NASCAR Team Previews

2011 Team Preview: Richard Petty Motorsports
By: Jeff Wackerlin

In 2011, "The King" Richard Petty will be back at the helm of the race team that bears his famous name.

After two years of Richard Petty Motorsports being under the ownership of George Gillett, Petty will be back in charge, serving as the Chairman of the team.

Although RPM enjoyed some success with Gillett, winning two races in 2009, Petty partnered with Medallion Financial Corp. and DGB Investments to buy out Gillett after the team struggled financially at the end of the 2010 season.

“We had a pretty rough time last year, but everybody stayed with us." “We had a pretty rough time last year, but everybody stayed with us," said Petty. "The sponsors stayed with us through the winter and came back on board for the new season. I have to give our crew a lot of credit. For the last five or six races, they didn’t know if they were going to have a job the next week, but they stepped it up, the drivers stepped it up, and we ended up with a pretty good season."

Medallion Financial Corp. had many opportunities to buy into a sports team, but Andrew Murstein, President of Medallion, said Richard Petty Motorsports was the perfect fit.

"We've looked at many sports opportunities over the years, we looked at actually buying at one point the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Cubs, but we picked this, and it's really for one main reason," Murstein said. "What epitomizes the right opportunity for our company, they (RPM) stand for everything that Medallion does, which is excellence, tradition and integrity.

"I promise the media and the fans that we're going to do everything that we can to get this great man and this great company back where they belong in the winner's circle and we promise you the best is yet to come at RPM."

RPM will downsize from four cars to two this season with AJ Allmendinger returning behind the wheel of the iconic No. 43 Ford and Marcos Ambrose joining the team to drive the No. 9 Ford.

Allmendinger, who signed a contract extension with RPM last August, experienced the financial turmoil, but still was able to run strong on the track that included a fifth-place run in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"To me the way I look at it is, if we can fight through all that, week to week, not even having our cars at the shop, our haulers sitting at a race track waiting to see if they can go to the next one. And we can go to the race track and still be fast and still be competitive, we should only be better with the right resources," Allmendinger said.

Now with RPM's future in place, Allmendinger hopes to get the season started off right after suffering an average finish of 27.3 in the first three races of 2010.

"I'm excited about it, but at the same point, I'm still nervous," Allmendinger said. "I know our biggest problem last year is we didn't start the year off right. We put ourselves in a big hole. I felt like we fought back from it really well at the end of the year. But at the same point it's all about how we start the year, so my main focus sitting here is just worrying about Daytona and missing the big one."

AJ Allmendinger's 2011 Best Buy Ford Mike Shiplett will return as the crew chief of the No. 43 along with Best Buy as the primary sponsor for a majority of the races. The team will have also have sponsorship from Valvoline, U.S. Air Force, WIX Filters, Reynolds and Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Ambrose comes to RPM after two full seasons in the Sprint Cup Series with JTG-Daugherty Racing. After posting 13 top 10s with JTG, Ambrose has his goals set for 2011 when he teams with crew chief Todd Parrott at RPM.

"I myself had good runs last year,” Ambrose said. “We could get it done, but the consistency is what I'm missing and I'm looking for.

"There's no secret that you can pass Jimmie Johnson, but somehow he managed to win five championships in a row because he's so consistent, consistently fast. Being good for 10 percent of one race isn't going to make a championship. We know that and the quest for me is to find that consistency and that high speed consistency and I'm looking forward to working with new people to do it."

Ambrose and Parrott started working on their chemistry after the conclusion of the 2010 season and were quickly at the track for tests that included one at Road Atlanta in early December and then at Daytona International Speedway last month for Preseason Thunder.

Marcos Ambose's 2011 Stanley/DeWalt Ford. (Photo: Jeff Wackerlin)Stanley Tools, who sponsored the No. 19 at RPM last season, will sponsor Ambrose's No. 9 Ford along with DeWalt, who returns to the sport after a successful relationship with Matt Kenseth at Roush Fenway Racing from 1999-2009.

Richard Petty Motorsports will remain in its current shop next to Roush Fenway Racing in Concord, North Carolina and will continue to get engines from Roush-Yates.

2011 Team Preview: Michael Waltrip Racing
By: John Singler

From its modest two-race debut in 2002, Michael Waltrip Racing is now preparing to launch its 10th season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with a three-car lineup entered for the 53rd running of the Daytona 500.

