The 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the thirty-first season of semi-professional stock car racing in the United States. The season included thirty-three races, down from thirty-four, and began with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway and ended with the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's Championship. Joe Gibbs won the Owners' Championship with the No. 18 car, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush Fenway Racing won the Drivers' championship with a sixth-place finish at the final race of the season. Teams and drivers Complete schedule Limited schedule Team changes Discontinued/Suspended operations Kevin Harvick closed his team and transferred its cars, crew, and points over to Richard Childress Racing. Unable to secure a sponsor for the #66 Toyota driven by Steven Wallace, Rusty Wallace announced on January 6 that his Nationwide Series team Rusty Wallace Racing would be placed on hiatus and had released driver Michael Annett. After running a partial schedule in 2011, Team Rensi Motorsports moved to the K&N Pro Series East with development driver Mark Ballas. Started operations Tommy Baldwin Racing returns to the Nationwide Series, fielding a #36 Chevrolet in 6 events for Sprint Cup driver Dave Blaney's son, Ryan Blaney, as well as one race appearances by K&N East Series champion Ryan Truex and Modified driver Bobby Santos III. Kyle Busch Motorsports announced on January 19 that driving duties would be split between Kyle Busch and his brother Kurt. Notably, Kyle ran in the Nationwide Series only for KBM, and drove 22 races while Kurt drove the other 11. Driver changes Driver changes Danica Patrick raced full-time in 2012 driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports after running a part-time schedule in 2010 and 2011. Tayler Malsam raced full-time in 2012 driving the No. 19 Toyota for TriStar Motorsports, replacing Mike Bliss. 2011 ROTY runner-up Blake Koch moved to Rick Ware Racing, replacing Carl Long who drove the car for most of 2011. However, his sponsorship dried up after ESPN denied them ad time, and Koch left RWR. Kasey Kahne and USAC driver Brad Sweet split the driving duties of the No. 38 Chevrolet for Turner Motorsports. Sweet contested Rookie of the Year and ran 18 races while Kahne ran the other 15. After fielding the #39 Ford for multiple drivers in 2011, Go Green Racing announced on January 6 that Joey Gase would drive the team's #39 entry full-time