2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Greg Biffle is the current Drivers' Championship leader.

Tony Stewart entered the season as the defending Cup Champion.

The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the 64th season of professional stock car racing in the United States. The season started on February 18, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway, with the Budweiser Shootout, followed by the Daytona 500 on February 27. The season will continue with the Chase for the Sprint Cup beginning on September 16 at Chicagoland Speedway and conclude with the Ford EcoBoost 400 on November 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

During the 2011 season, NASCAR announced the Sprint Cup Series will be changing to fuel injection from carburetors, which had been used since NASCAR's founding in 1949. Sprint Nextel announced at the 2011 Awards Ceremony that they had extended their sponsorship of the series until 2016. Chevrolet entered 2012 as the reigning Manufacturer's Champions, while Tony Stewart is the defending Driver's Champion.

Pre-season

Pre-season testing began on January 12, 2012 with NASCAR Preseason Thunder. The tests lasted three days, with each having a morning and afternoon session. In the morning session on the first day, Jeff Gordon was quickest ahead of Paul Menard and Kurt Busch with a time of 46.687 seconds.^[1] The afternoon test session featured limited tandem drafting, and Kyle Busch and six other cars broke the 200 MPH mark. Defending champion Tony Stewart stated his excitement for returning to Daytona, "Our sport is unique obviously having our biggest race the first race of the year, but it's very fitting at the same time because this race, we have more time during the offseason to prepare for this race than we do the others. You bring cars here that you have the extra time to just make them that little bit nicer than you normally have time to do."^[2]

On the second day, Martin Truex, Jr. was quickest in the morning session after posting a time of 43.962 seconds, while Kurt Busch was quickest in the afternoon with a time of 43.677.^[3] The final day of testing was led by Jeff Gordon who topped the charts. The final day focused on neutralizing the controversial two-car draft. The third day of testing focused on drafting, and Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton was pleased with the progress drivers and teams had made. "The way the cars run in the draft, the way they can draft and do draft and what they do to get their cars running to their maximum potential. So far, we like what we've seen. It's been a good mix of what they can do in a larger pack and how close they can get for a limited time to push."^[4]

Report

Tony Stewart won his first race of the 2012 season at Las Vegas.

The season began with the annual Budweiser Shootout. Multiple cautions stemming from tight pack racing whittled down the field to only a few cars. On the last lap, Kyle Busch used a slingshot move to pass defending champion Tony Stewart to win his first Shootout. In the Duels, defending champion Tony Stewart held off the field for his third Duel victory, while Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle dominated the second duel, with Kenseth prevailing. In the season opening Daytona 500, persistent showers on February 26 forced the race to be postponed to Monday for the first time in its 53 year history. Starting at night, the race would its most dramatic turn when Juan Pablo Montoya, attempting to catch up with the field under caution, had a part failure on his car, which veered up the racetrack into a jet dryer, sparking a brief fire that forced a 2 hour red flag, causing the race to run into Tuesday (another first). After the flag was lifted, Kenseth held off teammate Biffle and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on a green-white-checkered finish to win his second Daytona 500 and capture Jack Roush's 300th victory in NASCAR. The next week in Phoenix, Kevin Harvick dominated the race, but Denny Hamlin grabbed the lead late, and held off Harvick for his first win of 2012. The next week in Las Vegas, Tony Stewart dominated the race once again, but held off Jimmie Johnson on a late restart to grab his first win of 2012 and his first at Las Vegas. The first short track race was at Bristol, and Brad Keselowski dominated the race, leading 232 laps and rolling to his first win of the season. The following weekend in California, Kyle Busch led for 80 laps, but Tony Stewart stayed on track when the rain came on lap 124, and was declared the winner when the race was called on lap 129. The next race at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon dominated the race, leading 329 laps. However, a late crash caused by Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson set up a green-white-checkered finish, enabling Ryan Newman to take the lead and hold of A. J. Allmendinger for the win.

After an off-week, the teams returned to action at Texas. There, Greg Biffle held off Jimmie Johnson and grabbed his first win in 49 races. The next week at Kansas, Denny Hamlin held off a dominant Martin Truex, Jr. to take his second win of 2012 under Darian Grubb. At Richmond, Carl Edwards dominated the race before a black flag on the restart knocked him out of contention. Tony Stewart held the point, but got caught up by a faulty final stop. Kyle Busch then inherited the lead to take his first win of 2012 and his fourth consecutive spring Richmond win. The series traveled to Talladega for its second superspeedway race of the year. After a flurry of late race cautions took out a number of contenders, Brad Keselowski, with help from Kyle Busch, drove past Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle to take his second win of 2012. At the Southern 500, Jimmie Johnson dominated the field, but stayed on track during the final round of pit stops on the advice of Chad Knaus and held off Denny Hamlin for his first win of 2012 and Rick Hendrick's 200th victory. At the Sprint All-Star Race, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and A. J. Allmendinger raced into the main event via finishing 1–2 in the Sprint Showdown, while veteran Bobby Labonte won the fan vote to transfer in. A slow restart after the fourth segment by Matt Kenseth allowed Jimmie Johnson to cruise to his third All-Star win. The following was NASCAR's longest race, the Coke 600. Greg Biffle once again had the dominant intermediate car, but Kasey Kahne drove past Denny Hamlin and teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on the final restart to take his first win of 2012 with Hendrick Motorsports.

