NASCAR Off-Season

Even though there hasn’t been any racing going on, this offseason for NASCAR has been one of the most tumultuous in recent memory. There have been moves made all across the board from Sprint Cup Series to Camping World and from Hendricks Motorsports to Front Row Motorsports. To help you, and myself, I’ve made this list of how each race team will look for 2012.

Teams are in order of highest finishing driver in 2011. Parenthesis denotes where the driver finished in the final points standings.  

Updated 2/13/2012

Stewart/Haas Racing

2011: #14 Tony Stewart (1^st), #39 Ryan Newman (10^th)

2012: #14 Stewart, #39 Newman,

Two huge changes coming to 2011 champion Tony Stewart’s team. The first change came as bit of a shocker to everyone. Stewart fired his screw chief, Darien Grubb. When was the last time a crew chief won a championship and then got fired? The replacement for Grubb will be Kurt Busch’s former crew chief, Steve Addington. That other change is Danica Patrick joining the team for a part time schedule. However, to guarantee her a spot in the Dayton 500, a decision was made last week to have Patrick race the #10 under Tommy Baldwin Racing.

Roush/Fenway Racing

2011: #99 Carl Edwards (2^nd), #17 Matt Kenseth (4^th), #16 Greg Bifle (16^th), #6 David Ragan (23^rd)

2012: #99 Edwards, #17 Kenseth, #16 Bifle, #6 Ricky Stenhouse

Ragan was let go after the team was unable to acquire a sponsor for 2012. 2011 Nationwide Champion Stenhouse will drive the #6 car a few times, including the Daytona 500. Best Buy is a new sponsor to the team, and will be the primary sponsor for Edwards and Kenseth a few times during the season. Edwards’ fans will also be interested to know that he will not be racing in any Nationwide events in 2012.

Richard Childress Racing

2011: #29 Kevin Harvick (3^rd), #33 Clint Bowyer (13^th), #27 Paul Menard (17^th), #31 Jeff Burton (20^th)

2012: #29 Harvick, #27 Menard, #31 Burton

Obviously the biggest change here is the departure of Clint Bowyer. There are also new crew chiefs for Harvick and Burton; Shane Wilson for Harvick and Drew Blickensderfer for Burton. Richard Childress’s grandson Austin Dillon may do some part-time racing for the team.

Penske Racing

2011: #2 Brad Keselowski (5^th), #22 Kurt Busch (11^th)

2012: #2 Keselowski, #22 A.J. Allmendinger

When I began this article about a month ago I originally wrote “Look for Sam Hornish Jr. to take over for the recently fired Kurt Busch”. Never did I think that Allmendinger would driver for one of the most prestigious racing teams in the world.

Hendrick Motorsports

2011: #48 Jimmie Johnson (6^th), #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (7^th), #24 Jeff Gordon (8^th), #5 Mark Martin (22^nd)

2012: #48 Johnson, #88 Dale Jr., #24 Gordon, #5 Kasey Kahne

Replacing NASCAR’s oldest driver is NASCAR’s most eligible bachelor, Kasey Kahne. He will also bring over his long-time crew chief Kenny Francis.

Joe Gibbs Racing

2011: #11 Denny Hamlin (9^th), #18 Kyle Busch (12^th), #20 Joey Logano (24^th)

2012: #11 Hamlin, #18 Busch, #20 Logano

Only changes here are with the crew chiefs for Hamlin and Busch. Tony Stewart’s former head-man Darien Grubb takes over for Hamlin and Jason Ratcliff will lead Logano.

Red Bull Racing

2011: #4 Kasey Kahne (14^th), #83 Brian Vickers (25^th)

There is no 2012 news because this team was shut down after the 2011 season. Apparently Red Bull was tired of spending money on a program that wasn’t meeting expectations. Maybe somebody should tell them that NASCAR isn’t a bunch of rednecks that don’t know how to race or operate businesses. I refuse to drink Red Bull because of their departure.

Richard Petty Motorsports

2011: #43 A.J. Allmendinger (15^th), #9 Marcos Ambrose (19^th)

2012: #43 Aric Almirola, #9 Ambrose
Almirola steps into the #43 after Allmendinger left for Penske. He is a Cuban-American that has raced in NASCAR since 2005, but has only raced in the Sprint Cup Series for four years.

           

Michael Waltrip Racing

2011: #56 Martin Truex Jr. (18^th), #00 David Reutimann (28^th), #55 Michael Waltrip (part-time)

2012: #56 Truex Jr., #55 Waltrip/Mark Martin, #15 Clint Bowyer

There are lots of changes happening at MWR. Reutimann was let go and his #00 cars and team become a full-time #55 split between Waltrip and Martin. Clint Bowyer is new to the team and will drive with sponsorship by 5-Hour Energy.

           

Earnhardt/Ganassi Racing

2011: #42 Juan Pablo Montoya (21^st), #1 Jamie McMurray (27^th)

2012: #42 Montoya, #1 McMurray

No changes except Chris Heroy is the new chew chief for JPM.

Furniture Row Racing

2011: #78 Regan Smith (26^th)

2012: #78 Regan Smith

No changes for the one-car operation

Front Row Racing

2011: #34 David Gilliland (30^th), #38 Travis Kvapil/J.J. Yeley

2012: #34 Gilliland/David Ragan, #38 Kvapil/ Yeley/David Ragan

The new addition to this team is former Roush driver, David Ragan. He will either take over the #34 or #38.

Tommy Baldwin Racing

2011: #35 Numerous drivers, #36 Dave Blaney (30^th)

2012: #36 Dave Blaney, *#10 (formerly #36) Danica Patrick/ David Reuttiman

Danica Patrick will drive the #10 car for 10 races and Reuttiman will race the other 26. Blaney will drive the #36 for the full season.

Phoenix Racing

2011: #51 Numerous drivers

2012: #51 Kurt Busch

Busch was fired from Penske Racing for verbal assaulting members of his team and the media numerous times in 2011. His landing spot is Phoenix Racing, which only fielded “start-and-park” cars last year.