For NASCAR and its Nextel Cup teams, 2005 will be remembered as a year of change.
Change that will have a big impact on 2006 and years to come. Half the 40 full-time, established Nextel Cup teams will have new drivers next year, and many of the new combinations will be serious contenders.
Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip and Sterling Marlin will all be with new teams. How they fare will go a long way toward determining the winners and losers in 2006.
Two of the biggest changes will involve drivers who stayed in the headlines in 2005 thanks to complex and controversial contract negotiations.
When first McMurray and then Busch announced they had signed contracts with new teams for 2007, it sent shock waves through the NASCAR garage and changed the way drivers and team owners do business.
McMurray was unhappy with Chip Ganassi Racing while Busch saw an opportunity -- replacing retiring Rusty Wallace for Roger Penske -- he couldn't pass up.
By announcing the deals last year, both drivers, of course, hoped to force their team owners to let them out of their 2006 contracts. Ultimately, after much legal wrangling, it worked, with Busch leaving Roush Racing to join Penske next year and McMurray leaving Ganassi to join Roush.
Both drivers will forever be linked, and their performances next season will be constantly monitored and compared.
Can Busch, the 2004 champion, finally deliver Penske a NASCAR championship? Can he get along with new teammate Ryan Newman when Wallace couldn't? More important, can the volatile, temperamental Busch clean up his act, developing a new image and adequately replacing one of the sport's most popular and widely respected drivers, Wallace?
McMurray is one of NASCAR's top young drivers but has yet to have a breakout season. He will get his best chance next season, replacing Busch with the team that won the 2004 title. If McMurray doesn't win two or three races and make the Chase for the Nextel Cup next season, it will be considered a major disappointment.
Busch and McMurray, in fact, should be both top contenders for next year's title, despite their moves.
While Bobby Labonte is not expected to return to championship form, he represents one of the most intriguing new combinations in the sport, leaving Joe Gibbs Racing to join Petty Enterprises, an organization that has struggled for years.
Labonte is part of the Pettys' plan to rebuild their beleaguered team. He will join former championship crew chief Robbie Loomis and Todd Parrott in trying to turn around the Petty teams and lead them back to Victory Lane for the first time since 1999.
Labonte's move was perhaps the most curious of all. He is leaving a team that led him to the 2000 championship and led Tony Stewart to the title last year.
The fact Labonte struggled the past three years while Stewart has continued to win and contend is one of the sport's biggest mysteries. Many believe he will continue to struggle with the Pettys, an organization that has lagged far behind other multi-car teams. If he runs well and wins a race, it will be the feel-good story of the year.
Another driver who is looking to bounce back is Waltrip, who won four races with DEI before struggling last year and being released. He will try to resurrect his career with Bill Davis Racing, which has also underperformed in recent years. While they will try to win together next season, both have their eye on 2007, when they are expected to join Toyota's entry into the sport.
Other veterans who will test their fortunes with new teams next year include Marlin (MB2 Motorsports), Jeff Green, (Haas CNC) Scott Wimmer (Morgan-McClure), Scott Riggs (Evernham Motorsports), Ken Schrader (Wood Brothers Racing), Dave Blaney (Davis), Travis Kvapil (PPI Motorsports) and Casey Mears (Ganassi's No. 42).
Then there will be a group of first-year drivers that could form one of the best and most interesting rookie classes in years. The 2006 class is led by Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer, who battled for the Busch Series title last year.
Truex will team with Dale Earnhardt Jr., replacing Waltrip at Dale Earnhardt Inc. Will he fare better than Waltrip?
Bowyer will replace Blaney at Richard Childress Racing. He, too, will face major challenges with an organization that struggled last year.
Truex and Bowyer will be challenged for the rookie title by Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley, who will both team with champion Stewart at Gibbs. Perhaps no two drivers will have more pressure on them; they must prove they belong while not dragging Stewart's championship team down.
Ganassi will replace McMurray and Marlin with two rookies in Dave Stremme and Reed Sorenson.
With that many changes, 2006 will be an intriguing year, starting with preseason testing the second week in January.
Jeff Owens is executive editor of NASCAR Scene and a columnist for CBS Sportsline.
