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Jared Turner: Time can be the only missing link to success in NASCAR
By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus (left) and Jimmie Johnson are on the cusp on winning their fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title.
Mark Sluder
NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
FORT WORTH, Texas - As with most sports, sometimes the only way to improve in NASCAR is to first be willing to change. The top teams in the Sprint Cup Series clearly subscribe to this ideology. And they’re proving it more than ever in 2009.
But are so many shakeups really in teams’ best interest?
In the last three weeks, three of the sport’s upper-echelon organizations – Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Penske Racing – have shifted key personnel in an effort to boost performance and begin laying the groundwork for 2010.
And there are rumblings of some major changes in the pipeline for another top organization, Roush Fenway Racing, as well.
In the case of RCR, the six-time Cup champion outfit accelerated plans to promote Scott Miller from his role as crew chief for Jeff Burton to director of competition at the end of the season and moved Todd Berrier into Miller’s old job beginning last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
Berrier, who had been serving as crew chief for Casey Mears’ No. 07 team, was replaced by now-former RCR Nationwide crew chief Doug Randolph.
You may recall that barely six months ago, RCR reassigned Berrier from his duties as crew chief for Kevin Harvick to head up Mears’ team and moved Mears crew chief Gil Martin over to call the shots for Harvick.
All this came on the heels of an offseason move by RCR to split up the previously successful combination of Martin and Clint Bowyer, replacing Martin with Shane Wilson and handing Martin the reins of Mears’ No. 07 effort.
Is your head spinning yet? You’re not alone.
While the changes at some of NASCAR’s other top teams this year haven’t been as drastic or frequent as those at RCR, they’ve been notable nonetheless.
And they reflect a growing desire to gain a leg up – any leg up – on the competition.
Unfortunately, it seems that the days of a driver and crew chief staying together for five and 10 years at a time have officially passed the sport by. It’s hard to believe that Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus, who joined forces at Hendrick Motorsports before the 2002 campaign, are now the longest active driver-crew chief pairing in the Cup garage.
Ironically, they have become one of the most successful combinations in NASCAR history. The longer they’re together, the better they seemingly get.
The chemistry and rapport they have established with one another is one of the main reasons Johnson is on the cusp of winning a fourth straight Cup title.
While other teams are still searching for that match-made-in-heaven combination, Johnson and Knaus are rolling up wins and championships at a blistering pace.
Can they be stopped?
It will depend on how much the shakeups at rival organizations – and even within the Hendrick camp in the case of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team – pay off.
The recent decision by Joe Gibbs Racing to replace Kyle Busch crew chief Steve Addington with former Nationwide pit boss Dave Rogers speaks volumes to how desperately teams are seeking a competitive edge these days. Busch and Addington won 12 races together in just under two full seasons but Busch missed this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup, which prompted team officials to alter the course.
At Penske, it was a driver instead of a crew chief who was replaced as Brad Keselowski got the call to take over for David Stremme with three races left in the season instead of waiting till next year as originally planned. And the changes may just be starting for the No. 12 team; Keselowski said on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway that he doesn’t know whether crew chief Roy McCauley will return to his post in 2010.
A similar uncertainty looms at Roush Fenway, where team co-owner Jack Roush, driver Matt Kenseth and crew chief Drew Blickensderfer all stopped well short of guaranteeing at Texas that Blickensderfer would be back atop Kenseth’s pit box next year.
The No. 17 team missed the Chase and hasn’t been to victory lane since opening 2009 with back-to-back wins. A new crew chief for Kenseth would be his fourth in as many years.
Even Hendrick Motorsports, the envy of most of the garage, hasn’t hesitated to pull the plug on key personnel this year when team owner Rick Hendrick believed it was for the betterment of the company.
That’s why Hendrick replaced Tony Eury Jr. with Lance McGrew in May to lead Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 group. Then last weekend, Hendrick announced that McGrew was shedding the “interim” tag on his crew-chief title to be the full time pit boss for Earnhardt Jr. heading into 2010.
But if Earnhardt Jr. continues to struggle next season, don’t be surprised if there’s another face atop his pit box in 2011.
With the competition arguably as tough as it has ever been in NASCAR’s top series, even the best organizations aren’t hesitating to shake things up. Are some of the changes going to pay off? Certainly.
Would some teams be better left alone? Definitely.
Imagine if Hendrick had kicked Knaus to the curb after he and Johnson failed to close the deal on their title pursuit after their first four years together. There’s a very good chance Johnson wouldn’t be closing in on a record-breaking fourth straight crown today.
So while change can be good for some teams, others are better left intact.
As Johnson and Knaus have proven, sometimes the only missing ingredient to incredible success is a little more time.
Mentioned Drivers: Jimmie Johnson
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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1 response to "Jared Turner: Time can be the only missing link to success in NASCAR".
bthompson133 said:
Nov 8, 2009 at 8:24 PMmaybe a little more rule skirting without nascar penalties
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