Steve Letarte, crew chief for Jeff Gordon, signs 3-year extension

By Bob Pockrass

Friday, July 30, 2010

Steve Letarte, crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, said Friday he has signed a three-year contract extension with the organization.

LaDon George
NASCAR Illustrated

RSS Feed
Email to a Friend
Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size RESIZE
Share
- Facebook
- Del.icio.us
- DIGG This
- Reddit
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
16 Comments

LONG POND, Pa. – Steve Letarte, crew chief for four-time champion Jeff Gordon, said Friday he has signed a three-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports.

The 31-year-old Letarte is in his fifth season as crew chief for Gordon. The two have won 10 races during that time and qualified for NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup for four consecutive years.

Letarte became Gordon’s crew chief in September of 2005, replacing Robbie Loomis, after Gordon failed to make the Chase.

Letarte said he had no doubts about returning to work with Gordon and did not talk to any other team.

“There never was really a question in my mind where I wanted to end up,” Letarte said while at Pocono Raceway for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. “We just finally got the formality out of the way. I don’t think [team owner] Rick [Hendrick] and I were concerned about it.

“I think the media was more concerned about it than we were. Once Rick and I talked on the phone, we knew what we were going to do and now the formality is all finished.”

While Gordon has made the Chase with Letarte, he has not won a championship with him atop the pit box and Letarte has taken much of the criticism for the team’s performance. Any idea of a crew chief change for Gordon was put to rest at end of last year, Letarte said.

“At the end of last year, when I sat down with Jeff, we just wanted to make sure we were on the same page on where this team needed to go and once we got that out of the way, the rest has just really been financial,” Letarte said.

Letarte began working in the No. 24 team shop at age 16 in 1995, the first year Gordon won the title. Letarte is the youngest crew chief of any driver in the top 25 in points. Travis Geisler, 29, is the youngest crew chief of any major team in the garage as he guides the team of Sam Hornish.

“Racing is like dog years – I’ve been in the garage since I was 16 or 17 years old,” Letarte said. “All I’ve ever done is race. I don’t feel young or old. I feel like a crew chief with a driver that is capable of winning races.

“As a crew chief, that’s all you can ask for … to have the team with the support that we have and a driver like we have.”

Letarte said he didn’t know if his contract specifies he is to work solely with Gordon and the No. 24 team.

“Right now, I signed a contract extension; I plan on being Jeff’s crew chief,” Letarte said. “What the details of it [are], I’d have to go back and re-read it. I’m not so concerned about it.

“I’ve worked for Rick for a long time. We have a very good friendship. I believe in his vision and how he steers our company. I’m sure if there is somewhere else in the company that he feels I can suit it better, then we’ll sit down and talk about that. But I really have no plans of changing what I’m doing.”