After Kurt Busch was kicked out of... errr... "mutually agreed" to leave Penske Racing after this season, there were many unemployed drivers who jumped at the chance to drive one of the Captain's Dodges. But the driver who got the ride was one who wasn't in the original mix of names.
It was announced this week that A.J. Allmendinger will succeed Busch in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger in 2012. This comes a a few weeks after it was speculated that Richard Petty Motorsports had a deal in place for Busch to take Allmendiger's place in the No. 43 Best Buy Ford. All that was needed was an announcement.
Well RPM did make an announcement. They announced Best Buy was moving to Roush-Fenway Racing to back Carl Edwards for two events and Matt Kenseth for nine races. Days later, Allmendiger, a Kart racer turned stock car driver, was named to the ride that David Ragan was supposed to take. Now Ragan's name appears linked to the famous No. 43 car which will put him in the same boat he was in at RFR; driving an unsponsored Ford.
James Finch and his Phoenix Racing operation also made an announcement Thursday. They said that a handshake deal is in place to put the volatile Busch in his No. 51 entry for the 2012 season. Finch had said that he would love to hire a driver that was the caliber of the hot-headed Nevadan, but added that he wasn't "...going to listen to (his) sh*t and pay him money." Now it appears that Santa stopped by Finch's Spartanburg, South Carolina shop early. The Phoenix Racing team runs chassis and engines from Hendrick Motorsports, but they have never managed to break out and show that they are a team to compete. Perhaps a quality driver will prove to be their missing link.
Now the lone quality ride available appears to be the No. 43. In addition, the Nos. 34 and 38 Fords of Front Row Motorsports appear to be up for grabs. Ragan, David Reutimann and Brian Vickers are all looking for rides and these three cars all get RFR equipment so none of them would be a particularly bad option. All three of these drivers are race winners and Chase contenders so they, especially Ragan and Reutimann, deserve to be in the Cup Series next season.
Where this trio ends up next year still remains to be seen, but with these recent announcements, the driver lineup picture for the 2012 Sprint Cup Series campaign has become that much clearer.
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