Elledge was crew chief for Hamilton with the No. 55 Chevrolets owned by Andy Petree Racing in 2002.

Ganassi has a seat to fill in his No. 41 Dodge after ousting Jimmy Spencer, who seems to be headed for Jim Smith’s No. 7 Dodge team for 2003. Indications are that Ganassi is trying to persuade the No. 41 team’s sponsor, Target, that Hamilton is the right choice instead of a younger, unproven driver ” somebody like Hank Parker Jr., whose name just won’t go away in conversations about that ride.

Petree, meanwhile, has laid off several of his team’s employees but continues to be hopeful that he’ll have a deal soon that will bring them back to work. Ken Schrader, being replaced by Jerry Nadeau in the No. 36 Pontiac next year, is lined up to drive for Petree if a deal ever gets made.

Elliott Sadler was testing the No. 38 Fords for Robert Yates Racing at Kentucky Speedway last week with Raymond Fox Jr. and Sean Parker, who’s coming from Roush Racing to take over as car chief, helping call the shots. There’s talk that Fox and Parker could share crew chief duties for Sadler in 2003, a deal that’s been tried before without much success.

Shake-ups are also in the works at Evernham Motorsports, aimed at fixing the problems with Jeremy Mayfield’s disappointing season, and at Richard Childress Racing, where three teams combined for only modest success in 2002.

Speaking of Ray Evernham’s operation, Casey Atwood is still dangling in the wind. He’s out of the No. 7 car and may wind up going back to the Grand National series.

But if, as the story goes, Dodge was willing to pony up some support money for BAM Racing’s No. 49 Intrepids if Hamilton agreed to drive there, why couldn’t a deal like that be worked out for Atwood? BAM Racing could do a lot worse than Atwood as a driver. Atwood has a contract for 2003 with Evernham anyway, but maybe the Smith experience has Evernham soured on any kind of partnership deal.

Todd Bodine had surgery last week on a ruptured disc in his back that happened when he crashed in his Grand National car in qualifying at Homestead. Travis Carter, his Winston Cup car owner, is out beating the bushes for a sponsor to keep his team and the No. 26 Fords running next year.

Nobody’s officially said that Mike Wallace will drive the No. 14 Pontiacs owned by A.J. Foyt next year. Of course, nobody’s said Wallace won’t drive for that team, either.

In other news:

• Cristiano da Matta, this year’s Championship Auto Racing Teams champion, ridiculously won the Driver of the Year award voted on each year by 16 motorsports writers ” not including me, by the way ” nationwide. Who’d he have to beat for the title in a series that’s falling apart like a cheap suit? Six guys voted for da Matta and six for Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart, so points from the quarterly voting broke the tie. Cup drivers had won the award the past five years. Steve Kinser and John Force also received votes.
• Former Winston Cup team owner Michael Kranefuss unveiled his newest project last week, the Falcon Indy 01-A, the first car designed and manufactured in the United States under 2003 technical specifications for the Indy Racing League. The cars will be manufactured in Concord, N.C.
• Travis Kvapil, the 2002 NASCAR Truck series rookie of the year, will drive Chevrolets for IWX Racing in that series in 2003. He will fill the seat vacated when Mike Bliss, this year’s Truck series champ, left for a Joe Gibbs Racing ride in the Grand National series.