It’s been a crazy year… and a good year at NASCAR. The racing was good, the checkered flags had some drama and through it all, Tony Stewart and Darian Grubb shuffled up from nowhere to take the series by storm… or at least by that tie-breaker season finish.
And yet behind the scenes, on many teams, things were in the works for one reason or another. And one of those things is the crew chief shuffle that’s going on in NASCAR!
Check out the few moves I know about, and check out today’s latest news in the midst of that:
Despite winning the championship as a crew chief, Darian Grubb was given the boot after Homestead from Tony Stewart’s team. Everyone wondered where he would go, but room was made in the garage and now Grubb will be Denny Hamlin‘s new crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing. That should be an interesting pairing.
After booting Grubb (it was a pre-planned deal before they won the championship), in late November Tony Stewart named Steve Addington as his new crew chief. Which surprised everyone, because there were murmurs that Greg Zipadelli might have reprised his role as Tony’s crew chief.
And today (12-16-11), Zipadelli was announced as competition director for Stewart-Haas Racing! [sirius-speedway.
Then there’s Brian Pattie moving to Michael Waltrip Racing to chief for the team’s newest driver, Clint Bowyer. That should be a pairing that will bring to light just how good the equipment is there at MWR. Clint Bowyer will be driving the No. 15 car.
Todd Gordon is now the crew chief for the No. 22 Dodge of Penske’s. No driver has been announced yet.
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And we haven’t even broached the new year yet! It will be interesting to see what is in store for fans and teams alike, as the 2012 NASCAR season quickly approaches…
