Red Bull Racing shuffles crew chiefs, support personnel
Red Bull Racing officials have announced that crew chiefs Ryan Pemberton and Jimmy Elledge will swap teams, as will several key support members, on the organization’s No. 82 and 83 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries. Pemberton will now be paired with Scott Speed and Elledge will work with Casey Mears.
Pemberton, 41, had served as crew chief for the No. 83 team with driver Brian Vickers since the start of the 2009 season. Vickers recently announced he would not return to compete in Cup this season while undergoing treatment for blood clots. In his absence, Mears has handled the driving duties for the team.
Elledge, 40, previously served as crew chief for the No. 82 team and Speed. He joined Red Bull Racing during the 2008 season after a five-year stint at Chip Ganassi Racing.
Elledge worked with Mears while at Ganassi, and that familiarity – along with Vickers’ absence – played a role in the swap, according to team officials.
“Due to the circumstances of our current situation, we have an opportunity to experiment with different personnel combinations,” Jay Frye, General Manager and Vice President of Red Bull Racing, said in a statement released by the team.
Vickers competed in 11 races and was 20th in points before being sidelined. Speed is currently 26th in the point standings.
“The whole goal is to do the best job we can until Brian returns,” said Mears, who has finished 22nd and 29th in two starts for the team.
“[The swap] does make some sense if you look at from Jimmy and I having already worked together. It’s going to speed up that process. Having worked together before it’ll be strictly what can we do to get this car to go faster, instead of trying to learn how to work with each other.
“This weekend is going to be a refresher course, for sure. [I'm] just trying to get caught up to speed. It does cut out a lot of the middle stuff that you have to go through with a new driver-crew chief relationship and getting to the bottom of that quicker.”
Pit crews will stay with their respective teams while support personnel changing teams include car chiefs, race and simulation engineers as well as shock and tire specialists.
