 |
| Busch (L) and Rogers part company |
Since being named crew chief
for the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota with three races remaining in the 2009 campaign,
Rogers has guided the team to 13 victories in 175 starts and three Top-10 championship
finishes. His sometimes-tempestuous relationship with Busch came to a head at
Bristol Motor Speedway in late August, when Busch effectively abandoned his car
on pit road after being involved in a crash and was told by Rogers to “park it
behind the truck and take your whiny little ass to the bus.”
While Rogers’ departure from the
No. 18 team was announced in-house on Tuesday of this week, no one from JGR has commented publically on the move. Rogers is expected to remain a part
of JGR’s Sprint Cup Series operation, possibly as crew chief for newcomer Carl
Edwards’ and the No. 19 Stanley Tools Toyota.
 |
| Stevens (L) moves to Nationwide |
Sources close to the team
say Adam Stevens will move from JGR’s Nationwide Series operation to replace
Rogers atop the No. 18 pit box. Stevens has gone to Victory Lane five times
this season with Busch, and is the obvious heir-apparent to Rogers.
Stevens will be replaced in
the Nationwide Series garage by Eric Phillips, who has served as crew chief on the
No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Camping World Truck Series entry. Under his
guidance, the Monster Energy team has won eight times in 17 starts this season with
Busch (six wins) and Erik Jones (two wins). He won the Truck Series owner’s
championship for KBM a year ago and is solidly in the running to defend that
title this season.
There is no word on the 2015 status of Darien Grubb, who currently serves as crew chief for Denny
Hamlin’s No, 11 Fed Ex Toyota at JGR. Jason Ratcliff is expected to return as crew chief for Matt Kenseth's No. 20 Toyota next season.
Good luck to them all, especially those moving up the crew chief food chain.
ReplyDeleteDo we really need a close up of Dave Moody that is quite this large?
ReplyDeleteIt's not mandatory to come here!
DeleteAnd in reply to your second post (which will not appear here), it's amazing how someone can come to MY website, insult the host, then get pissy when he's encouraged to go elsewhere from now on. Gosh, how WILL we go on without you? LOL
DeleteHe just hiding behind a keyboard. Good thing you can not post people's cruddy responses if you don't want to
DeleteTell them like it is Dave. That is 1 of the reasons I come here, the godfather tells it like it is and does not sugar coat it.
DeleteHis site. His rules. About Busch I think this will work out well for him
ReplyDeleteGood luck to Kyle's new crew cheif. He'll need it. Crew chiefing for Dale Jr and Kyle Busch have to be the two toughest jobs in NASCAR.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to bring the 2007 cars back to NASCAR. That was the pinnacle of the evolution of the stock car. However, they change from that to the ridiculous and atrocious COT/Gen6. A qualifying session for NASCAR used to hold a decent crowd. The crowd for qualifying today was maybe 50?? Look at the decline of NASCAR since both the Cup/Nationwide series changed their cars. And if you give the economy as the primary excuse, people still filled football stadiums during the recession. The COT cars for both series have destroyed this sport. It's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteKyle goes through another one huh!
ReplyDeleteits time jgr wakes up and smells the roses kyle is nothing but a waste of time in cup let the king of the minors win it all in that series its the only series he will ever b a champion in
DeleteReally? Let's compare Kyle's win in the past five years to say oh, Junior. Also, how many times has junior come from the back of the pack with a broken down smashed up car to win? How many trifectas does Junior (or anyone else have? And who made one of the greatest saves in racing history? http://youtu.be/2JDr9gUf_2U
DeleteGot anything?
Really? Let's pretend Junior is the only driver Kyle is racing.
DeleteNo matter how you slice it, Kyle has performed well below anyone would have expected in Cup. He's a phenomenal driver, but the reality is Kyle vs the field in NNS are CWTS and you take Kyle. Kyle vs. the field in Cup and you take the field. The contrast is that stark.
Really? The contrast is also stark how harvick can run at the front and not pull off the win. The contrast is stark as to how many wins Jr. has with the best equipment money can buy. The contrast is stark when the crew chief has not helped him do better in 2014.
DeleteWatchin Dave Rodgers come off the trailer so many times this year with a setup that kept Kyle out of the top 10 was getting out of hand. Example, Harvick comes to Hass and has seven polls and rarely qualified out of the top 10. You cannot blame Kyle for their lack of success these past five years, Rodgers shares it equally. Maybe more.
ReplyDeletelet's put the blame where it belongs
ReplyDeleteTOYOTA
Wii Kyle ever grow up
ReplyDeleteWill Harvick? Keselowski? Don't throw random bs comments out there if you don't compare the other babies in the sport. How 'bout Hamlin? And will has two ll's and not two ii's. Who's second in the chase this morning? Johnson? Jr.? Those who think the are more mature than Kyle should try to live his life, deal with sponsors, his wife, and a demanding sport that requires verbal expression.
DeleteCaptain Spellcheck
Hay Dave, do you think the crew chief shake up will be a BIG one or a small one over at JGR?
ReplyDeleteKyle Busch will win next year without Rogers
ReplyDelete