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  • Phil Surgen named crew chief for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Cup team

    Phil Surgen named crew chief for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Cup team

    Chip Ganassi Racing released a statement, naming Phil Surgen as crew chief for the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team driven by Matt Kenseth for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader races at Michigan International Speedway.

    Surgen, who works as a race engineer for CGR and has been part of the team since 2016, will also be atop the No. 42 pit box as crew chief for the 2003 Cup champion for the balance of this year’s Cup season, replacing veteran Chad Johnston, who has also been with the team since 2016 and won six races as the No. 42 crew chief from 2016 to 2019.

    Surgen served as an interim crew chief for the No. 42 team driven by former CGR driver Kyle Larson at Michigan in June 2016 when Johnston was suspended for one race and fined $20,000 following a post-race infraction the previous race at Pocono Raceway, where the No. 42 Chevrolet was discovered with a missing lug nut during the post-race inspection process. In Surgen’s one-race term as crew chief at Michigan, Larson finished in third place.

    The No. 42 team originally led by Johnston started this year with Larson behind the wheel. Through the first four races, the driver and the team notched three top-10 results, including a best result of fourth place at Phoenix Raceway in March. In April, during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Larson was suspended by NASCAR and released from his ride with Chip Ganassi Racing for using a racial slur during a live iRacing event. When the season resumed in May at Darlington Raceway, Kenseth was named as driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2020 season. Through 16 races, Kenseth has recorded two top-10 results, a best result of second place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, five top-15 results and two DNFs. He has also led a total of 12 laps and has recorded an average result of 20.63. The driver and the team sit in 28th place in the regular-season standings and are 210 points below the top-16 cutline to qualify for the 2020 Cup Playoffs with six regular-season races remaining until the postseason field is determined.

    The upcoming NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader races at Michigan International Speedway will occur on August 8-9. The race on August 8 will occur at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the race on August 9 will occur at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Bristol Food City 500

    Just as in the Daytona 500, starting in day and ending at night due to extensive rain delays, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 54th annual Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Surprising:  Creating his own ‘March Madness’, the leader of the Stewart-Haas Racing team rebounded from having to use a provisional to get into the race to finishing in the top five.

    “To start 37th and end up fourth today, I’m pretty excited about that,” Tony Stewart said. “I’m really excited for Chad Johnston (crew chief) and everybody on this Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 team.”

    “We had a long way to go from Friday when we weren’t very good, and every day we just got better and better. So, I’m really proud of this team.”

    Not Surprising:  With a gladiator’s sword as the prize for the victor, it was appropriate that the race ended as a survival of the fittest contest. And the survivor of this race was indeed fit, as demonstrated by his back flip on a wet start finish line in the track known as ‘the Last Great Coliseum.’

    Carl Edwards, behind the wheel of the No. 99 Kellogg’s / Frosted Flakes Ford, scored his first win of the 2014 season, making him the fourth different driver to win in the season and qualifying him for the Chase. This was Edwards’s third victory and eighth top-10 finish at Bristol.

    “I just can’t believe it,” Edwards said. “We were terrible on Saturday, so I’m just glad we turned it around.”

    “We had no clue we were going to win this race.”

    Surprising:  While typically the action ensues when the green flag flies, in this race most of the intense crashing took place when the caution flag came out. There were two instances where the yellow flew yet two drivers were struck from the rear at fairly high rates of speed.

    The first incident occurred when Timmy Hill drilled Matt Kenseth from behind and the second occurred when Brad Keselowski was unable to slow down and hit Jamie McMurray in the rear.

    One of the more bizarre incidents occurred on pit road under caution when Danica Patrick attempted to pull out of her pit stall, got sideways and drilled Clint Bowyer’s machine.

    “It was an eventful night,” Patrick said. “I lost first and second gear and then finally third gear.  That’s why I hit Clint (Bowyer) in the pits.”

    “It wouldn’t go so I dipped the clutch and got sideways, and when it was about to spin around, I lifted, it caught and then it went straight and it wouldn’t stop.”

    “So, I hit him,” Patrick said. “I apologized to his crew after the race.”

    Not Surprising:  Kyle and Kurt Busch had an ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ moment on lap 394 when Kyle spun out after losing his car in the marbles and big brother Kurt hit the wall trying to avoid him. As a result of that damage, Kurt Busch had to go back behind the wall to repair the right front suspension.

    Kurt Busch finished 35th and brother Kyle finished 29th.

    “Had a moment of brightness but it went downhill from there,” Kyle Busch tweeted after the race. “Really thankful no one hit me when I was sideways.”

