Story lines to watch as flag drops on season

Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. aside, here are some developing stories you might have missed before the upcoming season but might find hard to overlook by the season finale:

1. New brain trust for ‘five-time’

Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus will begin their 12th consecutive season together, but there’s been significant overhauling on the No. 48 Chevrolet.

Longtime engineer Greg Ives, who joined the team for the first of Johnson’s five championship seasons, has moved to JR Motorsports as the crew chief for Regan Smith. Cody Clemmons, the team’s other engineer, also has left. 2. Edwards sans Osborne In the brief periods during his career when he has been separated from crew chief Bob Osborne, Carl Edwards has been lost. Team owner Jack Roush split them up during a middling 2006 season, and Edwards missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Edwards notched 15 victories in the next five seasons before Osborne, citing health reasons, left midway through last season, which again ended without a victory or a Chase berth. There is no reunion for 2013, though. Edwards will be under the guidance of veteran Jimmy Fennig, who has enjoyed great success through a diverse lineup of Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Mark Martin.

3. Gordon, Bowyer and a big boat

Perhaps the biggest lingering question from last season was whether the feud between Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon had ended. After being wrecked intentionally by Gordon at Phoenix International Raceway, Bowyer has intimated several times that revenge was being planned.

That was before their New Year’s Eve chance meeting on P. Diddy’s $72 million yacht. Gordon and Bowyer vacationed on St. Barts, and they somehow ended up at what Gordon called “the party of the year.” And a conversation took place, though it was difficult to glean any details of a possible resolution.

4. Up to snuff at Joe Gibbs Racing

Three consecutive mechanical problems for Kyle Busch. A faulty master-control switch at Martinsville Speedway for Denny Hamlin. Fuel miscues and strategy misfires.

Though Joe Gibbs Racing scored victories with all three of its Toyotas last year for the first time in three seasons, the success was overshadowed by a preponderance of failures that kept Busch out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and cost Hamlin a shot at the championship. That made quality control a focus during the off-season. 5. Putting fans first Attendance again lagged in 2012, so racetracks are getting aggressive with finding ways to lure fans who were priced out in recent years by the economic downturn or alienated by the recent changes to NASCAR .

After culling opinions from fan councils that were formed during the economic downturn, Texas Motor Speedway announced more than a dozen changes to enhance the fan experience, including price breaks on tickets.

Bristol Motor Speedway is giving away 10 Mustangs to fans attending its March 17 race.