The trio of drivers is made up of David Reutimann, Martin Truex Jr. and owner-driver Waltrip himself – who returns to Daytona International Speedway as a two-time winner of “The Great American Race.”

Michael Waltrip will drive a special paint scheme in the Daytona 500. (Photo: Jeff Wackerlin)It’ll be an emotional trip back to the World Center of Racing for Waltrip, whose “500” victory 10 years ago was overshadowed by the death of car owner Dale Earnhardt.

“February 18th, 2001, is a day NASCAR fans will never forget,” Waltrip said. “What looked to be a storybook ending turned to tragedy seconds later. To mark the 10th anniversary of that race and my 25th consecutive ‘500’ will be quite emotional for me and fans, alike.”

While Waltrip – now a full-time owner and part-time driver – plans to run only a few superspeedway races this season, Reutimann and Truex will both campaign MWR Toyotas for the entire 36-race slate. Reutimann, who celebrates his 41st birthday next month, finished 18th in Sprint Cup Series points last year. He drove the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota to victory at Chicagoland Speedway (his second career win) and posted eight other top-10 finishes in 36 starts, banking more than $5 million in prize money.

Reutimann missed the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup by 191 points. His mid-summer win at Chicagoland lifted him into 15th place in the standings, less than 100 points outside the top 12. But Reutimann finished no higher than 16th in his next four starts, forcing him to play catch-up the rest of the season.

Reutimann will once again be working with crew chief Rodney Childers and a familiar roster of mechanics servicing his Aaron’s Camry.

“We’re going to Daytona with the same group of guys we ended last year with,” Reutimann said. “When you have a business that doesn‘t have a lot of turnover … people wanting to stay and be a part of things … that tells you we’ve got something pretty special.”

NASCAR has tweaked its qualifying format for this year’s post-season Chase, with 10 drivers advancing on points and the two others getting in based on the number of race wins.

“If it helps me get in, I’m all for it,” Reutimann joked. “A little more emphasis on winning is OK by me. The new system seems to reward both consistency and wins. That’s a good thing.”

Like Reutimann, Truex is looking for a breakthrough season in 2011 that would put him in the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the first time in his career. Truex closed the 2010 campaign with a pair of Top-15 finishes in his No. 56 NAPA Toyota, en route to 22nd place in the final standings.

Truex’s best finish in 36 starts was fifth in March at Martinsville Speedway. The 30-year-old native of Mayetta, N.J. is entering his second season at MWR and also his second year working with crew chief Pat Tryson. Truex is expected to make his 200th career Cup Series start in mid-May at Dover International Speedway...the site of his lone win in 2007.

In addition to its Sprint Cup Series program in 2011, MWR will be involved in the Nationwide Series and the K&N Pro Series/East – one of NASCAR’s top developmental tours.

Pastrana-Waltrip Racing will run a seven-race schedule for Travis Pastrana in the Nationwide Series. The action sports champion is transitioning to stock cars, driving the No. 99 Toyota under the direction of crew chief Jerry Baxter. Sponsorship will come from Boost Mobile. Pastrana’s first race is expected to come in July at Indianapolis.

Brett Moffitt will drive the No. 00 Toyota in the K&N Pro Series/East as the organization attempts to win its third straight championship. Ryan Truex, Martin’s younger brother, won titles in 2009 and 2010, and has moved up to the Nationwide Series. He plans to share the seat in the No. 99 with Pastrana, running a minimum of 10 events.

2011 Team Preview: Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing
By: Steve Blevins

One year ago, there were more questions than answers at Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.

Although Juan Pablo Montoya made The Chase for The Sprint Cup in 2009, his transition to NASCAR was far from complete.

And there were those who openly questioned Chip Ganassi’s wisdom in hiring Jamie McMurray to return to the team after several less-than-successful seasons at Roush Fenway Racing.

The answers started coming in Victory Lane at Daytona. More came at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen. Still more answers came at Charlotte in the fall.

Even though 2010 saw some questions answered, one major question remains for the two-car team heading into 2011.

Is Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing ready to take the next step and become a consistent championship contender? Team owner Chip Ganassi isn’t sure.