    Surprising:  While the streak of top five finishes sadly ended for NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., another streak surprisingly was born.

    Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon scored his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, which the four-time champ has never been done before in his career to start the season.

    Not Surprising:  Bristol is one of the most physically demanding tracks so it was no wonder that Joey Logano was feeling the need to improve his upper body workout regimen. Logano lost his power steering prior to the rain delay but soldiered on to finish 20th in his No. 22 Shell Pennzoil For.

    “I was already huffing and puffing pretty hard trying to get the thing to turn,” Logano said. “It was intermittent for a while once we restarted and then it just went away.”

    Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus must have remained in previous race Las Vega mode, gambling with taking left sides only early in the race and then cutting a right front tire down as a result.

    The tread on the No. 48 Kobalt Tools Chevrolet unwound, which forced him to the pits, losing several laps to the leader.

    “The tire still had air in it,” Johnson said. “It didn’t wear it out.”

    “Something made it come apart.”

    Not Surprising:   It was only a matter of time for these two drivers to have a bit of a break out in the Sprint Cup Series, both posting their career best finishes.

    Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., behind the wheel of his No. 17 Nationwide Insurance Ford, finished second, bettering his previous career high finish in third at Talladega in October 2013. And Aric Almirola, in his No. 43 Smithfield Ford Petty blue machine, finished third, bettering his previous career best at Homestead in 2010.

    “It helps our confidence for sure,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “We’re just slowly working and getting better and better.”

    “It was a good night for us,” Almirola said after the race was finally concluded. “It seemed like our car got better and better.”

    “I’m really proud of everybody on our team because they gave me a really good car.”

    Surprising:  A strange new hashtag on Twitter was surprisingly born after one of the most bizarre equipment malfunctions occurred. As a result, rookie driver Alex Bowman tweeted “#badluckbowman is getting freaking ridiculous. Solid top 20 car and the battery literally fell out. Now I get to ride around all day.”

    And with that tweet, the young Rookie of the Year contender picked up ad additional ten thousand followers of his Twitter handle @AlexBRacing.

    Not Surprising:  Speaking of rookie contenders, young Kyle Larson, piloting the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished top-10 and also was the highest finishing rookie of the race.

    “We had a really good run today,” Larson said. “Started off in 20th and got to the top ten pretty easily there in the beginning.”

    “Ran in second and third for a long time,” Larson continued. “Pretty much stayed in the top ten for the whole race and inched our way up to the front.”

    The Cup Series heads back across country next week for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Dover AAA 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Dover AAA 400

    Under picture perfect skies in the Delmarva, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 44th annual AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

    Surprising:  Probably the biggest surprise was that the ‘monster’ that usually lurks at the track known as the ‘Monster Mile’ was nowhere to be found.

    In fact, at a track where one driver’s misfortune can also collect others in the process, there were but 4 cautions for 21 laps, including 3 cautions for debris and one for fluid on the track from the Blue Deuce of Brad Keselowski.

    “I’m not exactly sure what happened but something in the rear end housing went out and burned itself up,” the reigning champ said. “We tried to get off the track as fast as we could with the Miller Lite Ford to not bring out a yellow, but obviously wasn’t quite quick enough.”

    “We’re getting all of our bad luck out of the way this year.”

    Not Surprising:  When your driver breaks record after record, including surpassing Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for eight wins at Dover, it is not surprising that the crew chief is proud. But Chad Knaus was absolutely effusive when it came time to talk about his driver Jimmie Johnson.

    “It’s been an honor to be able to work with Jimmie over the course of the years,” Knaus said. “I think he’s able to pull out some things that are pretty spectacular.”

    “He’s able to dig deeper, pull out his cape, make things happen in winning moments of these races that other people cannot do,” Knaus continued. “It’s pretty spectacular.”

    “I think Jimmie is probably the most underrated champion we have in this industry,” Knaus said. “He is by far and above the most powerful driver over the course of the last 25, 35 years in this sport.”

    Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt Jr. emerged from his second place run at the ‘Monster Mile’ with a renewed confidence and an obvious fire in his belly to get to Victory Lane.

    “I feel we’ve been able to really show what our team’s capable of,” the driver of the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet said. “The changes we’re making, everything seems to be going in the direction you want.”

    “We came really close today,” Junior continued. “I don’t feel like today was a highlight for us.”

    “I think this is how it’s supposed to be every week.”

