Crew chief Jason Ratcliff motivating factor behind Kyle Busch winning Nationwide championship
Crew chief Jason Ratcliff guided Kyle Busch to his first championship this season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
// David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
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Six years ago, crew chief Jason Ratcliff came up 14 points short of winning the championship what was known as the Busch Series. Ratcliff was working as crew chief for Brewco Motorsports driver David Green, who lost the title that year to Brian Vickers.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch was aware of Ratcliff and his talents, for he replaced Vickers in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 car for 2004. And Busch also called Green his mentor at the time.
So when Busch decided to go after the 2009 series championship, winning the title for Ratcliff was part of the agenda.
Ratcliff has paid his dues in the sport, working for smaller teams in various capacities before becoming a crew chief for Brewco in 1999. Ten years later, he won his first NASCAR championship.
“Well, the biggest thing with being a championship crew chief is you know you're surrounded by a great group of guys,” Ratcliff said. “These guys … just stepped up, and they make me look good every week, and of course Kyle's talent and ability makes us all look good.”
Busch won nine races and set series record for most points score and most laps led in a single season – all in cars prepared by Ratcliff.
You can be sure Busch is grateful.
“I feel like Jason has been an awesome leader,” Busch said. “He's really built this team, him and Dave [Rogers, former crew chief on JGR’s second Nationwide car] both have really built this team into something special, and they deserve a lot of the credit over the past few years of getting it to where it is.”
Ratcliff and Rogers, along with Doug Hewitt – who oversees the competition department – helped build JGR’s Nationwide team. Ratcliff has prepared cars for a variety of drivers over the last five years, starting with J.J. Yeley in 2006-06.
But it wasn’t until 2008 that Ratcliff would win his first race as a crew chief at JGR. With Busch and fellow Cup driver Denny Hamlin driving for Ratcliff, he would win five times.
And then came 2009, when Busch won nine races.
“For Jason to be on top of my box all year this year and really work with him and to be able to develop the chemistry that we have and the relationship that we have, it's not only a friendship, but a working relationship that really meshes very well,” Busch said. “And so I couldn't be happier with the way that Jason has led this team. I didn't feel like there was maybe but one or two races this year where we really had a struggling car.
“But still, it's nice to have the hard work and the leadership that Jason has to his guys.”
Ratcliff and most of the members of the No. 18 team have been together for some time, and that consistency inside the team has clearly helped it grow.
“Most of us have been working together for at least four years, the majority of us,” Ratcliff said. “This team has come together over the last four years, we've worked with some young drivers, rookie drivers, and been what I felt like is very successful. We just needed an opportunity to bring a driver in like Kyle and showcase what our cars could do.
“I thought last year with the phenomenal season we had last year running a limited schedule, going into this season, all the guys were gung‑ho and ready to do whatever it took to win this championship.”