Teams and drivers

Complete schedule

Limited schedule

^[1] The No. 33 changed owners in April. Joe Falk acquired the assets and ownership and will be listed as owner after Martinsville.

Team changes

• In October 2011, before the 2011 Bank of America 500, it was announced that Argentinian George Sinica had formed Sinica Motorsports, and that they would join the Cup Series for 10–15 races in 2012, They intended to run the No. 93 Chevrolet with ARCA driver Grant Enfinger.^[6] However, Enfinger was released on December 15, 2011.^[7]
• Roush Fenway Racing will only support three Sprint Cup Series teams after sponsorship troubles led to the closure of the No. 6 team, then driven by David Ragan.^[8] The team will run the Daytona 500 with 2011 Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and will run other races depending on sponsorship.^[9]
• Richard Childress Racing also downsized to three teams. Their No. 33 entry will run at least the first five races, with Elliott Sadler running the Daytona 500 and Brendan Gaughan running the next four. Hermie Sadler drove at Martinsville. After Martinsville, Virginia car dealer and LJ Racing owner Joe Falk acquired ownership of the #33.
• Germain Racing changed their manufacturer to Ford after being with Toyota in 2011.^[10]
• The Racer's Group owner Kevin Buckler announced the closure of his NASCAR team TRG Motorsports on January 9, 2012.^[11]
• Red Bull Racing Team officially closed in December 2011.^[11]
• Turn One Racing and Go Green Racing announced plans to enter the Cup Series in 2012. Turn One will run 8 to 10 races after the Daytona 500, while Go Green Racing will field the No. 19 Ford for Tim Andrews with his father Paul as the crew chief for 10 races.
• Robinson-Blakeney Racing will field a Cup Series team for J.J. Yeley.
• Turner Motorsports will attempt to make its Cup Series debut at Daytona in July. The team will field a No. 50 Chevrolet for veteran Bill Elliott sponsored by retail chain Walmart in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the chain's founding.
• Stewart-Haas Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing announced on January 31 that they had formed an alliance for the 2012 season. TBR transferred the owners points of its No. 36 car over to SHR's No. 10 team, ensuring Danica Patrick a spot in the Daytona 500. Furthermore, David Reutimann will drive the No. 10 in the 26 races that Danica does not drive in.
• In February 2012, former Red Bull Racing Team director Thomas Ueberall purchased the owner's points of the No. 83 and No. 4 (later changed to 93). The team is known as BK Racing. Landon Cassill will drive the No. 83 and Travis Kvapil will drive the No. 93 at most of the races with David Reutimann piloting the car for the Daytona 500.
• On February 13, 2012, Michael Waltrip Racing purchased the owner's points from FAS Lane Racing and transferred them to the No. 55 ride, which would guarantee Mark Martin a spot in the Daytona 500.^[12] FAS Lane later acquired the 2011 owner's points from the Roush Fenway Racing team's No. 6 ride.
• Inception Motorsports acquired the owner's points of the dormant TRG Motorsports team, which finished 36th in 2011 owner's points^[13]

Crew Chief Changes

• On July 27, 2011, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Kenny Francis would join driver Kasey Kahne in 2012, continuing their partnership. Former crew chief Lance McGrew will work on developing the Chevrolet for the 2013 season.
• Former Penske Racing crew chief Steve Addington announced his hiring by Stewart-Haas Racing to be crew chief for Tony Stewart.
• SHR crew chief Darian Grubb was informed of his post-season release by Tony Stewart prior to the 2011 Bank of America 500. He was later hired by Joe Gibbs Racing to crew chief for Denny Hamlin.
• Hendrick Motorsports engineer Chris Heroy was signed as the crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya.
• Former Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew chief Brian Pattie was hired by Michael Waltrip Racing to be crew chief for Clint Bowyer's No. 15 car.
• Richard Childress Racing crew chiefs Gil Martin and Shane Wilson swapped cars for 2012, with Martin crew chiefing the No. 33 on a limited basis and Wilson moving to the 29 at Kevin Harvick's request.
• After being released by Red Bull Racing Team after the 2011 season, Ryan Pemberton will crew chief for Dave Blaney at Tommy Baldwin Racing after Phillippe Lopez left the team for Richard Petty Motorsports' Nationwide Series team.

