Breaking News: McLaren Shot Short—NASCAR Gains Big

Steve Hallam, the head of race operations for Team McLaren, is gonna be leaving at year's end, and who's gonna gain from that? Well, NASCAR for one, and may be, just may be—all those competitors trying to get a gain on the Silver Arrows car.

This is a big gain for NASCAR, as Formula One is supposed to be a peak sport in Auto Racing and McLaren is one of the most highly respected teams.

After the departure of Juan Pablo Montoya from Team McLaren, this is the second such poaching that NASCAR was able to do from Team McLaren. McLaren seems to be the prime candidate for NASCAR recruitment drives!

It is being reported that Steve Hallam has accepted a senior position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. One is yet to have more clarity on his role and position as of now.

Steve Hallam is one of the most prominent figures in Formula One and this move from him is quite the shocker.

He had been a part of Lotus for over a decade during the Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna eras and was their race engineer.

His move to Team McLaren in 1990 brought laurels to Team McLaren in the form of the 1998 and 1999 Mika Hakkinen Championships.

Hallam rose through the ranks to being the Head of Race Operations at the time of his departure from Team McLaren.

The McLaren CEO Martin Whitemarsh, in a statement sang paeans to Steve Hallam and lamented that Team McLaren is sad to see him go—but that they wished him well.

Is this a sign of things to come? Are there going to be more changes in McLaren? Is this move a harbinger of McLaren selling out to Mercedes? Are there going to be more exits from McLaren? And if so, who is next on the cards?

Is Steve Hallam's exit a sign of the times? Will Ron Dennis be calling it quits, soon?

Watch this space...