Joe Gibbs Racing swaps crew chiefs; Hamlin and Grubb part ways

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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After a season that yielded only two Sprint Cup victories (but a championship-round berth for Denny Hamlin), Joe Gibbs Racing overhauled its crew chief lineup Thursday for 2015.

In the most significant move, Darian Grubb will leave Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota next season to head the No. 19 Camry of Carl Edwards, who will join JGR from Roush Fenway Racing. Hamlin, who had been paired with Grubb since 2012, will work with crew chief Dave Rogers, who will leave Kyle Busch's No. 18 after five seasons.

Busch's crew chief will be Adam Stevens, who guided him to 19 victories in the Xfinity Series over the past two seasons.

Matt Kenseth will keep Jason Ratcliff as his crew chief. After leading the circuit with seven victories in 2013, Kenseth went winless but reached the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Hamlin and Busch also qualified for the Chase with a victory apiece. Busch was eliminated from championship contention in the transfer race of the second round.

Hamlin advanced to the final round with champion Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Ryan Neman. The Chestefield, Va., native led 50 laps but faded to seventh after Grubb gambled by keeping him on older tires instead of pitting with 15 laps remaining.
Hamlin and Grubb combined for seven victories from 2012-14.

full story here

and here
 
In short.....

B4BtjikIMAELmNW.jpg:large


lineup -

Dave Rogers & Hamlin

Darian Grubb & Edwards

Adam Stevens & Kyle Busch

Ratcliff & Kenseth.
 
Since Edwards is in the 19, what happens to the no 99? stays with Rousch racing?
 
Funny how Grubb is paired with Edwards after Grubb and Tony beat Edwards in 2011. Seems like a good pairing for all teams.
 
An early Christmas for Edwards. Hamlins best shot at a title just went away.
 
missliz20 said:
I'm happy too. Those two have had pretty good chemistry so far. Even though the wins weren't there last year.
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Kenneth and Ratclif are a good team. The wins weren't there this year but it was a JGR problem as a whole IMO. I'm glad they didn't split them up too.
 
Really thought that Dave would go with Carl and Wheeler would pair with Hamlin, but I'm good with the changes for sure. Love it that Wheeler is getting a shot on the Xfinity side at least. Watch Edwards and Grubb. Thinking win win for both of those guys. Ratcliffe and Kenseth are great. We will not have to wait long to see if the Kyle/Stevens Xfinity success will translate.

Heard that the delay in the announcement was due to uncertainty about Grubb. The vibe I get is that Grubb to Carl was a deal maker--just speculation.
 
@nascarcasm

HUGE shake-up at JGR holiday pitch-in: Darian Grubb now bringing the yams, Dave Rogers the figgy pudding and Adam Stevens the ham gravy.
 
missliz20 said:
I'm happy too. Those two have had pretty good chemistry so far. Even though the wins weren't there last year.
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The only reason they didn't get it done was the engine output curve.

Made to last so you run last. :sarcasm:
 
Love the potential of Bubba and Wheeler. Could be a long term relationship in the making.
 
JGR just added Todd Berrier as well, nice pick up for them.

All in all good shakeup for them. No surprise Grubb and Hamlin split, their performance never got back to where they were that first year they were paired. I think Hamlin had lost faith in Grubb, and after he botched the call at Homestread that was the final nail in the coffin for those two.
 
I'll bet Dave Rogers' ears will be glad for the rest. ;)
 
Team Penske said:
The only reason they didn't get it done was the engine output curve.

Made to last so you run last. :sarcasm:
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Yep, Pete, they they need to figure out how to get more HP out of those TOYODA power plants and still keep the parts inside the block ;)
 
3wideinturn1 said:
JGR just added Todd Berrier as well, nice pick up for them.

All in all good shakeup for them. No surprise Grubb and Hamlin split, their performance never got back to where they were that first year they were paired. I think Hamlin had lost faith in Grubb, and after he botched the call at Homestread that was the final nail in the coffin for those two.
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Or Grubb just got pay back to Hamlin.
 
missliz20 said:
I think they're going to bounce back next year
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Different engine setting next year. Nascar makes it's usual blunder and cuts the air intake. killing horsepower.
I like the idea of less horsepower but not with restrictor plates.
 
Yeah, I don't get it Pete, there are other ways to reduce HP other than restrict air flow and IMO, it's dumb. Cubic Inches ;)
 
CamelPowered said:
I'll bet Dave Rogers' ears will be glad for the rest. ;)
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Had the scanner every week for the last 5 years, and it was never that bad at all. They got along well. The rest was media crap.
 
Team Penske said:
Different engine setting next year. Nascar makes it's usual blunder and cuts the air intake. killing horsepower.
I like the idea of less horsepower but not with restrictor plates.
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Frankly, I was in favor of reduced displacement.
 
haywired said:
Yep, Pete, they they need to figure out how to get more HP out of those TOYODA power plants and still keep the parts inside the block ;)
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You must have missed the Chase. It was pretty good.
 
Revman said:
You must have missed the Chase. It was pretty good.
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No, I didn't miss it, I watched pulling for Matt the whole time. I don't really care one way or another about the manufacturer, but JGR has had his share of engine problems, ask Kyle, and it seems like when they fix the problem, HP suffers a little, that's all.
 
haywired said:
No, I didn't miss it, I watched pulling for Matt the whole time. I don't really care one way or another about the manufacturer, but JGR has had his share of engine problems, ask Kyle, and it seems like when they fix the problem, HP suffers a little, that's all.
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JGR gets their engines from TRD as I am sure you know. In Chicago, Kyle was screaming with delight over the radio about the motor. Reliability was on par with other manufacturers during the Chase, and the speed was there. I have heard over and over again that when TRD ups the HP, they blow motors. That is not the case. Yes, they blew motors last year. Big problem. They scaled back the HP to improve reliability. They became reliable. This year, they were too conservative by their own admission. They were off on the motor, but JGR had no clue on the chassis side either. Aero, drivers, and crews were just fine. JGR got their **** together by Chase time, and so did TRD on the engine side.
 
Revman said:
JGR gets their engines from TRD as I am sure you know. In Chicago, Kyle was screaming with delight over the radio about the motor. Reliability was on par with other manufacturers during the Chase, and the speed was there. I have heard over and over again that when TRD ups the HP, they blow motors. That is not the case. Yes, they blew motors last year. Big problem. They scaled back the HP to improve reliability. They became reliable. This year, they were too conservative by their own admission. They were off on the motor, but JGR had no clue on the chassis side either. Aero, drivers, and crews were just fine. JGR got their sh!t together by Chase time, and so did TRD on the engine side.
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If they get Matt's up to snuff, that will be good enough for me. Most of the problems, if I remember right, were valve springs and maybe they started getting them from a different vendor.
 
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