What's New, Who's New in NASCAR Sprint Cup
February 10, 2015 | By John Schwarb
One of the biggest pieces of competition news from the offseason in NASCAR Sprint Cup was no news at all – the Chase format is standing pat for 2015. After last year’s thrilling fight to the finish – where all four finalists at Homestead at times appeared title-worthy – why change anything?
But elsewhere in the Series there are enough new storylines to require a primer going into the season opener next week at Daytona. Here are five that you’ll hear plenty about as the weeks roll on.
Farewell, Jeff Gordon: The four-time Cup champion announced in January that this season will be his last in terms of competing for a championship, and he’s hoping that the emphasis will be on the latter and not on a rocking-chair tour.
“I always said I wanted to step away on my own terms if possible,” Gordon said. “I want to be competitive out there, and I hoped that I could do that all the way through my final year.”
Gordon promises he’ll make the rounds one more time in 2016 for fan interaction, which is another way of saying he wants to be completely dialed-in for one more title run in 2015. And last year showed that the 43-year-old still has that potential in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, with four wins and a great Chase cut short by a late crash at Texas with Brad Keselowski (and subsequent post-race scuffle).
Of particular interest in the regular season will be the Crown Royal presents the “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400 at the Brickyard, when the Pittsboro, Indiana, native chases a record-extending sixth win in front of adoring fans. View Brant James' Blog Post on Gordon's Last Ride at the Brickyard
Welcome, NBC: Starting in July, NBC and NBC Sports Network will be NASCAR’s television home, replacing ESPN. The big kickoff will be at Daytona over Fourth of July weekend, as the annual Saturday night race is moving to Sunday night on July 5 for NBC. (It will return to Saturday night in 2016.)
On July 26, NBCSN will handle Brickyard coverage with the race scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.
Edwards to Joe Gibbs Racing: Carl Edwards announced in August that he was leaving Roush Fenway Racing for Joe Gibbs Racing before finishing out a lame-duck season in ninth place in the standings.
Edwards reunites with former RFR teammate Matt Kenseth and joins Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch; all three made the Chase last year with Hamlin advancing to the Homestead finale. Now, Gibbs has four strong drivers in its continuing bid to give Toyota its first Cup title.
Hornish has a full-time ride: The transition from Indy cars has been uncertain for Sam Hornish Jr., the 2006 Indianapolis 500 and three-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion.
The Ohio native jumped into Sprint Cup full-time from 2008-10 and had just two top-five finishes, and it wasn’t until he moved to the XFINITY Series in the last couple years that he found more consistent results – including two poles and a win last year in a Joe Gibbs Racing car. But seat time was proving harder to come by – he made just eight starts last year in that JGR car – so landing a full-time Sprint Cup ride this year at Richard Petty Motorsports was a career-changer for the 35-year-old.
“I’m just excited about getting the opportunity to go there, not to mention the fact of going back to the Cup Series full-time,” Hornish Jr. said. “It’s a lot different than what it was when I did it the last time, and I feel like we’ve got a lot of things to look forward to.”
Danica’s new crew chief: Ten years after winning 1995 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors (has it really been 10 years?), Danica Patrick is entering her third full Sprint Cup season. She’ll do it with a new crew chief, as Daniel Knost replaces Tony Gibson.
The pair got a three-race head start on 2015 when Gibson moved over to Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch’s car at the end of 2014. Patrick’s finishes of 36th at Texas, 22nd at Phoenix and 18th at Homestead are worth noting, given NASCAR’s new testing ban.