With the sluggish economy still taking its toll on the motorsports landscape, another round of layoffs were announced in Race Country USA this week. Gillett Evernham Motorsports officials say they will reduce their 2009 Nationwide Series program to a partial schedule and eliminate about 65 jobs in the process. Sponsorship played a key role in the decision.

Gillett Evernham will field its current lineup of three Cup Series teams with drivers Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson for next season. Team representatives continue to explore the possibility of adding a fourth team through ongoing talks with Petty Enterprises about merging the famed No. 43 with the GEM stable.

"We are a Sprint Cup team first and foremost, and winning in that series needs to be our primary focus," Gillett Evernham CEO Tom Reddin said in a statement Wednesday. "The Nationwide Series is a fantastic series ... (but) we will remained focused on putting all of our effort behind the Cup program in 2009."

The No. 9 Dodge Nationwide Series team lost its Unilever sponsorship to JR Motorsports for 2009 and has been unable secure adequate sponsorship to run the full schedule.

Ray Evernham recently sold his remaining interest in the team he founded and announced he has purchased the Lincoln County Speedway in Lincolnton, North Carolina with plans for he and future wife Erin Crocker to maintain day to day operations of the facility.