NSCS/XS: Joe Gibbs Racing shuffles crew chiefs for 2015 season

On Thursday, December 4th, Joe Gibbs Racing announced their 2015 crew chief line-up for both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR XFINITY Series.

Sprint Cup Series

Jason Ratcliff will once again crew chief for Matt Kenseth after finishing seventh in points with 13 top-fives and 22 top-10s.

Dave Rogers will crew chief for Denny Hamlin. Rogers worked with Kyle Busch last year, finishing 10th in points with a win and nine top-fives. Hamlin finished third in points with a win and seven top-fives last year, working with Darian Grubb.

Grubb will crew chief for Carl Edwards, who joins JGR after spending his career so far to date with Roush Fenway Racing. Edwards finished ninth in points last year with two wins and seven top-fives.

Adam Stevens will crew chief for Kyle Busch in 2015. Stevens worked with Busch last year in the Nationwide Series, winning seven races. With Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. splitting the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, Stevens was able to lead the team to a second place finish in the owner’s championship standings. Stevens has won 31 races and scored 95 top-10 finishes in 124 Nationwide Series races as a crew chief.

“With the expansion of our NASCAR Sprint Cup Series operations to four teams next year with the addition of Carl Edwards, we have been able to take a step back and evaluate each of our teams and make decisions that we feel are best for our organization long term,” J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “Like Jason and Dave previously, Adam (Stevens) has clearly proven that he is ready to move into the Cup Series and we feel that his familiarity with Kyle (Busch) provides the opportunity for us to make that move now. We think pairing Dave (Rogers) with Denny (Hamlin) and Darian (Grubb) with Carl (Edwards) will also make each team stronger heading into next season. Jason (Ratcliff) and Matt (Kenseth) came together quickly and we felt it was in the best interest of the 20 team to keep it as is.”

XFINITY Series

Eric Phillips will crew chief for Daniel Suarez, who will be running his first full season after success in the NASCAR Mexico Series. Phillips joins JGR after experiencing success at Kyle Busch Motorsports, scoring the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championship with Busch and Erik Jones taking turns behind the wheel.

Chris Gayle will crew chief for the No. 54 Toyota, which will see multiple drivers in 2015. Gayle worked with Elliott Sadler last season, as Sadler moves to Roush Fenway Racing in 2015.

Mike Wheeler will crew chief for the No. 20 Toyota, which will also see multiple drivers in 2015. Wheeler has been with JGR since 2002, and has served as the No. 11 Sprint Cup team’s race engineer since 2005.

“The XFINITY Series has been very important to us at Joe Gibbs Racing. Not only from a driver development standpoint, but also in the development of crew chiefs and other team members that eventually make their way into our Cup programs,” Gibbs commented. “Mike Wheeler has been a vital part of our success with Denny on the Cup side and we’re excited that he will have a chance to be a crew chief. It is a similar transition to the one we made with Chris Gayle a couple of years ago, and Chris will remain with us, but move over to the 54 Toyota with Kyle. We’re also excited to have Eric Phillips join our operations from KBM to work with Daniel Suarez next season.”