NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers movers for 2012

The NASCAR Sprint Cup season has come to an end, which means one thing — several drivers and crew chiefs are moving on from their current teams already. Chief among those is the parting of 2011 champion Tony Stewart and crew chief Darian Grubb, who said in his comments shortly after snaring the title that he had known for several weeks that he would be leaving the team. So which drivers and crew chiefs are making moves for 2012?

Greg Zipadelli won two NASCAR Sprint Cup championships — in 2002 and 2005 — with Tony Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing when the two worked together. Now they will be reunited as Zipadelli (pictured) has left his role as crew chief for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry of Joey Logano to join Stewart. Zipadelli has moved to Stewart-Haas Racing, where he will serve as competition director.

Wilson most recently worked as crew chief for Clint Bowyer's No. 33 team at Richard Childress Racing. The 32-year-old joined Bowyer for the 2009 season and the pair have earned three Cup wins and finished a career-best 10th in the standings. Wilson will move to Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Cup team for 2012. The pair worked together in 2006 in the Nationwide Series, running away with the championship.

Vickers and his No. 83 Red Bull Racing team are facing an uncertain future. Red Bull has announced plans to leave the sport and investors into the organization were being sought. The 28-year-old has two career Sprint Cup wins. He has 57 top-10 finishes to his credit, 21 of them top fives, and a career-best points finish of 12th in 2009.

NASCAR veteran Pat Tryson is joining Front Row Motorsports as the crew chief for David Gilliland's No. 38 Ford. The move is the latest in a series of offseason changes for the team and allows interim crew chief Derrick Finley to return full time to his role as director of competition. Tryson has more than 15 years experience as a crew chief and has wins with drivers Kurt Busch, Elliot Sadler and Mark Martin. Most recently he worked as a crew chief and consultant for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Speed will return to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2012, driving a limited schedule for Leavine Family Racing.

Reutimann found out late in the season that he would not be returning to his driving role at Michael Waltrip Racing next season. Reutimann, 41, has two NASCAR Sprint Cup wins to his credit, the only two Cup wins the organization has in its history. He finished a career-best 16th in the standings in 2009. Reutimann will drive for Tommy Baldwin Racing in 2012.

Jason Ratcliff (right, pictured with Kyle Busch) has moved up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup ranks with Joe Gibbs Racing. After serving as a Nationwide Series crew chief within the organization for seven years, Ratcliff has been named the new Sprint Cup crew chief for driver Joey Logano.

Ragan won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 2011, but finished the year 23rd in the standings. He parted ways with his Roush Fenway Racing team shortly after season's end and announced in January plans to race with Front Row Motorsports in 2012.

Pohlman, who served as interim crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya for a portion of the season, will not return in the role in 2012. Pohlman, who took over the role in late July, will remain with the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing organization in a different position.

Crew chief Ryan Pemberton's made a change after his Red Bull Racing team pulled out of the sport. Pemberton has been hired by Tommy Baldwin Racing, where he will lead the No. 36 team of driver Dave Blaney. Pemberton will join the team as it attempts to make the field for the Daytona 500. The team's 2012 schedule is still being finalized as it seeks funding for all 36 events. During his career as a Cup crew chief, Pemberton has two wins, 21 top-fives, 92 top-10s and 15 poles. “I’m thrilled to join Tommy Baldwin Racing,” Pemberton said. “TBR has shown a lot of growth in a short time, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of stepping up the program this year. Tommy, Dave and I all come from families of racing and have similar backgrounds, so I think it will be a good fit.”  

Brian Pattie (pictured left, with Juan Pablo Montoya) wil be returning to the NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief ranks in 2012. He's joining Clint Bowyer with the No. 15 team at Michael Waltrip Racing. Pattie led Montoya to a berth in the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup and a Cup win in 2010. He also has 18 Nationwide Series wins to his credit.

Patrick is moving full time to NASCAR in 2012, and joining the elite drivers competing in the Sprint Cup ranks. Patrick plans to compete full time in the Nationwide Series, but she is also joining Stewart-Haas Racing to run a limited schedule in the organization's No. 10 Chevrolet.

After spending 2011 with veteran Sprint Cup driver Mark Martin, McGrew will focus on an up-and-coming driver in 2012. While he will remain with Hendrick Motorsports, the crew chief will spend the year working with its development driver Chase Elliott, son of 1988 Cup champion Bill Elliott, in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Along with mentoring the 16-year-old driver, McGrew will also work in Hendrick’s Research and Development center.