    Not Surprising:  With his eye out the front windshield, it was not surprising that Joey Logano, who finished third had no idea what happened to his teammate Brad Keselowski. In fact, he did not even want to take the time to find out, adopting his version of a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.

    “I try not to ask questions,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Chevrolet said. “I know for me, when I talk on the radio, I slow down a lot.”

    Surprising:  In spite of a pit crew swap with RCR-alliance Nationwide team partners, Kurt Busch had issues, again with a loose wheel. The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet finished a disappointing 21st, the second lowest of all of the Chase drivers, losing two Chase positions from seventh to ninth.

    “A loose wheel did us in,” Busch said. “Nothing went our way today.”

    “This is the Chase and you can’t afford to have these problems,” Busch continued. “We need to regroup and get it together for Kansas next week.”

    Not Surprising:   While certainly disappointed to not be in Victory Lane, Kyle Busch was not surprisingly satisfied with his third straight top-five finishes in the Chase to date.

    “Certainly, I wish we definitely could have gotten more,” the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota said. “We were about a fifth to seventh-place car much of the day and we ended up fifth.”

    “The Interstate Batteries Camry got what it could out of it.”

    Surprising:  As a last minute addition to the Chase, it has been surprising to see Jeff Gordon progress in the way that he has, in fact climbing out of the basement to the fifth place in the standings due to his fourth place finish at Dover.

    But even more surprising was the fact that the driver was having such a great time just watching his teammates battle for the win.

    “All in all, it was a great day for the Axalta Chevrolet,” Gordon said. “I was having fun.”

    “Congrats to Jimmie as he’s so tough here,” Gordon continued. “It was a great job by Junior too.”

    “That was fun to watch.”

    Not Surprising:  When a driver competing for the championship has mechanical failures, it is not surprising that he becomes one of NASCAR’s biggest losers. But even with that, there is no quit for the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford.

    And in this case, Carl Edwards, who experienced a broken left-rear hub, finished the worst of all Chasers in 35th, plummeting from fourth to eleventh in the standings.

    “We did not need to have that trouble,” Edwards said. “Something broke in the left-rear, so that’s tough.”

    “Overall, we gave it the best effort we could,” Edwards continued. “We don’t quit.”

    Surprising:  After convincingly clinching the first two races in the Chase, it was surprising that the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot ‘Let’s Do This’ Toyota pronounced his seventh place finish ‘decent.’

    “We kind of missed it today,” Matt Kenseth said. “We got caught with being the last on two tires and restarting on the inside, which was really bad.”

    “Still salvaged a respectable finish, but certainly I wanted to do better than that.”

    Not Surprising:  Even with his sponsor, 5-Hour Energy, renewing their relationship and in spite of his positive, image-enhancing yoga event for Living Beyond Breast Cancer prior to the race, Clint Bowyer was resoundingly booed by the crowd at the Monster Mile during driver introductions.

    The driver of the No. 15 Raspberry5hourEnergyLivingBeyondBreastCancer Toyota finished top ten and moved two positions up in the standings to the eighth spot.

    Surprising:  Jamie McMurray followed up his top-five run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with an eleventh place finish at the Monster Mile. And with that, the driver of the No. 1 Liftmaster Chevrolet pronounced his season ‘pretty good.’

    “Yeah, it’s been good,” McMurray said. “I think our cars have been even better than what they were in 2010 when we won some big races.”

    “We were able to hit on a few things that has really worked well for us at a variety of different tracks.”

    Not Surprising:  With nothing to lose after losing his Chase spot, Martin Truex Jr. was proud of the ‘Hail Mary’ that he and his crew threw at the No. 56 NAPA Shocks Toyota Camry, finishing 15th.

    “Chad (Johnston, crew chief) took a real chance with our set up and I am proud of him for it,” Truex Jr. said. “We had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

    “Sometimes you have to think outside the box.”

     

     

  • NASCAR Drops Penalty Hammer on Michael Waltrip Racing; Newman Heads to Chase

    NASCAR Drops Penalty Hammer on Michael Waltrip Racing; Newman Heads to Chase

    In an unprecedented Monday evening news conference after the wild Richmond race on Saturday night, NASCAR dropped the penalty hammer on Michael Waltrip Racing.

    “Based upon our review of Saturday night’s race at Richmond, it is our determination that the MWR organization attempted to manipulate the outcome of the race,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “As the sport’s sanctioning body, it is our responsibility to ensure there is a fair and level playing field for all of our competitors and this action today reflects our commitment to that.”

