Sadler will also drive for Kevin Harvick Inc/RCR in the Nationwide Series in the No. 2 Chevy.

Brendan Gaughan will take over driving duties of the No. 33 Cup Chevy the following week at Phoenix International Raceway, and will drive until the fifth race of the season at Auto Club Speedway.

The No. 33 is locked into the first five races of 2012 because the team finished 13th in points last season, while Clint Bowyer was the driver. Bowyer left in the offseason to join Michael Waltrip Racing.

Veteran crew chief Gil Martin will be atop the pit box for Gaughan.

Gaughan said:

RCR has top-notch equipment and teamed me with a winning crew chief in Gil Martin. Everyone deserves a second chance and I am ecstatic that my second chance in the Sprint Cup Series is in the #33 Chevrolet with RCR.

Gaughan will also drive 18 races for RCR in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series with sponsorship from South Point.

Elliott Sadler will drive the No. 33 Cup Chevy in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

The financial services institution will appear as primary sponsor on the car for five races in 2012: the March race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the April races at Martinsville Speedway and Richmond International Raceway, the May race at Darlington Raceway, and the June race at Dover International Speedway. BB&T will also be featured on a special paint scheme with Caterpillar during the Sprint All Star Race.

Team owner Richard Childress said:

BB&T has been a great partner of RCR over the years so we’re very pleased to renew our program with them. It’s always beneficial working with a partner like BB&T that has strong ties to the area.

TOR team owner, former CWTS, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup Series driver Stacy Compton, said:

It has always been our objective to grow the team and this is just the next step in that plan. We have a great group of partners behind us and feel like we are taking all the right steps to build a very competitive Sprint Cup team.

There has been no word from the team on sponsorship or a potential driver, but the team indicated that it has partnered with one of its “long-time supports” for a handful of events this coming season. Last season, the team’s No. 60 truck featured sponsorship from Fuel Doctor and Red Bull, while its No. 66 truck featured sponsorship from GoPro, the National Watermelon Promotion Board, and a few other sponsors. Fuel Doctor seems the most like the sponsor the team referred to in its release.

Cole Whitt and Justin Marks drove for the team last season. Whitt recently signed on to drive the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevy to replace Aric Almirola, who left to join Richard Petty Motorsports after AJ Allmendinger left to take over driving duties of the No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge vacated by Kurt Busch. Whitt could be the top candidate to drive TOR’s entry.

Other drivers without rides for next season are Brian Vickers, Landon Cassill, Travis Kvapil and JJ Yeley.

With Gaughan comes sponsorship from his family’s South Point Hotel & Casino for most of the events; he will be sponsored by Menards for two Nationwide races.

Gaughan said:

The last few years, I have been racing for teams that try to buy their engineering or equipment from organizations as great as RCR, but doing that is never the same as racing for RCR. I have always steered away from switching to a part-time schedule in the past but I had to look at where I would have the best opportunity to win races again and the opportunity to race for Richard Childress is one I couldn’t pass up. By sharing the Nationwide Series seat with RCR’s Cup Series drivers, I know I’m going to be in the best equipment in the garage and have the best opportunity to win races to get myself back to where I want to be and that is to compete full time again.

Team owner Richard Childress said:

Brendan is a proven race winner and [NASCAR West Series] champion so we’re excited to have him driving for RCR. He will be a great addition to RCR’s overall driver lineup as we re-launch our NASCAR Nationwide Series program and continue the strength of our Camping World Truck Series program in 2012.

In the Nationwide car, Gaughan will drive at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, and five other races yet to be announced. In the CWTS, Gaughan will drive at Daytona International Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and three other races yet to be named.

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.

NASCAR called the event with 15 laps left with Sauter in the lead and Dillon in 10th place, giving Dillon, 21, the youngest champion in series history, a six-point edge over Sauter in the final series standings.

Dillon is the first driver in series history to win the rookie of the year title in his first full season and the series championship the following year.

“I remember my first championship with Dale Earnhardt,” said team owner Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather. “I had the same feeling tonight watching my grandson.”

“You can’t go out of the truck series any better than this,” said Dillon, who will graduate to the Nationwide Series with RCR next year.

Denny Hamlin finished second in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, followed by Kevin Harvick, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Joey Coulter, who won the 2011 rookie of the year title. Coulter is a teammate of Dillon’s at Richard Childress Racing.

Early in the race, patience was a virtue for Dillon, who steered clear of potential complications and found a comfortable place to run at or near the back of the top 10.

As the race progressed, so did Dillon, who had worked his way into the second position behind Sauter before Ross Chastain’s spin on Lap 96 caused the fourth caution of the evening. The subsequent restart, however, brought more stress than Dillon ever could have expected.

Dillon fell back to 15th, fearing that he might have a problem with the right front fender on the No. 3 Chevrolet. Shortly thereafter, Sauter clinched most laps led, putting Dillon in danger of losing the championship if he lost more positions by the end of the race.

But Dillon drove back to the 10th position before rain halted the race on Lap 119 of 134 with Sauter in the lead.

“The fender got bent in—I don’t know how it happened,” Dillon said. “I didn’t hit anybody on the track, but I think it happened on pit road. We got real tight once I got back there (in traffic). I think it was more on the conservative side when I was three-wide. We were three-wide in the middle, and to force a spot right there was not worth it.”

Sauter, who won his second race of the season and the fourth of his career, wasn’t aware of how far behind Dillon had fallen on the restart.

“I had no clue,” said Sauter, who won more than one event in a season in a top NASCAR touring series for the first time in his career. “Not one time tonight did they tell me where the 3 truck was. It didn’t really matter where he was running. We knew what we had to do, and that was lead the most laps and win the race.

