Donnie Wingo to replace Jimmy Fennig as crew chief for David Ragan
Donnie Wingo will replace Jimmy Fennig as the crew chief for Roush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan next season. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Scene
Roush Fenway Racing announced today that Donnie Wingo has been named crew chief of the No. 6 team with
driver David Ragan.
WIngo replaces veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig, who will now oversee the organization's research and development testing efforts.
Wingo joined Roush Fenway at the beginning of the 2009 season as crew chief for Jamie McMurray and the No. 26 team. McMurray finished the season 22nd in the standings with one win and five top-10 finishes. He announced plans recently to move to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing as Roush Fenway drops from five to four Cup teams.
"It's an honor to have the opportunity to work with David Ragan next season as well as our sponsor UPS,” Wingo said. “… I'm truly looking forward to the chance to get the No. 6 Ford the finishes it deserves. I'm glad to remain with Roush Fenway Racing because I believe in the success we'll be able to achieve in 2010."
Team co-owner Jack Roush applauded the experience of Fennig, who won the 2004 Cup title with driver Kurt Busch, in the news release making the announcement.
“Roush Fenway is looking to build the strongest possible teams and sometimes we do that by restructuring personnel,” Roush said. “Jimmy Fennig’s experience and judgement are impeccable so we made the decision to re-assign him to head up our testing operations to try and make that department stronger. The requirement for us to reduce from five to four Sprint Cup teams allowed us to move Donnie Wingo to the No. 6 to fill that void. I think Donnie brings a wealth of experience to our organization having won races for multiple teams including our organization and we are anxious to see if he can challenge David Ragan and help him to realize the potential he showed in 2008.
"I think these moves will help our organization overall and we’re hopeful that David and Donnie will together take UPS and the No. 6 Ford to victory lane in 2010.”
Ragan is preparing for his fourth season of Cup competition. This year, he earned two top-10 finishes en route to a 27th-place finish in the standings. The previous season, though, he earned 14 top-10 finishes, six of them top-fives, and finished 13th in the standings.
“I’m proud of my time with Jimmy, he’s taught me a lot over the years, but now I’m looking forward to next year and working with Donnie Wingo and his engineer Derek [Stamets],” Ragan said. “Those two are a great combination and it will be fun to work with someone new with fresh ideas. I’m excited to test a few times this offseason and get things moving forward for next season. We’ll be ready for Daytona with a fast Ford.”