Ganassi: "We’re not where we want to be, but we think we have the right attitude and the right outlook going forward. “We’re not there as a team yet. We’re not where we want to be, but we think we have the right attitude and the right outlook going forward,” Ganassi says. ”I think we’re a bunch of guys who never quite want to believe they’re there. If you believe you’re there, you’re going to get smacked over the head with something you didn’t think of. We’re all still students of this formula and we want to do whatever it takes to win and we’re constantly looking for that little bit we’re missing.”

Even though his NASCAR team won major races in 2010, his IZOD IndyCar and GRAND-AM Rolex Series teams won championships. But, that elusive NASCAR title leaves Ganassi with a lingering hunger.

“You have those standout events you want to win,” Ganassi said. “I think you also want to win championships. When you look back through the years, the championships are rewarding and individual race wins are very important on a year-by-year basis.”

Widia will sponsor Jamie McMurray at Martinsville for his 300th career start. Jamie McMurray returns to the seat of the Bass Pro Shops/McDonalds Chevrolet with a new contract, and is ready to move forward, building on last year’s success.

“I feel like we can improve on what we had last year,” McMurray believes. “The cars seem to have really good speed in them, and ultimately, speed is the hardest thing to find. If you get that, I don’t think the consistency will be tough.”

Speed doesn’t seem to be a problem for McMurray, who says that there’s every difference in the world between EGR and his former home at Roush.

“(EGR) builds my cars around me, and they build Juan’s around what he likes,” McMurray said. “When you get to the track, you don’t have to do what the other guys are doing. At Roush, there were a few of those guys that could make the same type of setup work, and there were some that couldn’t. You just weren’t supposed to get out of this box they gave you. But for me, I needed to be out of that box. I couldn’t make what they had work. Here, they’ve built the setup in my cars around my driving style, and that equaled a really good performance.”

So, does McMurray believe he can start the 2011 Sprint Cup campaign the way he started 2010 by becoming only the fourth driver to win the Daytona 500 in consecutive years?

“The one thing I feel like we have going for us is that I crashed in the last two (restrictor) plate races,” McMurray remembers. “It’s usually a percentage game there when it comes to how many you finish and how many you don’t. I hope we got the crashing out of the way at Daytona and Talladega last year and we can make it through the 500. It’s going to be such a different race than what we’ve had in the past.”

Target will sponsor Montoya again this season. Montoya is ready for his fifth season at the wheel of the Target Chevrolet. Although he won a race last year, he failed to make the Chase field. This year, his team is looking for more consistency. But Montoya thinks the road to consistent top finishes could be easier said than done.

“We made the chase in 2009,” Montoya said. “We won a race in 2010. I think everything has always been headed in the right direction, but when you have a chance to win a race, it’s not only you, but it’s four or five other guys with a chance to win the race and it can come down to a call.”

When it comes to making those calls, Montoya will rely on a familiar voice...Crew Chief Brian Pattie.

“I think our relationship has grown over the years,” Montoya said. “We understand each other really well, we’re on the same page, and we know what it takes to get the job done.”

2011 Team Preview: Penske Racing
By: Jeff Wackerlin

Penske Racing will downsize to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams and see its drivers in new number and sponsor combinations for the 2011 season.

The new look Penske will see veteran driver Kurt Busch, and crew chief Steve Addington, switch numbers from the No. 2 to the No. 22. Shell-Pennzoil comes over to Penske to sponsor Busch after sponsoring Kevin Harvick at Richard Childress Racing since 2007.

Kurt Busch will sport the Shell-Pennzoil colors in 2011. "It's just exciting to have a new look on the car and to have the new number, No. 22, that will take a little while for all of our fans and everybody to get adjusted to," Busch said. "And then when everybody stops calling me Kevin we'll be settled in.

"It's just fun. It's a great group of people, and Roger Penske himself put together this program last year, and now it's come to reality."

Along with Shell-Pennzoil, AAA will also back Busch in three races at Auto Club Speedway in March, Kansas Speedway in June and at Texas Motor Speedway in November.

Brad Keselowski will enter his second full-time season in Cup as the new driver of the No. 2 Dodge. Keselowski, who raced the No. 12 with no logos on it for a majority of last season because of the team's partnership with Verizon, will take over the Miller Lite sponsorship that Busch held since joining Penske in 2006.

Brad Keslowski will be the new driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. "It’s a fresh start it’s going to have to take half a year to remember I’m in that car," Keselowski said. "I think that I’ll have a few more friends for at least the first half of the year till they figure out that Kurt’s not driving it anymore.