Driver changes

Changed teams

• Following the loss of one of his major sponsors, 2011 Richard Petty Motorsports driver A. J. Allmendinger will move to Penske Racing to drive the vacated No. 22 Dodge.^[14]
• Clint Bowyer will change teams for the 2012 season moving from Richard Childress Racing to Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) where he will drive the No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota.^[15]
• Kurt Busch, whose 2011 season was marked by various behavior problems, mutually agreed with Roger Penske and sponsors Royal Dutch Shell and Pennzoil to be released from Penske Racing.^[16] Busch was later announced as the driver of the No. 51 Chevrolet run by Phoenix Racing.^[17]
• Kasey Kahne will replace Mark Martin in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet with Farmers Insurance Group sponsorship.^[18]
• Expressing the desire to run a limited schedule, Mark Martin will join MWR for 2012 for 25 races, driving the No. 55^[19] Aaron's Toyota vacated by David Reutimann.^[20]
• David Reutimann, who drove for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2011, signed a one year contract to drive for Tommy Baldwin Racing and BK Racing.^[21]
• Former Roush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan signed to drive for Front Row Motorsports in the No. 34 Ford.^[22]
• Landon Cassill and Travis Kvapil signed to drive with BK Racing, a team that purchased the assets of the former Red Bull Racing Team.

Entered the series

• On November 4, 2011, it was announced that former IndyCar driver Danica Patrick will drive the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing for 10 races.^[23]
• On January 4, 2012, Richard Petty Motorsports announced that Aric Almirola will drive the team's 'iconic'^[24] No. 43 Ford after driving in the Nationwide Series in 2011.
• On February 15, Rick Ware Racing announced its partnership with Larry Gunselman's Max Q Motorsports to run 2011 Nationwide Series ROTY Timmy Hill in the No. 37 Ford. Mike Wallace attempted Daytona.
• On January 20, 2012, Go Green Racing announced they will attempt at least 10 Sprint Cup Series races with Tim Andrews in the No. 19 Ford, with his father Paul Andrews, a longtime crew chief, leading the effort.

Exited the series

• After being released by TRG Motorsports following the 2011 season, 2011 Rookie of the Year winner Andy Lally will return to the Rolex Sports Car Series to drive for Magnus Racing in the GT category.^[25] TRG later suspended its Cup team.^[11]

Sponsor changes

• Best Buy left Richard Petty Motorsports and the No. 43 team in December to sponsor Roush Fenway Racing's #17 (Matt Kenseth) and #99 (Carl Edwards) on a limited basis.^[26]
• 5-hour Energy moved up to the Sprint Cup Series to sponsor Clint Bowyer after sponsoring Steve Wallace in the Nationwide Series for the past few years.^[15]
• General Mills transfers its Richard Childress Racing sponsorship over to the No. 31 Chevrolet, driven by Jeff Burton.^[27]
• Smithfield Foods returns to NASCAR and will partner with Aric Almirola and the No. 43 team for 15 races in a multi-year agreement.^[28]

2012 calendar

On September 28, 2011, the final calendar was released containing 36 races, with the addition of two exhibition races. The schedule also includes two Gatorade Duels, which are the qualifying races for the Daytona 500.^[29]

Calendar changes

For the 2012 season, NASCAR made a few changes to the schedule. One of which moved the first race of the season, the Daytona 500, a week later.^[32] Along with the delay of the Daytona 500, the races at Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway were moved a week later. Third, Kansas Speedway's first race of the season was moved from June to April, while its second race will become the sixth race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, after switching race dates with Talladega Superspeedway's Good Sam Club 500.^[29] Along with schedule changes, race lengths at Pocono Raceway will change from 500 miles to 400 miles in both races.^[33] A couple more changes occurred in the regular season because Dover International Speedway's first race will be following the Coca-Cola 600, as well as switching the race dates of the Aaron's 499 and Richmond International Raceway's first event. Also, Kentucky Speedway's race will be before the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.^[29]

Changes

Technology

On January 21, 2011, NASCAR announced that the Sprint Cup Series would change to electronic fuel injection from carburetors, which had been used since 1949, for the 2012 season. During the 2010 off-season, NASCAR had discussed doing the change during the 2011 season; however, in the January 21 announcements, Robin Pemberton stated, "We don't anticipate any points races this year, or races with fuel injection. It'll be a year dedicated to finetuning and getting the process down, whether it be inspection or the team side of it, with building engines. That's going along quite well." Afterward, John Darby, NASCAR's managing director of competition, said he hoped to debut the electronic fuel injection engine at least in the second race of the 2012 season.^[34]

Communication

After the 2011 season ended, NASCAR decided to ban communication between the driver and spotter to other drivers. The change was initially made to break up two-car racing at restrictor plate tracks, which had received criticism from spectators, but was later announced that it would be banned at all the races.^[35][36]

Results and standings

Races

Drivers

(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results. * – Most laps led. Bold italics – Drivers currently in "wild card" qualifying positions for the Chase.

• ¹ – Post entry, driver and owner did not score points.

Manufacturer

See also

NASCAR portal

• 2012 NASCAR Stock V6 Series
• 2012 NASCAR Toyota Series season
• 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
• 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series

References