The Five Most Significant Off-Season Moves In NASCAR History

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NASCAR has a rich history of big-time moves that have taken place during its off-season, here are the five most impactful of all of those moves.

The NASCAR silly season is something to always look forward to and when the season rolls around most fans are excited about the possibility of a championship. Some fans are also interested to see if their driver can improve with their new team for the new season and in 2017 that is no different. Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones, Greg Biffle and Ty Dillon will all be with new teams to begin the 2017 season. Whether these moves will be have a major impact on the future of NASCAR remains to be seen.

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There have been some big moves during the NASCAR offseason that have changed the course of history. We break down the five most significant off-season moves in NASCAR history.

Before we get started there are a few things I would like to mention. First the moves have to consist of full-time drivers who were with another Cup Series team at the season before they made their move. It cannot be a move where a driver was signed off from a NASCAR Xfinity Series team and brought up to the Sprint Cup Series. For example, Jeff Gordon’s move from Bill Davis Racing to Hendrick Motorsports would not count since Gordon never ran a Sprint Cup Series race for Bill Davis Racing.

The same goes for future champions Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson. Keselowski never ran full-time for Hendrick Motorsports before making his jump to Penske Racing prior to the 2010 season.

Also, not included are mid season moves. This would eliminate any move that occurred during a racing season, for example David Pearson’s sudden departure from the Wood Brothers Racing team in the middle of the 1979 season cannot be included as well.

Any move prior to 1972 is also not eligible. Back in the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s several big named drivers drove for two or more teams during a season that consisted of 50+ races. That all changed in 1972 when Winston took over the naming rights of what was then the NASCAR Grand National Series. Winston cut every race from the schedule that were 300 miles or less and made the series run just one race a week, rather than three or four races a week, which were common up until 1972. From that point forward drivers usually drove for one team during the season as the 30 race schedule was much more possible to do with one team.

With that being said, here are the top five most significant off-season moves in NASCAR history.

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