2001 Silly Season

The 2001 Silly Season was the period of time between the end of the 2001 Winston Cup Series and the beginning of the 2002 Winston Cup Series. During this period, the following changes occurred:

### Sponsorship

Hut Stricklin, driving the part-time #23 Dodge for Bill Davis Racing, signed sponsor WRL General Contractors. Andy Houston, driving the part-time #96 Ford for PPI Motorsports, signed sponsor Permatex. Stuart Kirby, driving the part-time #75 Ford for Bob Schacht Motorsports, signed sponsor SPAM. Sadler Brothers Racing were able to sign MDS Transportation to sponsor their part-time #95 Ford.

### Team schedules

Six teams moved to a part-time schedule: the #02 Ford for Penske Racing, the #37 Pontiac for Kwest Motor Racing, the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, the #46 Ford for Larry Kimmel Racing, and the #71 Chevrolet for Marcis Auto Racing.

### Team closures

Three teams shut down at the end of the 2001 season: the #12 Ford for Penske Racing (full-time), the #44 Dodge for Petty Enterprises (full-time) and the #85 Dodge for Mansion Motorsports (part-time).

### Retiring drivers

The following drivers (both active and non-active) retired at the end of the 2001 season: Mike Wallace, Geoffrey Bodine, Ken Schrader, Dave Marcis, Norm Benning, Morgan Shepherd, Brian Simo, Andy Pilgrim, Bill Lester, David Green, Dick Trickle, Dorsey Schroeder, Jeff Fuller, Joe Varde, Rich Bickle, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ronnie Newman, Scott Pruett and Tomy Drissi.

### New teams

Three new teams joined for the 2002 season: the #74 Chevrolet for BACE Motorsports, the #49 Dodge for BAM Racing and the #89 Dodge for Shepherd Racing Ventures. These seats will be filled by Chad Blount, Stewart Friesen, and Danica Patrick respectively, all of whom have signed 2-year contracts.

### Driver changes

Jamie McMurray has signed a 5-year contract to drive the #36 Pontiac for MBV Motorsports full-time. The #36 was vacated at the end of the season after veteran Ken Schrader retired. McMurray, who will make his Cup debut with the team in 2002, is running for Rookie of the Year.

Kasey Kahne has signed a 3-year contract to drive the #01 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates full-time, thus forcing current driver Jason Leffler to leave the team. Kahne, who will be making his Cup debut, plans to run for ROTY honours.

Ricky Hendrick, son of team owner Rick Hendrick, has signed a 2-year contract to drive the #15 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Inc. full-time. This move has forced current driver of the #15, veteran Michael Waltrip, to leave DEI. Hendrick is debuting in Cup in 2002 and will run for ROTY.

Australian driver Marcos Ambrose has signed a 4-year contract to drive the #31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing full-time. As such, the current driver for the team, Mike Skinner, has left RCR. Ambrose is on debut in Cup and will run for Rookie of the Year.

Clint Bowyer has signed a 2-year contract to drive the #55 Chevrolet for Andy Petree Racing full-time. Current driver Bobby Hamilton has left the #55 and Andy Petree Racing as a result. Bowyer is running for ROTY and will make his Cup debut next season.

Denny Hamlin has signed a 3-year contract to drive the #66 Ford full-time for Haas-Carter Motorsports. Current driver Todd Bodine has been forced to leave the team as a result. Hamlin will run for ROTY, making his debut next year in Cup.

Carl Edwards has signed a 2-year deal to drive the #87 Chevrolet part-time for NEMCO Motorsports, thus vacating current driver Ron Fellows. Edwards will be making his Cup debut in 2002.

Justin Labonte has signed to drive the #7 for Ultra Motorsports for 2 years.

Timothy Peters has signed to drive the #02 for Penske Racing for 2 years.

Jennifer Jo Cobb has signed to drive the #09 for Phoenix Racing for 3 years.

Kyle Petty has signed to drive the #13 for SCORE Motorsports for 3 years.

Angela Ruch has signed to drive the #45 for Petty Enterprises for 3 years.

Eric McClure has signed to drive the #57 for Team CLR for 2 years.

Jason Hedlesky has signed to drive the #72 for Marcis Auto Racing for 1 year.

Paul Menard has signed to drive the #84 for Norm Benning Racing for 1 year.

Brett Bodine has signed to drive the #95 for Sadler Brothers Racing for 2 years.

Jacques Villeneuve has signed to drive the #11 for Brett Bodine Racing for 2 years.

Jan Magnussen has signed to drive the #14 for A.J. Foyt Racing for 1 year.

Tim Steele has signed to drive the #48 for Hendrick Motorsports for 1 year.

Mark Green has signed to drive the #71 for Marcis Auto Racing for 1 year.

T.J. Bell has signed to drive the #90 for Donlavey Racing for 1 year.

Brad Keselowski has signed to drive the #91 for Donlavey Racing for 2 years.

Justin Marks has signed to drive the #92 for Melling Racing for 2 years.