"It’s a great opportunity. I think the biggest thing, more than the competitors, is being able to be quickly identified by the fans and have the same paint scheme every week, man that’s huge."

Paul Wolfe who led Keselowski to the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship - the first NASCAR title for Penske - will move over to the Sprint Cup side to be the crew chief for the No. 2 team.

Although he won't be able to defend his championship, Keselowski will return to the Nationwide Series to drive the No. 22 Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesday Dodge. Todd Gordon will be the new crew chief of the No. 22 team after serving as a race engineer with Diamond-Waltrip Racing last season.

With lack of sponsorship and Mobil 1's exit to Stewart-Haas Racing because of Penske's new partnership with Shell-Pennzoil, Penske shut down the No. 77 Sprint Cup team that was driven by Sam Hornish Jr. Penske will transfer the owner points to Rusty Wallace Racing to give driver Steve Wallace a starting spot in the Daytona 500.

Sam Hornish Jr. will take a step back to the Nationwide Series to drive the No. 12 Dodge with sponsorship from Alliance Truck Parts. (Photo: Jeff Wackerlin)After spending the past three seasons in Cup, Hornish Jr. will take a step back to the Nationwide Series to drive the No. 12 Dodge with sponsorship from Alliance Truck Parts. Hornish, who scored eight career top 10s in 108 Cup starts, will look to pick up his first Nationwide top 10 in what is now a part-time 10-race schedule.

"I need to take some baby steps to get back to where we want to be and that's back in the Sprint Cup Series with Penske Racing," Hornish said.

Travis Geisler, the former crew chief of the No. 77, will move to a new role as he was named Competition Director of Penske Racing.

Even though Penske will only field two cars in the Cup Series, the organization did not take anything away from the engineering department.

Roger Penske: "We’ve added additional engineering capability to each one of our crews." "We think that if you look at these cars and the fans say these are pretty simple, but when you get into the detail of how do you go fast and how to be able to beat that 48 car of that Hendrick team we’ve got to have the technical capability within the organization," Roger Penske said. "So what we have done we’ve added additional engineering capability to each one of our crews which we think will be very beneficial as we go forward next year and I think that is going to be key."

Penske Racing remains the only Dodge team on the circuit and will continue to field the Dodge Charger, which will feature a new nose and a tail lamp decal in 2011, and the Dodge Challenger in the Nationwide Series.

The tail light decals will reflect the new Dodge Charger. "I couldn’t be happier to have the cars look as good as they do they are inching closer and closer to street cars," said Ralph Gilles, CEO of Dodge. "We’ve got some great provisions on the new Cup car the great tail lamps that signify the new 2011 Charger which is landing at dealerships as we speak.

"And again the Challenger, when we saw it last year I got emailed directly to my inbox people were so happy to see that Challenger look that good on TV, so again, I couldn’t be happier. I look forward to 2011. We’ve got great team and some of the best drivers in the industry."

Busch and Keselowski debuted their new Dodge Charger's at Daytona last month during Preseason Thunder. Busch and Keselowski debuted their new Dodge Charger's at Daytona last month during Preseason Thunder and came away with the two fastest laps of the three-day test.

"This is the strongest I have felt going into the season," Busch said."So, I'm really looking forward to hitting the track at Daytona and get the season underway."

2011 Team Preview: Joe Gibbs Racing
By: Pete Pistone

Joe Gibbs Racing is ready to once again challenge for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship with its trio of drivers all carrying a legitimate shot at making the Chase into the 2011 season.

Despite Denny Hamlin falling short of delivering JGR last season's title, the team remains upbeat about its chances to again contend for this year’s championship as the organization celebrates its 20th anniversary in NASCAR.

“We’re pumped about this season no question about it and of course last year didn’t turn out the way we’d hoped,” said president J.D. Gibbs. “But that said there’s no reason we can’t be right in the middle of things again this season and I think all of our teams have a chance to make some noise this season.”

Hamlin will once again be joined by Kyle Busch and Joey Logano in the three-car JGR Sprint Cup effort.

Denny Hamlin's FedEx Toyota will have a new look in 2011. “We obviously had a career year last year so we know we can do it,” Hamlin said of his opportunity to unseat Jimmie Johnson as the 2011 champion. “We won at all kinds of different race tracks. All my key personnel are back; the pit crew is the same. The driver will be a little bit better. Everything is in place to hopefully pull off the first one.”