    Although NASCAR could not determine if the late race spin by MWR driver Clint Bowyer was intentional, that combined with the unusual pitting by MWR teammate Brian Vickers, which was documented on the radio transmissions between him  and spotterTy Norris, added up to what the sanctioning body considered a violation of Section 12-4, Actions detrimental to stock car racing.

    As a result, NASCAR levied the following penalties:

    *The three MWR teams, including the No. 15 of Clint Bowyer, the No. 55 of Brian Vickers, and the No. 56 of Martin Truex Jr. were penalized with the loss of 50 championship driver and 50 championship owner points, respectively.

    *NASCAR also fined MWR $300,000, the largest fine that the sanctioning body has ever levied.

    *Ty Norris, the Executive Vice President & General Manager of Michael Waltrip Racing and the spotter for Brian Vickers, has been suspended indefinitely from the sport.

    *The three crew chiefs, Brian Pattie on the No. 15, Scott Miller on the No. 55 and Chad Johnston on the No. 56 car have also been placed on probation until the season end.

    The controversy started after in-car audio and video revealed what appeared to be some sort of exchange in code between Bowyer and his team, leading to a late race spin and caution that changed the entire complexion of the finishing order and the Chase setting.

    “(Newman) is going to win the race,’’ spotter Brett Griffin told Bowyer in audio first aired by ESPN.

    About 30 seconds later, crew chief Brian Pattie asked Bowyer if his arm was hurting and if it was “hot in there” and then was told to “Itch it.” Shortly after that, Bowyer seemed to have jerked the wheel, sending his No. 15 5-Hour Energy spinning and his teammate Martin Truex Jr. into Chase contention.

    Even Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was right behind Bowyer, commented after the race that the spin was suspicious.

    “He just spun right out,” Junior said. “That’s the craziest thing I ever saw.”

    “He just came right around,” Junior continued. “We were going into (Turns) 3 and 4 … he was hemming around on the brakes and jerking the car around, and then the thing just spun out.”

    “It was crazy.”

    Because of the point penalties, which were assessed following the Richmond race and not after the Chase seeding, the point total for the No. 56 car piloted by Truex Jr. was reduced to 691, eliminating him from the second Wild Card berth.

    This change, which put Truex Jr. in 17th position in points, moved Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 car for Stewart-Haas Racing, up into the Chase field.

    “Obviously, we’re very pleased with NASCAR’s decision to provide Ryan Newman’s rightful place in this year’s Chase,” Tony Stewart, Co-Owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, said. “NASCAR was put in a very difficult position Saturday night at Richmond and we commend the sanctioning body for taking the time to do the necessary due diligence to ensure that the right call was made.”

    “I am proud that NASCAR took a stand with respect to what went on Saturday night at Richmond,” Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, said. “I know it was a tough decision to make.”

    “With that being said, myself, Matt Borland (crew chief) and this entire No. 39 team are looking forward to competing for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.”

    As with any penalty, Michael Waltrip Racing can appeal, however, that still will not re-instate Martin Truex Jr. back into Chase contention. Shortly after the penalties were announced, MWR advised that they would not be appealing the decision.

    “What occurred on the No. 55 radio at the end of Saturday night’s race in Richmond was a split-second decision made by team spotter Ty Norris to bring the No. 55 to pit lane and help a teammate earn a place in the Chase,” a statement from Michael Waltrip Racing read. “We regret the decision and its impact.”

    “We apologize to NASCAR, our fellow competitors, partners and fans who were disappointed in our actions,” the MWR statement continued. “We will learn from this and move on.”

    “As general manager, Ty Norris has been an integral part of Michael Waltrip Racing since its founding and has my and (co-owner) Rob Kauffman’s full support.”

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 5-Hour Energy 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono 5-Hour Energy 500

    Under threatening skies in Long Pond, PA and after the ARCA race was called for fog the previous day, the Cup Series took the green flag for one of the longer races of the season.

    Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA.

    [media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Surprising: One of the most surprised at Pocono Raceway was the driver in Victory Lane celebrating his 84th career win, tying the record for third on the all-time NASCAR Spring Cup Series win list, along with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip.

    Race winner Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, also tied NASCAR Champ Bill Elliott for the most series wins at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

    “It’s so amazing because I was so excited about the win and the hard work that Alan (Gustafson) and his guys have been putting into our speedway program or whatever we call these kinds of race tracks, because we struggled on them and I was just so excited to get that win and see what we’ve been working on,” Gordon said.

    “So, today to see it all come together, I was so caught up in that,” Gordon continued. “Plus my family was here to celebrate it.”

