The latest rumor to hit the internet in regards to the driver seat swap game is one centered on David Ragan and AJ Allmendinger. According to “Captain Thunder” the seat of the #43 car will be occupied by David Ragan in 2012 while AJ Allmendinger, who finished higher in points the last three years, heads off to drive the #22 for Penske Racing.
Allmendinger to Penske is nothing new. When all the Kurt Busch to the #43 stuff started it was reasoned that Penske was waiting to see what happened there before announcing a new driver.
This needs to be taken cautiously though because lets face it as one twitter user Silverdsl wrote “Allmendinger to the #22 and Ragan to the #43 makes some sense but the Easter Bunny is about as reliable a source as Captain Thunder.”
Frankly if this rumor is true it is another blunder for Richard Petty Motorsports. The team is not likely to find a bunch of sponsors lining up to pay top dollar to be on the hood of a car driven by David Ragan. Ragan’s lone win came this year at Daytona thanks largely to the pushing of teammate Matt Kenseth.
For what it’s worth neither team seems too hurried to make an announcement so the rumor may go on for a few days. The #22 car of Penske Racing will be sponsored by Shell/Pennzoil while the #43 car is seeking sponsorship after Best Buy left to sponsor Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards for a total of 11 events.