“It’s a huge accomplishment, coming out here and doing what we needed to do. Six points is a bummer. You can think back on the season—dominating Kentucky, broke an axle, 20 to go, leading the race; ORP (Indianapolis), leading the race, flat tire; the lane violation at Texas, 22 points; six points at Pocono. You can go down the list—but everybody can. That’s just racing.”

Notes: Greg Biffle and Travis Kvapil won rookie of the year honors and truck series championships, but not in consecutive years. Biffle accomplished the feat in 1998 (rookie) and 2000. Kvapil was rookie of the year in 2001 and champion in 2003. … Harvick had clinched the owners’ championship with his No. 2 truck before the series arrived at Homestead.

Rheem also signed an agreement with Eddie Sharp Racing to sponsor that team’s No. 33 Camping World Truck Series team for the entire season with driver Cale Gale. As part of the agreement, ESR has formed a technical alliance with RCR in which RCR will provide ESR with engineering, testing, and technical assistance. ESR will also receive factory support and support from Earnhardt Childress Engines.

ESR purchased the assets of Kevin Harvick Inc, which will be shut down at season’s end.

Dega Wreaks Havoc on Chasers

On Lap 174, Michaeal Waltrip was pushing Bobby Labonte when Labonte lost control of his race car and spun in the middle of the turn.  Kurt Busch had no where to go and drove straight into the side panel of Labonte.  This destroyed the hood of Busch’s race car and ended his day.  The elder Busch brother finished the race in 36th position, 15 laps down.  This did not help his chances for the championship, knocking him down one spot in standings to eighth place, 52 points behind the leader.

Luckily for Kurt Busch, he isn’t the only Chase driver that struggled at Talladega.  Hendrick Motorsports’ Chasers did not finish as expected on Sunday, coming home with 25th (Dale Earnhardt Jr), 26th (Jimmie Johnson), and 27th (Jeff Gordon) place finishes.  All three drivers rode out the race in the back of the pack and just didn’t seem to have the momentum to race towards the front at the end.

Earnhardt remains in ninth position in standings, 74 points behind the leader.  Thanks to others’ misfortune, Johnson moved up one position to seventh place, but is now 50 points behind the leader.  Jeff Gordon also moved up one position; however, he is now 82 points behind the leader.   I would say this is the end of Hendrick Motorsports’ chances to win the title.  Johnson would be the only driver with a chance, but he would need the drivers ahead of him in the Chase to have substantial bad luck to overtake them.

Kevin Harvick came to Talladega only five points behind leader Carl Edwards.  Leaving Talladega, he is in fifth position, now 26 points behind the leader.  Early on in the race, Harvick had a fast car; he even led the race on six different occasions.  But, he fell victim to a large pile-up on Lap 104 when AJ Allmendinger spun on the front-stretch. Harvick finished the race in 32nd position, nine laps down.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano worked well together early in the race.  On Lap 67, as the duo was attempting to make green flag pit stops, Trevor Bayne cut in front of them, abruptly separating the pair.  This caused Logano to spin his race car and forced Busch to drive down pit road to avoid an accident.  Logano then blew a left-front tire on the backstretch, bringing out the caution. Busch was then sent to the rear of the field for failure to reduce speed while driving down pit road.

Busch was able to recover, leading the race on Lap 90 with help of his teammate, Denny Hamlin.  After the pile-up on Lap 104, however, Busch was unable to race his way to the front and finished the race in 33rd position.  Logano on the other hand, was able to push Tony Stewart to the lead of the race on Lap 136, despite the damage to his race car. Logano finished the race in 24th position.  Busch is now sixth in standings, 40 points behind the leader.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

Carl Edwards remains the points leader after finishing in 11th position at Talladega.  Fellow Roush driver Matt Kenseth sits second, 14 points behind Edwards.  Brad Keselowski gained three spots in the standings, moving to third, just 18 points back.  Tony Stewart moved up to fourth position after finishing the race in seventh place and is now 19 points behind Edwards.

Both Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch dropped positions because of their misfortune and are now in fifth and sixth position.  Rivals Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson are now right beside each other in standings, sitting in eighth and ninth position.  Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon round out the top-10 in ninth and tenth positions, respectively.  Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman reside in 11th and 12th place, respectively.

Best Efforts of the Race

The Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne have to be recognized for their effort on Sunday.  Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and the two pushed their way into the top-five within 10 laps.  They had troubles with the two-car tandem on Lap 159, causing Kahne to spin across the nose of Vickers to bring out a caution.  But with 50 laps to go, the pair had already hooked back up and were headed to the front.  Unfortunately they just couldn’t catch the RCR tandem, but still came home with fifth (Vickers) and sixth (Kahne) place finishes.

Dave Blaney’s third place finish at Talladega represented Tommy Baldwin’s Racing’s best finish yet at the Cup level.  Blaney was in the battle at the front in both the Daytona 500 and the spring race at Talladega this year, but couldn’t get the finishes he deserved.  This is a big step for a small organization with a short history in the sport.  Team owner Tommy Baldwin hopes the Talladega finish is a step in the right direction for a more competitive season in 2012.

Landon Cassill and Casey Mears deserve a shout-out for their strong effort at Talladega.  Before the race had even one lap in the books, Mear’s No. 13 GEICO Camry had moved from its 42nd starting position into 26th.  On Lap 3, Mears paired up with Cassill to head to the front.  They spent most of the race in the Top 5 and Top 10 until lap 174 when Mears lost his drafting partner.  Cassill was collected in a turn two crash involving Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch, forcing Mears to find another dancing partner.  Although their finishes of 16th and 17th do not represent their hard effort, the fact that they survived Talladega tells the story by itself!