RacIn’ with Russ—Each year at this time, I dive into the many driver, crew, sponsor and paint scheme changes for next year. I’ll also throw in my predictions as to how well the various combos will fare. Either take some notes or save these articles to keep up with the many changes.
No. 18—Kyle Busch
Change in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage is expected and constant. It has a name—”silly season”—for good reasons. But the weeks leading up to the 2012 season seemed to be rife with driver changes, crew chief moves and team closures.
The coveted 43 seats in the top racing series in motorsports are always rare and special. Each ride has only one crew chief or 43 pit box seats. Many capable drivers and crew chiefs never rise to that top level because of the scarcity of positions.
Actually the volatile 2011 silly season during the waning weeks of the season and weeks into the offseason was preceded by some solid adjustments.
In an article released late Friday, Jim Utter of The Charlotte Observer reported that Nationwide Series driver Aric Almirola has signed with Richard Petty Motorsports in a deal to drive the legendary Sprint Cup Series No. 43 car, made famous by Petty himself.
Sources confirmed to The Observer that the deal will be announced after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The sources also reported that within that announcement will come a sponsor announcement for Almirola and the No. 43 team.
