2012 NASCAR “Silly Season” Surprises

Feb 9, 2012 by Jim DEletto

The NASCAR silly season started early this offseason, and Kurt Busch wasn’t the only big change for the upcoming year.

There have been major changes for other drivers, crew chiefs and teams.

Let’s take a look at some of the other surprises that will certainly affect the sport in 2012.

The Abandonment of the No. 6 Car by Roush Fenway – With no sponsor in sight, it looks like the No. 6 team will be running at the Daytona 500 and then shutting down. This will be the first time the car number will not be on the track full time since 1981. This is such a surprise due to the fact that the No. 6 car is locked into the top 35 in owners points, and the No. 6 was always the flagship of the Roush organization. Not that long ago Roush had five teams and now they have downgraded to three.

Red Bull Racing CLOSED – Red Bull Racing has closed its NASCAR shops effective December 1st. Both the No. 83 and No. 4 are locked in the top 35 in owners points. These points are now trying to be sold off as an asset. Just when it looked like Red Bull Racing had turned it around, it closed its doors. I guess you can’t survive by fielding two cars and sponsoring them yourself.

Brian Vickers: Looking for a Ride - Just after Brian Vickers returned from a scary health situation, he finds himself out of work. Red Bull Racing has closed, and at this point in the offseason rides are filling up. Vickers is still in the unemployment line. This is now the second team that Vickers has had to part ways with, first he was with Hendrick Motorsports and then Red Bull Racing. Hopefully Vickers can get back into the swing of things in the Nationwide Series in 2012 and find a ride in Sprint Cup next year.

Kurt Busch Finds a Ride With…Phoenix Racing? - One of the biggest surprises of the silly season is not Kurt Busch finding another ride—it’s that he found one with Phoenix Racing. The team is in the top 35 in owners points for the 2012 season, so he is locked into the first five races at least. This is a team that is refered to as a second tier team in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition and unless they are competitive week in and week out, I think this may only be a one year excursion for the former series champ.

Penske Finds a New Driver…AJ Allmendinger – With the Penske/Kurt Busch split, AJ Allmendinger has found a ride in the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil car. Allmendinger showed a lot of improvement last year. We will see if that continues with the Penske organization. It’s a new look for Penske always having that marquee name on the roster, now has two up and comers to the sport.

RCR Goes Back to 3 Cars – After having all four cars finish in the top 20 in points at the end of 2011, Richard Childress has not renewed Clint Bowyer’s contract and dropped the No. 33 car from Sprint Cup competition…maybe. Childress has now announced that the car will at least be running the first five races now. We will see if it is truly a financial decision or the reason is for a competition standpoint. Either way, It seems as if four cars will never be the mainstay at Richard Childress Racing.

The Championship Split – After winning the 2011 Sprint Cup Championship, Tony Stewart and Darian Grubb have split up their crew chief/driver relationship. Grubb has moved on to the top of the No. 11 pit box joining Denny Hamlin while Tony Stewart has welcomed Steve Addington from Penske Racing. Steve Addington will now have been the crew chief of three of the sports top drivers (Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart) in a four year span. This silly season surprise just shows – not even a championship team is immune to the silly season madness.

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