Bass Pro Shops will also return to the No. 1 Chevy in 2013, but will only appear as primary sponsor in two races.

Kerr joined the team after serving as crew chief for JTG Daugherty Racing’s No. 47 team and drivers Bobby Labonte and Marcos Ambrose. Kerr also served as crew chief for Xxxtreme Motorsports’ No. 44 car, driven by David Reutimann at the end of last season.

Kerr and Gilliland worked together in the Nationwide Series in 2005.

Kerr said:

I’m looking forward to working with this young team. As an organization they’ve only been on track for a few short years, but there’s a lot of experience in the shop, in the leadership and behind the wheel. I’m looking forward to helping them continue to grow.

Lane joins FRR after stints at Petty Enterprises — now Richard Petty Motorsports — and Chip Ganassi Racing, which merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc to become Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

Lane is returning to FRR, as he led the team’s first campaign in the Cup series in 2009, serving as crew chief for John Andretti. He also served as crew chief for Travis Kvapil in 2010, when he drove the No. 34 FRR machine.

Lane said:

This will definitely feel like a homecoming of sorts, back with Front Row and back with Ford. It was a great experience to help get Front Row’s first full-time Cup team off the ground back in 2009, and this will be a similar experience working with Josh as he expands his role with the team.

And, Jay Guy will return as crew chief for David Ragan and the No. 34 team.

Derrick Finley, who was crew chief for Gilliland since last October, will return to his role as competition director.

Related Stories

• Front Row Motorsports Finalizes 2013 Cup Plans
• Ragan To Drive For Front Row Motorsports
• Kvapil, Gilliland To Return To Front Row Motorsports

Swan Racing is here to race competitively every week  the days of starting and parking are over. I am confident that we are putting together the personnel to one day produce a championship contender.

Davis has hired Steve Hmiel to be Swan Racing’s director of competition. Hmiel brings a wealth of experience with him to Swan Racing, serving as crew chief for drivers such as Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, and Dale Earnhardt Jr, among others. Hmiel served in a similar role with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

SHR was in the market for a sponsor to replace Office Depot, which announced that it was leaving the No. 14 team at the end of the season earlier this year.

Bass Pro Shops was in its last year with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and the No. 1 Chevy driven by Jamie McMurray.

Bass Pro Shops will continue to sponsor Austin and Ty Dillon in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series.

Quicken Loans also recently extended its partnership with SHR for the No. 39 Chevy and Ryan Newman. The US Army announced earlier this season that it would leave the team at season’s end. It appears that Quicken Loans has picked up the majority of the races that the Army gave up.

Related Stories

• Stewart Haas Racing Re-Signs Newman
• Office Depot Leaving SHR’s No. 14 At Season’s End
• SHR Expects To Field Three Teams In 2013
•  US Army To Leave SHR’s No. 39 At Season’s End

McMurray began his season driving for EGR co-owner Chip Ganassi at Chip Ganassi Racing, winning in his second career Cup Series start. He drove four years for Roush Fenway Racing before re-joining Ganassi in 2010. He won three races with EGR in 2010, including the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. He finished 14th in the standings that season. In 2011, the team struggled and he finished 27th in the points.

He currently sits 19th in points this season, with no wins. He said:

We’re working really hard to get our program better. I want to be a part of this program and get it back to where this was in 2010. So absolutely everything is looking really good. We haven’t had a very good year, but our cars haven’t been very fast. [Teammate] Juan [Pablo Montoya] and I run within 50 feet of each other every single week. We’ve got to get our cars better.

EGR would not confirm or deny whether or not McMurray signed a contact extension with the team. Per the team, it is EGR policy not to discuss contracts.

Mark Martin replaced Reutimann in Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00. Michael Waltrip will also drive the No. 00 in a few races in 2012. MWR also signed Clint Bowyer to drive the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota next season.

Reutimann said:

Tommy’s done a lot with a little over there and he’s definitely a racer, so that’s a good fit. With Tommy you never have to (wonder) what he’s thinking. He’s up front and that’s exactly what I need right now. He’s really put together a nice package over there. It’s awesome. Both our dads raced and Tommy has such an enthusiasm for the sport and that’s refreshing.

