It is only the first quarter of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and there is already discussions of a battling brewing. Yet this battle isn’t between two drivers or teams, it is between two sponsors.

Carl Edwards has been carrying the Office Depot sponsorship since his rookie season in the Sprint Cup Series and has put them in victory lane five times in his career. While there has been no word on a battling between the two sponsors, many expect that there will be a bidding war in the next two months, and as expected Jack Roush is going to want to have a sponsor that is able to carry a 24-25 million dollar range of backing for a driver that is in Carl Edwards league. It was said earlier this season that UPS wanted a driver with a “Rock Star” personality.

And another reason might be to compete with the likes of their rival company Fed EX and driver Denny Hamlin’s ads on television and Carl Edwards might be the right person for the job. Edwards is a very cool driver that many people have grown to notice in commercials and as a winning driver, much like FedEX’s driver Hamlin. And this season, with Carl Edwards winning three races on the Sprint Cup Series schedule, it shows that his value has risen, and there is no doubt that car owner Jack Roush is going to try and find the sponsor that is able to back him with the most money.

When Office Depot sold off more ten races this season to Aflac and Clariton, it started a lot of rumors that they would not be renewing their contract with Roush.