Ragan had to move on from Roush Fenway Racing after UPS decided to move its sponsorship from Ragan’s No. 6 to Carl Edwards and the No. 99.

Ragan was linked to several rides, including TRG Motorsports’ No. 71 and Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43, which was vacated by AJ Allmendinger who left to join Penske Racing in the No. 22 that became open after Kurt Busch and Penske agreed to part ways. Busch joined Phoenix Racing.

TRG suspended operations, while RPM signed Aric Almirola to drive the No. 43. RFR will field the No. 6 in select races. Ricky Stenhouse Jr is slated to drive that car in the Daytona 500.

Ragan earned his first career Sprint Cup victory, winning the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He was also in position to win the Daytona 500 when he made a mental mistake, changing lanes before crossing the start-finish line on a restart, which resulted in him being black flagged.

Jay Guy will serve as Ragan’s crew chief. Competition Director Derrick Finley will serve as interim crew chief for Gilliland until a permanent replacement can be found.

Both the Nos. 34 and 38 are locked into the first five races of the 2012 season because both cars finished in the top 35 in owner’s points.

Almirola drove JR Motorsports’ No. 88 in the Nationwide Series last season, finishing fourth in the championship standings. In 34 N’wide races, he posted seven top 5s and 18 top 10s.

He has also made 35 career Sprint Cup Series starts, posting one top 5 and two top 10s. The top five came in the 2010 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the No. 9 RPM Ford, which had been vacated by Kasey Kahne.

Almirola said:

One of the things I am most excited about is to have the chance to drive a car as iconic as the No. 43. There is so much history surrounding that number and to have my name above the door will be really special for me. This is the first real opportunity I’ve had to drive in the Cup Series full time. Last year the No. 43 team had a lot of speed and was competitive on a weekly basis. Greg Erwin is a great crew chief and I’m excited to work with him. Everyone at Richard Petty Motorsports has a lot of enthusiasm and drive and I’m really looking forward to getting to work.

Team owner Richard Petty said:

We are thrilled to welcome Aric Almirola into the RPM family. We feel extremely fortunate to have had a number of very talented drivers interested in joining our organization, but ultimately we felt Aric would be the best fit for the team and for our current and potential partners. We have had the chance to watch his progress for the past several years and we had success with him in the past. We are really confident in his potential as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. We think Aric has all the makings to be the next bright star in our sport.

No word on who will replace Almirola at JRM, but rumor has it that Camping World Truck Series driver Cole Whitt could be in line for that ride. David Ragan, who was a candidate for RPM’s No. 43, is said to be a candidate for JRM’s No. 88.

Allmendinger said:

I am really excited about the opportunity to join Penske Racing and drive the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge in 2012. I have always admired Roger Penske and the way his teams compete and win in every series where they race. It is a privilege for me to represent such iconic and respected brands as Shell and Pennzoil, AAA and Dodge. I am honored to join Penske Racing and I will do my very best to continue to build on the standard of excellence established across the organization.

Team owner Roger Penske said:

AJ is a very talented and motivated driver and we believe he will be a terrific fit with our team. He has shown great promise and consistent results on the track over the last few seasons and working with Todd and the Shell-Pennzoil Dodge team will allow him to take the next step and compete for race wins and a spot in the Chase in 2012.

No word on who will replace Allmendinger in the No. 43, but rumor has it that David Ragan is being considered. Kurt Busch was also said to be in the running for that seat before Best Buy left to join RFR.

Team owner Roger Penske said:

Our first priority is always to look within the walls of Penske Racing when making personnel decisions. We want to reward success. The path we are taking with Todd mirrors what we did with Paul Wolfe who led the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge to a Chase berth in 2011. We think Todd can get the job done in the same manner.

Gordon said:

I can’t thank Roger and everyone at Penske Racing enough for this vote of confidence. It’s an honor to step into a race-winning team. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is an organization full of talented people that know how to get the job done. I look forward to getting the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge back in Victory Lane.

Gordon replaces Steve Addington, who left the team at the end of the season to join Stewart Haas Racing as crew chief for Tony Stewart, after SHR let go of Darian Grubb. Grubb has since moved on to Joe Gibbs Racing.

Penske is still seeking a driver for the No. 22 team, as Kurt Busch and Penske mutually agreed to part ways, after a series of high-profile outbursts, including a video in which Busch berated respected media member Dr. Jerry Punch.

Candidates are said to include Sam Hornish, David Reutimann, David Ragan, and Brian Vickers.

