Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kahne leaves the now-folded Red Bull Racing team to replace Mark Martin in the Hendrick Motorsports #5. Kenny Francis comes over from Red Bull with Kahne to remain as his crew chief. The primary sponsor will be Farmers Insurance.
This is a potentially powerful combination. Kahne is a talented driver who has been getting more out of his rides than the team's budget would suggest is possible. Now that he is joining one of the premier teams in NASCAR he could be a force in the sport.
Clint Bowyer
Clint Bowyer makes his way over from Richard Childress Racing to create a full-time third team for Michael Waltrip Racing. Brian Pattie will be the crew chief and Five Hour Energy will be the primary sponsor on the #15.
I like Clint Bowyer. I think he's a nice guy and a talented race car driver. So I'm sad to see him leave RCR where he had quality equipment capable of running up front and join MWR which has struggled in recent years. I hope this team can put consistent rides under Clint Bowyer and he will continue to compete at a high level in NASCAR.
A.J. Allmendinger
A.J. Allmendinger was the primary beneficiary of Kurt Busch's temper tantrum at the very end of last season. By the time Kurt Busch was booted from the Roger Penske #22 most of the top rides for 2012 had already been claimed. This left both Kurt Busch and Roger Penske with real problems which Penske definitely got the better of.
Instead of scrambling for a leftover seat Allmendinger ends up with a sweet ride and instantly becomes a real contender for the 2012 Sprint Cup Championship. At the same time Roger Penske lands a solid driver with the ability to put the car up front and keep primary sponsor Shell-Pennzoil happy.
Aric Almirola
Aric Almirola returns to the Cup series after finishing second in the Camping World Truck Series points in 2010 and fourth in Nationwide Series points in 2011. Almirola is back to take over the Richard Petty Motorsports seat vacated by A.J. Allmendinger. This year the #43 will host Smithfield Foods as the primary sponsor.
Almirola has 35 previous career Sprint Cup starts with one top five finish to his credit. The last two years in the Truck and Nationwide series have provided Almirola with a ton of experience and I think he will be able to get all that the legendary #43 has to offer.
Kurt Busch
After getting booted from Penske Racing after the season ended Kurt Busch was left to scramble for the best available seat remaining. All of the top seats were already claimed for 2012 which didn't leave Kurt with many options.
Car owner James Finch was willing to snatch up the former Champion and put him in the #51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. As of this moment there is no primary sponsor listed for the team but with a talented driver like Kurt in the seat that can't remain that way for long.
I don't think this team has the same budget as Roger Penske but it will be interesting to see if Kurt Busch can wrestle this car into contention.
Mark Martin
Mark Martin's contract with Hendrick Motorsports expired at the end of the 2011 season and as expected Kasey Kahne will be taking over his old #5. Martin moves over to Michael Waltrip Racing to run part-time in the #55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota.
Martin is scheduled to run 25 races for this team in 2012. Honestly I love the old guy and hope that he wins a few more but it is so hard for a part-time team to be competitive that I'm not expecting much out of Mark as he winds down his career.
Danica Patrick
Danica Patrick is one driver that NASCAR fans will be keeping an eye on. Danica is scheduled to run the full Nationwide Series in 2012 along with ten select Sprint Cup events including the 2012 Daytona 500. Danica will drive the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing in her Sprint Cup starts.
If things go well for Danica she may well move to the Sprint Cup series full-time in 2013.
