A lot of newness fills the beginning of each season, as every team starts with a renewed feeling of optimism. After all, everyone begins the season tied for first place, giving many teams the belief that this is their chance to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. For other drivers, there are aspirations of a first Sprint Cup Series victory or qualifying for the Chase for the Championship. 

For some drivers, it's also a time to get used to a new team. Confused with all the driver and crew chief changes? Not to worry! Here's a breakdown of who has gone where entering the 2012 season.

 

 

Driver Changes
Driver	Old Team	New Team	Car Number
Kasey Kahne	Red Bull	Hendrick Motorsports	5
Danica Patrick	N/A	Stewart-Haas Racing	10
Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Michael Waltrip Racing (part-time)	15
Mark Martin	Hendrick Motorsports	Michael Waltrip Racing (part-time)	55
AJ Allmendinger	Richard Petty Motorsports	Penske Racing	22
Kurt Busch	Penske Racing	Phoenix Racing	51
David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	TBA
David Ragan	Roush Fenway Racing	Front Row Motorsports	34
Aric Almirola	JR Motorsports (Nationwide)	Richard Petty Motorsports	43

Crew Chief Changes
Driver	Old Crew Chief	New Crew Chief	Former Position
Juan Montoya	Jim Pohlman	Chris Heroy	Engineer, Mark Martin
Kevin Harvick	Gil Martin	Shane Wilson	Crew chief, Clint Bowyer
Tony Stewart	Darian Grubb	Steve Addington	Crew chief, Kurt Busch
Jeff Burton	Drew Lambert	Drew Blickensderfer	Crew chief, David Ragan
Clint Bowyer	New Team	Brian Pattie	Crew chief, Juan Montoya
Denny Hamlin	Mike Ford	Darian Grubb	Crew chief, Tony Stewart
AJ Allmendinger	Steve Addington	Todd Gordon	Crew chief, Penske NNS
Joey Logano	Greg Zipadelli	Jason Ratcliff	Crew chief, JGR NNS
Danica Patrick	New Team	Greg Zipadelli	Crew chief, Joey Logano