Harvick gets new crew chief
Richard Childress Racing recently announced personnel changes at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series level in preparation for 2012.
Shane Wilson, crew chief on the organization’s No. 33 team with driver Clint Bowyer in 2011, has been moved to the crew chief position on the No. 29 team with driver Kevin Harvick.
The No. 33 team has been dissolved, as RCR scales back to a three-car Sprint Cup operation, eliminating one of the four cars it fielded in 2011.
Wilson replaces Gil Martin on the No. 29. As a result, Martin moves to the Director of Team Operations position.
“Kevin came to me after the Phoenix race a couple of weeks ago and asked for a change in the leadership of his team for the 2012 season,” car owner Richard Childress said. “The expectations at RCR are to win championships, so the decision was made to move Shane Wilson to the No. 29 Budweiser/Rheem/Jimmy Johns program.”
The pairing of Harvick and Martin made four trips to victory lane in 2011 and wound up the season third in the points standings with nine top-fives and 19 top-10 finishes.
Harvick and Wilson worked together at RCR in 2006 in Nationwide Series competition. The duo produced 10 wins, 24 top-fives and 31 top-10 finishes that year to claim the series title by 824 points -- the largest margin ever in Nationwide Series history.
“Shane is a good friend of mine, and we had a lot of success together in the NASCAR Nationwide Series,” Harvick said. “He has a lot of experience now in the Sprint Cup Series, and I look forward to working with him again.
RCR hinted in a press release that additional personnel changes are forthcoming, stating that “further personnel changes within RCR’s competition department will be announced in the coming weeks.”
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Photo of Kevin Harvick courtesy of NASCAR Media
