What to Expect from Each Driver Changing Teams for the 2015 NASCAR Season
The very brief NASCAR offseason is well underway, and team owners and drivers are using this time to make plenty of changes in hopes of taking over Kevin Harvick's crown in 2015.
Some drivers are moving up from the Nationwide Series, some drivers are moving garages and lots of teams are shaking up things at crew chief. It's hard to keep track of the carousel of crew changes during this time of the year.
In fact, some of the biggest stars in the sport—Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kurt and Kyle Busch—are all seeing significant changes to their team.
Luckily, we've got you covered. Here are the most significant driver and team changes in the Sprint Cup Series and what they mean for the 2015 season.
Carl Edwards
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What's Changing: Carl Edwards is switching from driving the No. 99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing to driving the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Darian Grubb, who was the crew chief for Denny Hamlin last season, will be his crew chief.
What to Expect: Edwards is the Sprint Cup driver making arguably the biggest changes for the 2015 season, so it will be nice to have a veteran like Grubb by his side as he makes the transition.
The 35-year-old Edwards is hoping that the move gives him a boost, as reported by Jeff Gluck of USA Today:
"'I mean, who could ignore what Matt Kenseth did last year?' Edwards said, referring to Kenseth's series-high seven wins in his first year with Gibbs. 'Who could ignore what Joey Logano has done (in moving from JGR to Team Penske, also in 2013)? ... Look at Kevin Harvick's success (in moving from Richard Childress Racing to Stewart-Haas Racing this season). It appears making a change sometimes gets some things going. I hope it works.'
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He has spent his entire career at RFR, so look for him to have some growing pains to start the season. But those should be hammered out quickly. Look for Edwards, who finished as the points runner-up in 2008 and 2011, to find himself in Victory Lane a few times and challenge for the championship.
Kyle Busch
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What's Changing: Kyle Busch will stay at Joe Gibbs Racing, but he'll have a new crew chief in 2015. Adam Stevens, who has been a Nationwide Series crew chief for the past four seasons, will be taking the reins for the No. 18 team.
What to Expect: Kyle and Stevens have had great success together in the Nationwide Series over the last two years, with 19 wins under their belt. However, this was not the move that the younger Busch brother was hoping for.
"There was definitely a wish list on my end, and there was definitely a, 'Hey, you're getting Adam Stevens' on their end," Busch said, as reported by Jeff Gluck of USA Today. "At the end of the day, it just all came down to bringing Adam up."
Busch is coming off of one of the worst seasons of his career in the Sprint Cup Series, with only one win and a 10th-place finish. With Stevens' inexperience at this level, expect him to have a similar season in 2015.
Denny Hamlin
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What's Changing: Denny Hamlin's No. 11 team is getting Kyle Busch's former chief, Dave Rogers.
What to Expect: This is yet another shake-up in the Joe Gibbs Racing world. Hamlin, who was one of the final four drivers left in the Chase this year, admits that he never did give his former crew chief, Darian Grubb, a fair shot because of his close relationship with his engineer Mike Wheeler.
But Wheeler isn't his engineer anymore, and Hamlin now recognizes how important the communication between the driver and crew chief is. He has a good history with Rogers from his time in the Nationwide circuit, and this new relationship should give him the spark he needs to contend for the championship once again.
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Sam Hornish Jr.
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What's Changing: Sam Hornish Jr. is making a big leap this season, going from driving the No. 54 Toyota in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing on a part-time basis to driving the No. 9 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series for Richard Petty Motorsports.
What to Expect: Hornish is far from a Sprint Cup rookie—he drove for Team Penske (then Penske Racing) in the Sprint Cup Series from 2008-2010. But as a former IndyCar racer, he struggled, and he ended up getting demoted down to the Nationwide Series.
Jordan Bianchi of SBNation.com recaps how Hornish was able to rebuild his career:
"Taking the path he should have initially, Hornish dropped down to Nationwide to run a partial schedule in 2011 at Penske. Gradually, Hornish improved and at the end of the season he won his first race.