After coming so close in 2010, Hamlin says his only focus in the coming season is to win the championship.

“For me, it’s always championship or bust,” Hamlin said. “If I don’t win the championship, then I’ve taken a step back because I finished second in points. If I finish third, how am I going to consider that a successful year because I just took a step back from where I was last year?

“For me, there is only one more spot to move up and I’m going to go into this year with a whole lot more knowledge of what I need to do and what I need to work on from this point forward.”

Kyle Busch's 2011 Interstate Batteries and M&M's paint scheme. Busch joins teammate Hamlin in the confidence department and believes he learned a lot from last year’s experience which saw him return to the Chase field but hit some speed bumps during the 10-race playoff run.

“We need to be better at preventing some things,” said Busch. “Whether it’s car problems or myself losing my temper or maybe just working with [crew chief] Dave [Rogers] a little better and having more consistent times that we are able to spend together.

“Communication and being able to talk goes a long way in this sport now. It seems like it’s more than ever, it used to just be laid on the crew chief, ‘Bring me a good car and I’ll win the race.’ Now you have to work on making a good car the competition is so close.”

For Logano the start of the 2011 season will be important as the fourth year Sprint Cup driver hopes to carry his end of last season momentum into the new campaign.

Logano was red hot down the stretch with an impressive string of top-10 finishes that has helped his confidence greatly heading into the 2011 season which he hopes will include a place in the Chase.

"We definitely want to be in the Chase, and I think we are a Chase-caliber team now," Logano said.'"I think we showed it at the end of last year for sure that we are capable of doing it. We just have to make the least amount of mistakes possible."

Joe Gibbs: "This is a good time for us.” With three solid teams ready to do battle for a potential third championship for Joe Gibbs Racing, the team’s CEO is feeling good about how things have progressed since the organization first opened its doors.

“Twenty years ago,” JGR owner Joe Gibbs said, “we had 16 employees working in a small leased building. Today, we have more than 400. This is a good time for us.”

2011 Team Preview: Stewart-Haas Racing
By: Steve Blevins

The 2011 to-do list for Stewart-Haas Racing has a clear top line. Get the two-car team back to where they were two years ago. Both Owner-Driver Tony Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman are by no means pleased with where they find themselves today.

Stewart: “We finished seventh the last two years, and that’s definitely not where we want to be." “We finished seventh the last two years, and that’s definitely not where we want to be,” Stewart said. “We’ve got to make sure that we give Ryan (Newman) and me the best opportunities we can to not only win races and make the Chase, but have an opportunity to win the Chase, too. We’ll keep building this program and trying to grow and make sure that we’re insuring the future of this team by making sure we can compete for race wins and championships.”

Newman isn’t happy with his final 2010 numbers, but believes that the final 10 races set the stage for this year.

“We had some really good runs,” Newman explains. “We had some really good finishes. With the exception of Talladega and losing the rear gear at Martinsville, I think we would have been a top-four car in those last 10 races. It’s the strongest end to a season I’ve had in a long time and that definitely carries over. “

Stewart admits, though, that getting two cars, including his Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy, into the Chase is no easy task.

Tony Stewart's Office Depot and Mobil 1 paint schemes. “You sit there at the end of the year and you evaluate what you did right, and what you did wrong,” Stewart says. “Even the things you did right last year aren’t necessarily going to be right this year. That’s the hard part. It’s really hard to gauge where you’re going to be and how successful you’re going to be until you get around everybody else.

“I think a perfect example of that is Richard Childress Racing. Two years ago they were really behind. Then last year, they were ahead of the game. They were a factor every week. Everybody’s going to make their programs better. It’s just who makes the biggest gain, and is that going to be good enough to get you on top of the field.”

Newman thinks that his biggest contribution to success for Stewart-Haas could come from getting a better start to his third season behind the wheel of the U.S. Army/Tornados Chevy.

“Everybody wants to get off to a good start, but ultimately, you control a big part of it, and racing luck controls the rest,” Newman said. “We started the season with two DNFs last year. By the first Pocono, we were back in the Chase by a few points. That was a really good comeback, but we didn’t follow through. Our last 10 races proved that we should have and could have followed through and made it into the chase.”

This is definitely the time of year for goals, and Newman has a couple.

“Ultimately, my biggest goal this year is to win a race for the U.S. Army,” Newman said. “We haven’t done that the first two years. With a four-star General in attendance, I’d love to win the Daytona 500.”