In April of 2010, Busch signed a contract extension with Penske racing through the 2015 season.  However, the separation of Busch and his long-standing relationship with Penske proves that contracts don’t always secure a ride in NASCAR.  Over the course of the 2011 season, Busch’s became more known for his anger outbursts than for his performance on the track. Before the incident at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Busch’s outbursts were well-documented.

When it comes to sponsors, not only do drivers have to perform on the track, but they have to live up to high expectations off the track as well.  If the driver acts so poorly off the track that fans can’t remember what the driver did on the track, he is not living up to the expectations of the sponsor.

Sponsors want a driver who can be fan-friendly; a spokesperson for their brand; and an outstanding representative for their product.  If the sponsor is not happy with the driver representing their brand, the team generally has no choice but to make a change in order to appease the sponsor.

The separation between Busch and Penske has awakened drivers, I think, and it will change how they act on and off the track in the future.  We have seen that contracts can and will be dismissed if the sponsor is not happy.

To succeed in NASCAR, you must please the sponsor.  Without sponsors, there is no NASCAR.  Even in today’s economy, a driver may do well on the track and be a good spokesperson off the track (example: David Ragan), but may be jobless next season due to lack of sponsorship funding.  When sponsors are dishing out millions of dollars to have their logo on a driver’s race car and firesuit, they want to be sure that their money is spent on a driver who will represent them accordingly.

There are an array of jobless/sponsor-less drivers available for hire in the NASCAR circuit right now (David Ragan, David Reutimann, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Elliott Sadler, Brian Vickers, etc.) who are all proven winners and could be an excellent representative for a sponsor. So why would a sponsor waste money on a driver who is going to hurt their brand?

When a driver gets out of the race car, one of the top priorities for the post-race interview should be to thank the sponsor, not verbally abuse fellow competitors/media/team, etc.  Shell Oil decided that they had seen enough of Kurt Busch. They didn’t want to deal with the harm Busch’s mouth was doing to their brand, so Penske was forced to remove Kurt from the equation.

The moral of the story is: sponsorship money is everything in NASCAR.

Busch, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion, has been with Penske since 2006, and has been at the Cup level for 11 years. He has posted 24 wins in his Cup career, 1o of them with Penske.

But Busch has received extra attention this season after confrontations with media members and highly publicized in-race meltdowns directed towards his team and crew chief.

Following his transmission problems at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Busch was caught on camera making an obscene gesture. He was later shown berating ESPN’s Dr. Jerry Punch in a video that went viral on YouTube. NASCAR fined Busch $50,000 for his actions. He apologized.

Both Penske and Shell Pennzoil, Busch’s sponsor, released statements condemning the behavior.

Penske issued its statement shortly after the video went viral. The organization said:

These actions do not represent Penske Racing and are inconsistent with the company’s standards for behavior, respect for others and professionalism. This matter is being reviewed internally with no further comment at this time.

Shell and Pennzoil echoed those sentiments in their statement:

Shell and Pennzoil are disappointed with recent actions by driver, Kurt Busch, at the final race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race season. His actions are in no way consistent with the way we want our brands represented and we have expressed our disappointment and concerns directly to Penske Racing.

In addition to his actions at Homestead, Busch has received a lot of negative attention for his tirades over the radio during races. Busch had a rocky relationship with his crew chief of the last two years, Steve Addington. The pair won four races in two seasons, but Addington chose to leave the team at the end of the season. While there is nothing official to indicate that Addington left due to the way that Busch treated him, it is hard to imagine that it did not play a role.

In his time at Penske, Busch had been with four different crew chiefs.

Rumor has it that David Ragan is the leading candidate for the job. Ragan is coming off of one of his best Sprint Cup seasons, having earned his first career victory at Daytona International Speedway, and being close to winning the Daytona 500. David Reutimann and Brian Vickers, and Sam Hornish, who has driven for Penske before, may also be considered for the ride, if the report is true.

At this time, there has been no official word, so assume this a rumor.

Update: The Associated Press is reporting that Busch and Penske have agreed to part ways. This is the second time in his career, Busch has been released from a major team for his behavior. Busch was released from Roush Fenway Racing following an incident with Arizona police.

Update 2: Penske officially announced the separation. Penske owner Roger Penske said:

I appreciate the victories that Kurt has brought Penske Racing and our sponsors over the past six years. While I am disappointed that Kurt will not be racing for our team in the future, both Kurt and I felt that separating at this time was best for all parties, including our team and sponsors. I wish Kurt the best in his future racing endeavors.

