Reno replaces Moore as Sauter's Nationwide crew chief

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor

Saturday, March 08, 2008

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HAMPTON, Ga. – Phoenix Racing General Manager Marc Reno said Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway that he has taken over as crew chief for Nationwide Series driver Johnny Sauter, replacing Newt Moore.

Moore is no longer with the team, sources close to the team said Friday.

“We don’t really talk about internal stuff too much,” Reno said when asked about the personnel moves. “If somebody else wants to, that’s fine. We’re over it, we’re on to our next program.”

The team was penalized for a loose oil tank cover discovered after qualifying at Daytona. Moore, who joined the team three days before the race, was suspended six races, but the National Stock Car Racing Commission reduced it to two events.

Twenty-five point penalties to Sauter and the team were upheld, as was the $15,000 fine to Moore. Reno said the team would pay Moore’s fine.

Sauter is 15th in the points standings, with a best finish of 13th at Daytona, in his return to the James Finch-owned team.

“We’re going to try to see if we can get back to some basics and get out deals running a little better and give Johnny some better cars to drive,” Reno said. “Me and James just decided we better get back to grass-roots racing and see if we can make it work on our own. It seems like the more help we get, the farther behind we get.

“I’ll be honest with you, we were afraid that if we kept hiring crew chiefs that we’d end up out of business. We figured if we’re going to run ourselves out of business, we’d do it on our own.”

Reno said he would remain as crew chief for “a little while.”