Although Newman won at Phoenix International Raceway last year, it was with Tornados as primary sponsor.

Newman also knows what he doesn’t want in 2011.

Stewart-Haas enters its third season in 2011. “I don’t want to be 12th going into Richmond (in September). I don’t want to be eighth. I want to be first, going into Richmond, knowing that I have a championship caliber team, and that we can focus on those next 10 races,” Newman said. “We haven’t done that yet as a team. I’ve always said that we’re capable of it. We, as a team, have to do our jobs, have to put ourselves in position each and every time, each and every opportunity, to not fail, and to succeed as drivers and teammates, and as an organization.”

When people start discussing expansion, Stewart-Haas Racing often is brought into the mix. Stewart says he agrees with partner Gene Haas’ vision of becoming a four-car team, but maintains there is no set timetable for growth.

Tony Stewart's hauler is ready to return to Daytona to kick off the season. “I think the one thing that’s important to us is making sure that when we make that decision to add a third car, and add a fourth car down the road, that it’s calculated, and done at the right time,” Stewart said. “We’ve seen organizations that have tried to build too quick, too soon, and have really put themselves behind the 8-ball doing that. We’ve got a good group of people here, and we’ll make that decision when we all think it’s the right time. It’s got to be the right opportunity. We’re not going to add teams just to add teams.”

2011 Team Preview: Roush Fenway Racing
By: John Singler

It was 80 days ago when Carl Edwards stood in Victory Lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway...wishing the 2010 Sprint Cup Season was starting rather than ending.

Edwards had just put the brakes on a two-year winless skid with back-to-back victories – in Phoenix and South Florida. Today, it’s that late-season momentum Roush Fenway Racing hopes to build on as it prepares for the 2011 campaign.

Carl Edwards 2011 Aflac Ford. “The way we finished the 2010 season is the way we would like to run all the time,” said Edwards – part of a four-car team that includes Greg Biffle, 2003 Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth and David Ragan. “The way our team is structured right now, we are set to have one of our best seasons. That goes for all the Roush teams – including ours.”

Edwards’ late-season charge in the No. 99 Aflac Ford helped the Columbia, Missouri, native secure fourth place in the final Sprint Cup Series point standings – leading a trio of RFR drivers who participated in the post-season title “Chase.”

Stability will be the watchword of the No. 99 team heading into the new season, with crew chief Bob Osborne starting his seventh year at the helm and the bulk of Edwards’ over-the-wall crew back in 2011.

And what of that newly paved surface at Daytona International Speedway?

“It’s going to be wild,” Edwards said, looking ahead to the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 20. “The track is so smooth and has so much grip that there is no telling what people will try. The last lap is going to be insane. I think it’s going to be one of the most spectacular ’500s’ any of us have been a part of.”

Matt Kenseth's 2011 Crown Royal Ford. Kenseth had his No. 17 Ford on the repaved Daytona oval during testing last month and gives the new surface a “Thumbs Up.”

“In the past, handling was one of the main points we’d focus on for Daytona,” said Kenseth – a native of Cambridge, Wis., starting his 12th full season with team owner Jack Roush. “We have a lot more grip with the new surface and it’s going to make for extremely exciting racing.”

Kenseth, fifth in last year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, will join teammates Edwards and Biffle in Saturday night’s season-opening Budweiser Shootout at DIS...hoping to prevent Kevin Harvick from becoming the first driver in the 33-year history of the race to win three in a row.

Kenseth, who will celebrate his 39th birthday in March, has more than motor sports on his mind these days. He and wife Katie are expecting a child later this month. Substitute drivers Brian Ickler and Kenny Wallace will be standing by to wheel the Crown Royal Fusion if needed. Kenseth plans to drive on race days, but will rely on Ickler and Wallace for practice and qualifying sessions.

Greg Biffle's 2011 3M Ford. In 2010, Biffle matched teammate Edwards with a two-win season...claiming victories at Pocono Raceway and at Kansas Speedway in the third race of the post-season Chase, finishing sixth in the final standings.

“About halfway through last season, I could tell our cars were getting better,” said Biffle, 41. “The competition level is about as high as I’ve ever seen it, but this year I can honestly say we’re right there with the best of them. I’m completely confident with this team and the effort everyone is giving to make this year our most successful ever.”

