NASCAR Sprint Cup: The Implications of Clint Bowyer Leaving Richard Childress

The biggest free agency story of the 2011 season actually resulted in very little change within the ranks of NASCAR. During the late summer, Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards created great intrigue and speculation as to who he would drive for after his contract expired.

Strong rumours abounded whether Edwards was considering a defection to Joe Gibbs Racing and adding a fourth car to that team's stable of three drivers, already including Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. 

Alas, it was not to be and Edwards, after an extended period, announced that he was indeed staying with Jack Roush.

This move would have, in some ways, changed the shape of NASCAR. It would have conglomerated a group of four teams with four cars in the Sprint Cup and would have separated representation in the Chase even further than it already is.

The three teams that currently run four cars in the Sprint Cup (Richard Childress Racing, Rick Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing) accounted for six out of 12 of the field in the Chase.

This could have been higher if not for RCR's disappointing season: Clint Bowyer was just short of making the Chase and Jeff Burton had a horrible year where he, more or less, just disappeared.

Next season, the cards are completely reshuffled and gives Michael Waltrip Racing, now the second three-car team in NASCAR, a chance to make a name for itself.

With the addition of Bowyer, MWR adds a driver that has two more wins than that of its combined efforts in past seasons. Current driver David Reutimann has accounted for the two lone victories under the employ of MWR.

Bowyer also adds three Chase entries as opposed to the lone Chase appearance of Martin Truex Jr. in 2007, though he was not even with Michael Waltrip during that season. MWR has never had a driver in the Chase under its own name.

Now, it has a chance to seriously compete.  Bowyer is a solid proven driver and can offer important information and advice to his two new teammates. 

Truex Jr. showed extensive improvement once gaining Chad Johnston as his new crew chief in June, 2011:  before Johnston, he achieved two top-10s in 13 races; after the change he pulled off five top-10s and two top-fives in 17 races.

The broader picture in the NASCAR scope is that it has the potential to bring more parity to the sport, at least in the context of team racing. 

Jimmie Johnson is still the dominant driver in the sport today. There, no parity exists, and it may continue through the 2011 season.

However, 2012 offers a new team on the horizon.  Michael Waltrip Racing has the potential to feasibly put two of its drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

This a fresh beginning. It provides for much more interesting discussion than Carl Edwards simply transforming Joe Gibbs Racing into the fourth four-car team in NASCAR.

Had Edwards done this, it would have driven an even larger wedge between the haves and have-nots in NASCAR.

With Bowyer's commitment to a totally new three-car ensemble, the field has been leveled, if just a little bit.