Baldwin said:

We’ve been working real hard since the end of the year to get our equipment right. Last year’s goal was to get in the top 35. This year we’re concentrating on competition. Given David’s experience, we thought it was best to bring him along to help us reach that next goal.

The team has not determined the number of races Reutimann will enter, nor has it decided on a car number. Last year, the team used Nos. 35 and 36.

TBR is currently seeking sponsorship to run the full season in 2012, as Golden Corral will not return.

Also, TBR signed an agreement to run Earnhardt Ganassi Racing engines next season.

Jones also served as general manager at Roush Fenway Racing prior to joining RPM.

Heroy led Dale Earnhardt Jr to two top 5 finishes in the Nationwide Series as a crew chief.

Team co-owner Chip Ganassi said:

We are very excited to bring Chris into the organization and to have him work with Juan Pablo. We think he will be a great addition to the Target team and believe his combined engineering and crew chief background should help him work well with both our engineers and competition folks to move our program forward. He has a great reputation in the industry and we are happy to bring him into the mix.

Montoya started 2011 with Brian Pattie atop the pit box, and he finished in the top 6 in two out of the first three races. After the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he sat fourth in points. Six races later, he dropped to 12th.

By July, he dropped to 17th in the standings and a change was made. Jim Pohlman took over on an interim basis.

With the news of the addition of Heroy, Pohlman will remain with EGR, but in a different capacity.

Bowyer was said to have had discussions with four teams: RPM, Roush Fenway Racing, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, and MWR.

MWR became the leading candidate in the last few weeks, and the final details are being worked out to bring Bowyer to an MWR Toyota. Sponsorship is expected to come from Five Hour Energy.

You know, we’ve tried and we’ve really worked really hard to put the deal together to keep Clint. It’s not 100% off the table, but it’s getting tougher and tougher as the day goes by. Clint’s got a couple of really good opportunities there facing him. For us, it just didn’t seem that we could get everything worked out. Clint’s still a good friend. I want the best for him. I feel like that we’ve done a lot together, and I hope that if we can’t put him in a car next year that he gets in a ride that he’s really good and happy with. The door’s not closed for sure, and it’ll always be open no matter where he ends up. But we’re still looking at other options and trying to put some things together. It’d be great to get him back in that No. 33 and run him, but if we don’t, I want him to have the best for him because he’s a great guy, a great talent, a lot of fun, and I look at him as a good friend.

For Bowyer’s part, he said:

There’s opportunities and stuff we’re trying to weigh out. You’ve got to have all the stars line up. You can’t [have] one piece of the puzzle or a couple pieces. You have to have the whole puzzle put together. Until you do that, you’re wasting your time talking about it in the media because you don’t have anything to deliver.

Bowyer is said to be considering an offer from Richard Petty Motorsports. Beyond that, there aren’t many other options for Bowyer in the Sprint Cup Series. Before Red Bull Racing announced they would be leaving the sport at the end of the season, he was linked to one of their Toyotas. That’s become murky because no one knows the status of that team beyond this season. It’s unclear whether another owner will take over the team, or if it will dissolve altogether.

Michael Waltrip Racing, Stewart Haas Racing, and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing all have the room to accommodate another team, but SHR appears set at three cars, with Danica Patrick part time. The other two teams have not indicated that they would expand, nor does that seem likely.

Joe Gibbs Racing could be an option. They were rumored to have made a hard play to get Carl Edwards. They may consider Bowyer to replace Logano, or for a fourth team. There have been no indications that they are pursuing Bowyer, though.

When you add in the fact that Brian Vickers may also be looking for a ride at season’s end, seats become even more scarce. Vickers could, however, replace Bowyer in the No. 33 RCR Chevy, though there is nothing to indicate that’s a possibility.

In the end, I think Bowyer will stay with RCR. There’s a small chance he could go to RPM, but I think he will realize that the available rides out there do not compare to the equipment he is in.