Catchfence

This is the way it goes in NASCAR these days. Brian Scott is the rookie points leader in the Nationwide series. And on Monday, Braun Motorsports announced that Scott was out of a job. At the same time, Michael Waltrip Racing handed Trevor Bayne his walking papers. That’s two very high-profile Nationwide drivers suddenly rideless, and the reasons behind their separations are raising a few eyebrows across NASCAR.

Both drivers ought to be fine, in the long term if not the short one. Scott holds the rookie points lead by only a single point over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and would like to get a ride for the last few races to hold onto that. He’s been mentioned as a possibility to join Joe Gibbs Racing in 2011. Bayne, for his part, has also drawn rumored interest from Roush Fenway Racing.

- Jay Busbee / Yahoo! Sports