The following two years saw him compete full time in NASCAR's No. 2 series and finish fourth and second in the championship. It was during this time Hornish evolved from an open-wheel driver who couldn't hack it in NASCAR to a driver deserving of another go-around in Cup.
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Hornish is taking over Marcos Ambrose's car and team, and with something to prove to the Sprint Cup world and a rare second chance, Hornish will be one to watch this season. Consistency will be tough, but winning a race is a definite possibility.
Trevor Bayne
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What's Changing: Trevor Bayne will be driving the No. 6 Ford full time in the Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing. Last year, Bayne drove the No. 6 for RFR full time in the Nationwide Series and drove the No. 21 Ford part time for Wood Brothers Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
What to Expect: Bayne won the Daytona 500 in 2011 in only his second career Cup start, so he certainly has the talent to win on this level. He's only 23 years old, though, so he still has a lot to learn.
Being a full-time Sprint Cup driver is a completely different ballgame for the prodigious Bayne, so expect him to experience some bumps coming out of the gate. But once he gets used to the week-in, week-out grind of the top circuit, look for him to make a lot of appearances in the top 10.
Ryan Blaney
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What's Changing: Ryan Blaney will be driving the No. 21 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series for Wood Brothers Racing on a part-time basis. Previously, he had two Sprint Cup starts in the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske and was driving the No. 29 Ford in the Camping World Truck Series for Brad Keselowski Racing.
What to Expect: Blaney is 20 years old, and currently his focus is all about getting experience and driving in as many Sprint Cup races as possible. He will still be driving in the Xfinity (formerly Nationwide) Series for Team Penske, but as reported by Bob Pockrass of Sporting News, he's mainly focused on the top tier:
"I hope we can get it upwards to 17 to 20 (Cup races). We’re working really hard to get that done. I’m going to be racing a lot next year and fortunate to be in great cars, so I can’t worry about it too much.
My mindset is try to do more Cup races, just with that is the ultimate goal, obviously, and try to get more experience in that. I want to try to find more Cup races instead of Nationwide just because it progresses you a lot faster learning the cars.
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Blaney is trying to establish himself and gain more sponsorship, so look for the youngster to go for broke out there on the track.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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What's Changing: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s longtime crew chief, Steve Letarte, is headed to the NBC broadcast booth, and Chase Elliot's former Nationwide crew chief, Greg Ives, is joining the No. 88 team.
What to Expect: Junior is coming off of one of the best seasons of his career, with four wins. However, he had a disappointing Chase and finished the year in eighth place.
Earnhardt had a lot of chemistry with Letarte, and even though Ives has a great track record, he is expecting some bumps along the way, as reported by Jared Turner of Fox Sports:
"You've got to get to the racetrack and go through a month or two months of sort of feeling each other out and figuring things out. I think that eventually, surely, I think we'll do great. I think he's got a great future as a crew chief...
I've seen some of the greatest guys get together and it doesn't work automatically; it sort of takes a little work, so we won't panic if things don't hit it off right off the bat, but I expect us to do really well once we figure it out.
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So don't expect Junior to win out of the gates like he did in 2014. Of course, as he learned this year, it's much more important to finish strongly.
Kasey Kahne
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What's Changing: Keith Rodden, the former crew chief for Jamie McMurray, will be joining Kasey Kahne and the No. 5 team over at Hendrick Motorsports.
What to Expect: Kahne just signed a three-year extension with Hendrick Motorsports, but he has a lot left to prove after a disappointing season that saw him fall behind his teammates, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.
Kahne had worked with former crew chief Kenny Francis for nine years, and after his lackluster year, it was clear a change was needed. Rodden had worked with Hendrick and Kahne before, so it was a good fit.
As reported by Nate Ryan of USA Today, Kahne is excited about Rodden joining his team:
"Bringing Keith back is big for us. We spent 10 years together, so we have a very strong overall relationship and understanding of how to communicate. There's a great friendship and a lot of mutual respect, but at the same time I know he's really going to push me.