The 52-year-old driver is stepping away from full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup competition after a storied career that includes five runner-up season finishes and 40 victories. Martin, who drove the No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports in recent seasons, will join Michael Waltrip Racing and share the No. 55 with Michael Waltrip. Martin will run 25 races in 2012 and 2013 with the organization.

Martin led Kevin Harvick to a third-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings for the second consecutive season. After the season finale, Richard Childress Racing announced that the 51-year-old would move from his crew chief role to director of team operations, reporting to director of competition Kent Day.

Lambert served as interim crew chief for driver Jeff Burton for much of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. At the end of the season, it was announced that Drew Blickensderfer will helm the team moving forward, with Lambert moving to a yet-to-be-announced role within the Richard Childress Racing organization.

Lally, 36, was NASCAR's top Sprint Cup rookie in 2011, but has opted to race full time in the Grand-Am Series next season. Lally will drive for Magnus Racing in the Rolex Sports Car Series GT division. He is a three-time Rolex Series champion and Grand-Am's all-time mileage and podiums leader. He's also a three-time Rolex 24 at Daytona winner

Kahne spent the 2011 season at Red Bull Racing, a tenure that was always announced as a one-year deal. Now he moves to Hendrick Motorsports to take over the organization's No. 5 car. Crew chief Kenny Francis will make the move with Kahne. The 31-year-old has eight full seasons of Cup competition to his credit. He has 12 career wins and 102 top-10 finishes, 57 of them top fives.

Grubb won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship this year, with driver Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing. He guided the team to five wins in the Chase for the Sprint Cup to take the title. Shortly after snaring it, though, he admitted that he had known for weeks he would not be returning with the organization. Grubb, 36, moves to Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 11 team of Denny Hamlin for the 2012 season.

A year after leading Brad Keselowski to six wins and six pole positions in the Nationwide Series, Todd Gordon (left) will move up in the Penske Racing organization and will lead the No. 22 Sprint Cup Series team in 2012. Prior to joining Penske, he previously crew chiefed for Kenny Wallace, Jason Keller and others in the Nationwide Series since 2005.

One year after helping to lead the No. 11 team and Denny Hamlin to a second-place finish in the championship, he was informed after the 2011 season that he would no longer be with the team. A 12-year Sprint Cup Series crew chief veteran, Ford had been with Hamlin since Hamlin's 2006 rookie season. He guided Hamlin to 17 victories and a spot in the Chase for the championship in all six seasons.

Francis, 41, will join Kasey Kahne in making a move for the second consecutive season. Francis and Kahne spent the 2011 season with Red Bull Racing, winning a race together for the organization's lone victory of 2011. Next season, Francis moves over to Hendrick Motorsports to helm the No. 5 with Kahne.

Bowyer, 32, is leaving the Richard Childress Racing organization that brought him into the sport full time in 2006. Bowyer, who made the Chase three times with the organization and has a season-high points finish of third, is joining Michael Waltrip Racing.

Drew Blickensderfer, 35, has left Roush Fenway Racing, where the No. 6 team will not be running a full NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule in 2012 and joined Richard Childress Racing, where he will serve as crew chief for Jeff Burton in the Cup series. He joined Dave Ragan late in the 2010 season and guided the driver to his first career Cup win, at Daytona International Speedway, this past July.

Busch made as many headlines off the track as he did on it in 2011 — which led to him and Penske Racing agreeing to part ways on December 5. It ends a relationship which began in 2006. The former Sprint Cup Series champion agreed to a one-year deal to drive for Phoenix Racing in 2012 on December 22.

Almirola has worked diligently to climb through the ranks in NASCAR over the past few seasons. He has 35 Sprint Cup starts, earning two top-10 finishes, one of them a top five. He has 73 Nationwide Series starts and finished fourth in the series standings last season. In the Camping World Truck Series, he has 75 starts. He has two career Truck wins and has 36 top-10 finishes, 18 of them top fives, in the series where he finished as runnerup in 2010. Now, he'll move to the Cup ranks full time, driving the famed No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports entry.

AJ Allmendinger spent the last two seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports, helping the organization through a rebuilding phase. But with the exit of sponsor Best Buy, which is moving to Roush Fenway Racing in 2012, Allmendinger and the organization mutually agreed to part ways. According to FOXSports.com's Lee Spencer, Allmendinger will join Penske Racing to drive the No. 22 Sprint Cup entry.

Addington ended his two-year career with driver Kurt Busch shortly after the season finale. The pair finished 11th in the 2011 standings with a pair of wins. They had 16 top-10 finishes, eight of them top fives, for the year. Addington will join Tony Stewart's 2011 Sprint Cup championship team as crew chief.