IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys Ford Taurus? That certainly could be the case if Jerry Jones completes a deal to buy controlling interest in the Andy Petree racing team.

Nearly a year after acknowledging an interest in owning a Winston Cup car, Jones and the Cowboys are close to an agreement with the NASCAR team, Petree told the Dallas Morning News on Wednesday.

"We're just about there," Petree said. "I think we're where we need to be to get it done. We've been close for a long time, and all we need to do is get it down on paper so it reflects all of the things that we've talked about."

Petree shelved one of his two cars earlier this season when Oakwood Homes pulled its sponsorship from the No.33 car driven by Mike Wallace. Since then, Petree has been running only the No. 55 car driven by Bobby Hamilton, sponsored by Schneider Electric.

Petree declined to discuss specifics of the negotiations, but said the sides had cleared all major obstacles. Under the agreement, the Cowboys would handle the racing team's marketing, but Petree would have final say on racing matters.

"This is exactly the kind of help I've needed and why I wanted so much to work this out," Petree told the newspaper. "I know racing, and they know marketing. This gives us the foundation to compete week in and week out."

Jones was out of his office Wednesday and could not be reached.

One Cowboys source said a letter of intent, normally the final step before a contract is drawn up, has not yet been written. Still, two team sources said the Cowboys expect the deal to be done this summer, well before the start of the 2003 Winston Cup season.

Two Cowboys sources said the football team would pay at least $6 million to buy a stake in Petree Racing. The sources said the Cowboys' total expenses would be about $21 million, with approximately $15 million per year to operate two cars on the circuit and pay for equipment, drivers, trailers to haul cars and other expenses.

A Cowboys source said the club has discussed unveiling its cars during halftime of a regular-season game, perhaps the Thanksgiving Day game against the Washington Redskins because of the national-TV exposure. Buying a stake in Petree's team would make the Cowboys the first sports franchise to be a primary sponsor for a major Winston Cup car.

The New York Yankees sponsor one of the top fuel dragsters in the National Hot Rod Association. Darrell Gwynn and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner co-own the car, driven by Andrew Cowin.

Several sources said the Cowboys have had preliminary discussions with Pizza Hut about sponsoring a car, and Pizza Hut spokeswoman Julie Hildebrand confirmed the club had made a proposal but nothing more than that. One Cowboys source and one NASCAR source said the Cowboys have also had preliminary talks with Ciclon Energy Drink about sponsoring a car. Elmer Scheiber, Ciclon's chief executive officer, could not be reached for comment.

A NASCAR source said the Cowboys are interested in having one well-known driver and one driver with local ties. Team officials have talked to David Starr, who lives in Irving, about potentially being one of the racing team's two drivers next season. Starr, who declined to comment, is one of the top drivers on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

"The next step is getting a driver," Petree said. "That's why we have to get the contracts signed. Then we can press on."

A team source said Tuesday the club is close to an agreement with Ford to become the club's sponsor in the car/truck category. Petree acknowledged the racing team will switch from Chevrolet to Ford next season because the car maker has a deal with the Cowboys.