Toyota revamps for a better 2012

This is the third of a four-part look at the entries in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series the four manufacturers - Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Dodge - plan to field in the 2012 season.

Its highest-finishing driver in the Cup series championship race in 2011 was ninth (Denny Hamlin). Only two of its drivers (Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch) qualified for the Chase for the Cup.

Yet Toyota still enters 2012 with plenty of optimism its first Cup series championship is well within reach.

For Toyota teams and their drivers, change is the name of the game this season.

Two drivers join the manufacturer's umbrella this season - Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin, both at Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer will drive the No. 15 team while Martin will drive a partial schedule in the No. 55.

Their teammate, Martin Truex Jr., came on strong at the end of the 2011 season and will be looking to continue that trend this year.

JGR keeps the same three drivers but still sees plenty of new faces.

Both Joey Logano and Hamlin have new crew chiefs and all three drivers at Gibbs will be working with new spotters.

Hamlin will be paired with Darian Grubb, who led Tony Stewart to his third Cup championship last season in dramatic fashion. Grubb will be trying to replicate that success with Hamlin, who finished as runner-up in the 2010 title chase.

Logano enters a contract year with Gibbs and gets a fresh start with Ratcliff leading his team. Logano's former crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, has moved to Stewart-Haas Racing as its new competition director.

Bobby Labonte returns to JTG-Daugherty Racing for another this season with a new crew chief in Todd Berrier, who had a successful run at Richard Childress Racing.

Q&A with contender Clint Bowyer

Q: Do you feel like you are starting over in your career?

Bowyer: "In this sport anymore, the cars are so much the same that the only real thing you're starting over with is the group of people. Sometimes change can be good and bad. There's no question that last year, I didn't have the success that I expected and that I wanted. It's not good enough. That's the way that I look at that. When you're thinking about making a change - it wasn't where I wanted to be standings-wise, statistics-wise - all that isn't what I wanted and expected out of me and racing. Maybe it was time to make a change and I'll be able to answer that in a year or so. I really see a lot of potential here - a lot of things coming together at the right time for me to make a change and ride that wave on into the future."

Q: What makes you feel good about being with Michael Waltrip Racing?

Bowyer: "You see the speed in the race cars, the people on my team, the potential. We've got a good group of guys. We were able to take advantage of a not-so-fortunate time in this sport - a lot of teams and organizations pulling back. We were able to go out and pick the cream of the crop so to speak and I feel like we've done that with our group of guys on the 5-Hour Energy car."

Q: How big of a change is joining Michael Waltrip Racing for you personally?

Bowyer: "Obviously, I've been with Richard (Childress Racing) since my very first start into NASCAR so it's a big change and it's another chapter in my life, my career - a fresh start, a new beginning - new way to prove myself all over again. The challenge is there and it's fun. It's nerve-wracking all over again, I'm nervous all over again and worried about things. A lot of times, I perform my best in the early stages of my career when I didn't know what I was doing and I was nervous about it. Usually, somehow, some way I got some of the best results I've ever had.

"I see a lot of good things, a lot of positive things and a good direction that they are headed at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing), TRD (Toyota Racing Development). There's a lot of good things here and I think they're all coming together at the right time. Timing in anything you do in life is so important, as it was when I got my start and my opportunity with Richard. This is a new opportunity to go out and to make things happen for myself again."