David Ragan will join David Gilliland in Front Row Motorsports' lineup for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Ragan had driven for Roush Fenway since 2006, but was released at the end of last season – a year which had seen him score his first Cup win in the July Daytona race.
"Front Row has made great progress in the last few years, and I look forward to helping them advance to the next level," said the 25-year-old. "I think the team appreciates what I can bring to the table, and I think it's a good opportunity for both of us. I've also enjoyed a long relationship with Ford and I'm glad that I'll get to keep working with them."
Team owner Bob Jenkins believes 2012 can be Front Row's best year yet.
"Ragan is a proven competitor and race winner, Gilliland had a really solid season for us last year, Roush Yates engines are the best in the sport, and Ford continues to provide invaluable support, so I feel like 2012 is really going to be our year to step up to the next level," said Jenkins. "Plus, I now have two Davids to engage Goliath, and we know how that day ended."
Ragan will take Gilliland's No. 34 car with Gilliland moving over to the team's No. 38 entry primarily driven by Travis Kvapil and JJ Yeley in 2011. Jay Guy (Ragan) and Derrick Finley (Gilliland) are the respective crew chiefs.
FRM has both cars locked into the Daytona 500 after both finished in the top-35 in Sprint Cup owner points in 2011. Incidentally, both drivers' best results of the year came at Daytona. Gilliland finished third at the Daytona 500, also the team's best result, while Ragan avenged his disappointment of a late-race penalty at the 500 in the July race with his first career victory.
Sponsorship details are still being ironed out, but will flow to the team's two primary cars first ahead of its third car if it runs. The team's No. 55 entry, which ran toward the end of last year for research and development, would need to be renumbered.