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Expect the new voice to do wonders for Kahne and for him to win multiple races this season, beginning early in the year.
Kurt Busch
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What's Changing: Tony Gibson, the former crew chief for Danica Patrick, is taking over control of Kurt Busch's No. 41 team.
What to Expect: Kurt actually switched chiefs with Patrick in October, and he saw immediate success with Gibson in his corner, finishing eighth, seventh and 11th in his final three races of the season.
Stewart-Haas Racing is hoping that Gibson, who has also worked with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip in his long career, will be able to bring some much-needed consistency to the older Busch brother's team.
Busch might not win more than one or two races this season, but he should find himself in the top 10 a lot more frequently in 2015.
Danica Patrick
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What's Changing: As we've already covered, Danica Patrick's former crew chief, Tony Gibson, moved to Kurt Busch's crew with three races remaining in the 2014 season. Daniel Knost became the interim crew chief for Patrick and the No. 10 team.
What to Expect: Patrick and Knost did not get off to a good start. In her final three races of 2014 with Knost at the helm, she finished 36th, 22nd and 18th. Still, Stewart-Haas Racing has made no indication that Knost will be replaced as her crew chief in 2015.
SHR seems to want Knost and Patrick to form a rapport and grow in the Sprint Cup Series together, but it's a risky move considering how much Patrick still has to learn about stock-car racing. A second-year crew chief might not be what she needs.
Patrick improved a little bit in 2014, her second full season in Sprint Cup, but her fans and sponsors will be looking for her to be much more consistent going forward. If Knost does indeed remain her crew chief, I'd expect it to be another step backward for Patrick to start the year, at least until they can develop some chemistry.
Paul Menard
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What's Changing: Paul Menard's lead engineer, Justin Alexander, has been promoted to crew chief.
What to Expect: Thirty-four-year-old Menard is a driver steadily on the rise, and Alexander—who has been a part of five championship teams at Hendrick Motorsports—is a great fit as his crew chief.
Alexander took over the job at Richard Childress Racing with five races left in the season, and Menard ended up with a fourth-place finish at Homestead Miami, the final race of the year.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Menard get the second Sprint Cup Series win of his career in 2015 and qualify for the Chase.
Jamie McMurray
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What's Changing: Matt McCall, the previous race engineer for Ryan Newman, will be the crew chief for Jamie McMurray and the No. 1 team at Chip Ganassi Racing.
What to Expect: You should expect big things from McMurray and McCall in 2015.
After all, McMurray wasn't a Chase driver this season, but he was one of the most consistent drivers during the Chase, with four top-five finishes in NASCAR's version of the postseason.
McCall is coming off of a great season too, with Newman finishing second in points this season, just behind Kevin Harvick.
“I am really looking forward to 2015 and beginning to work with Matt,” said McMurray, via Chris Estrada of NBC's MotorSportsTalk. “As a team, I think we will carry a lot of momentum into Daytona and the hiring of Matt will continue to move the program forward.”
It would be surprising if McMurray doesn't end up in Victory Lane next year.
Martin Truex Jr.
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What's Changing: Cole Pearn is being promoted to crew chief on Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 78 team. He was the lead race engineer last season.
What to Expect: Truex Jr. is coming off of his worst year as a full-time driver in the Sprint Cup Series, and Furniture Row Racing is hoping that Pearn can help its one and only car get back on track in 2015.
As reported by USA Today, GM Joe Garone thinks that Pearn's relationship with Truex and history as a driver will make him a great crew chief:
"'In an effort to continue to move the team forward we feel the personnel changes and new additions will yield positive results on the race track,' Garone said in a release. 'Cole has played a vital role in our growth. The well-rounded skill sets that be brings to the table in his new position as crew chief will be instrumental in our commitment to once again become a Chase participant. As a former racer and an experienced engineer, Cole has a thorough understanding of what it takes to bring us to that level.'
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