A big reason for Biffle’s confidence is the return of crew chief Greg Erwin for his fifth season with the No. 16 3M Ford. A key addition to the pit crew is tire changer Mike Lingerfelt, who moves over from Jimmie Johnson’s championship team at Hendrick Motorsports. Lingerfelt will replace veteran Todd Ziegler, who’s assumed a non-travel position with the Roush organization.

David Ragan's 2011 UPS Ford. The fourth member of RFR’s Cup Series contingent is David Ragan, beginning his fifth full season with the organization. After narrowly missing the “Chase” in 2008, Ragan has labored through two trying years but finished the 2010 campaign strong.

Over the final two months, Ragan showed steady improvement in qualifying and added two positions to his season-long finishing average in the No. 6 UPS Ford. He ended the year 24th in points with top-10 finishes in two of his last six starts and a best showing overall of sixth place at Talladega Superspeedway.

In addition to its four-car Sprint Cup Series operation, Roush Fenway Racing will field three full-time entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Edwards, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

2011 Team Preview: Richard Childress Racing
By: Jeff Wackerlin

Last month at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Media Tour Richard Childress called his shot for the 2011 season.

Childress predicted that it will be one of his drivers that ends Jimmie Johnson's reign of consecutive Sprint Cup championships at five.

"This year is the year to kick Jimmie off that throne." "This year is the year to kick Jimmie off that throne," Childress said. "We were close with Kevin (Harvick) last year. This is the year to do it. It's going to be RCR I feel certain."

This season, Richard Childress Racing will have an additional shot of making Childress' Babe Ruth like call come to fruition as the team will go back to a four-car stable.

Paul Menard will join Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton as the team looks to give Childress his seventh championship and first since 1994.

Last year, Harvick came up 41 points shy of winning the championship. With the guidance of crew chief Gil Martin, Harvick posted a series leading 26 top 10s and was the points leader for 20 weeks in 2010.

"To compete on a week to week basis was very important to us," Harvick said. "I'm glad we had that experience. Hopefully, we can build upon that and make things better. I'm proud of the job everyone has done. I'm just ready to race. As we go into the year, we want to be as good as we were last year. We want that trophy. And that's what we're out to get."

In 2011, Harvick will have a new look when he climbs behind the wheel of his No. 29 Chevrolet featuring a black paint scheme with sponsorship from Budweiser. In 2011, Harvick will have a new look when he climbs behind the wheel of his No. 29 Chevrolet featuring a black paint scheme with sponsorship from Budweiser. In addition to Budweiser, Jimmy John's, who sponsored Harvick at Kevin Harvick, Inc., will be the primary sponsor on the No. 29 fpr six races this season.

Along with Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton also made the Chase last season with Bowyer finishing 10th in the standings after posting a career best 18 top 10s in one season.

Last month, Bowyer and crew chief Shane Wilson had a successful test at Daytona and were among the fastest in single car runs.

Clint Bowyer: "Our cars are fast "Our cars are fast," said Bowyer, who will be back in the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet. "Going through the motions, we found gains and things that could make it better. It's important to get that out of the way now."

Burton and crew chief Todd Berrier will look to get back on track this season after a rough stretch in last year's Chase where the No. 31 Caterpillar team found themselves swinging for the fences a few races in.

"I hope we learned a lot about ourselves," said Burton, who finished 12th in the standings in 2010. "I pushed too hard there's no question about that, but that was OK at that time. Looking back on it now, I know that people say 'man, wouldn't you have been happy finishing fifth or 12th?' Yeah, I would have been happier, but I wasn't of the mindset to give up first. The only way we were going to win was to make crazy stuff happen and that's what we tried to do. We threw the hail mary with 60 percent of the Chase left. It didn't work out for us, but I did not regret it."

Paul Menard will drive the No. 27 Chevrolet. Menard comes to RCR, along with his crew chief Richard "Slugger" Labbe, after spending the last two seasons driving a Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing. He will drive the No. 27 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Menard's and will be guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races after RCR secured the owner points from TRG Motorsports' No. 71.

Childress will continue to field rides for his grandsons Austin and Ty Dillon, with Austin back in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet (crew chief Danny Stockman) in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Ty in the No. 41 Chevrolet (crew chief Scott Naset) in the ARCA Racing Series.