    “I didn’t even think about 84 until they reminded me when I went to do the Speed Channel show Victory Lane,” Gordon said. “And I was like, oh yeah, that’s unbelievable.”

    “I really can’t even express in words what it means because I never thought it would happen for me or for anybody.”

    Not Surprising:  As expected, he new ability to shift, fuel issues, and problems in the pits all played significant roles in the 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway. Probably most affected was Carl Edwards, the Series point’s leader, who experienced a valve problem that almost caused him to have an engine failure, however, other drivers struggled as well.

    While Edwards was able to turn a lap towards the end of the race, the driver of the No. 99 Kellogg/Cheez-It Ford, finished 37th, narrowly maintaining his points lead over Jimmie Johnson by six points.

    Another driver Tony Stewart complained bitterly throughout the race about the new-found ability to shift. The driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet finished 21st.

    “I just want to thank NASCAR for having us shift about 100 times today,” Stewart said bitterly after losing third gear. “We could have had a good day.”

    Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Okuma Chevrolet, had fuel issues early in the race, which relegated him to an earlier pit stop strategy than the rest of the field. Harvick was able to redeem himself, however, and finished top-five.

    “It was a total team effort to get our Okuma Chevy up there,” Harvick said. “It was a good solid day for us.”

    The driver most bit by problems in the pits was Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota. Vickers received a speeding penalty and then to make matters worse, sped again as he was serving his penalty.  Vickers finished 22nd.

    Surprising:  Although Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, technically finished third, he along with his crew chief Dave Rogers, were surprised during the post-race inspection when their car officially failed.

    “It’s a huge surprise,” Rogers said. “I didn’t present anything to tech that hasn’t been through tech before, several times.”

    “The car was 1/16th low at the end,” Rogers continued. “NASCAR gives you a range to be in and they give us a yellow range and we exceeded the yellow. We were 1/16th in the red so we were wrong.”

    “We have to go back to the shop and figure out why.”

    Not Surprising: Kyle’s big brother Kurt, who scored the pole position in his back up No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger, finished in the runner up position to race winner Gordon.

    “It was a great run,” Busch said. “The old boy Jeff Gordon had it in him today. We ran him strong, we ran him hard.”

    “We were excited with the finish.”

    Surprising:  It was most surprising to see young gun Landon Cassill, behind the wheel of his No. 41 Security Benefit/Thank A Teacher Chevrolet, lead a few laps towards the end of the race.

    “We were just trying a little pit strategy to see if we could catch a caution or something,” Cassill said. “It’s cool leading laps in the world’s greatest motorsport so I’m proud of that.”

    Not Surprising:  At least two of Jeff Gordon’s other teammates were pretty happy with their run at Pocono Raceway. Old ‘Five Time’ Jimmie Johnson, piloting the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, finished fourth and NASCAR’S most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, finished sixth.

    “It was a great day,” Johnson said. “Our engine package held up today with the abuse we gave it.”

    “I’m real happy with where I finished,” Dale Jr. said. “The car was pretty good. I was good with the shifting.”

    Surprising:  Yes indeed, most surprising was the fact that Denny Hamlin, who has mastered the ‘Tricky Triangle’ so often, did not win the race. In fact, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry finished an uncharacteristic 19th.

    “We were just coasting there at the beginning and just nothing went really right,” Hamlin said. “We struggled a little bit on pit road, we got a little bit tighter, I felt like the front bump rubbers just gave up, and then when we left pit road, we had a flat tire.”

    “When we did that, it sheared the tire and wrapped it around the housing and broke the brake lines so I had no brakes,” Hamlin continued. “It was just a slew of problems there at the end.”

    Not Surprising:  To no one’s surprise, newly named crew chief Chad Johnston encouraged his driver, Martin Truex, Jr., behind the wheel of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, to a top-10 finish.

    “That was a hard fought 10th,” Truex, Jr. said. “Chad did a good job of keeping me calm. We were just missing a little and I hope we can find it soon because we’ll have some fun if we do.”

  • Martin Truex Jr.: Same Old Jersey Boy With Brand New Crew Chief

    Martin Truex Jr.: Same Old Jersey Boy With Brand New Crew Chief

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”235″][/media-credit]Prior to the race at Pocono, one of two tracks closest to his home state of New Jersey, Martin Truex, Jr. got the news that he would have a new crew chief, Chad Johnston, atop his pit box.

    And even though this self-proclaimed Jersey boy is glad to be ‘home’, he is still a bit disconcerted from the news of the change.

