2012 NASCAR Silly Seaon Round-Up

There have been a lot of changes over the downtime following the spectacular finish to the 2011 NASCAR Season. As you may remember, Tony Stewart toke his #14 Office Depot Chevy to victory lane five times including the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway to clinch his third series title by his number of wins over Carl Edwards and his #99 Aflac Ford. The season was a welcome change for those who wanted to see Jimmie Johnson’s #48 Chevy finish somewhere besides first place.

However in the back of the NASCAR mindset is how would the current economic issue affect NASCAR and its growth as a sport? The answer is a bad one for the sport as we have seen multiple drivers lose their rides and some teams closing shop. This post is to describe what has been seen thus far for the Silly Season so we can sort out who is driving what covered in what for next season.

#00: This was the number once used by Michael Waltrip Racing for David Reutimann and his Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota. Reutimann has been released by MWR and has struck a deal with Tommy Baldwin Racing to drive the #10 Chevrolet part time for 26 races when Danica Patrick is not behind the wheel.

#4: This number was driven by Kasey Kahne and owned by Red Bull Racing, which has closed its doors following the 2011 season.

#5: Kasey Kahne has made an obvious improvement to his equipment from his previous Evernham/Richard Petty Racing ride and has found the seat of Mark Martin in the #5 owned by Hendrick Motorsports. The car will be painted for new sponsor Farmers Insurance Group and the team will be headed by Kenny Francis who has worked well with Kahne in the past. This new arrangement should give Kahne, a very talented driver, the ability to contend for a championship.

#6: Gone is the legendary #6 from NASCAR… or not. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will pilot the #6 during the Daytona 500 but this is the only planned race for the #6 due to the lack of funding that is plaguing all teams.

#10: This is a new car in a joint venture between Tommy Baldwin Racing and Stewart Haas Racing to introduce Danica Patrick and the #10 Go Daddy car to the Sprint Cup Series for 10 races. When she is not racing, David Reutimann will pilot the car.  Greg Zippadelli and Tommy Baldwin will share Crew Chief duties.

#11: There is not much change involved with driver or sponsorship. There is a massive change however with the release of Mike Ford from Joe Gibbs Racing following a poor 2011 showing that saw Denny Hamlin tumble from his second place finish in 2010. Replacing Ford is the championship-winning leader Darian Grubb who was released from Stewart Haas Racing following the championship run.

#13: Minor change in manufacture from Toyota to Ford. They will receive engines from the Roush Yates Shop.

#14: Similar to Hamlin, the only major change to the #14 of Tony Stewart is a new crew chief in Steve Addington who left Penske Racing assumingly as a result of the elder Busch Brother, Kurt who found a new hoppy in team and media bashing last year (more on him later). Addington has worked with Stewart in the past when they were both with JGR.

#15: For the first time since Paul Menard departed DEI the #15 will be back in action. This ride is owned by MWR and will be piloted by Clint Bowyer with 5-Hour Energy helping with sponsorship duties. Brian Pattie, who was with the Earnhardt/Ganassi NNS team last year has joined MWR to lead the team.

#20: After 12 years at the top of the box for the #20 Home Depot car, Greg Zippadelli has left to take the position of competition director for Stewart Haas Racing. He is replaced by Jason Ratcliff who was promoted from NNS.

#22: This should come as a shock to no one but Kurt Busch has lost his second (maybe last?) championship contending car because of his on and off track actions including belittling his team over the radio and verbally assaulting an ESPN reporter. Busch has moved on to Phoenix Racing. Replacing Busch is A.J. Allmendinger who jumped shift from Richard Petty Motorsports after being one of the most consistent drivers of 2011. This is a great opportunity for Allmendinger after entering the sport a few years ago with the newly opened Red Bull Racing. The #22 team will be led by Todd Gordon who moved up from the NNS.

#23: This is a new car piloted by Robert Richardson who will attempt to run the full season in a car owned by his father. The car will receive support from Pro Motors and direction from Greg Connor.

#29: The 29 of Kevin Harvick is yet another team to replace its crew chief in what has become an extremely security conscious position. Harvick wanted to make a change and RCR has released Todd Barrier (who has gone to JTG Daugherty Racing) and shifted Shane Wilson for the now debunked 33 car driven by Clint Bowyer.

#31: Yet another Crew Chief change for RCR. This one has Luke Lambert being demoted down to NNS level and replaced by Drew Blickensdefer who is coming over from the shuttered #6 car.

#42: More Crew Chief changes with Jim Pohlman being replaced with Chris Heroy who left his position at Hendrick as an engineer.

#47: Bobby Labonte and JTG Daugherty Racing has taken advantage of a high profile free agent Crew Chief in Todd Barrier and sign him to lead the #47.

#51: The Kurt Busch sage continues. After his “mutual departure” from Penske (though the odds of him being fired is very likely as a result of his actions in 2011). Busch has signed with Phoenix racing to drive the number 51 for the season. This is Busch’s final chance to prove that he can turn around and hopefully obtain another top tier ride.