Busch added:

I am grateful to Penske Racing for six very productive years. Together we won a lot of races -16 in all. Leaving a great organization and a lucrative contract is not easy, but it’s an important step for me and allows me to take a deep breath to work on things that can make me a better driver and a better person. I want to personally thank Roger Penske for the opportunity that he has given me.

Luke Lambert, who has been serving as interim crew chief for the No. 31, will assume a new position with RCR. Lambert became interim crew chief for Burton in July, when he replaced Todd Berrier.

Stewart was running second when Jeff Burton ran out of fuel with four laps to go in the 334 lap race.  Stewart led on seven different occasions for a race-high of 173 laps.  He finished just one spot ahead of points leader Edwards, cutting his lead down to three points.

Teams Have Good Days

Roush Fenway Racing had a strong day with Greg Biffle and David Ragan qualifying on the front row, along with the rest of RFR starting in the Top 10.  Biffle led 23 laps early on and Matt Kenseth led 87 total.  Although Edwards only led 14 laps, he was the top finishing RFR driver by virtue of a second place finish.  Kenseth and Biffle finished the day out in fourth and fifth position, respectively.  Ragan, who raced in the Top 5 for most of the race, finished in 12th position.

After finishing the race in 13th position, Kevin Harvick remains third in points standings.  However, he is now 33 points behind the leader.  Kenseth, who finished the race in fourth position, gained one spot in standings and is now 38 points back in, fourth place.  Suffering from handling issues and troubles on pit road during the race, Brad Keselowski finished in 24th position, which drops him to fifth place in standings, now 49 points behind Edwards.

Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr finished in sixth and seventh, respectively, both gaining two spots in standings.  Earnhardt nows sit seventh in points, 79 points behind the leader. Gordon sits in eighth, 89 out of the lead.

Their HMS teammate, Jimmie Johnson, had a day that was indicative of his Chase thus far this season. Johnson started strong, running in the Top 10 for most of the race before sliding through the grass on lap 240, effectively ending his chance to win the race. This is just one example of a lackluster Chase performance this season that has plagued the No. 48 team.

Kyle Busch Parked For Race, Fined And Put On Probation

Kyle Busch did not participate in the Cup race after being parked by NASCAR for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday under caution in the truck series race on Friday night.  By missing the race, Busch dropped four spots in standings and is now 100 points behind the leader.  Busch has been fined $50,000 and placed him on probation until Dec. 31 for his actions.

When issuing the penalty on Monday, NASCAR said that “if during the remaining NASCAR events in 2011 there is another action by the competitor that is deemed by NASCAR officials as detrimental to stock car racing or to NASCAR, or is disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event, the competitor will be suspended indefinitely from NASCAR.”

Chase Is A Two-Man Race

With just two races left in the season, it looks like the Chase battle has come down to a two man battle.  The championship may just come down to the final lap at Homestead between Edwards and Stewart.  Next week we head to Phoenix International Raceway to see how the battle plays out!

Results: 1. Tony Stewart, 2. Carl Edwards, 3. Kasey Kahne, 4. Matt Kenseth, 5. Greg Biffle, 6. Jeff Gordon, 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 8. Martin Truex Jr., 9. Clint Bowyer, 10. AJ Allmendinger

Newmark said:

The most likely scenario is three. We’re still plugging away at the fourth, but we all recognize the realities that when you’re this late in the season it makes it more difficult to secure that. At the end of the day we need to put ourselves in the best position to win races. The goal isn’t to be a certain size. The goal is to win races.

As it currently stands, only the No. 16 of Greg Biffle and No. 99 of Edwards are fully sponsored for 2012. The No. 17 of Matt Kenseth does not have sponsorship with Crown Royal leaving at season’s end. RFR is prepared to run that car without sponsorship.

The No. 6 could run select races next season, but Newmark did not say that Ragan would be in the car. Trevor Bayne or Ricky Stenhouse — or a combination of all three — could drive the car next season.

Bayne is expected to drive some races in Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 next season.

RFR also plans to field two Nationwide Series entries next season, though no drivers have been specified for those rides. According to ESPN, Stenhouse was promised an RFR ride next season.

Meanwhile, Ragan told SceneDaily.com that he isn’t sure which direction he’ll go next season, but he said that he is confident he will be in the Cup series next season.

Ragan said:

I’m not going to be in a back-marker car just to say I’m driving a Sprint Cup car. I’m not too proud to go back to the Nationwide Series and contend for a championship.

Ragan has been linked to TRG Motorsports’ No. 71.