    “I mean it’s a tough deal,” Truex said. “It’s a tough situation to be involved in. This is obviously the first time I’ve ever been in this position where we’ve changed crew chiefs during the season.”

    Truex seemed to feel most badly for his former crew chief Pat Tryson, who was relieved of that duty and will be reassigned within the Michael Waltrip Racing organization. Yet after 49 races together, while Truex feels a bit badly about how it all came down, he is still looking forward to working with Tryson in a different capacity.

    “I feel bad for Pat (Tryson) obviously,” Truex said. “Hopefully we can keep Pat and hopefully he will stay around and help us make our race cars better because that’s the things he’s really good at.”

    Truex, Jr. is looking forward to continuing to work with his new crew chief, a 31 year old engineer from Indiana. Truex’s new boss atop the pit box, Chad Johnston, grew up racing himself on the paved and dirt short tracks the heartland, driving open wheel midget cars.

    “It’s not a big transition for the team though because Chad’s had a lot of responsibilities on the team up until now,” Truex said. “He was already in charge of the race car and the changes that went with it.”

    “So far, things haven’t been a whole lot different,” Truex continued. “Most of the interaction about the race car has been between me and him for the past six months. So, that’s not a big transition.”

    Because Johnston is so familiar with the team, the major new responsibilities include tech, taking charge of the team, and calling his first race, the 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono, atop the pit box.

    “The biggest things different for him is going through tech and making sure everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to,” Truex said. “And of course his job on Sunday will be different with him calling the race.”

    “Towards the end of last year when we gave Chad more of a responsibility as far as overseeing all of the set up on the car and the interaction on the race car going between me and him, we’d already seen big benefits from doing that,” Truex, Jr. said. “It’s not that Pat wasn’t getting it done but it was more that Chad was really stepping up and it was time to promote him.”

    “He’s really doing a great job and all the things that we’ve given him to do, he’s really taken them on his shoulders and done a great job,” Truex continued. “He’s worked hard for this and he deserves it.”

    Truex, Jr. is also hoping that the crew chief change will position him to somehow get back into Chase contention. He also definitely wants to return to his on-track performance of earlier in the season, especially on the bigger tracks.

    “We’ve had a shot to win a few races and if we just could have closed the deal, we could be in the Chase,” Truex said. “The biggest thing that I’m worried about right now is that our performance hasn’t been as good as earlier in the year.”

    “We were running really strong, leading laps and running up front for a while but the past month, it’s been kind of tough,” Truex continued. “It’s really just the bigger tracks.”

    “Right now some of these races, we’re just going to have to get through and get the best we can until we get our cars better,” Truex said. “If we could go and win a couple races, we could make a deal out of it. So, that would be good.”

    The new driver/crew chief combo will be first tested as they try to get back on track at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ this weekend. The challenges at Pocono Raceway will no doubt include managing the fuel, as well as the challenge of shifting for the first time in many years at the track.

    “It’s quite a bit different,” Truex said. “We were doing a bit of shifting just to see what it would be like and it’s different.”

    “I don’t know how much it will affect the fuel mileage and it usually comes down to a fuel mileage race,” Truex said. “I did shift the whole entire time in Happy Hour just to get a good read on it and see where we stand on it.”

    As the Michael Waltrip team heads into the summer months, the Jersey driver also acknowledged that keeping cool, both in the car physically as well as emotionally, will become more and more important. And no doubt, Truex will lean on his young crew chief to assist in both regards.

    “These cars are hot,” Truex said. “They put a lot of effort into keeping them as cool as possible but at the end of the day, it’s just hot.”

    “You just have to be prepared for it,” Truex continued. “You just have to suck it up.”

    “I started to train this year but I don’t think it’s all it’s cracked up to be, to be honest,” Truex said. “I think it’s a situation that when you do this, you get trained for it. It’s kind of like an experience thing.”

    “You get used to the heat and you don’t worry about it anymore,” Truex continued. “I sometimes don’t know how we do it but we’re able to make it through.”

    With a new face atop the pit box, Martin Truex, Jr. will be looking to his roots for some familiarity. His family is not able to be with him this weekend, however, his girlfriend and dog are keeping him company.

    “Yes, I am a Jersey boy,” Truex said. “I haven’t lived there in a long time and I don’t get back there as much as I’d like to but yeah , I never forgot where I came from.”

    “I still love it there,” Truex continued. “All my friends are there and my family still lives there.”

    “It’s nice to get back there and I’d like to get back more often,” Truex said. “Someday I’ll be able to spend more time there.”