RCR will add a second truck in 2011. RCR will also add a second truck (No. 22) with driver Joey Coulter and crew chief Harold Holly, plus will continue its ARCA program with Tim George Jr. in the No. 31 Chevrolet (crew chief Gere Kennon).

George is also expected to compete in some NASCAR Nationwide Series and Truck Series events this year.

2011 Team Preview: Hendrick Motorsports
By: Jeff Wackerlin

Hendrick Motorsports has its sights set on an eleventh NASCAR Sprint Cup title and possible sixth in a row from Jimmie Johnson.

But despite taking an unprecedented fifth consecutive crown last season on the strength of Johnson’s performance, team owner Rick Hendrick has not sat idle in his quest to add another trophy to his mantle.

Hendrick orchestrated a dramatic personnel shuffle inside his organization that has paired every driver except Johnson with a new crew chief in 2011.

While Johnson returns with Chad Knaus calling the shots, Jeff Gordon and Alan Gustafson are the new duo with the No. 24 entry with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Steve Letarte paired on the 88 team and Mark Martin now working with Lance McGrew on the No. 5 Chevrolet.

Hendrick believes the moves were necessary and will keep his team operating at a championship level.

“It’s probably one of the most radical moves I’ve made in my years in racing to do this many at one time,” Hendrick said. “When you know the guys – these crew chiefs and drivers, I know well – I felt like the strong personalities, and knowing the motors, chassis and the bodies are all the same, it’s got to be the chemistry inside the team.

“When I started looking at it, … the more we talked about it the more excited we got. The proof will be in the performance next year, but I’m excited about making all four teams better.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr's team will be based in the same shop as Jimmie Johnson's in 2011. Much attention has been given to the decision to move Letarte over to the Earnhardt camp as Hendrick tries to get the struggling driver back on track. While he insists the overall personnel moves were done with the entire organization in mind and not done simply to assist Earnhardt, Hendrick does believe the new pairing will reap benefits.

“Dale needs a guy that he can communicate with and has a proven track record and has a really great team,” Hendrick said. “I think Stevie will be able to, because of the chemistry between the two of them, I think that will be very good. … They’ve been sitting in meetings together.

“It’s not like they’re new. They talk to each other at the track and around the track. I feel like with this situation, the type of personality that Dale has and Stevie will match up better.”

Letarte, who is used to dealing with high pressure after spending three years calling the shots for Gordon, welcomes the new challenge.

“I was excited for the opportunity. I was humbled,” Letarte said. “It’s a task that he has given me that is not a small task, it’s not an insignificant task.

“It’s a very important task for this company, for Dale Jr., for the sport, and I take it as that.”

Jeff Gordon will have sponsorship from AARP in 2011. Letarte’s move opened up the Gordon-Gustafson pairing, which many believe will deliver success. Gordon likes the style of his new crew chief and is ready to get back to victory lane in 2011 after being shut out since April of 2009.

“I’m certainly looking forward to working with Alan,” Gordon said. “I’ve known Alan for a number of years and always respected him. In the back of my mind, I always thought it would be kind of cool to work with him.

“It’s a great opportunity. If we’re going to win more championships, especially with [our] 24 team, things like this, led by Rick, these type of decisions are what get you there.”

Like Gordon, the veteran Martin is excited about the shake up and hopes it will help get him back to the level of performance he enjoyed in 2009. After a somewhat disappointing campaign last season, Martin is confident he can still contend for wins and a possible title.

“This is a great team and we didn’t do what was needed last year pure and simple,” Martin said.

Mark Martin: “This is a great team and we didn’t do what was needed last year pure and simple." “I feel like if we’re not as strong as we need to be on the race track that I’m part of the link, and I feel like I need to do a better job with helping the team get on track. We’re all in it together. I don’t look at it as me being separate from them. I look at it as us as a group. We have to work until we find our way.”

Through all the moves at Hendrick the remaining constant is Johnson and Knaus, who have established themselves as one of if not the best driver-crew chief combinations in NASCAR history.

Johnson is confident about his team’s shot at winning another championship in 2011 but also understands the level of competition in the series and that winning a sixth straight title won’t be an easy task.

“I want to believe, and I do feel in my heart, that we'll have a shot next year, but I don't know what those challenges are going to be, how competitive we'll be, what the competition's going to look like,” Johnson said. “It's really hard to look that far ahead. I feel like I have my best chances at Hendrick Motorsports, with Chad Knaus as my crew chief.”