Ward gets a new crew chief? hearing that Bill Ingle is now crew chief for the #0 NetZero Chevy fielded by Haas CNC Racing for Ward Burton. Former crew chief, Tony Furr supposedly will assume Shop Foreman duties.

UPDATE: Haas CNC Racing announced today the appointment of Bill Ingle as crew chief of the NetZero Racing Team. Tony Furr, who had been serving as crew chief since April 2003, will now serve as Shop Foreman. Ingle, who had been overseeing the preparation of both the #0 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series NetZero Chevrolet driven by Ward Burton and the #00 Haas Automation Chevrolets driven by Jason Leffler in the Busch Series, will take over duties as crew chief effective immediately. “Essentially, we just swapped their positions,” stated Joe Custer, General Manager of Haas CNC Racing. “We originally asked Tony to join our team last year as shop foreman and about halfway through the season we had the need to fill the crew chief role. Obviously this team is not performing as well as we would like and we are very lucky to have the kind of depth we have here at Haas CNC Racing. Both Tony and Bill are more than capable of handling both of these roles and we’re hoping that having Tony back at the shop overseeing the preparation of both the Busch and Cup cars, and Bill at the track leading our NEXTEL Cup Series team might help us achieve the results we think we’re capable of.”
I’m looking at this as my latest challenge,” said Ingle. “I was 28 years old the first time I took on my first job as crew chief and it was a challenge then too. Now, the best things I have going for me are my experience and the resources of Haas CNC Racing. I’m not sure there is anything seriously wrong with this team, and sometimes all you really need is a little bit of change.”(NetZero Racing), looks like NASCAR This morning is down to John Roberts, Chad and Kenny, they need more of Steve Waid.(7-15-2004)

jayski.com

redriderbob

 

New #18 Crew Chief: Brandon Thomas, a member of the Joe Gibbs Racing engineering department, will serve as interim crew for Bobby Labonte's #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet in the NASCAR NEXTEL Series, team officials announced July 15. Thomas takes over for Michael McSwain, who was released from his duties as crew chief July 14 after severing as crew chief for the 2003 season and 18 races in the 2004 season. Team officials have not set a timetable for when a permanent crew chief will be hired. Thomas, 30, from Kingsport, Tenn., spent the 2003 season as the engineer for Labonte and served as crew chief for Mike Bliss' JGR-prepared No. 80 Slim Jim/Act II Chevrolet July 11 in the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Bliss was the top-qualifying JGR car at Chicago, starting seventh and finishing 31st after an accident on Lap 205. Thomas began his JGR career in December 2001 in the shock department, before leaving in June 2002 to serve as John Andretti's crew chief at Petty Enterprises for the remainder of the 2002 season. After his stint at Petty, Thomas returned to JGR for the 2003 season as Labonte's engineer. During the 2004 season he has served as the head of Superspeeedway research and development for JGR. Prior to coming to JGR in 2001, Thomas served as engineer for Rusty Wallace at Penske Racing South from Aug. 1999-Nov. 2001. During that time, Wallace scored six wins and finished seventh in points in 2000 and 2001. From 1998-July 1999, Thomas was the assistant race engineer for Dan Gurney's All-American Racers and driver Alex Barron in CART. Thomas earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech University in 1997. Jimmy Makar, senior vice president of racing, will assist Thomas and the team until a permanent crew chief is announced. Makar served as crew chief on the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet from 1992-2002, winning the 1993 Daytona 500 with Dale Jarrett and the 2000 NEXTEL Cup Championship with Labonte.(Joe Gibbs Racing)(7-15-2004)

redriderbob