NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Top 10 Questions Of 2012
The 2012 season could be a make it or break it year for Kyle Busch…
Tom Jensen  |  Posted January 03, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Kyle Busch had an uneven season in 2011 and stumbled in the Chase. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
It’s just about time for the NASCAR Sprint Cup season to fire up again and, as always, there are a lot more unknowns than knowns this time of year. Following are 10 of the biggest questions for the coming NASCAR campaign.

1. KYLE BUSCH — After a season of shenanigans on and off the track and yet another disappointing Chase for the Sprint Cup, the talented but mercurial Busch needs to prove once and for all he has the temperament and results to be considered one of the true elite Cup drivers. Can he actually deliver what he hasn’t been able to so far?

2. JOE GIBBS RACING — Historically one of the Sprint Cup Series' big four teams, JGR ended the 2011 season on a hugely dysfunctional note. This year, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin get new crew chiefs and the team switches from in-house engines to ones built by Toyota Racing Development. Will JGR return to glory or will it struggle?

3. ROUSH FENWAY RACING — When you cut more than 25 percent of your workforce and reduced the size of both your Sprint Cup and Nationwide fleets, things change. And that’s exactly what Roush Fenway did, plus Carl Edwards is dealing with a championship that got away. How will the new-look team fare in 2012?

4. JIMMIE JOHNSON — This one is simple: Has the competition well and truly caught up with the once-bulletproof combination of Johnson and Chad Knaus, or will the dynamic duo bounce back with another championship for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team?

5. PENSKE RACING— Kurt Busch and Steve Addington are out at the Penske 22, replaced by AJ Allmendinger and Todd Gordon. Will this be a good thing or not? Can Brad Keselowski have another stellar season without breaking any more bones this time around?

6. KURT BUSCH — For the first time in his Sprint Cup career, Busch will be with a team that does not rank among the NASCAR elite. How will he handle it? Can he truly race for fun, as he claims he wants to do this year?

7. KASEY KAHNE — Now that he’s at Hendrick Motorsports, the expectations are clear for Kahne: Make the Chase for the Sprint Cup and contend for a championship. But will there be a learning curve for Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis with their new team?

8. MWR — Another new year, another new look for Michael Waltrip Racing. Will the addition of drivers Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer, along with new competition Scott Miller, lift this team from mediocrity to contention?

9. EGR — No team underperformed in 2011 more than Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates did. Like Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi’s huge success in IndyCars and sports cars has only transferred occasionally in NASCAR. Will this be an up year or another one of struggle?

10. DANICA PATRICK — With a grueling schedule and her first foray into the Sprint Cup Series ahead of her, how will Danica adjust to being a full-time NASCAR racer and not just an IndyCar racer with one toe in the stock-car world?

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
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