David Ragan becomes the latest driver to find a Sprint Cup Series ride for 2012.
Jan 17, 2012 - Have you taken a vacation since the NASCAR season ended the week before Thanksgiving? Perhaps stepped away from your Twitter account for five minutes or enjoyed some time unwrapping Christmas gifts with the family?
If so, you may have missed one of the gazillion personnel changes that took place in NASCAR's busy "offseason."
That's OK, though. We've got your back.
First, check out the changes to the Sprint Cup Series' driver lineup in 2012:
| Driver | Old Team | New Team | Car No. | Announced | ||||
| Kasey Kahne | Red Bull | Hendrick | 5 | Apr. 13, 2010 | ||||
| Danica Patrick | N/A | Stewart-Haas (p/t) | 10 | Aug. 25, 2011 | ||||
| Clint Bowyer | Childress | Waltrip | 15 | Oct. 7, 2011 | ||||
| Mark Martin | Hendrick | Waltrip (p/t) | 55 | Nov. 4, 2011 | ||||
| AJ Allmendinger | Petty | Penske | 22 | Dec. 21, 2011 | ||||
| Kurt Busch | Penske | Phoenix | 51 | Dec. 22, 2011 | ||||
| D. Reutimann | Waltrip | Tommy Baldwin (p/t) | TBA | Jan. 3 | ||||
| Aric Almirola | JRM (N'wide) | Petty | 43 | |||||
| David Ragan | Roush | Front Row | 34 | Jan. 16 |
Got it? Memorized it? Good. Because now comes the really hard part: All the crew chief changes for 2012:
| Driver | Old Crew Chief | New Crew Chief | CC Former Job | Announced | ||||
| Juan Montoya | Jim Pohlman * | Chris Heroy | Martin eng. | Nov. 22 | ||||
| Kevin Harvick | Gil Martin | Shane Wilson | Bowyer CC | Nov. 23 | ||||
| Tony Stewart | Darian Grubb | Steve Addington | Ku.Busch CC | Nov. 29 | ||||
| Jeff Burton | Luke Lambert * | D. Blickensderfer | Ragan CC | Nov. 29 | ||||
| Clint Bowyer | (New team) | Brian Pattie | Montoya CC | Dec. 5 | ||||
| Denny Hamlin | Mike Ford | Darian Grubb | Stewart CC | Dec. 9 | ||||
| AJ 'Dinger | S. Addington (22 car) | Todd Gordon | Penske N'wide CC | Dec. 14 | ||||
| Joey Logano | Greg Zipadelli | Jason Ratcliff | JGR N'wide CC | Dec. 16 | ||||
| Danica Patrick | (New team) | Greg Zipadelli * | Logano CC | Dec. 16 | ||||
| * - Interim |
And which moves are still to come in this crazy game of musical chairs? Here's a partial list of available Sprint Cup Series drivers who haven't found rides yet in 2012:
5 comments
Comments
Owners points
So, how will this work? Will the owners points from these 5 cars that are not running next year be sold to other teams? If not, how will the locked in cars work for the first 5 races, with these 5 cars not competing next year, will they use the top 30?
by Eric Welander on Jan 9, 2012 2:05 PM EST reply actions
Stenhouse, Jr. is running the Daytona 500 for Roush, presumably with the points from the 6 team. Thel others are up for grabs by the highest bidder, although the 71’s points would only be useful in case of a rainout of qualifying or someone locked in doesn’t show up.
by Missa on Jan 9, 2012 4:45 PM EST up reply actions
That is my question… If no one buys the points, how are they going to determine the top 35…
by Eric Welander on Jan 9, 2012 6:35 PM EST reply actions
If no one buys the points, which is highly unlikely, then everyone moves up a position. Assuming that no points are bought, the 71 is truly done, and RFR keeps the 6 points for Stenhouse, Jr., then the 21, 7, and 37 cars are the next cars to be locked in.
by Missa on Jan 10, 2012 8:33 AM EST up reply actions
Don't forget all the spotter changes
So far I’ve seen that the spotters from these last year’s driver #s are also switching around: 00, 5, 6,10,11,15,18, 20, 22, 24, 35, 36, 43.
I’m ready to see the chart for those as well please.
by bjparsons on Jan 9, 2012 9:49 PM EST reply actions
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